Wholesaling Newbie Q's

[Robert W]

As a Christmas present this year from the company, it was announced that my job will probably be outsourced overseas and my being laid off during the first half of this 2011…at my age and with a family to support I need to explore other opportunities to keep income coming in as the wife’s job is not capable of supporting us. Before the sword falls, I would like to begin acting now since the current position allows me to stay at home with our special needs child…and I would like to maintain that situation in the best interests of our child.

I’ve been a lurker for quite some time and a member reader since ____. After reading many, many posts on here, and together with the likely financial situation, wholesaling SFR’s looks like the most prudent way to proceed.

I’ve looked for the answer to my questions on the site and if it is on the blog already, I apologize in advance….

1) From what I have read, it is best to looking for wholesale properties and buyers who are in your local area….if this is accurate…why would a wholesale buyer deal with me other than to find a possible purchase property which they did not know about….and since the buyer is going to want to look at the property, he/she could go to that person and work their own deal outside of my involvement and save themselves my profit on the deal?

2) A number of gurus promote “remote†wholesaling…that is, working deals in a non-local area…if the above is true (only working your local area) is it genuinely feasible to wholesale remotely?

I’m sure that responses will lead to follow on questions and I thank everyone who takes time to read and/or reply.

[Will Barnard]

Robert,

1. A buyer would buy from you for 2 simple reasons, either than can not find a deal on their own, or they rely on others because they do not have the time or resources to do so themselves. The reson they do not go direct to the source is either because you beat them to it and have it under contract, or the source of the potential investment was not public info (not on MLS, or arranged prior to MLS). To be a successful wholesaler, you need several things. A. The ability to locate and contract great discounts on properties which requires contacts and RELATIONSHIPS. B. The ability to build a real and large buyers list. C. The ability to properly analyze property values and teh current market conditions, along with teh knowledge to properly estimate accuartely, the repair costs. D. and finally, the ability to shop for what your buyers are looking for and not shop for a property, then a buyer for that property. In other words, find out what your buyer wants first, then fill that want.

2. First off, anything coming from a guru's mouth should be taken with a grain of salt and secondly, if it were that easy, they would be making the easy millions doing that very thing, not teaching it. Teaching and educating properly takes a lot of time and is not a profitable venture. It is for gurus simply becuase they don't really teach you the details needed and provide ongoing counseling to get you around the many roadblocks. That said, it is possible to wholesale from afar. I have yet to do so, but did come very close on a fairly large deal. The reason you should concentrate on yoru local area is so that you can know your market inside and out. Wholesalers who have properties all over the country can not possible have enough knowledge of each local market. Not only that, to have good enough contacts and relationships in so many markets to lock good enough spreads to wholesale would be a feat in itself.

If you want to learn and do it right, learn the basics first. Market analysis, financials, rehab expenses, and building a buyers list effectively.

If you have additional questions, please ask them. Good luck to you.