As a Wholesaler I've post several deals there and have had pretty good response from the site. Overall I really like the site and think the Premium membership is worth it. Every wholesaler should add the line, "Please do your own due diligence" to their listings as it's really up to the end buyer to know their own buying criteria.
Many buyers are looking for cheap rentals and will go above the 65/70% of ARV formula to get a good rental in a preferred area or with a good existing tenant. Buyers are all over the place and Comps can be really hard to get on any non-standard property as well.
For investors who want the 'first dibs' on any property, you're going to have to get out there and find them yourselves and try to beat the Wholesalers. Or you can use MHD or scour for Wholesalers to put you on their list; either way you going to pay a premium unless you find the deal yourself. For the price MHD is a pretty good deal.
I just stumbled across this post and thought I'd share my experience on MHD. I joined as a premium member about 3 weeks and closed on a house with an existing tenant on Tuesday. If the tenant pays her rent, it was a deal. I'll post again if I discover I was tricked on the "reliable tenant" front. I'll also post again if I don't get my premium membership refunded as promised in a timely manner, but I'm optimistic on both accounts.
I HAVE found that many of the houses I call on have already been sold, but it's still an opportunity to speak with a wholesaler working in my area and let him or her know what I'm looking for, and that has also turned out well for me.
I would agree that most of the properties in the Tampa area have hugely inflated ARVs, but what can you do.
On the other side of it, I also listed myself as a private lender and got, of course, a billion responses. Some of them were quite strange and clearly not form real investors. And, as life is sometimes funny, I had to turn around two weeks later and try to borrow money. Although I didn't end up using any hard money from MHD's hard money lenders, I got enough responses to feel that there were legitimate HMLs to be found there.
I'm very reluctant to pay for a premium membership because if something is a real good deal, why a wholesaler would need to put it in a site like this? Why lose 25k equity just to make 5k if you can find hard money lenders in the same website assuming the wholesaler doesn't have all that cash?
I called several numbers, most people never aswered or called back. The only wholesaler I could speak to was a wholesale company employee who rushed me to bring 5k in cash to secure the deal in a 50k house as a condition to show the property, he wanted the money or cashiers check to his name, not the title company and was too anxious and pushy. And of course, mentioned the reason was because someone could buy the property amy moment.
A little research on a website where ex employees rate the companies they worked for showed these people work on commission only and people quit their job frequently because it's very hard to sell those properties.
That was about 2 months ago and this property is still listed on myhousedeals
Hey there Jesus. Doug Smith here. I founded and run MyHouseDeals. I'll try to address some of your concerns...
- You were wondering why a wholesaler would sacrifice $25K in equity for a $5K wholesale fee. The reason is that getting the $25K requires work (overseeing the rehab and sales process), time (waiting for it to be rehabbed and waiting for it to resell), risk (some deals don't pan out as expected) and money (some lenders want you to use your own money for repairs). Wholesalers don't want to take on one or more of those things.
- Getting wholesalers to call or email you back can be tougher after their property has been listed for a couple of weeks. Most are trying to sell in days and are therefore more responsive early on. As a free member, you're only seeing properties that are 2+ weeks old.
- The wholesaler you reached probably works for New Western. They require the up-front $5,000. They're more aggressive with getting buyers to commit, but they're not operating a scam. That money really will go towards your purchase. I suggest that you avoid deals listed by them if you're not comfortable with the way they do business.
- The two-month-old property that you mentioned was most likely sold. Wholesale deals go in days, not weeks. I contacted their office in Dallas and reminded them to remove properties that are sold ASAP. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
Feel free to reach out to me if you have any other questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Doug Smith
As a wholesaler. I have gotten some good Buyers from myhousedeals.com. That being said, just like anything else, due diligence is needed on both sides and if it works, great! I don't have the premium membership but then again, my network is large enough to where people send me deals regularly. Perhaps I should look at the site more as a Buyer. In the meantime, it's just a tool so I am not sure if the premium membership is necessary. I would think it wouldn't hurt to try it out for a month and see what you get.
