All Forum Posts by: Aaron Lietz

 Hi Stephan, 

I actually only agree that it will take a long time to find the right deal (if you are buying retail), but I don't buy retail. I focus on off market deals and use private/hard money to buy them cash and then BRRRR or use another exit strategy. For my investing preferences I learned a while ago that I wanted cashflow and instant equity (all while not having to compete with the public/retail buyers who shop the MLS).

 Austin, totally! I wholesale as well and focus on creative finance. If you have dead leads that are not good for wholesale (low equity, negative equity, low spread) I can work those leads and pay you if I close them. Let's turn trash into cash!

Hi Jessie,

I too discovered this some years ago (that buying retail, in most cases, just wasn't worth it for my goals). The market is too hot and cash buyers swoop in on great retail deals very quickly. It sounds like buying wholesale is going to be your way. Develop relationships with local wholesalers (and private/hard money lenders). Get put on their buyers list and you just might find a property that fits your criteria (off market). Keep in mind though, these deals also go very quickly but you won't be competing with the entire retail market. 

Have you checked out the rents in your area? Are you able to cashflow the property by renting? Some investors I know do AirBnB by using technology (such as auto locks for the doors that allow you to use a phone app) and hire a manager, others get creative by hiring a group home manager (turning the house into a group home for greater cashflow). Personally, unless I'm selling for a 1031 exchange, I'm not selling.

 It's not easy to find.

Hey Ethan, 

It all depends on what is important to you. What kind of an investor do you want to be? Is cashflow most important or is appreciation and loan paydown? Right now, many markets are super hot (meaning expensive) and many times "great deals" are getting cash offers from seasoned investors, and going very quick. This makes it difficult for a new investor when attempting to find a deal that cashflows enough to make it worth buying (depending on your goals). 

If cashflow is most important to you (and in my opinion it should be), then you might consider buying off market deals. This also saves you money and you can often times find deals with built in equity. Find the best wholesalers in your area while establishing relationships with hard money lenders that will fund your deals. Comping properties is not difficult. You just have to practice it and know your market. Get involved in some local real estate investor groups in your area. I know many real estate investors (who are realtors) and they don't buy using realtors! LOL. They buy off-market deals (using wholesalers or market to find those deals themselves), use hard money to do rehab, and then rent and REFI or flip. Examples of this are Cody Barton, Jamil Damji, Brent Daniels, and Jerry Norton. 

You can get put on wholesaler cash buyer lists and they will send properties to you on a regular basis. Just remember though, these deals get snatched up very quickly (since they are often far below market value) and so you need to know how to run numbers. If you subscribe to BP you can use their calculators. I also use PropStream. 

 

I almost bought a 4 plex there about a year ago. I had it under contract for $236k and it would have cashflowed about $700/mo (total) right out of the gate. It was just south of downtown though and I was told it was a bad area. So I backed out during the inspection period. Maybe I should have done it, not sure! LOL. 

Are you sure about this? I know of people, right now (today) who are both currently doing successful wholesaling/flipping/investing while also training others to do it (either in their markets or in other markets, through the avenue of video or teaching virtual wholesaling). Now granted, some of them have now hired acquisitions teams but this seems to be after they successfully did it themselves.  Examples of this are Pace Morby (subto dot com), Jamil Damji (AstroFlipping/KeyGlee), and Brent Daniels (TTP). There are lots of testimonials (both video and website) from their students. Additionally, most of them have been featured on many podcasts such as BP or Real Estate Disruptors. Are these all faked? 

Thank you for the reply. Undoubtedly there are people out there who have paid the $10k for the training program (and/or mentoring) and have made that back with their first deal (and then some). I think that's the main argument from their side, "Hey, yes the mentoring might look expensive at first, but then again, it's actually cheap in comparison to the amount of value you are getting. I'm going to teach you the 'secrets' and/or techniques I use (that most people don't know about) in order to get up and running much faster. You will then have a system you can repeat over and over (just like I did) that will likely make you way more than $10k (provided that you stick to it and grind hard everyday). 

On the other side though, I do see your point. "Hey, you can find all of this information yourself (either online for free, or cheaply at places like Audibile, Amazon, BP, etc). It might come down to convenience. How much time do I want to spend using the at-home DIY education approach versus hiring someone to teach me what they are doing? 

Hello all, I've been reading, listening, and studying real estate investment pathways for a couple of years now and one thing I keep coming across are RE wholesaler "mentor" programs. Here I'm thinking of courses like Brent Daniels (TTP), Astroflipping (Jamil Damji/KeyGlee), Pace Morby (subto.com), Ron LeGrand, Chris Chico, and many others. These programs typically cost from $5,800-$10,000 (although I have heard that some can be talked down to as little as $800-$2,500).

The question that keeps coming to my mind is; Why are they doing this? I understand they make good money by selling you and I the ability to access a bunch of videos on how to start a wholesale business but isn't this really just a conflict of their own interests? Aren't they basically just creating even more competition for themselves and thus making it harder for them to continue wholesaling? I don't know of any other major business models that would do this (such as Pepsi starting a mentor program on how to start/run your own cola company and then compete with them for the same customers). 

The second and perhaps even bigger question is; Are they selling these programs because wholesaling is even harder than they make it appear? In other words, could it be they know that wholesaling (in many major markets) is saturated and doing it successfully is harder than they let on; thus selling you the dream on how to do it is more profitable? I've heard about this with some real estate "gurus" on YouTube who actually make way more money in YouTube ads than they do their own real estate business! Perhaps it's just a combination of the two? 

Additionally, could it be that they are counting on the fact that most people will buy their training programs and then either 1) only do a deal or two or 2) not follow through in starting a full fledged wholesaling business? I wonder if there is something I'm missing here. 

I would like to hear your thoughts and I am specifically interested in hearing from those of you who are currently wholesaling successfully (i.e. - doing at least 1-5 deals per month - either wholesaling or doing creative finance deals). 

What do you think? Am I way off base here? 

Thanks all! 
Aaron Lietz
Door&Key