All Forum Posts by: Alex Capozzolo

@David Pappas first decide on your criteria of what you're looking for in a rental and stick to it. then try to practice looking at comparable properties in your area that meet that same criteria every day on sites like zillow and redfin ! Good luck in 2017 !!

@Account Closed Thanks ! A good way to keep up with new and upcoming real estate tech companies is to set up Google Alerts. 

https://www.google.com/alerts

^ from here, create an alert for "tech real estate", and receive daily updates on this evolving industry that will potentially drastically affect the way we do business in the future

Rob Gillespie those are very true words. We must all adapt or fall behind! Especially now more than ever before, we watch the generations below us become so dependent on technology for EVERYTHING. It will be interesting to see how comfortable people become performing tasks such as: putting a $1.5million offer on a home through a phone application Or pricing their home through an app, and then selling it with very minimal human contact I'm also very surprised Craigslist is used so frequently. It can absolutely be a scary place, but I do know plenty of people who found legitimate deals on it!

Close close close

Thoughts going into 2017? 

Hey BP !

The Situation: 

I am gearing up to take my California state exam to become a licensed Real Estate Agent this month. However, a few months back I fell into wholesaling, and enjoy it quite a bit! Many people say that the two conflict, and some say it's even illegal to do both. I've heard of some agents who even went back and cancelled their licenses to return to a pure wholesaler. So that may leave me with a decision to make. I am interested in doing both simultaneously, but my first priority is doing it right and following the rules. I've searched through tons of previous posts, along with some google searches, and can't find absolute answers to this potential conflict. So before I begin to read the 800 pages of California Real Estate law - CalBRE Law - I thought I would ask the experts of BP first !

Here are some Yes/No questions that I am still searching for definite answers too:

1.) Marketing material (yellow letters, flyers, etc) - As a licensed agent, I need to always disclose I am a licensed agent upfront on the marketing piece?

 - From some of my call backs from yellow letters, many people say they would not have called me back if I were an Agent. 

2.) Wholesale closing period - During Closing, if I'm a licensed agent and attempting to wholesale a house through a double escrow closing, I need to disclose to both parties the profit that I am making as a wholesaler in the transaction? 

- I know agents need to act in the best interest of the principal and not abuse their knowledge to make profits on principals. 

Curve ball:

I've partnered with a local Wholesaler who does his wholesaling through his LLC.

If I become licensed:

3.) Can I still send out letters myself but have the letter be addressed and sent from his wholesaling LLC, and he field the calls himself?

3a.) If so, can I have him take the seller through the entire wholesaling process and we split the profit?

3b.) Can I still help him out with any of this process, or do I need to be completely removed?

Thank you so much BP, sorry this was long, just want to get my facts straight!!! Any feedback is appreciated :) good luck in 2017 everyone 

Congratulations! I am in a very similar boat, been wholesaling for the past few months and am about to take the state exam in CA to be a licensed agent. Have been looking into local, small brokerages with more flexibility! Do you plan on being an agent full time? Long term?

I haven't decided yet. Not sure if I can afford to go full time just yet since most agent gigs are only commission. I'm planning on contacting smaller brokerages that don't have as many requirements (like a certain amount of floortime hours per day). What's your plan of attack?

I am also about to be licensed shortly, and from what I've gathered it's all marketing marketing marketing. Build your online presence on every possible media available, and then build it some more. Talk to everyone, tell them what you're doing. Network and build that pipeline. Go to meetups, seminars. And figure out your primary marketing strategy (direct mail, paid online advertising, website, social media, all of the above)

Good luck and much success !

A bit depends on your end goal >>> Wholesaling, Buy/Hold, Flipping, etc. 

I haven't done too much driving for dollars but there are gems to be found! I would send letters out immediately. The quick you get them out, the quicker you'll find a deal. And remember, others are looking to so there may only be a small window of time to lock down a property. The skill of analyzing local comps will come with time, I wouldn't worry about that too much until you start getting calls back. However, doesn't hurt to analyze a few deals a week to keep you up to speed with market rates in your area.

Lastly, everyone has different mailer techniques. I switch up everything (i.e. the color of the envelop, the size of the envelop, the color of the letter, what the letter says). The point is to catch someone's eye and hope they don't throw it in the trash (which is what 95% will do). I print out my own to save $ instead of ordering them, takes a bit but increases margins. Anything handwritten (or looks handwritten) will increase return

Good luck!