Inland Empire CA · Member since 2019 · 45 posts · 18 votes
What’s the best way to invest $1,000 starting as a newbie in Real Estate wholesaling? What marketing strategies? Etc... I’m in the Los Angeles Orange County market.
As far as a $1,000 budget, I would probably do a few things:
1) design and buy a back window sticker for your car (or tailgate of your truck) so when you’re driving around folks will see what you do (very cheap and effective advertising). Make sure it shows what you do (“we buy houses” and your phone number). Use Fiverr.com and pay someone to design you a graphic.
Maybe buy some magnets for the sides of the vehicle as well (remove them at night)
2) buy T-shirt’s with your design on them. Screen-print your design on the shirt- front and back.
3) have business cards ready when people ask about your shirt, car graphic, and during a conversation. Vistaprint.com is the best.
4) perhaps use some of the money to have an attorney draw up an assignable contract specific to your needs or your state.
5) maybe use grasshopper.com as a phone service to keep things sounding professional.
6) make videos about what you do and upload them on Facebook.
7) use some of the $1,000 to use as due diligence money (give a potential home seller $100 cash in order to put the home under contract for 30-45 days until you find a buyer). You don’t get this money back.
8) make your own website ($20 per month) to look professional
9) avoid bandit signs. It’s tempting, but I wouldn’t recommend them.
10) get to know, and maybe shadow, a home inspector.
11) know your numbers!!! Novice wholesalers’ scopes of work never project an accurate rehab budget for investors. Always add 20% to your scope of work. Also, go to Lowe’s or HD and get to know the costs of things like bathroom sinks, vanities, the cost of carpet or hardwoods, paint, doors, countertops, etc.
12) invest in J. Scott’s materials offered by Bigger Pockets. This will help you think like an investor and I think it includes a scope of work spreadsheet if I remember correctly. ($69).
You should learn all you can about wholesaling first Kenneth. There are a lot of great resources on this site. Get educated on what you are trying to do exactly before you spend money. You can then decide the best use of your $1,000.
I don't know how viable a strategy wholesaling is in Southern California with the current market conditions, especially on a limited budget. If you do pursue wholesaling, I would focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It can be done with a lot less money than other marketing strategies. However, you will not see immediate results as it takes time to rank highly in the search engines.
As far as a $1,000 budget, I would probably do a few things:
1) design and buy a back window sticker for your car (or tailgate of your truck) so when you’re driving around folks will see what you do (very cheap and effective advertising). Make sure it shows what you do (“we buy houses” and your phone number). Use Fiverr.com and pay someone to design you a graphic.
Maybe buy some magnets for the sides of the vehicle as well (remove them at night)
2) buy T-shirt’s with your design on them. Screen-print your design on the shirt- front and back.
3) have business cards ready when people ask about your shirt, car graphic, and during a conversation. Vistaprint.com is the best.
4) perhaps use some of the money to have an attorney draw up an assignable contract specific to your needs or your state.
5) maybe use grasshopper.com as a phone service to keep things sounding professional.
6) make videos about what you do and upload them on Facebook.
7) use some of the $1,000 to use as due diligence money (give a potential home seller $100 cash in order to put the home under contract for 30-45 days until you find a buyer). You don’t get this money back.
8) make your own website ($20 per month) to look professional
9) avoid bandit signs. It’s tempting, but I wouldn’t recommend them.
10) get to know, and maybe shadow, a home inspector.
11) know your numbers!!! Novice wholesalers’ scopes of work never project an accurate rehab budget for investors. Always add 20% to your scope of work. Also, go to Lowe’s or HD and get to know the costs of things like bathroom sinks, vanities, the cost of carpet or hardwoods, paint, doors, countertops, etc.
12) invest in J. Scott’s materials offered by Bigger Pockets. This will help you think like an investor and I think it includes a scope of work spreadsheet if I remember correctly. ($69).
Put the $2000 in your pocket and try to partner with an experienced wholesaler in the area. Maybe you can make his cold calls/lick his envelopes/drive around for him/knock on some doors/etc. Get some free/real life experience. Maybe it's not even viable in your area or it's not something you really would be good at. Find out before you spend any $$$
You should learn all you can about wholesaling first Kenneth. There are a lot of great resources on this site. Get educated on what you are trying to do exactly before you spend money. You can then decide the best use of your $1,000.
Isn't misleading sellers into signing a contract fraud if you have no intention of closing
@Kenneth Cisneros drive around or bike around look for properties with overgrown grass, full mailboxes until you have about 50 homes then skip trace the owners and cold call them slow and steadily build your pipe line up.
Marketing is the name of the game. If I were you I would try to save up a bit more. I would try to get between 3K and 5K.
BUT you could make it with 2K.
Do yourself a favor. Do a Google search for "Forced Traffic & Conversion". This I HONESTLY believe is you best bet making it with 2K. This strategy will have you not just make money but immediately focus on scaling and automating your wholesale business. Check it out!
@Jonathan Cisneros Mail can be effective for finding the off-market leads - especially if you have a day job.
The key will be getting a unique list - not one that every other investor is mailing to. This is especially true in Orange county where I keep reading is a very tight market.
Think about working with a list broker to pull a couple of the new motivated seller lists - like Owners with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS). List brokers can also add phones and emails to a list.
Craft a letter or phone script that talks about how easy YOU make it to sell their house.
No one can tell you how to spend your money. You got to sit down and learn as much as you can first, then make a decision based on what is best for you. I wholesale virtually and worked full time, so I invested in a virtual assistant to help me with cold calling. If you are not currently working full time, that may not be the strategy for you.
I suggest that you work with a wholesaler first. I’m currently doing it and I’ve learned more about knowing my numbers with him than I’ve learned from YouTube and reading. I’m doing some cold calling and I’ve even went to look at a property. Find a mentor.