Teen Investor Getting Started in Wholesaling — Advice Appreciated

Member since 2026 · 1 post · 0 votes

Hey everyone, My name is Michael, I’m 16, and I’m getting started in real estate wholesaling. I’ve been studying the basics, building my systems, and trying to understand how to find and talk to motivated sellers the right way.

I’m here to learn from people who have actually done deals and can point me in the right direction. Any advice on what skills I should focus on first, what mistakes to avoid, or how to start building a buyers list would mean a lot.

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Izaiah Barba

Wholesaler · Portsmouth NH · Member since 2019 · 204 posts · 94 votes

2mo

Great stuff for diving into this so young Michael. My recommended basic setup if you're on a budget: pull a list from Propwire (it's free), target motivated sellers like absentee owners, high equity, and pre-foreclosure, then reach out through cold calls and texts. I suggest starting in your local area.

And also go to your local REIA meetups to network with buyers and investors. To find these, look up, "Your city, REIA meetups" on google and go to the closest one!

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Amit PrasadBusiness Member
Investor · Member since 2026 · 20 posts · 14 votes
2mo
Hi Michael, what state are you in? Start with FB groups to build buyer lists and get a really good script. There's a lot of good YouTube videos around scripts so I would start there. It'll take time but with practice you can get really good with time. You'll be investing in no time. Good luck!
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Carson Nordmann
Member since 2026 · 119 posts · 44 votes
2mo
The skill that compounds fastest early is learning to qualify sellers in the first two minutes of a call. Not just motivation, but timeline and equity. Those 3 things together tell you whether it's worth the next hour of your time. Everything else can be learned deal by deal.
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Izaiah Barba
Wholesaler · Portsmouth NH · Member since 2019 · 204 posts · 94 votes
2mo
Great stuff for diving into this so young Michael. My recommended basic setup if you're on a budget: pull a list from Propwire (it's free), target motivated sellers like absentee owners, high equity, and pre-foreclosure, then reach out through cold calls and texts. I suggest starting in your local area.

And also go to your local REIA meetups to network with buyers and investors. To find these, look up, "Your city, REIA meetups" on google and go to the closest one!
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Igor Ganapolsky
Englewood, NJ · Member since 2018 · 258 posts · 36 votes
1w
Michael, you have two advantages most adults in this forum don't: time and zero overhead. Here's how to use both.

Izaiah Barba's advice above is solid — Propwire is a good starting point. But I want to push it further. You don't even need Propwire. Your county has three databases that tell you exactly who's motivated, and they're 100% free:

1. Tax Collector — tax delinquent properties mean the owner is financially pressured
2. Code Enforcement — open violations mean the property is neglected (usually an absent owner)
3. Clerk of Court — probate filings mean the property is going through inheritance (family may want cash, not another house)

Carson Nordmann said the fastest-compounding skill is qualifying sellers in the first two minutes. Here's the thing — county data lets you qualify BEFORE you pick up the phone. When the same property shows up in all three databases, you already know: they owe back taxes, they're not maintaining the property, and there's a family situation. That's not a cold call — that's a conversation where you already know their situation.

The framework is simple:
- Start with ~200 names from the tax delinquent list (free)
- Cross-reference with code enforcement → ~80 properties have violations
- Cross-reference those with probate court → ~20 properties have all three signals

Those 20 are your highest-probability leads. And it cost you $0.

At 16, if you learn to pull county data now, by the time you're 18 you'll have a skill most wholesalers pay $200/month for software to get. The adults in this forum are competing on who has the best tools — you can compete on who has the best data, for free.

Start with one county. Learn the three databases. Pull your first list this week. By the time everyone else is figuring out which software subscription to buy, you'll already be talking to motivated sellers.
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