All Forum Posts by: Dev Horn

It's not that expensive if you just take the course thru a provider like Kaplan.

http://www.kapre.com/real-estate-courses/texas

I too think HOAs  S U C K !  Ha ha

I can understand the frustration with the 2 houses payments, but I agree with Brian that you gotta get some cash out of this deal up front - 10% down.  Then you'd have some reserves if things go sound.  As proposed, it sounds like you could be left hanging at some point in the future...

“Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.” ~ Jerry Rice

Short answer:  NO - far from obsolete!

I also have the "HUGE PROFIT" language in MY agreement, plus the "Rubber/Glue Clause" just in case things get ugly later.  (You know, "I'm rubber and you're glue - whatever you say bounces off me and sticks on you...").  You slay me, @Michael Quarles =)

Oh, and - when we do wholesale deals - we're all assignment, no double close here on my team...  

This is a frequent topic on BP. In GENERAL, ----NO---- you don't look to wholesale off the MLS. Many of the distressed properties on the MLS are REOs - houses owned by BANKS and listed by REO AGENTS - neither of which want to work with you as a wholesaler because.... wholesalers have no MONEY. Those guys can EAT A NEWBIE ALIVE - they know a LOT MORE about Real Estate and these transactions, and they will expect you have very solid POF (Proof of Funds) if you want to even submit an offer.

Sure, there are MLS properties owned by individuals that meet our criteria (distressed house, owner in financial trouble, etc.) and guess what? They attract a BUNCH of offers because... THEY ARE ON THE MLS!  EVERYONE SEES THEM. As a result, at least in my market, they get bid up so that any margin you're hoping for as a wholesaler soon vanishes when others are offering 75, 78, even 80% of ARV (less repairs). So, even if you "win" an MLS deal, no cash buyer will want it after the wholesaler tacks on added cost.

So, what value can a wholesaler add in this scenario?  CLOSE TO ZILCH.  You're wasting your time.  And if you just want a real estate agent so you can make low-ball offers, it won't take them long to realize they're wasting their time, too.

STICK TO THE BASICS OF REI WHOLESALING - Finding motivated sellers OFF MARKET, negotiating & getting offers accepted, and delivering those to cash buyers.

Coaching is the right way to learn this business.  I'd rather pay $5,000 to a coach who will help me personally for the next 12 months, than pay $25,000 for a weekend at a guru course where I can take a selfie with a reality TV actor.

I think in coaching, you get what you pay for.  Someone who is willing to coach you for $50 is just not going to be the same level of educator and mentor as an expert coach that works with students individually over a period of months.

If I was going to hire a coach today, I'd certainly consider @Brian Gibbons and also Phil Pustejovsky.  And I believe @Michael Quarles is now offering coaching services - what an amazing opportunity there to be coached by one of the best REAL educators in this business.  I have no business affiliation with those guys - just a ton of respect.

If funds are limited, you will find helpful people in the local REIAs and here on BP. But if you can allocate the funds to get a great coach who will not only educate you but MOTIVATE you over the entire first year of your REI business start-up, I think that's an excellent investment in your new real estate business.

“Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.” ~ Jerry Rice

The 3 dependable workhorses are direct mail, pay-per-click (PPC), and billboards.  (I leave out bandit signs because they are illegal in most urban/suburban markets in the U.S.)

Within direct mail, the top group to target is absentees with high equity.

PPC is mostly focused on Google, but you can often get less expensive clicks from Bing because there is less competition there.

Billboards used to be out of reach of most individual investors in larger markets (e.g., $5,000 to $30,000 per month per board).  Now, with electronic billboards, you can buy the number of billboard impressions that fits your budget.  And in smaller markets, you can still get a reasonable price on old-school billboards (e.g., $500-800 per month per board).

The WORST investments for RE investors are (1) radio and (2) TV.  Super expensive and they don't drive inbound leads as much as you think they would....  And I'm less than impressed with social media such as Facebook and YouTube - they have not been good producers in our trials.

Yeah - that's what we do although I do bid on MLS deals as well. We're in one of the top REI markets in the U.S., so there are multiple investors bidding on every off market deal we find. The day of going in and buying a house uncontested are long gone here. People who fill out your form on the Internet are smart enough to fill out multiple forms and create a competitive bidding situation. That competition drives up prices...

Your post made me think of a few things I've come to realize:

1) The 70% rule will lose you about 100% of the deals. If your ARV is conservative just to be safe, and your repair estimate is too, the 70% will tell you what to offer, right? Wrong. Conservative estimates and the 70% rule will get outbid by a more aggressive investor just about every time.

2) New guys think about repair estimates too much.  Once you start doing this, and after you've done a few detailed repair estimates, you'll find that you can pretty much "ballpark" the repair estimate.   Here, on a typical 3/2/2 rental, I start at $15,000 rehab cost and adjust that up or down based up what we find in our inspection.

3) When you get aggressive and start paying 75%+, is there any "meat on the bone" for the wholesaler?  Cash buyers won't be excited about paying you 85% for a deal, so you may not find a buyer and the deal falls thru.

Last THREE deals I got beat on, the buyer that beat me could NOT DELIVER to closing.  SO FRUSTRATING to work on a deal and then lose it to someone who offered way too much and can't find a buyer.

I haven't talked about this much, I try to be optimistic, but I think this is one of the big challenges to wholesaling in 2014.  Too much competition offering too much for investment properties.  Hopefully, things are lot less competitive in your market.