Investor · Los Angeles , CA · Member since 2014 · 132 posts · 25 votes
I wanted to start a thread specific to wholesalers in Southern Ca. because going though some old threads there are tons of BPers claiming they are getting started in wholesaling in the L.A. area and then they are never to be heard from again. As a rehabber I get deals emailed to me from wholesalers every now and again and there is only one group that actually structures deals that come close to making sense. Their basic strategy is to blast the MLS with lowball offers and flip the contract prior to close of escrow. I would estimate about 5-10% of the deals get closed the rest just fall out of escrow.
Anyways I am just curious to hear from successfull wholesalers in southern ca. how are you finding deals?
Wholesaling in SoCal can be tough....i haven't found the competition factor a set-back yet..if your really out in the streets, knocking on doors, at your court houses, county buildings consistently you find there are not as many wholesalers as you may think actively wholesaling.....there are quiet a bit of people talking and wanting to get in...i use the county buildings and the court houses for my leads...there are some really great untapped resources and tons of different types of leads you can get from those two places...and of course I have not discovered anything brand new...im just realizing the sucess is in the fight and how hard you want it...when i found out about these two sources i started to pull data from them and let me tell you it was overwhelming...but it was a gold mine...before i made enough money to pay someone to do this for me....i had to spend hours and hours and hours daily scrubbing data....finding address and owners names...etc...i have a system now and it runs smooth...i find some really great deals throughout LA County and Riverside County...I have 2 cash buyers that have bought all my deals...thats another important thing find real cash buyers...when i first started out i didnt have real buyers and i found out other wholesalers were acting as cash buyers just passing my deals on and on and it became a daisy chain leading to no where...Anyway i love wholesaling and i could type all day..if you want some creative ideas to find properties PM me....but dont give up...and don't let anyone discourage you about SoCal...its tough and it will literally make you cry....lol but its great place to start wholesaling...if your willing to put in the work...
If Wholesaling is so difficult in So Cal, would someone who lives in So Cal be better off looking at other areas outside of So Cal? Wouldnt this be more difficult to do if your not actually on the ground in that area, especially for someone new in this type of investing?
Wholesaling in So Cal today is difficult due to the high competition for deals by both rehabbers, buy and holder speculators, and wholesalers. Is it possible to succeed, of course, but most fail because they really don't know what they are doing.
In the past, got deals prior to MLS which allowed me the best opportunity to wholesaler today, that is no longer possible unless you direct mail advertise to motivated home sellers. I would suggest that route if you intend to wholesale, or play the numbers game on the MLS and make hundreds of offers until you land a deal (a real deal).
We are very active in the South Bay area. All my deals are purchased thru brokers we've worked with over the last 10 years. Once we are done w rehab, brokers do get back the listing from us at full 3% listing commission or get bonuses when we decide to hold. We are definitely staying put. Having said that, it is definitely a much more competitive arena. I have yet to close on a property brought to me by a wholeseller. They either miscalculate repair costs, have not really secured the contract, or have no idea what the ARV is and are just spitting numbers out. Moreover, I do receive about 3 emails per week from wholesellers. Unfortunately, the ones that I have previewed have been a waste of time.
Wholesaling in SoCal can be tough....i haven't found the competition factor a set-back yet..if your really out in the streets, knocking on doors, at your court houses, county buildings consistently you find there are not as many wholesalers as you may think actively wholesaling.....there are quiet a bit of people talking and wanting to get in...i use the county buildings and the court houses for my leads...there are some really great untapped resources and tons of different types of leads you can get from those two places...and of course I have not discovered anything brand new...im just realizing the sucess is in the fight and how hard you want it...when i found out about these two sources i started to pull data from them and let me tell you it was overwhelming...but it was a gold mine...before i made enough money to pay someone to do this for me....i had to spend hours and hours and hours daily scrubbing data....finding address and owners names...etc...i have a system now and it runs smooth...i find some really great deals throughout LA County and Riverside County...I have 2 cash buyers that have bought all my deals...thats another important thing find real cash buyers...when i first started out i didnt have real buyers and i found out other wholesalers were acting as cash buyers just passing my deals on and on and it became a daisy chain leading to no where...Anyway i love wholesaling and i could type all day..if you want some creative ideas to find properties PM me....but dont give up...and don't let anyone discourage you about SoCal...its tough and it will literally make you cry....lol but its great place to start wholesaling...if your willing to put in the work...
@Reuben Stewart Thanks for sharing your experience Reuben, and congrats on your success. It seems like you might be ready for the next step and start rehabbing the lowest hanging fruit.
Hello all, I'm waiting to take my real estate test for my license and thought id try wholesaling. I'm in southern Cal, about to send out my first quick batch of yellow letters to absentee owners tomorrow and fri. Next week I'm going for the ol' bandit sign trick! I have a Google voice # and a website, hopefully I get some bites. I know the market is very tough to crack but I have some pretty good resources and I'm very good with evaluating a deal. I'm not going to take anything that doesn't make sense to an investor and I'm not out to get a huge chunk of the deal (unless I can! :)) so I thought I would give it a shot. If there is anyone successful within Southern Cal I would love to hear back from you. @ I would love to chat.
@Safiya Marie good luck with the exam, I think the margins are higher if you can close on a deal (off market) then just throw it on the MLS without touching it... price it right and have every investor fight over it, you will make more $ even if you have to use private/hard $ and pay the 2.5%
@Reuben Stewart is doing it right. It takes a ton of work and creativity.
Many wholesalers just aren't putting the effort in or targeting the right people. I get quite a few yellow letters. This means wholesalers in LA (at least the ones using lists that I appear on) have terrible perimeters. Most of my deals are 1-2 years old. I just got a yellow letter on a building I closed 5 months ago. Why would there be a deal on a multi-family purchased 5 MONTHS AGO! That's not nearly enough time to get into trouble, or get tired of owning... I like to call yellow letter senders to network with whoever is sending them out, and potentially get on their buyers list, but this one wont even get that call.
There are so many rent controlled buildings that generate such little rent, with owners that paid 50-200K in the 70's that should be easy to turn into deals now. Go target those! Tons of decrepit houses in WeHo, Melrose area, mid wilshire etc with ramps in front that have elderly inhabitants. Thats a good target. A good wholesaler should be able to put deals together around these.
For that matter, @Reuben Stewart I'm not ready to jump on all cash deals, but I'd love to stay in touch. When the time is right I'd love to get on your buyers list. This may be as soon as Q3 or Q4 this year.
Hello all, I'm waiting to take my real estate test for my license and thought id try wholesaling. I'm in southern Cal, about to send out my first quick batch of yellow letters to absentee owners tomorrow and fri. Next week I'm going for the ol' bandit sign trick! I have a Google voice # and a website, hopefully I get some bites. I know the market is very tough to crack but I have some pretty good resources and I'm very good with evaluating a deal. I'm not going to take anything that doesn't make sense to an investor and I'm not out to get a huge chunk of the deal (unless I can! :)) so I thought I would give it a shot. If there is anyone successful within Southern Cal I would love to hear back from you. @Reuben Stewart I would love to chat.
Hello @Safiya Marie,
Would love to hear your successful results and possibly any challenge that you may have gone through. I'm currently studying for my RE license and wholesaling is really what peaked my interest.
hey I'm starting my own real estate investment company this week and with clever investors I'm in this area is really like.to succeed if anyone would like to connect with me if love to get your insights on things maybe build a local investors group