My two cents: If you have safety nets in place, and a year of savings, then jump into an aspect of real estate or investing that has bigger profit margins and is more time-effective than wholesaling. You have enough capital to reasonably become a successful agent or get into other types of real estate investing that pay better dividends and require less effort. Wholesaling is very time-intensive, and very low paying. The margins are slim, and you bust your butt and expend a lot of time and effort to eke out a few dollars. You said it yourself: go big or go home! But wholesaling is going small!

Originally posted by @Melanie Hartmann :

Hi All! I had to share. Against all conventional advice and wisdom, I've just quit my job. My fiance's job brings enough for us to cover are needed expenses and I have about a year's worth of savings built up on top of that. I have not done any deals yet but am planning to get into wholesaling ASAP. Just wanted to share. I'm going all in!

Sometimes you just have to go with your gut. Go for it Melanie! Squelch out the detractors and go for it full force. There will ALWAYS be naysayers when making a major decision. Plus you have a really good safety net on top of it, so your risk is definitely minimized..Good Luck from a fellow Baltimorian Wholesaler.

Originally posted by @Yoni Ramras :
@Melanie Hartmann I think you are getting the signals that many experienced real eatate investors here are telling you mixed up. Everyone is pretty much telling you that it is a great aspiration and if that is what you want to do then you should do it. But, if you read into what most of the experienced investors are telling you it is to only start doing this with an in depth education in wholesaling, solid game plan, timeline and budget in place prior to setting off on this adventure. Self confidence is great when it is backed by experience and knowledege. But when it is blind confidence due to thinking that you can do anything because you are you it becomes a very dangerous attribute. “A goal without a plan is just a dream”. There is no good reason to quit your job if you are doing it just because you want to wholesale. It is even probably a bad idea if that is the reason. It definitely will not help start your new wholesaling profession.

Im sorry but there is such a thing as overthinking something,there is a difference between jumping in without a paddle and jumping in and swimming for the paddle that you can see

Originally posted by @Melanie Hartmann :

Originally posted by @Lesli Watson:

Hey @Melanie Hartmann!!! My husband referred me to this thread b/c he noticed it was getting so much negativity and he thought you might need a little ENCOURAGEMENT!!!!! YOU GO, GIRL!!!! I'm doing the same thing as you and I'm 1 month in and on the precipice of my first deal!!! It can be done and with the right attitude and work ethic you WILL be successful! The key for me is to remember through all the rejections there will be those people that I can truly help out of a distressed time! One really helpful thing that I have done is join my local Real Estate Investors Club. Those are like-minded folks that have a FB group and meet regularly and befriending them has provided me leads and even partners on deals! Best thing I've done for my wholesaling business so far! Hang in there and tell me when you close your first deal!!! It's exciting and fun! YOU CAN DO IT!

That's awesome Leslie! Haha and so kind of your husband too! I really do plan to make this work. I'm excited to hear that, overall, it's going well for you. Now that I no longer have that job, I'll actually have time to go to the my local REIA meetings and such. I've been wanting to for MONTHS! Now, I can. That does seem to be the next Big step for me that I get to take now. I'm pumped! Glad to hear that the REI groups have helped! I was hoping that would be the case.

Melanie -- GO TO A REIA! Its incredible what you can learn there from like mided people as well as potentially meet many great connections in the business. I had to push myself to go to my first REIA because im not great at social events but it was really an eye opener.. look at MAREIA and Baltimore REIA.

Originally posted by @Rodney Owens :
@Melanie Hartmann I want to go the same, maybe we can work together I'm looking for hard money leader would you happen to know any in the mpls mn area?

 Hi Rodney, I do not know anyone out that way. Maybe check around on BP for someone?

Become WHOLESALE! You can do this!

Originally posted by @Jerryll Noorden :

Originally posted by @Ned Carey:

@Melanie Hartmann I can't recommend you or anyone else do what you did. The reason is, statistically you will fail. 

However I can also tell you that, people who try to keep one toe in the water as a safety net fail at even greater rates. People who go all in like you tend to be more successful because they don't have another option. You become successful because you have to.

There are lots of active members here from Baltimore to network with and lots of investing groups in the baltimore area. Search here for the Friday landlord lunch which is one of the best groups for networking

 I like this feller!

And not just because he has a beard!

