All Forum Posts by: Dev Horn

1) The single cheapest and best education investment is to get these books on BP:

http://get.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook/

2) I have a wholesaling course (videos) that I give free to people on BiggerPockets if you PM me with your email address.  That will save you 2,000 guru bucks right there.  =)

3) I think you and every investor should think about studying for your RE license.  Rather than be a real estate investor, you can be a real estate professional and make more money in more ways.  But like others said, the knowledge alone is golden if this is REALLY a long-term business for you.

I don't like yellow letters for absentees and certainly not for multi-family properties.

Multi's should be pitched with a professional approach via a postcard, white letter with logo letterhead, and PHONE CALLS.  Really a VERY different animal from what most RE investors go after.  more like a commercial prop deal.

Also, yellow letters may not play well in Brooklyn where people are going to be pretty savvy.  they seen a million of those things.

Design a nice postcard that explains how you SOLVE PROBLEMS and people with those problems (vacant house, taxes, etc.) will respond.  Only mail to people with equity as before.  Listsource is good data.  You just need to hone your strategy with the right message delivered to the right people the right way.

Best wishes to you!

Do you loan in Texas?  I might be interested in comparing this to our current funding.  Cheaper money is better money.  Feel free to PM if you have info to share.

Bill makes a good point above - if you are going to put the deal on CL, you might put it out there at a couple thousand higher so if your cash buyers see that they'll know you're actually giving them a BETTER deal than you are offering to the "public".

Set up an AdWords account using your Gmail ID.  It's easy - create some ads, add keywords, etc.  They walk you thru a process to set everything up.  It's very straightforward.  Then you control the budget - say $10 or $20 per day.

Get started here!

https://www.google.com/adwords/get-started/

Look into *Kent Clothier's "FindCashBuyersNOW" service.  The data in it is exactly what you're looking for, and we've found the quality to be pretty good.  Would save you HOURS of digging thru data so you can focus on the making $.

(*Disclosure: I am simply a user of this service.  No business affiliation or compensation for recommending....)

With Google Maps & Earth, I don't see much need for this in residential real estate.  It is used in the very high end to show panoramic photos of stunningly cool million dollar houses.  Also used by brokers that sell ranches and other large properties.

Of course these days, if you get you a drone & a GoPro (and I know that's the purchase you need to justify with the wife, right? Honey, it's for my REAL ESTATE! ha ha KIDDING!) -- why not use it and add those cool pics in with your regular property photos?  It will be different and might attract more attention.  Certainly can't hurt.

Oh, I bet they're there. =)

Around 200,000 people in that market - that's a decent size.  I actually prefer these "secondary markets" because the cost to generate a lead is way lower than highly populated areas.  right now it costs us $200 - $300 to make the phone ring in Los Angeles.  In your area, that cost may be $75.  We also find better deals in the smaller markets because of the lower competition.

You may really find that you're in a sweet spot there.  You'll also find that people who do not want the cash offer are good leads for listings.  In fact, you can list more than you can buy.  So getting your license is a smart move that will allow you to capitalize on all your leads, not just the few that are a good fit for the cash offer.

"Energy and persistence conquers all things." ~ Benjamin Franklin

This always seems to be a chicken and egg problem - which first?  find the sellers? or the buyers?

The solution is actually to do BOTH, simultaneously.  But until you have a deal, you really have nothing to offer a cash buyer but a quick introduction and ask them what kinds of deals they are looking for (also verify that they buy houses with CASH - you don't want a list of other wholesalers...). Ask them if you can add them to your buyer's list, then record their info in your contact list so you can email them info on deals you find.  Understanding cash buyer needs will help you dial in your marketing for sellers.

At the beginning, I'd spend 80-90% of my time marketing for motivated sellers & making offers, and I'd spend 10-20% connecting with cash buyers.

Realize that "wholesaling" is a made-up word for us in the REI biz. In the world of real estate brokerage, there is no wholesale/retail terminology. A wholesaler refers to someone who seeks to find motivated sellers, get their property under contract, and then assign that contract (to a cash buyer like you) for an assignment fee. The more accurate term is "assignment" or guys that do assignments, but wholesaler is an easier term to use. That said, not many people will be calling themselves wholesalers on Google. Instead, you will see them running the typical ads that say "I buy houses" and pay "fast cash with no need to make repairs", etc. Likewise, the advice above about the bandit signs is correct - they are mostly put out by wholesalers (i.e., people that don't actually BUY the houses, I suppose there is irony in that...).

So yeah, look for the ads online or the signs, call them and tell them you're a CASH BUYER looking for DEALS.  

The next challenge is... most of what they send you are not actually "deals". Wholesalers are sometimes newer guys that may not properly calculate the after-repaired value (ARV) of the house or may not do a good job of estimating repairs. Ask them where they got their figures and double-check EVERYTHING yourself. Have a real estate agent run "comps" for the property to see if the deal makes sense on a cost per square foot basis.

You'll soon find a couple of these "wholesalers" that are great at the marketing piece AND they are getting REAL deals under contract that still leave lots of upside for you.  In that scenario, it can be a win-win for everyone involved...