One Wholesale Deal in the Past Year

Wholesaling
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One Wholesale Deal in the Past Year

Shi'Mere Andrus
Real Estate Investor · Torrance, CA · Member since 2008 · 15 posts · 1 vote

I desepartely need help. I completed one wholesale deal in the past year. It was my first and only. I think I was just lucky to get that deal done.

My problems-

1. I can't find buyers. I've been to my RE club to find buyers. This is a huge club. They usually have about close 200 people there a month. Obviously, I can't talk to everyone. I've left my investor profile forms on the table so people can fill them out and fax or email them back. No luck there.

2. I have no money to advertise.

3. I live in the Los Angeles, CA area. I'm not sure if homes are really selling over here like they did a couple of years ago.

3. Lastly, and think most importantly I feel like I've gotten in this at the wrong time. There's so much inventory out there that an investor may not need a wholesaler. And sellers are just letting the bank have thier home. And can investors and potential homebuyers get credit in this recession?

I'm almost to the point of giving up. I haven't been on this site for a couple of months because I'm not getting the success others here are getting.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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  • Raquel Mangual
    Real Estate Agent · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2008 · 3 posts · 0 votes
    17y

    Hi Shi'Mere,

    I have a few wholesale deals under my belt, so here are my suggestions:

    1) finding buyers - try places other than your REI club, post ads on craigslist, backpage, kijiji, postlets, OLX (all free), go to your yellow pages and call all of the "we buy houses" ads

    2) refer to #1, and contact your real estate agent friends, if you don't have any, make some

    3) in my opinion, this is the BEST time for wholesaling, all the inventory is what will make this year so much better

    Just don't give up. You've already tasted success with that first check. Persistence is the key here. Good luck!

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  • NA Beauvais
    Specialist · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2008 · 140 posts · 14 votes
    17y

    I agree with Raquel, This is the best market to have a successful Wholesaling business. Although if you are just getting started with little resources such as funds and contacts it is difficult to get the the snow ball effect going but if you stay persistent it can be done!

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  • Douglas Christian
    Real Estate Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2008 · 368 posts · 42 votes
    17y

    Agree with advice already given, would like to add this to it. Being in Cali does make it difficult, because of the market still adjusting, many of the properties are still way overpriced. There really isn't any cash flow.

    You have to tap into other markets and link buyers and sellers together. You must become creative and if nothing else you must learn the real estate game completely. You have to sell yourself and no one can do that better than you can.

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  • Shi'Mere Andrus
    OP
    Real Estate Investor · Torrance, CA · Member since 2008 · 15 posts · 1 vote
    17y

    First, I would like to thank all of you for your replies. I have a couple of follow-up questions:

    1. I've called a couple of the We Buy Houses ad. I've been hung up on and told "not interested". Here is my sales pitch: Hello, my name is Shi'Mere. I'm a real estate wholesaler in the Los Angeles. I specialize in the South Bay area. I find properties at least 30% under market value in the best locations in the South Bay area. I put these great deals under contract and pass them to investors like yourself. Would you be interested in my services?
    So is there something wrong with my pitch?

    2. Doug, what do you mean by tapping into other markets? Can you give me some more examples?

    Thanks- Shi'Mere

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  • Richard Warren
    Real Estate Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 447 votes
    17y
    Originally posted by Shi'mere Andrus:
    I've called a couple of the We Buy Houses ad. I've been hung up on and told "not interested".


    We buy houses signs are put up by wholesalers, not investors. Those people are trying to do the same thing that you are. You are their competition, that’s why they aren’t interested.

    :cool:

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  • Douglas Christian
    Real Estate Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2008 · 368 posts · 42 votes
    17y

    Great point Richard. Also, many of them sorry if I offend, but it has to be said have PAID into a FRANCHISE and now they are trying to recoup there money. But, you are not going to get those people to purchase anything from you.

    First find the deals and here is a little advice, I hope that you can find them at a better discount than 30%. In today's market you should be able to find properties for 40-50% on the dollar. If not then you are not looking in the right places or that realtor is trying to sell you on a particular neighborhood.

