All Forum Posts by: Braden C.

It's threads like this that really hammer home my belief that some people would be better off working at a mall kiosk instead of pretending to be a real estate "investor"... 

I am convinced that it's only lucrative if you sell pipe dreams. I put together a really good set of videos several years ago that would've made the learning curve much less steep for anyone getting into wholesaling. I can't remember exactly what I was asking for access to them but it was a nominal amount, maybe $200. The first question I always received from a potential customer was "how fast will I get my first deal if I buy your videos?" I would respond with an honest answer and that would be the end of the conversation. I wasn't willing to promise a huge check within thirty days like so many "gurus" do. I wanted people to actually setup a business with necessary capital, a business plan, knowledge of their market and I found that most people just don't want to do the work. 

I love coaching and I love helping others learn the business but I am not willing to do it for free or train someone in my market to become my competition. At some point in my life that will probably change, but not right now.  

As mostly everyone has already said, letters/postcards are extremely saturated in most markets. If everyone is zigging, you need to zag...

Our volume of deals has dropped from where it was in 2010-2013 but the lack of supply has increased our net on each deal. We send out over 100k pieces of mail per year though, so I am not sure how anyone new could compete unless they had substantial backing. 

We haven't had a D class property in a very long time, although those were the majority of our deals several years ago. As times have changed, we've adapted and continue to try and zig when others zag. 

I am licensed as well, and have been since I started. After three years I went ahead and got my brokers license so that I didn't have to pay a fee for each deal I did. Retail real estate is not for me though and I have the license to stay out of the gray area and save 3% on listing fees. 

The biggest complaint from those who don't wholesale, which I feel is justified, is the inability to close on the property if you can't find an end buyer. If you pretend you can close, when you really can't, and then cancel on a contract because you can't find a buyer, that's pretty unethical. If you tell a seller that you don't intend to close yourself but work closely with a large group of investors who can, and you will bring them a buyer for a fee that the buyer will pay, I don't see a problem. 

The other big complaint I see if robbing a seller of their equity. If you're presenting an offer and telling a seller that it's the most money they're going to get, it's unethical. I walk through the numbers with potential sellers and give them the comps so that they can make an informed decision. I make it very clear that I intend to make a profit and that the only way for me to accomplish that is to buy their property for under market value. Sellers are motivated for different reasons but if they're willing to sell at a discount then nine times out of ten it's because they have a problem that needs to be solved. 

I have the ability to close on every deal we put under contract but I still choose to wholesale about half. My risk tolerance on a deal is probably lower than most and I am happy to let others take on the big projects. 

Out of several hundred deals, I have never had a seller come back and complain or be upset at a closing table. I have, however, had countless tears of joy and many thank you cards. 

@John Cantu It's all a numbers game, once you figure out how many letters it takes to get a deal, you'll know how many you need to send per week/month. That will take time and you'll need to track everything. It's possible to send out 100 letters and get a deal but that won't average out over time. One big mistake I constantly see is someone sending out letters once and then giving up because they feel like they have a bad list or a bad letter. We try and "touch" our leads at least five times per year. When you see a commercial on TV, you usually don't just see it once. 

We've found that in our market, we need to send out about 1,000 letters to get a deal. We keep our mailings consistent and send out the same number of pieces every single week. Once we started this, our deal flow was more predictable and therefore so was our income. 

@Jesse Turner Wholesaling is much more difficult than what it seems, this is why so many people fail at it. Not only do you need to have a lot of real estate knowledge, you also need to be a great marketer, negotiator, problem solver, and salesperson. A good wholesaler can bring a lot to the table, but most good wholesalers have a small handful of regular buyers that they consistently use over and over again. 

Most "wholesalers" don't offer good deals. They routinely underestimate repairs and overestimate ARV. Like @Stephen Fryer said, ALWAYS verify. Do your research on the property, find out as much as you can. 

In the Sarasota/Bradenton area there are probably 20-30 people who call themselves wholesalers and maybe 3-4 who I would say are good at what they do. 

Thanks for the response @Thomas S., I am not unfamiliar with the states landlord tenant regulations. Unfortunately there is no written explanation within the regulations of a specific time of day the tenant has to pay their rent.

For example, the three day notice says the rent must be paid by July 11th, 2016. It doesn't say July 11th, 2016 by 5:00pm. 

I could see someone arguing to a judge that they dropped off rent at 11:59pm and therefor fulfilled their obligation within the three days. I would never go pick up someones rent at 9:30pm, but I wasn't sure if I had to make some type of delivery option available, no matter what time of day it was. 

Hopefully someone can give me a quick response to this question. I served a tenant with a three day notice last Wednesday and today (Monday) was their last day to pay. This has been a problem tenant who constantly pays late and not worth the hassle. I was supposed to pick up rent between 4-5pm but he never called. It's now almost 9:30pm and he wants me to come meet him to get rent. Am I required to meet the tenant so they can pay? Our office is closed and he won't be able to leave rent there, and I am certainly not giving him my home address. I can't find anything online about business hours or time of day to pay. 

I would like to go ahead and do the eviction but I want to make sure I am within my legal rights. Thanks!

@Edgar Soriano I still would've purchased the property, I would have just offered less. 

I am not sure why the quotes were so much different, the equipment was all the same. It was a very difficult job because of the property being heavily wooded. My guess is that some companies just didn't want the job so they bid super high.