Frank
I'm in south eastern Ma, has anyone used this site and have there been wholesale listings for New England? If so, does anyone know the typical average volume of listings in New England at any particular time?
Appreciate any feedback.
Has anyone seen success with just using Myhousedeals.com for just cash buyers?
@Doug Smith I know Its been a while since this thread was started but I would be curious to know, many of the properties I find on myhousedeals i can also track down on mls. My buyers agent contacted one of the realtors and the realtor had no clue the house was being marketed also as a wholesale deal. The house was for sale at $730k on MLS and $550k on myhousedeals. Any monitoring on this stuff?
@Anssi Viljanen compare using myhousedeals.com to using craigslist to find deals. Wholesalers put their "deals" on both sites, you as the buyer need to do your due diligence to determine if its something worth pursing for your REI goals. What you most likely ran across is the wholesaler has the MLS property under contract & he's attempting to sell the contract to a buyer. The only way to wholesale a MLS property is to get it under contract way under the MLS list price. The wholesaler made the mistake of posting that deal to a public website, where anybody could do what you did, go straight to the listing agent and ask what is going on. What the wholesaler did wasn't necessarily illegal, he has it under contract and wants to assign it. What he did wrong is post a MLS deal to a public forum instead of sending it to buyers on his list that don't mind buying MLS properties.
@James Green how can the seller sign a contract with a wholesaler if he has a contract with a listing agent too?
@Anssi Viljanen The wholesaler has signed a Purchase contract with the seller via the selling agent. Just like you would a regular retail house purchase. The wholesaler is then going to find a buyer to assign the contract to.
Here's a scenario:
I (wholesaler) would sign a purchase agreement contract with Agent A, whom represents Seller A. The listing price is 750K, I negotiate my purchase price to 530K. I can get it at $530K, because everyone involved knows the house is a dump, needs major rehab, has been sitting on the market for awhile, and now Seller A has become very motivated by now. Now that I have the house under contract, it now should be showing up "PENDING" in the MLS. I now have 30-45 days (whatever my agreement states) to find a buyer (he used myhousedeals.com), which I will assign the contract to for 550K.
Now in real life ifI would of actually placed this house under contract, I would of never listed the exact address of this house anywhere in a public forum. I would of said "Great rehab with TON$ of EQUITY - 3000 block of Main St." Now, I have buyers calling me, about the property instead of a listing agent. I also can determine if I'm talking to a real buyer, because I'm going to ask for their POF, before I give them the exact address. In addition, depending on the situation I might submit the offer through one of my realtors instead of going straight to the listing agent.
As you see, when the property is on the MLS, anybody could go straight to the listing agent and put in a backup offer, start asking questions, let the agent know I'm shopping the listing, whatever...
The wholesaler didn't do anything illegal, but it wasn't the wisest of decisions. BTW, if the numbers work for you pull the trigger.
I myself only list off-market properties I have under contract on myhousedeals.com.
@James Green that makes sense and is a playsible scenario. Unfortunately the one at hand is a bit more rotten than that because the listing agent never even heard of this wholesale deal. Which the presence of such backward arrangements certainly reflect on the website. They do not discredit the website as the dealings are no different than they would be if I had come across the deal at my local REA. Caveat Emptor.
I've noticed it is indeed a bunch of wholesalers pitching deals with incorrect ARV. Spread is usually incorrect by 50K or more on almost all of them. Considered becoming a premium member but after doing some due diligence on MULTIPLE properties, decided otherwise. Looks like it has tons of potential but some type of verification to minimize the upsold "deals" would need to be in place to improve the site.
I also thought about purchasing the Premium but after reading all the comments , I’ve change my mind , thanks guys!!!
I like the site and how it lays out, but unfortunately, there are too many properties from NW. Not to mention, many already sold. I have nothing against the Realtors of NW as they seem like a bunch of good people just hungry to make a deal like anyone else... However, their pricing is off.
