Using Realtors to Find Cash Buyers via MLS

Wholesaling
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Using Realtors to Find Cash Buyers via MLS

Tara L.
Atlanta, GA · Member since 2011 · 65 posts · 0 votes

ALL:

A couple years ago, I took a course on Flipping Foreclosures but I've yet to complete a wholesale deal. I've recently relocated to a smaller market and decided that I would devote more time to investing. Before relocating, I contacted a realtor in my area and they've been in touch so here recently, I asked for a list of REOs and Short Sales in the area and received them. Next, I asked the realtor to provide information in regards to high cash transaction areas and a list of cash buyers in this area but it appears that they're dancing around my requests. They sent over the comps on one REO I've been researching, along with a note that 4 of the 12+ properties were purchased by cash buyers, but wouldn't provide any other information. I searched the county records for two of the properties but the records do not show any information in regards to the cash buyers. Is there any other way I can go about obtaining the information instead of being taken through countless hoops and rings with this realtor?

I'm interested in wholesaling until I build enough cash to pursue other areas of RE investing. I've been discussing the potential of short sales rising with the instructor from the Flipping Foreclosures course, but I want to make sure I have plenty of cash buyers lined up before I take on short sales as well as the price for the Short Sales course/mentoring program (will probably run about $8,000+). Any advice you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your response.

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J ScottPro Member
Moderator
Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 18k+ posts · 17k+ votes
13y

If you spent money on a course several years ago and didn't actually put the information into practice, why would you let this "instructor" talk you into spending another $8000?

Podcast Guest on Show The Truth About Real Estate Investing in 2024 (What Investors NEED to Know)
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  • J ScottPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 18k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    13y

    If you spent money on a course several years ago and didn't actually put the information into practice, why would you let this "instructor" talk you into spending another $8000?

    Podcast Guest on Show The Truth About Real Estate Investing in 2024 (What Investors NEED to Know)
    3Reply
  • Tara L.
    OP
    Atlanta, GA · Member since 2011 · 65 posts · 0 votes
    13y

    J, thanks for your response. During the first course, I didn't realize the amount of time and money I would have to put into wholesaling, so I couldn't do too much because of my work schedule and limited funds, but now, I'm in a better position to hit the ground running. Also, I felt a little discouraged about not putting together a deal. When I reached out to my former instructor to get advice on getting started again, I was told about the opportunities in short sales. I really want to be a successful RE investor and now that I have more time to devote to being successful, I'm trying to determine the best approach.

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Real Estate Investor · Member since 2012 · 189 posts · 32 votes
    13y

    Here's a great opportunity to exercise a skill that you will commonly need and use when "doing real estate investing!" Step back and assess where you think you want to be in REI and what you know so far. In taking a look at the big picture, where are all the gaps to getting to where you think you want to be. Then consider what your opportunity cost is. 8k less in your pocket means 8k you coulda spent on marketing (if you choose the wholesaler or even off market hunting for houses)... it could mean 8k less that you coulda spent on gas and resources you'll need to find the deals (once you know what you're looking for). that's also 8k less you can spend on getting your license and paying for the gold access to finding all the data you need to help determine clarity in what houses are worth pursuing or not.

    You're already on the right path coming to BP... start with the ultimate investor's guide that BP offers for free and spend a good 5 days (full time) learning and interacting w/the group here, THEN spend the next 30 consecutive days practicing and getting feedback as you go from what you've learned!

    the easy part is paying 8k to a "guru" and sitting thru a motivational speaker talking RE talk while mingling with the herd and feeling excited about what they're telling you you can do. the hard part (whether you take the guru course or not) will be the same for everyone starting - consistently taking action, searching for deals, running the numbers, networking w/people, rinse and repeat.

    you've done the easy part once before... this time you can skip the easy part and do the part that will reap you the rewards if you're consistent.

    good luck! the trainer can yell at you and pump you up w/motivation smoke over the next x days at his/her camp... but in the end, you're gonna have to do alllll the work - in the coming weeks and months.

    3Reply
  • Tara L.
    OP
    Atlanta, GA · Member since 2011 · 65 posts · 0 votes
    13y

    Kelvin, thanks for your response. I will focus on determining the type of investing that works best for me at the present time. The instructors are both experts in their areas of specialty, which is why I considered their courses. According to the instructors, some students are making over 6 figures implementing their investing strategies, and I want to be in the same category, so I thought it would be a good investment that would take me to new heights. I should focus on hitting the ground running so to speak and learn as I go. Thanks again Kelvin.