    You must go outside of where you live if you are not getting the desired results.

    Here's and example and I usually CHARGE for these, but for you it will be free.

    3/1 bedroom home I found and put under contract for $10k I wholesaled it
    for $25k and it needed 28k in repairs and it is worth 98k ACTUAL APPRAISAL.

    These are simple numbers and they make sense to me and my investor. Never complicate the situation with all the other real estate jargon.

    I hope I was able to help you make sense of this.

    SUCCESS BREEDS SUCCESS

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  • Charles Whitaker
    Real Estate Investor · Amarillo, TX · Member since 2008 · 173 posts · 15 votes
    17y
    Originally posted by Shi'mere Andrus:

    1. I can't find buyers.

    Get great deals under contract and buyers will literally line up. Use the mls to look up owners that have sold completely remodeled homes, REI club, advertisements.


    This is the time to stick with it, wanting to get somewhere with no money is hard, very hard. Get creative, follow obituaries, divorces, high equity homes with withering people inside(sorry, not funny). There is plenty of low cost advertisements that you can employ, just don't stop hacking towards another deal.

    May have to try another, smaller, more cost effective market to play in.

    Inventory, yes. Great deals in the inventory, not likely. The best deals still come directly from homeowners and investors still need deals, they are just paying less for them now. Investors can still get financing but now with more restrictions, guidelines, and hightened FICO scores. Homebuyers are still out there, a few come out of the brush everyday. I expect that more will follow as income tax is dispersed and the economy plays out.


    Success will never come to those who give up, keep plugging away. Others that work around me have since given up on themselves and their own visions. I have yet to succumb, never will. The blood, sweat, and tears from this business is awesome, nothing quite matches having a deal go through after tearing your heart out. You must find your big why - why am I doing this. Monetary gain is not a big why

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  • Shi'Mere Andrus
    OP
    Real Estate Investor · Torrance, CA · Member since 2008 · 15 posts · 1 vote
    17y

    Thank you all for your comments. I have two follow-up questions.

    1. When I find that great deal, where would I advertise it? Is there a particular website that investors use to post deals?

    2. What indicator am I looking for in the MLS that will tell me if a recently sold house was a remodel?

    Thanks- Shi'Mere

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  • Charles Whitaker
    Real Estate Investor · Amarillo, TX · Member since 2008 · 173 posts · 15 votes
    17y

    Out of curiosity, what is on your investor profile forms that you leave at the local REI meetings? You may be lacking the results that you desire with this method due to the lack of great deals. If you have truly great deals then they will basically sell themselves. And yes, a great deal is considered a rare gem; hard to find but well worth the effort.

    When you are a newbie to the business the deals are harder to find and you usually realize softer profits. As you progress, though, deals will come easier and you learn how to control the profits in a way that you never thought possible. Experience is pricy; with a lack of funds I wouldn't jump on the wrong deal without a few solid backups if needed.
    "It's better to pass on a good deal than to buy a bad deal."

    As for the follow-ups,
    1. Great deals sell themselves. For all those other minimal deals (which you will find a lot of), advertise in local paper, in the thrifty-nickel ads, your own website, other investors' websites, wholesalers, rehabbers, landlords, mls, FSBO ads, signs, local REI meetings, craigslist, and so on. Any place that you could advertise that may draw a buyer out.

    2. On our local mls, their is a searchable parameter called private remarks and public remarks. You can then enter a list of words pertinent to your search such as: remodeled, updated, everything new, etc. Any word typed in by the listing realtor is searchable and it comes in quite handy. Creativity is key to finding anything of value, use your time wisely. Also, this information cannot be found an any public real estate site.

    Actually, a lot of times the listing agent will put something about being remodeled into the general information section for the house, if so, then you can pick these buyers out of the paper or any other listing service. You then may cross reference these names with your local tax assessors office or the county clerk to find out if they have a history of buying and selling homes. Wham, got a buyer.

    Good luck

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