 Jerryll  I am nominating you for a pod cast  @Mindy Jensen   you can talk about your SEO which I don't understand but maybe you can teach others.. and watching your rise.. your the essence of the BP.    but I knew that between the robotics and other stuff I could not figure out what you mean.. your a driven dude.. and I was one of the first to give you a little bit of tough love.. but once you cracked the code your a winner.. but then again you would win at any sales and marketing you just happened to chose real estate.

Did you build your website yourself?

Never give up on your dreams! Push hard as you can!

Originally posted by @Derrick Burtle :

Did you build your website yourself?

Never give up on your dreams! Push hard as you can!

Thank you Derrick!

And absolutely not! That alone would probably take me a year, haha.

Originally posted by @Terrell Williams :
@Mercedez H. From what I've heard about wholesaling...it can be very lucrative

 out of curiosity where'd you hear this... from what I've heard it's the exact opposite with a few exceptions.

Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs :

Originally posted by @Jerryll Noorden:

Originally posted by @Ned Carey:

@Melanie Hartmann I can't recommend you or anyone else do what you did. The reason is, statistically you will fail. 

However I can also tell you that, people who try to keep one toe in the water as a safety net fail at even greater rates. People who go all in like you tend to be more successful because they don't have another option. You become successful because you have to.

There are lots of active members here from Baltimore to network with and lots of investing groups in the baltimore area. Search here for the Friday landlord lunch which is one of the best groups for networking

 I like this feller!

And not just because he has a beard!

 Jerryll  I am nominating you for a pod cast  @Mindy Jensen   you can talk about your SEO which I don't understand but maybe you can teach others.. and watching your rise.. your the essence of the BP.    but I knew that between the robotics and other stuff I could not figure out what you mean.. your a driven dude.. and I was one of the first to give you a little bit of tough love.. but once you cracked the code your a winner.. but then again you would win at any sales and marketing you just happened to chose real estate.

I was always a rebel, stubborn, not much faith in the knowledge of others. There are 3 people that held my hand when I was still a noob... and one of the 3 people .. was not you!

Just kidding.

You have been by  my side since the mortal days man! I owe you a shirley temple!

Seriously.. if you want to learn SEO or if you want me to help you do it, I am more than willing.. especially if you get  me to hawaii and do it there.. but from my crappy bedroom is OK too..

Yeah man, you were giving me tough love, but I knew you loved me! ^_^

Who can resist my cute monkey face

GAAAAAdamn! I am sexy!

Originally posted by @Matt K. :

Any input on where to have logo done? Been tossing the idea of 99logos but it's way cheaper on fiverr or similar...

 Most logo makers have a template they go off on. This means  most logos have this "I an't put my finger on it but all these logos kinda feel the same".

I would suggest this..

Make your own. You don't have to be great at photoshop, if you stay simple.

Originally posted by @Matt K. :

Originally posted by @Terrell Williams:
@Mercedez H. From what I've heard about wholesaling...it can be very lucrative

 out of curiosity where'd you hear this... from what I've heard it's the exact opposite with a few exceptions.

 There's a "right" and a "wrong" way to do anything. I'm doing this the "wrong" way according to the masses. Good, because if the masses were doing this, it would truly be a waste of my time. I will fail and go back to a W-2 job with my "tail" between my legs. Right? I mean that's what the statistics say. Statistics have never bothered me. In fact, I rather love statistics (to a point, then it's just too complicated for my little brain). Statistics are a number and they mean very little. They are just "odds" and a tweak here or there and the very same numbers will give you very different results. In grad school, one of my professors was teaching us a 'NEW' way to analyze the effectiveness of an intervention. We used 2-3 different ways of analyzing said numbers, they all gave us a different answer and he, our professor, and the rest of the class - we couldn't make sense of it because it didn't make any damn sense. Also, you can manipulate charts and graphs to "show" anything you like because they are visual and we are merely human. It's really funny actually.

Opening your own business can be lucrative in general, but most burn straight to the ground. Some recover, case in point "Lego," check out their history. They almost completely died out, now it's EVERYWHERE. I'm just saying, statistics don't mean anything to the one person who makes it. You just got to find a way to make it work, until it REALLY DOESN'T, then go on to something else or try a different strategy. Being open and always learning and adapting are key here. The original owners of McDonald's were not willing to adapt and they were bought out and well, they missed out on what McDonald's has become because they didn't want to change and grow with the guy who ultimately bought them out.