    0Reply
  • Karen MargraveBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer · Redding, CA · Member since 2009 · 7k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    13y

    Tara L. Welcome to BP. Paying money to gurus to tell you about real estate and paint rosy pictures is a waste of money. Every area of the country, even neighboring communities are different. There's no one size fits all. You would have been much better off using the money to get your real estate license, and then join MLS, which gives you access to all the info anyway.

    As for the reason the agent is sending you the names of cash buyers, imagine if every name of every cash buyer and their contract information were sent out to just anyone, it would be a mess. What you needed to do was build a relationship with the agent, and then, when you were in a position to sell something to a cash buyer, have the agent contact them to see if they were interested. You want the agent to do the initial work for you, and just hand it over to you letting you get all the benefits, that's not going to happen.

    I'd rethink my strategy if I were you. Do some research and find out what the market is in your area? Are there a lot of short sales? REO's, etc.? Because in many areas they're gone. Get to KNOW your local market.

    You might want to upload a pic to your profile, looks a little more professional. Don't be discouraged, used what has happened thus far as a stepping stone.

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  • Tara L.
    OP
    Atlanta, GA · Member since 2011 · 65 posts · 0 votes
    13y

    Karen, thanks for your response. I will definitely have to take a different approach. As for the new market, I've noticed that there are a few REOs and Short Sales on the market(the realtor sent over about 15 Short Sales and 20 REOs), but I don't see people doing much wholesale marketing in this area, so I'm assuming that the properties are bought by rehabbers or landlords directly. If I go out to Craigslist for a major city about an hour away, they're marketing wholesale deals in a similar fashion as investors in the DC and Baltimore areas. If I wanted to wholesale deals, do you think it would be wise to target the city that's an hour away?

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  • J ScottPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 18k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    13y
    Originally posted by Tara L.:
    The instructors are both experts in their areas of specialty, which is why I considered their courses. According to the instructors, some students are making over 6 figures implementing their investing strategies...

    I'm sure you'd say the same thing about the instructor and course you took a couple years ago, right? Yet, you haven't made 6 figures from that one...

    Do you think this course will present opportunities that are easier than the course from a couple years ago? It won't.

    The short sale strategy that you want to learn now is no more or less viable than the wholesaling strategy you learned about a couple years ago. I would suggest you take the information you learned a couple years ago and put that into action. Then, after you've made your first $8000 using those strategies, then you can decide if you want to invest that $8000 into a new set of courses.

    If you can't make $8000 from what you learned a couple years ago in another course, it's unlikely you'll be able to put the new course to work to make money. It's not about the courses...it's about you!

    Podcast Guest on Show The Truth About Real Estate Investing in 2024 (What Investors NEED to Know)
    0Reply
  • Tara L.
    OP
    Atlanta, GA · Member since 2011 · 65 posts · 0 votes
    13y

    J, thanks for your honesty. You're right, at the end of the day, it's about me. I will do as you've suggested and see what results I have in that particular area of investing. Thanks again.

    0Reply
  • Steve Babiak
    Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
    13y

    Tara L. at the top of the "Wholesaling" forum (click the link near the top of this thread to get there), you will find some sticky threads, one of which covers many approaches to finding buyers; I suggest you read that ...

    0Reply
  • Tara L.
    OP
    Atlanta, GA · Member since 2011 · 65 posts · 0 votes
    13y

    Thanks Steve. I'll take a look at it this evening.

    0Reply
  • Eric Hettena
    Real Estate Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2013 · 99 posts · 29 votes
    13y

    Tara, you are getting some amazing advice from everyone on this thread. Please, do not give away $8000 to some guru. It sounds so comforting to pay someone to give you all the information you need and then you will make it rich, but it doesn't work that way.

    Find out immediately where your REI meetings in your area are. Go to meetup.com and find where they are. Yes, go look now and commit to some of the meetings. Use some of the $8k and spend it on gas to get to those meetings. Network and develop relationships with other investors. Do not be worried about failure, it happens to everyone sometimes. Get out of your comfort zone. You can do it.

    0Reply
  • Tara L.
    OP
    Atlanta, GA · Member since 2011 · 65 posts · 0 votes
    13y

    Eric, thanks for the advice. When I actually take the necessary steps to get out of my comfort zone, I'm sure my investing career will be successful.

    0Reply
  • Eric Hettena
    Real Estate Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2013 · 99 posts · 29 votes
    13y

    How many REI meetings are in your area?

    I am not sure if you have any concerns, or fears, because you are a female in this mostly male dominated industry (my apologies if I am wrong), but listen to podcast 2 with Karen Rittenhouse. I listened to it last night and it is awesome.

