All Forum Posts by: Ben L.

Hi Demos,

I agree with you completely. The poor deals are a result of the poor job I was doing marketing and calling on the wrong crowd of sellers.

I am learning as I go and realize that I have a lot more to go through before i understand it all. Luckily I have this board and a good local group who are willing to help.

Would you care to share your marketing strategies that help find your deals? As I mentioned above my first mailing will start witha letter followed up with postcards to owners behind on their taxes.

Thanks.

Jon-

Thanks for chiming in. I do not discuss my ethics with the buyers that I have talked with. In all honesty though, these are things that are important to me persoanlly and the way I go about my business, not because of anyone elses opinion on what wholesaling should or should not be.

The deals that I have turned up so far that have not worked out:

1) An old assisted living facility that was halfway converted to apartments when the owner ran out of cash. Very little equity and still needed to be either fully converted to apartments or converted back to a facility. I had not spoken with anyone who showed interest in the property.

2) Two properties on the outer banks of NC that somehow came through my website. I have no buyers that are looking for vacation rentals and these are about 12 hours from my area. The seller has a little bit of equity but I dont know if there is enough to be a good deal for the end investor. These are not houses that would rent year round. The seller may be willing to do a subject-to but I still lack a buyer for that area and type of property.

3) A small single family home that had no equity but actually needed to sell. I bird-dogged it to another more experienced investor at our local REI club who is in the process (last I knew) of doing a short sale with it.

Other than those I am finding that a lot of the sellers are not motivated enough to sell the house for what it needs to make a good deal. I am learning how to structure subject-to deals for the investors that have said they would be into those.

I went to the treasury office on friday and should be getting my list from them on Monday of properties with back-taxes. I will be doing my first mailing as soon as the list comes in.

I do not have access to an MLS yet.

I would appreciate any other feedback you have.

Ryan,

I appreciate your reply. Although I would love quick succes (who doesn't?) I relize that this will take a while to get the hang of. Your reply helped to put this into perspective.

I really want to provide help for those who need to sell and great deals for those who want to buy. I also look to use the money from creating deals to start buying my own property.

I am focusing right now on learning the business, marketing, and general netoworking within my local REI community.

I am concerned that the buyers I have talked with think that I not serious because I am not constantly producing deals. I have been as honest as possible with them that I am just starting out but still worry.

Hwo did you deal with this when you were just begining?

Thanks again.

Hi Everyone!

I was wondering how long it took you that wholesale to do your first deal? I have been doing this for a little over 2 months with little luck.

I have made a lot of contacts, have been building my buyers list and plan to start my first mail campaign this weekend. Sometimes I get frustrated and feel like I am making no real progress.

I would like to know how long it took for you to get your first deal. 6 months ago I never knew a thing about wholesaling or REI in general. Is it wild to expect to get a deal this quickly?

Thanks!

A lead came through my webstie today that is a little bit out of my league and I was wondering if I could get some feedback to hopefully help these people in their situation.

The place used to be an assisted living facility and has been rented out as a small apartment place recently. Its a 4000sq ft house. With full wheelchair access, 10 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, and commercial grade kitchen. Recently the family that was renting moved out and now the owners are stuck with the payments and cant afford it. It could EASILY be returned to an assisted living facility if someone wanted to.

The assesed value is around 370,000 and they owe 250,000 on their first and only mortgage. Given the situation they would gladly accept what they owe to get out. Although the owner and I did not talk in depth about buying subject-to, I am fairly confident that they would accept to get them out of it.

I typically play in the SFH 2500 sq ft and less range, so most of my buyers are not interested. If anyone could offer any advice on how I could handle this situation I would appreciate it. At first glance it doesnt look possible.

Thank you!

Hi Everyone!

I read in another post here from a few years ago to mail to lenders as a way to find motivated sellers.

"Monday - Mail, Fax, or email Advertisement at least 15 letters to lenders and at the end of the 1st month you will have contacted 60 lenders. You will then start getting lenders to send you their lists before Anybody else. (takes about 30 minutes)"

Would anyone help expand on this for me? What kind of things should my mailing to them be asking for?

I appreciate your help!

Here is a link for anyone who wants to read the old post. Some very good info in there:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/187-a-few-more-ideas-on-finding-them-

Bump...any help on the title company point would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I too wouldlike to know more about the title company point you made Stephen.

Could you please offer a bit more on how to get the list?

I wholesale deals out Augusta County and surrounding areas (Charlottesville / Harrisonburg). If anyone is looking for properties in these areas let me know and we can talk.

There is a REI club in Charlottesville that meets once a month and we would love to see more new faces. If any of you find yourself up this way you are welcome to attend.

If there is anything I can do to help you out please don't hesitate to send me a PM.

I am seriously considering buying this course. Can anyone that has it give a little bit more detail?

Can this course take someone that has never done a deal in his life through his first one?

Does it detail areas like marketing and what to look for as far as deals?

Thank you for any feedback you can provide!

Ben