Just as a side note... these "scores" for the Top Contributors on the right-hand side. Jay Hinrichs score is 8.58. My score has been going up and up and up. It's now at 7.72. It's basically saying I'm almost as good as Jay? I don't know what they hey that "score" means or is. It is meaningless. Jay and I are no where near on the same level of pretty much anything. You wouldn't know that just by looking at the scores though, now would you? 

I wish you the very best and will forever send you good vibes. If and when you ever have any issues, feel free to ask in BP. You're going to have to hit the ground running so the more questions you ask as you go, the faster you will learn.

Also, you're going to come across some of those wholesale seminar people very soon. You're going to want to save you money for deals rather than give it to them.

Just and fyi

Good luck!

@Melanie Hartmann Go get em' Melanie, I hope you're not discouraged by what I'm sure is the sincere concern of others, however everyones definition of success is different so should/will their paths to getting there vary. Focus focus focus.

 I wish you much success!

@Melanie Hartmann ; wow, congrats!  Wish you all the success!

Originally posted by @Melanie Hartmann :

Hi All! I had to share. Against all conventional advice and wisdom, I've just quit my job. My fiance's job brings enough for us to cover are needed expenses and I have about a year's worth of savings built up on top of that. I have not done any deals yet but am planning to get into wholesaling ASAP. Just wanted to share. I'm going all in!

 You can do it. Be obsessed with learning and taking action.....

Originally posted by @Melanie Hartmann :

Originally posted by @Matt K.:

Originally posted by @Terrell Williams:
@Mercedez H. From what I've heard about wholesaling...it can be very lucrative

 out of curiosity where'd you hear this... from what I've heard it's the exact opposite with a few exceptions.

 There's a "right" and a "wrong" way to do anything. I'm doing this the "wrong" way according to the masses. Good, because if the masses were doing this, it would truly be a waste of my time. I will fail and go back to a W-2 job with my "tail" between my legs. Right? I mean that's what the statistics say. Statistics have never bothered me. In fact, I rather love statistics (to a point, then it's just too complicated for my little brain). Statistics are a number and they mean very little. They are just "odds" and a tweak here or there and the very same numbers will give you very different results. In grad school, one of my professors was teaching us a 'NEW' way to analyze the effectiveness of an intervention. We used 2-3 different ways of analyzing said numbers, they all gave us a different answer and he, our professor, and the rest of the class - we couldn't make sense of it because it didn't make any damn sense. Also, you can manipulate charts and graphs to "show" anything you like because they are visual and we are merely human. It's really funny actually.

Opening your own business can be lucrative in general, but most burn straight to the ground. Some recover, case in point "Lego," check out their history. They almost completely died out, now it's EVERYWHERE. I'm just saying, statistics don't mean anything to the one person who makes it. You just got to find a way to make it work, until it REALLY DOESN'T, then go on to something else or try a different strategy. Being open and always learning and adapting are key here. The original owners of McDonald's were not willing to adapt and they were bought out and well, they missed out on what McDonald's has become because they didn't want to change and grow with the guy who ultimately bought them out.

Just as a side note... these "scores" for the Top Contributors on the right-hand side. Jay Hinrichs score is 8.58. My score has been going up and up and up. It's now at 7.72. It's basically saying I'm almost as good as Jay? I don't know what they hey that "score" means or is. It is meaningless. Jay and I are no where near on the same level of pretty much anything. You wouldn't know that just by looking at the scores though, now would you? 

 I don't think anyone is saying you're doing "it" the wrong way, if by "it" you mean pursuing an alternative career. I think the point that's trying to get pushed across is why wholesale? There's plenty of ways to make money in Real Estate and there's plenty examples of high performers doing just the role they chose..... 


But again it falls back to why wholesale and not one of the the other ways that typically better returns on time/money spent... 

And to clarify it's not that you can't or won't be successful, it's that you seem to have resources that would allow you to tackle something with a higher barrier of entry than wholesaling (which traditionally people use as a stepping stone vs focusing on just that).  Also to add, we know you needed a job change so it isn't about that either, it's soley about how'd you come to setting your sights only on wholesale vs (insert million and one ways to make money in real estate).