    Also, check out the flip 2 freedom podcasts. They are free and very informative.

    Send out direct mail asap. Get sellers calling you and build rapport with them. Find out their problems and figure out how you can solve them.

    You got this, I know it.

    0Reply
  • Tara L.
    OP
    Atlanta, GA · Member since 2011 · 65 posts · 0 votes
    13y

    Eric, I will listen to Karen's podcast and I've been viewing the Flip 2 Freedom channel on Youtube all week. I plan to market to absentee owners in my area soon. Thanks for the words of encouragement.

    0Reply
  • Natasha Hylton
    Fontana, CA · Member since 2013 · 98 posts · 1 vote
    13y

    @Tara

    Please take the others advice and not give out that money, especially If you don't know their background. Always take the time to research people. There are too many scammers. I recently was asked to cough up $500 from a real estate investor for mentor/program from a sign near the free way exit and I turned him down. I said thanks, but not thanks. I do understand that a person times is valuable, but if that's there motive, then I suggest you go the opposite direction. There are too many information online , forums, books, etc. I happen to find someone from a youtube video today who talks about real estate investing and she's local which is great. I took the courage to call her and she was amazed at how I took the initiative to contact her and recite my goals and what i'm doing now. I told her that I'm new and have been building a small team and wanted to joint venture with her. She just so happen was open to the offer. So the moral of the story is, RESEARCH people first to see if they are knowledgable but also view if they're actually making moves and money of course :)

    0Reply
  • Tara L.
    OP
    Atlanta, GA · Member since 2011 · 65 posts · 0 votes
    13y

    Nastasha, thanks. I found the instructors through listening to a guy on Youtube back in 2011. One of the instructors was his mentor, which is why I wanted to work with them because the guy is doing well. They're all offering their individual courses now, but I felt it would probably be better to learn from his mentor since he is so successful. I researched them online and found them to be good people(I never found a negative review of them at all).

    0Reply
  • Ryan Becerra
    Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2013 · 32 posts · 4 votes
    13y

    Tara, J and Kelvin got it right, definitely take their advice.

    As far as another way to get a list of cash buyers you can check with your local Title company, We use Chicago Title Company for a majority of our deals here in Phoenix and they can usually provide whatever list we ask them for. They break it down as well, Lists for: cash buyers with more than 3 properties, Cash buyers with only one property, so on and so forth. I hope your title companies are able to Help.

    One last thing, I had tremendous trouble getting out of my Comfort Zone when i first started in Real Estate Investing. But you have to think, what do I want more? stay in my comfort zone and stay exactly where your at now or being uncomfortable and achieving way more than you ever possibly thought imaginable. I still get a little nervous sometimes , I am not going to lie, but either way we both have to keep pushing further than our comfort zones.

    Have an Amazing day and hope I could help.

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Orlando, FL · Member since 2013 · 165 posts · 62 votes
    13y

    Why does the $8000 guru say you need cash buyers? If you buy a house for $100,000 and list it with a Realtor for a price that allowed you to make a acceptable profit, pay some FHA or VA closing costs and a Realtor's commission, would that work? The secret is to buy the property right. You make money when you buy right. Selling is easy if you bought right in the first place. Are you looking at lots of houses for sale? That is how you will get out of your comfort zone. Go look at some houses.
    Be careful not to do anything that the attorney general would consider mortgage fraud.

    0Reply
  • Tara L.
    OP
    Atlanta, GA · Member since 2011 · 65 posts · 0 votes
    13y

    Thanks Ron. Yes, I've been looking at REOs and Short Sales from the MLS. The course instructors provided students with a cash buyers list shortly after an assignment we had, which was to find our own cash buyers through social networking, going to auctions to network with investors, and any other ways we could think to find leads. Once we submitted our assignment, they sorted the data and combined it with their list and distributed it to the students.

    With the short sales, the marketing is a big deal because we were taught to deal with sellers before they list with an agent and if the seller is a good candidate for a short sale, contact the instructors and get the process started. This is where I'm clueless because at this point, they do everything and students are encouraged to continue to market for other deals because short sales take time to process and because you want several deals lined up. From what I've gathered from another student that has completed a deal, that happened to be a short sale, when everything is approved, the student then markets the property and has to do so in a short timeframe(I believe it's 45 days but I'm not 100% sure). Once the deal is closed, the student and instructor split the profit.

    I'm slowly stepping out of my comfort zone and plan to look at more homes this week. I've also reached out to people here on BP in my local commuting area and received one response so far and hope to hear from the other people soon. Again, thanks for responding, and I hope you have a great week :)

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