All Forum Posts by: Dev Horn

What?  Me?  Make use of someone's image for the purpose of humor?  No way, Jose!

@Michael Quarles =)

This thread has exceeded the limits of anyone's ability to know what was previously said...

But yes, tell them, if you intend to assign the deal.  Don't say "wholesaling" tho, as that's a made-up word in our business that no one will understand.  When I'm going thru the contract, I tell them:

"I'm doing this deal with you and I alone am on the hook to make sure it happens.  I will be assigning it to our company, or to one of our partners, to get it funded...".

Rarely have anyone even question that, I think because if you just present as the way your process works, they don't really care.

WHY R.E. INVESTING - AND WHOLESALING  - EXISTS...

In general, RE brokers/agents are not good sources of cash deals because they do not do the kind of marketing we do. All they can do is email you junk deals off the MLS (usually trashed out, vacant, over-priced REOs). And the "investors" (cash buyers) represented by RE agents are the worst to deal with because they are almost always clueless.  I think the off-MLS world is a world in which licensed people are a bit lost.   Many of my friends and associates are licensed brokers/agents, but I do NOT want to deal with a listed property or a represented buyer.  Another big issue is it adds additional COSTS (commissions) that we do not need or want in these deals.

I could write a book on why the world NEEDS real estate investors, including wholesalers. The people that actually do this know exactly what I'm talking about.

Vertical integration certainly has it's appeal.  A ky challenge may be managing different disciplines in a single business - such as marketing & sales, general contracting, property management, brokerage, etc.

If you build such a business, there are advantages that I think you already understand.  To play devil's advocate a bit, the disadvantages may be (1) keeping the integrated team busy, having enough in the pipeline to fully utilize your staff and run efficiently all the time, and (2) when the market goes south, and it will, if you employ a lot of people, it's really hard to downsize quickly enough to stay efficient.  Really just capacity and staffing challenges that are manageable if you have a great mgmt team...

We have a client - Spartan Value Investors in Birmingham, AL - and I think they are a lot like what you're describing, and it helped them build a business that was recently named # 246 on the Inc. 5000.  I think their contractors are still subs, but the rest of their business is soap-to-nuts integration of real estate operations and it works.  WELL.  =)

I think this is an EXCELLENT point.  How many landlords have multiple houses?  Lots of them.  Tim has convinced me!  Go for it.  Why not?  =)

@Vincent Polisi is right - what most people call "wholesaling" is really just contract assignments, which are perfectly legal.  So when people start crying about how "wholesaling is illegal" and I've heard "just like being a meth dealer", I often ask - where is your reference that proves that contract assignments are not lawful?  No one has ever shown me that.  Lots and lots of commentary & opinion, but no evidence, and of course contract assignments are commonplace.

Seems like many people that complain about wholesaling are struggling RE agents, or they're in some other aspect of the RE industry, and they're just upset that other people (unlicensed people!) are making $$$ while they struggle along....

An option is a legitimate and I think cleaner way to do what people call "wholesaling". I approve! It is a bit more "complicated" to explain to a seller why your option agreement is as good or better than the next guy's P&S contract (which he intends to assign).

When I use a P&S and intend to assign it, #1 the document say that and #2 I fully explain it to the sellers. Full disclosure and ethics go a long way.

I get your logic, just not sure if it would be productive for you.  If they are actively advertising the property for rent, the property is probably at least in rent-ready condition (perhaps even recently renovated).  You might find that it just bothers them to handle your call when you are not interested in renting.

Better approach is probably direct mail to absentee owners with the distressed house? / in a hurry? / need cash? messaging.  That way the ones that meet that criteria will call you to see what you can do to help.  I want people to SELF SELECT into my campaign, to respond to my messaging, rather than me calling randomly and trying to FIND the right prospects...

Consider postcards in addition to letters.  Postcards cost less to send, and they get to the point.  Rather than try to figure out what "copy" to use on a postcard, consider the pre-designed ones at YellowLetters.com.  They have some really nice, high-impact designs with proven copy.

In order of productivity, based upon lead quality & cost per lead, across over 50 markets in the U.S.:

1) AdWords (Google Search) - depends a lot on the keywords you use...
2) Direct Mail - mix it up like Cody says, & only mail to people with equity!!
3) Outdoor - from bandit signs, to billboards, to complete car wraps...
4) TV spots