My 1ST TWO DEALS in Orlando & Central Florida

My 1ST TWO DEALS in Orlando & Central Florida

Orlando, FL · Member since 2015 · 90 posts · 11 votes

Ive began my marketing campaign and some results to show for it!

I used Listsource to create a list of 212 Absentee Owners with equity.

I went driving for dollars for about a month and compiled an extra 20 contacts to mail.

Then I used Google to compile a good letter I wanted to use as a mailer

I used plain white printing paper with a red font (looks like handwriting)

Bought stamps and labels at a discount from Ebay (and used Ebates.com for an extra 1% cash back)

I also used a local company to print 200 one color one sided bandit signs for $185.03 total (free pickup, no shipping costs)

And got H-stakes from Home Depot for roughly $0.30 each

1st deal

I got a call from someone way out in Lakeland, FL. This motivated seller wanted to sell their 1940's wood frame house that needed EVERYTHING! It was in very terrible shape and in the hood nonetheless. I was able to get a contract signed @ $12,500 and a cash buyer less than one week later @ $14,000. With the help of a local realtor, this house had an ARV of $50-59k. From what I saw, it needed roughly $15-20k in rehab work needed to make it rent-ready.

This deal was hard to close since neither the seller nor buyer had email and could not close electronically. So, I had to hold their hands and walk them through step-by-step while trying my best to not have to make the hour drive from Orlando to Lakeland everytime they needed something.

$1500 wholesale profit!

2nd deal

This one is currently at the beginning stages. The call came in yesterday from an older Spanish speaking lady from Kissimmee, FL that received one of my mailers (thank God I'm bilingual!). She has 2 homes for sale in the area. One is listed with a realtor at retail price (I passed and told her I would be interested when the listing expires) and the second house was her primary residence. She became ill not so long ago and moved in with her son. She has not been able to pay her mortgage (not sure for how long, but will find out today) but she did quote an unpaid balance of $98k. I have told her that I will take over the entire mortgage with late fees and everything included and she can walk away from the house clean and she agreed. A local realtor send me 3 comps in the same subdivision, sq feet, and beds/baths that range from $150-159k. Her and I have scheduled a conference call at 11am today with the bank so that we can get a full payoff amount of the mortgage. If the numbers work well, I will be visiting her at the house tomorrow afternoon with a contract ready to go.

My plan is to use hard money and actually flip this house myself. The reason why is that most investors want to be at or under 70% ARV after purchase and rehab. But unlike other investors, I would rather make $10k minimum than to try and wholesale a deal that may not work for other investors. I have not seen the work that needs to be done, but judging from the photos she sent me, it may only need paint and some flowers out front. Other than that, I've projected a rough profit estimate of $10-25k (being conservative). These numbers will narrow out after I find out the true unpaid balance and visit the property.

So there it is!

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Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2013 · 23 posts · 27 votes
10y

Great job @Christopher Vargas!  Persistence and TAKING Action wins all day long.   I am in Orlando too.  Here is a video on 'Driving for Dollars' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdte60dnT8g for people who are not familiar with it.  My first wholesales in real estate back in 2004 came from that technique.  Instead of sending them letters, I knocked on the door of their mailing address to present the offers (because I need to turn a profit like ASAP at the time).  Even when they said no, I left the contract with them and told them it has a 24-hour deadline and let me know in case they change their mind... and they did!  Keep up the good work Chris! How many letters did you send to your list?

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  • Realtor · Fort Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2016 · 271 posts · 144 votes
    10y

    Great work! Hard work pays off!

  • Orlando, FL · Member since 2016 · 1 post · 0 votes
    10y

    Awesome job! Did you only send out 212 letters? 

  • Pelham, NC · Member since 2015 · 160 posts · 54 votes
    10y

    Congratulations on your first deal! I hope you have many more! That's encouraging for everyone ( including me ) still trying to get out the gate.

  • Saint Petersburg, FL · Member since 2013 · 110 posts · 38 votes
    10y

    Congratulations.....Good job!

  • Real Estate Agent · White Plains, NY · Member since 2015 · 84 posts · 21 votes
    10y

    congratulations.. now that you got your feet wet.. avenues will open.. about to go driving for dollars in about 20 minutes.

  • Orlando, FL · Member since 2015 · 90 posts · 11 votes
    10y

    I sent out 212 letters to Listsource absentee owner list and 20 or so letters to distressed houses I found when driving for dollars. Always have your eyes open! I take a lot of backroads for that reason. They are there just waiting to be cherry picked! For me, I keep it simple. I take down the address and look it up on Zillow to check out photos and past sales history. From Zillow I follow the link to the County Website and this is where I find the owners name and mailing address. If the owner's mailing address is different than the property address than BINGO! If not, I will refer back to my photos and probably mail to the owner anyways. You never know.

