Wholesaling is like the music business - CHANGE MY MIND
Let's say you're at a music store one day, looking at guitars, amps, drums, and the like. A salesman (who also happens to be a guitar teacher and successful musician) begins talking to you about starting a band. He mentions how all you need to do to be a rock star (or pop star, or hip hop star) is by buying the right gear, starting a band, and then working really hard at it (and never giving up). "Yeah man, you just have to take daily action! Grind! Be a go-getter! Don't give up when times get tough! Maybe even take some guitar lessons from a pro like me (for $100/hr). Do that and you'll be a rockstar before you know it. Hey, don't listen to all those naysayers out there! You can do this! Let's GO!"
But I look around the store (and around the city) and I mention to the guy how everybody is trying to do that same thing. Almost everybody I see is buying music gear, starting bands, and trying to be a rockstar. I point out how there is a very low barrier to entry and how nearly anyone can buy a guitar, start a band, practice hard, write an album, play gigs, and try to get signed. I mention how it seems quite clear that most people fail, and that it seems like (most importantly) for those who couldn't make it, it was not for a lack of hard work, skill, or trying. There simply aren't enough opportunities for all of these aspiring rock stars to be successful (i.e. - to become millionaire rockstars).
In other words, the notion or implication that "Oh, anyone can make it if they just work hard enough and don't give up" is not true (at least that's how it seems to me).
This is wholesaling.
In the same fashion, it seems to me, you have tons of online real estate "gurus"/"mentors" giving people the false impression that all they need to do is pull a list, skip trace it, and start cold calling (and just grind hard enough, and not give up), and voila you'll be a real estate millionaire! In other words, they imply that if you just take XYZ advice, and take ABC steps (and never give up), it will work and you'll be just as successful as them; when in reality this is not true at all. And the most important points are those which these gurus are not saying.
1. They got lucky
Just like a rockstar, yes, they had lots of skill (just like a guitar player/singer/songwriter who worked really hard), but for every wholesaler with lots of skill who made it, 10,000+ didn't (and it was not for any lack of trying, effort, or consistency). There simply weren't enough opportunities while attempting to compete with the big boys/girls who are spending $30k/mo on PPC marketing.
2. They make tons of $$$ selling picks and shovels
Remember the gold rush? How many millionaires back then made it not by mining for gold and striking it rich, but by selling the dream of finding gold, by selling picks and shovels (with as much advertising and flare as humanly possible)? "Folks, get your picks and shovels right here while they last! There's gold in them-there hills! Don't believe me! Checkout this gold I found up there! I'm a millionaire now and you can too!" This, to me, is what most real estate gurus do. They are looking for "multiple streams of income", and just one of those giant streams of income is YOU! "Hey, pay me $10k, grind really hard, and you'll a rockstar [I mean real estate investor millionaire] like me!"
3. They overhype self-employment
These RE gurus are so often found poo-pooing working for "the man" or working a corporate job. They overemphasize "getting out of the rat race", or "work for yourself!", when they themselves are putting people into the rat race (for example hiring cold callers at $3/hr in the Philippines).
I realize the above is not all real estate mentors or gurus, but I believe it is the case for many of them (selling a dream that is not possible or realistic for most people; kind of like a rockstar making it in the music business and then saying, "You can do it too! Anyone can do it!"
However, I would very much like to be proven wrong here.
What are your thoughts? Where am I off track? Is it really possible/likely to be a huge success in RE wholesaling if you "just do the right things consistently" or is it the case that RE mentor/gurus are overselling the dream?
One last thing, some might say, "Well, being a huge success is relative! My success level is not your success level. So, if I make $3k/mo in wholesaling I'm happy"; to which I say, that's great for you but that is not what the real estate gurus are selling/implying. Furthermore, there are lots of great paying corporate sales jobs where you can make a very solid 6 figure income and then practice a model of: earn, save, invest, repeat without having to eat/sleep/breath trying to get a startup business off the ground. In other words, partnering with a company that is providing a great opportunity seems very often the way better option. In this way (and again this is just my opinion), it seems to me that wholesaling is itself the real rat race (since it is highly likely that I will be dedicating my life to the pursuit of something where I am very unlikely to succeed).
Thank you for reading and for sharing your thoughts.