This seller inherited the property from her Father who had passed away due to cancer. She had quit her job over a year prior to care for him and was absorbing nearly $1,000/mo. in PITI. She never rented it out, so it was vacant. This property took about 2 months of continuous follow-up and relationship rapport building before we got it under contract. Due to it being in a highly desirable area, we had no problem selling it to another investor.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Our long term goal is to build up our cash reserves using wholesaling as our main strategy. IMO, cash is not king here...cash flow is! So we're utilizing wholesaling to ultimately purchase buy/hold properties for long term. Wholesaling is earned income. If you're not working the business (or people that you've hired), you not making money. Whereas, buy/hold, as long as you have your team, will bring the money in day after day, year after year.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

We pulled a high equity absentee owner list within specific zip codes. Our cold caller qualified the lead and sent it to me. From there, it's all about building rapport. What's the condition of the property? Why are you selling? How soon? What's the least you would consider if I paid all cash and you paid zero in commissions and closing costs and closed on your timeline? These are just some of the questions we ask. Bottom line...always have patience and always be pulling away. Don't sound eager.

How did you finance this deal?

We didn't. This was a wholesale deal. We deposited $1,010 EMD with escrow. Why the extra $10? This was a small option fee that is required by Texas law to have an option period (or inspection period) in our contract. This gives us the time to locate our end buyer. If we can't locate our end buyer within a set time, we can back out of the contract for whatever reason and get our entire $1,000 EMD. The seller would keep the $10 option fee.

How did you add value to the deal?

By being an empathetic ear. She lost her Father to cancer. I shared the story of losing my sister to cancer. It was the most difficult time in my life. So she had someone she could relate with. But even if I hadn't shared that story with her, it was all about just being patient and listening well. There were days of zero communication, plus being around the holidays, it was very emotional for her. I think that not pressuring her, being empathetic to her situation and solving her problem.

What was the outcome?

As I mentioned in the description above, we secured our buyer within our option period or inspection period, as what wholesalers like to call it. Once the buyers $5k non-refundable EMD was received by escrow, we were able to close on the property in a little over 10 days. From when escrow opened (January 2nd) to close, it took just 15 days to close. After some closing costs, since we did a double close, we walked away with $29,266.20. Not bad for about 15 hours of my time.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

1. Always follow-up with your leads. Use a good CRM to keep you on track.
2. Have all your systems and processes in place before holding an inspection. Especially when it's a hot property. We had a ton of interest on this property and it required good organization and a ton of follow-up. Be the company that people remember and want to do business with.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Hat's off to my nephew Harrison for handling the inspection. He did an excellent job and handled it well.