LA/OC wholesalers: still a people business, or a marketing budget arms race?

Question

Question for the LA and OC wholesalers out there.

I spent a few years around the wholesale world, and back then it felt like the people who won were the ones who were just really good with sellers. Great on the phone, built trust fast, followed up forever. Lately it seems like every conversation is about who's spending the most on PPC, texting, and lists, and who has the biggest acquisitions team.

And SoCal is its own thing. Prices are high, most sellers are sitting on a ton of equity, and it feels like everyone is chasing the same off-market deals. So I'm curious what you all think. Is it still a people business out here, or does whoever spends the most win?

A few things I'd love to hear:

• If you were starting over in LA or OC with a small budget, what would you do first?
• Where are your best deals actually coming from? Paid marketing, or referrals and follow-up?
• How do you get a seller with that much equity to take a discount?
• How are you finding (and keeping) good acquisitions reps?

If you were starting over in LA or OC with a small budget, what would you do first?

Where are your best deals actually coming from? Paid marketing, or referrals and follow-up?

How do you get a seller with that much equity to take a discount?

How are you finding (and keeping) good acquisitions reps?

Would love to hear from solo folks and bigger teams. And does it feel any different in the Valley vs. the South Bay vs. OC?

Judith Jonathan · Answer

I agree with Lee that follow-up is where a small budget wins. In the back offices I support as a VA, a lot of the deals that close started as a "not now" months earlier. What makes that work is simple: every seller who talks to you gets a next-contact date and a one-line note on what they said, so the next call picks up where the last one stopped. With high-equity sellers, I would keep notes on their timeline and what is pushing them to sell, because that is usually what makes certainty worth more to them than price.

Jeremy White · Answer

With a small budget in Los Angeles, the slow part is usually knowing where to point your effort before you spend on ads and texting. In Los Angeles we gather residential building permit filings from official records, one time, not a subscription, so you can see which parts of the city have renovation work starting. If most of your deals are inside Los Angeles itself, how are you finding sellers right now?

Lee Futcher · Answer

It's still a people business. Spend gets you into more conversations. Follow-up is what closes them.

I'm not a wholesaler, but I've spent 13 years building sales and follow-up systems for business owners, and the pattern holds everywhere:

1. Paid leads are the most expensive deals you'll ever make. The cheapest one is the seller who said "not now" six months ago and nobody called back.

• On a small budget, start with one list type and a tracker that shows who's due for a touch today. Consistency beats volume.
• Sellers sitting on big equity rarely discount for price. They discount for certainty and speed. Lead with how clean and simple the close is.

On a small budget, start with one list type and a tracker that shows who's due for a touch today. Consistency beats volume.

Sellers sitting on big equity rarely discount for price. They discount for certainty and speed. Lead with how clean and simple the close is.

When you look back at your best deals, how many came on the first call versus the fourth or fifth touch?

LA/OC wholesalers: still a people business, or a marketing budget arms race?

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