All Forum Posts by: Duncan Hayes

@Deshawn Peterson I'm in my 3rd year of doing this. Done it every way from doing everything myself to hiring VA's and partnering with other investors to get contracts moved. My most recent deal in San Diego, I had property locked up with no buyers.

Still moved, but woulda moved faster if I had buyers already in play in the area. Find buyers first.

@Deshawn Peterson buyers first. You can make boatloads of cash with a handful of serious buyers, even with ONE serious buyer.

If you don’t have investors who’s criteria you’re aware of, how will you know what to lock up? When you’re dealing with pro’s, they won’t touch the deal unless it meets THEIR criteria. Why not make your role easier on yourself? Meet buyers and find out what they like. Then use that criteria as a guideline. Especially if they name any zip codes they like to shop in.

LOL appreciate the insight, although you made a few points I don't necessarily agree with.

1. We aren't spammers. We have a cold caller call, if they don't answer they get worked into marketing later down the line. You won't get calls and texts from us everyday all day. If motivation exists to sell, then they'll respond, anyone else is pretty much a waste of time. Hearing from us 2-3x a week is more likely than to hear from us 3x a day. Once the cold caller finds the interest, they never speak again. I step in, and I know my conversations aren't robotic at all, because I don't use a script. I go with the flow of the convo. 

2. Yes we have some broad list, but we also have some smaller really targeted ones. Everyone in the wholesale space isn't capable of structuring sub to's, owner financing, or LO like we can so we definitely can stand out there. 

As far as taking you off our list (LOL) just tell my cold caller to kick rocks as per their boss and we won't bother you again. We don't like to force anything :) Can't speak for the other 1M guys wholesaling, or attempting to wholesale lol 

appreciate the input. we definitely try to avoid any type of robotic feeling interaction, whether over phone, text, or email. 

Hello all, thanks in advance for reading and responding.

My partner and I joined forces at the beginning of the year to run a wholesale operation. he handles implementing systems for our VA, our CRM, all the integration etc, and also handles dispo. I handle all acquisition as well as our network of investors, agents, title companies, etc. Once a lead expresses interest in selling, the VA inputs the lead into our Podio. Then I get the comps, contact for follow up, and begin doing the work to get the contract signed.

My partner keeps the VA with fresh leads, and I'm sure that we also recycle leads so no lead goes to waste and we get the maximum life we can out each one. Since January we've had 81 leads input into Podio from the VA's 1000's of calls. Of those 81 leads, we closed one deal, quick summary of that:

Condo in San Diego; PP of $410,000 and assigned for $430,000. Took 2.5 weeks to get done, just because of delays from the seller during escrow. 

Now we're kinda just stuck. Leads have been coming in still, and obviously in my own opinion I am having great calls with a lot of the folks I speak with. I recently started recording the calls so that I can review for training purposes, but does anyone else have any suggestions? We aren't able to distinguish where the disconnect is. Rapport building has been great, at least in my opinion. I'm frequently having longer than expected phone calls with sellers, because I grabbed their attention by asking a question they probably don't get asked 9x out of 10 when they're getting called nonstop about their property. I would say that we're really getting a lot of info out of these sellers, not just about the property, but their lives and what selling would do to enhance their life. 

Anyone have any suggestions? LOL thanks in advance everyone who reads and/or responds!

@Dan Maciejewski yes you are correct, there has to be some motivation there. But, they're selling already. OP is not calling a stranger who never thought about selling prior to answering our call. Find their motivation for selling, and build rapport. It doesn't just work from a wholesaling volume stand point. You can apply the same principles to purchasing your own deals. If you know how to approach the deal as a wholesaler, then you don't need a wholesaler right? 

My point is go at it from a wholesaler's methods, even though you're planning on keeping it. Build rapport, find their motivation, then offer a solution that helps them achieve whatever they're motivated to achieve through the sale of the property. You don't have to dispo like a wholesaler, but you can definitely approach acquiring the property like one.

Maybe some advice from someone who wholesales full time would be helpful here? 

Our entire business model runs on cash transactions, even though they're generally hard money loans. We specialize in getting properties at a discount, in order to close and flip immediately; or with the primary goal of assigning the contract to an end buyer. 

My advice? Treat it like you're trying to wholesale the property. Negotiate the same way we would to get a discount. ARV x .7 = ____.

Take that number and then minus repairs, closing costs, and any other associated costs. The number you get is your Max Offer. Start a little lower. If you come in at $35k, they may counter at $42. then you might be able to get them under $40k. But if you come in around $20k-$25k then they may counter with $35k. Or even $30k. Make sure you emphasize the cash purchase, meaning you can close as soon as title comes back clear, and offer to cover their closing costs.

"Mr. Seller, seeing how I'm offering cash, can close in two weeks or less, and will cover closing costs, what's the best price you can give me on this sale?" 

You let them throw a number first, once you do it it'll be harder to move them away from that number. 

@Adriel Hsu thanks for your response. Greatly appreciated.

Muniment of title is still a thing in TX, correct?

@Jerel Ehlert I just stumbled upon this posting, looking for help with probate leads. I saw you say that it's essentially the same as doing a regular assignment of contract, this leads me to wonder. 

on the deals I do now, where I'm dealing with the owner directly and not heirs, I am able to assign and all costs associated with title get passed along to my buyers. should I be expecting to shell out cash for the title work prior to assigning, and make it up on the backend from my fee? 

Thanks again for all the insight you gave here, extremely helpful. bookmarked every link you included! 

Appreciate all the input. What's the avg cost per square foot on repairs out here in Austin? What about avg cost for things such as roof, HVAC system, foundation, pool, capital expense type things. I'm thinking I'm going to hit the streets and try to spot some distressed properties and reach out to those owners via call or mail. 

I recommend soaking up knowledge from shows on the BP podcast that bring on guests that focus on "no money" investing. Real Estate Disruptors podcast by Steve Trang focuses on wholesaling specifically and brings on a ton of the big name guys in wholesaling, and they lay out strategies and tons of jewels. There's the "If You Can't Wholesale After This" two part book series that I highly recommend also, written by Todd Flemming. I've assigned contracts in diff states, down the street, all mostly virtual in the sense that I didn't walk the properties prior to signing a contract. Feel free to reach out, I'd be glad to help any way I