Example: Let's say they send you a property for sale, as the say, "off market" or "pocket listing" and it is selling for $110K... I will see that same deal two to three other places and one of them will be much cheaper. In the example I used, it was for $100K *.
* Wholesalers, please negotiate with the sellers and incorporate it within their pricing and not add on top of a price that can be found much cheaper online or via MLS.
I don't want to pay a premium membership if many of those properties are from NW when I can get those on my own for free.
I believe it would be worth paying for the premium membership if you have liquid cash... This way, when they present the deal on site, you can pick it up.
As for wholesalers in general, most (as in 97%) truly don't know what they are doing... In San Antonio, gentrifying is coming on strong in the East and West sides of town as well as towards downtown. However, there are many pockets that are not strong enough and are still in transition. It is catching on, but there are too many who are trying to use comps that do not hold up.
The ghetto is the ghetto is the ghetto. Hence, many skewed ARVs. I even had a Realtor question me when I passed on a foreclosure that to me, didn't have enough meat on the bones... The ARV came back at no more than $180K (S. Lonestar area) - Of course, they were befuddled as they thought it would be closer to a $350K ARV. Which yes, there are properties for sale in the area that project that price and some which have sold in the north part of the area near an historic (King Williams area).
NW is sometimes guilty of that.
I believe MHD website seems to be running with integrity, but like anything else, early bird gets the worm.
I would say, keep in mind, not every investor has the same criteria... My criteria is the 70% rule as in not only Purchase Price and Rehab Costs, but acquisition, resale costs, and holding costs (PITI, Utilities, etc.). Or I am an investor who doesn't mind foundation issues... So where most will shun away, because they want the light or lipstick properties, I am more aggressive with my rehabs/restructuring of flips.
So my method will most likely come from distressed properties such as pre-foreclosures or in Auction status.
I have had a free account with MHD for quite a while, but again, different strokes for different folks.
In the meantime, I will still use their services, but will always be cautious with anyone who brings any deal, proven or not.
So if you are new to investing... At the minimum, look at that site or any other site in areas you are familiar with and do your own analysis and see if it jives with what you already know. This will give you an indication on the deal, but more specifically, the wholesaler providing the deal.
Just my two pesos.
"Big" Henry
I tried it for less then a few weeks and the properties were over inflated, and the private lenders seemed to be fishy if not a scam. I requested a full refund and they will not issue a refund at all, I have come to learn any company that is legit and is worth the money has no problems or even worries about refunds if their service or products was well worth it.
They are a perfect example of BUYER BEWARE & SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!
I like to try out a service or product to compare it to what I can get for free on the internet, if theirs is better I have no problem paying the fee, as a matter of fact there are a software programs I am happily paying a membership fee for because their products are above my expectations and then some.
Long story short you can use the Internet to find way better free resources, that will have better details and what have you.
Also the properties on My House Deals can be found on ZipReality for FREE! Don't waste your time and money.
As far as private lenders just google Private Lenders and you will find what you are looking for for FREE!
I hope this helps!
To sum it up they offer nothing you can't find on the internet for FREE!
I was looking into this site but not confident now at all!
Please don't even bother with MHD. Doug Smith is also on another site under another name Trent Smith
website https://www.happyinvestor.com
I tried it for less then a few weeks and the properties were over inflated, and the private lenders seemed to be fishy if not a scam. I requested a full refund and they will not issue a refund at all, I have come to learn any company that is legit and is worth the money has no problems or even worries about refunds if their service or products was well worth it.
They are a perfect example of BUYER BEWARE & SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!
I like to try out a service or product to compare it to what I can get for free on the internet, if theirs is better I have no problem paying the fee, as a matter of fact there are a software programs I am happily paying a membership fee for because their products are above my expectations and then some.
Long story short you can use the Internet to find way better free resources, that will have better details and what have you.
Also the properties on My House Deals can be found on ZipReality for FREE! Don't waste your time and money.
As far as private lenders just google Private Lenders and you will find what you are looking for for FREE!
I hope this helps!
To sum it up they offer nothing you can't find on the internet for FREE!