  • Real Estate Agent · Elmhurst, IL · Member since 2016 · 153 posts · 36 votes
    10y

    Wow!  Congrats on your 1st deals. .  Love your philosophy. Take a little  and leave a little for your buyer! 

    Good luck investing. 

    Don 

  • Bakersfield, CA · Member since 2016 · 543 posts · 281 votes
    10y

    This is a great success story for your first mailing! Absolutely inspiring!

    I agree with @Chris Boyd, hard work definitely pays off!

    Well done and congratulations! 

  • Orlando, FL · Member since 2015 · 90 posts · 11 votes
    10y

    Thanks everyone. 

    Here is what I've found.

    Every single call is a potential deal. Out of my 230 or so mailers, I've had 3 calls total the first week. The one in Lakeland, FL that turned a ghetto house into $1500 cash in my pocket, the call from Kissimmee, FL that has a $10-25k flip potential, and one message asking to take their name off the list (which is better for me because I don't want to spend anymore money marketing to people who have 0% response rate anyways).

    Just be light and conversational to your sellers and buyers

    You make your money on both ends of the deal, so negotiate the heck out of your seller's price (but be respectful and don't risk losing it) and use a realtor to give you true competitive comps on your sales price so you have supportive evidence for your price and cant get haggled too far down by your buyers, because they will try.

    Every cash buyer on my list wants their deals to be acquired at 70% of market value, including purchase and rehab. Do this for them and they will keep coming back. Even if they don't buy the first or second time, theirs always the third time, etc. And if you're bringing deals like that to their ballpark, you won't have any problems.

  • Currently RN--soon to be real estate investor · Kissimmee, FL · Member since 2015 · 4 posts · 1 vote
    10y

    Wow! That is awesome!  I look forward to being able to do this also.  Hubby and I are located in Kissimmee.  It's great to see someone locally making it work!  Keep up the good work and keep us posted.  

  • Casselberry, FL · Member since 2015 · 34 posts · 0 votes
    10y

    Congratulations on a good start.

  • Orlando, FL · Member since 2015 · 79 posts · 21 votes
    10y

    Congrats! 

  • Concord, NC · Member since 2016 · 9 posts · 6 votes
    10y

    Congrats on your success!!! Looking forward to hearing more. Question for you. When you sent out the letters to the absentee owners, did you simply ask them if they were interested in selling and if so to call you?

  • Orlando, FL · Member since 2015 · 90 posts · 11 votes
    10y

    @LaSaundra SpencerYes thats all I did.

  • Investor · Tavares, FL · Member since 2015 · 110 posts · 24 votes
    10y

    Proof you don't need a ton of money to get started. Very well done, hustle pays off yet again

  • Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2013 · 23 posts · 27 votes
    10y

    Great job @Christopher Vargas!  Persistence and TAKING Action wins all day long.   I am in Orlando too.  Here is a video on 'Driving for Dollars' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdte60dnT8g for people who are not familiar with it.  My first wholesales in real estate back in 2004 came from that technique.  Instead of sending them letters, I knocked on the door of their mailing address to present the offers (because I need to turn a profit like ASAP at the time).  Even when they said no, I left the contract with them and told them it has a 24-hour deadline and let me know in case they change their mind... and they did!  Keep up the good work Chris! How many letters did you send to your list?

  • Orlando, FL · Member since 2015 · 90 posts · 11 votes
    10y

    Good advise @Sandra Edmond. I thought about door knocking too but just didn't have time for it this time around. Its a great idea to initiate direct contact with potential sellers.

    To answer your question, I mailed out around 230 letters to potential sellers. Still only three responses and now in the 2nd week. I will be mailing to my list once a month for the next 6 months. If I can close one more deal before than, I will use some of the profits toward a larger list.

    UPDATE:

    The lady that fell ill in Kissimmee have stayed in contact over the past week. I found out that her outstanding mortgage balance is $96k. My max offer to her was $110k cash and close within 30 days (ARV $150k). Unfortunately, she did not pay her attorney this month so this may drag on another week or two before I can get the contract signed while the paperwork settles.

    If anyone has any advise on this situation, it would be greatly appreciated. Any real estate attorney wanna chime in?

  • National City, CA · Member since 2016 · 3 posts · 0 votes
    10y

    Congratulations on your success! Question, when working with motivated home owners how could you describe the process of negotiation?

    @Christopher Vargas

  • Orlando, FL · Member since 2015 · 90 posts · 11 votes
    10y

    I am negotiating a sale price from the moment I answer the phone. I will get all the pertanent info over the phone and tell them I will give them a call back shortly so that I can look up county records, sales history and comps. Call them back and find out how much they're looking for and we go from there. We end the call with a flimsy sales number to leave flexibility for the rehab work needed etc.

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