All Forum Posts by: Jerry Puckett

@Rebecca Tablada,

If getting licensed is within the realm of possibility and you intend to be in RE long term, a license carries many helpful resources with it. 

If I'm not mistaken there are no rules about making low offers, and whatever fiduciary duties you may should be limited to those occasions when you intend to offer Brokerage Services. If you want to buy for yourself, you can offer any price that makes sense to you. 

But the license in and of itself won't help you to find properties. You have to go looking for those one way or another. I personally use direct mail, building a list of who has what I want, where I want it, plus the ability to sell at a discount.

Once I have that, I mail to them consistently over time (that is the funel) to fill my pipeline. 

My guess is that being new, you have a learning curve to complete not just in finding and buying, but also being a landlord. If you're simply looking for one to start with, what I've outlined above is relatively painless.

@Tomas Gonzales

There is no getting around earnest money. It is a direct protection to seller to make sure you don't waste his or he's time.

As long as the Contract is not defaulted on, you get that money back. The amount of earnest money can be negotiated certainly, but, (and by no means do I mean to be bursting your bubble) the truth is if you cannot afford EMD, you probably are not ready to do deals.

Bird dog this to someone who can close. If they are the real deal, you'll be compensated and maybe put to work finding more. I pay my bird dogs well and they keep bringing me more.

Chalk it up to an investment in your education.

@Christian Garcia @Justin Swenson

I'd recommend using the standard or promulgated contract rather than inventing or using some wholesaling contract you find off the internet. Nearly every State's contract has a section for special instructions to lay out terms, add extra documentation etc. For the TREC contract below, use paragraph 11.

Here is a link to the accepted TREC Contract for Texas: 

The "one pager" contract has its place, but I use the State contract 98% of the time because it offers excellent protection to both seller and buyer, is easy to fill out, and is what everyone is used to seeing. You mention getting in trouble....God forbid you should ever have to go before a judge, but if you do and your transaction was based off of anything other than the TREC whatever leg you had to stand on will evaporate.

You could certainly hire an attorney to draft one if you would like to go to the expense. But the contract TREC offers is standard, simple, easy and complies with all of the laws of the State. It only looks complicated. In truth, there are very few boxes to fill in and can be completed in a few minutes.

@Justin Swenson

Their is a "file place" on the site but it is harder to find than it used to be. I have linked it here for you. Same advice as above applies. I recommend you find your State's contract. 

Will (by the way, nice to "see you", it's been a while!!), I agree with everything you've said, except for....maybe....the last sentence. You are far from a hater. Back then, true, I was unduly sensitive, and the entire site was different back then. You and many others came out of the woodwork to help and with my now experienced eyes I can see there was no hate, no bashing (of people) at all. You assaulted the bad practices being employed and it was an eye opener.

But the "haters" I see on the site are a different breed, not steeped in BP culture like you, Don and Jay. Some of these threads get very ugly, personal, and use stereotyping. They are not as careful as you to say "some wholesalers". Even the title of this post has "Every Thread on the wholesaling forum" when that isn't the truth, right? The saving grace is the clarification "My take". But if you're new to the site, how are you supposed to know? You see a guy with nearly 4000 posts and 80 up votes and what would lead a newbie to think that was humorous? @Brett Tvenge confirmed his remarks were not meant to be humorous (though I found them so having experienced the polar opposite over 10+ years).

He also brought up the issue of seasoned vs not seasoned. BP is very clear that all members are equal and it works hard to bring new and experienced alike. A new member reading the flaming and trolling going on....did anybody think for a moment that THAT is the reason folks aren't heard from again? Because of the bullying, taunting, flaming and trolling that may be humorous to the good 'ole boy club but not very welcoming to the newbie? I wonder what @Joshua Dorkin would say? He's the one that worked so hard to bring this place together and it has always been a learning and networking site. The line between free speech and hate speech gets wobbly at times. 

I took a break for a few years because of all the negativity even though I consider myself to be a Poster child for BP success. I used to refer people here quite frequently. Brag about BP in interviews and at conferences. Now I'm almost embarrassed to do so. Sometimes humor just isn't funny in the wrong place and I personally don't find humor at other's expense funny at all. Coming to the Wholesaling forum to crack jokes, parody, lampoon and stereotype potential wholesalers and openly insult those who engage in it is, in my opinion, not the best choice.

Maybe the pro forum would be a better place for that. Those of us who have utilized wholesaling successfully....maybe we ought to take greater responsibility for educating the new comers so we can tell them how hard it is, how much it costs, etc. I personally encourage those I engage with to get a license...if I had it all to do over again, that's what I would have done first. But I didn't, and there will be those who don't. Like Will, I would prefer they have the right tools and go about it just as honorably and professionally as possible. 

Telling them all as a group, "you're irrelevant" ? That's just inflammatory. 

I wish you all the very best

Hello @Abel Segura, and welcome to BP.

There seems to be a plethora of members on this site with an anti Wholesaler mentality. Mostly the rage against anyone who is non licensed, fearing that they will prey upon and take advantage of the public.

It will be interesting to see if any of them will chime in here as you are licensed, yet seeking to wholesale without the intention to buy yourself. Pardon the assumption, I'm simply going by your remark about "if you don't have funds".

That said, you ought to have a leg up. I work with many licensed folks who do just that, their message being basically "I can buy for this or list it for that" Even if you do not work the listing yourself, you should be able pass a listing to someone else, split commission and get paid legally.

Now your task will be finding people who want or need to sell their property, triaging the best solution for each, make your offer and use the appropriate paper to get the job done.

In this process, you'll come across those deals you can cherry pick for yourself once you determine your own buying strategy and holding criteria.

Each step can be planned and executed according to your investment plan as @Amber Forkey suggested.

Hope that helps

We might change that one word:

"All my Execs live in Texas....." 

Hi @Bob Foglia

Note investing might be something to check into.

Partnerships are only scary if you don't have a business plan and good operating agreement. 

There are Turnkey investments designed for folks busy doing something else. (I'll likely get some ridicule for that one.

Private money lending, hard money lending.

Do some meet ups and spend time getting to know the local scene players....listen and learn including what not to do. 

Not a race, it's a marathon. 

Hope that helps.

I'm sorry. This may shock you. More than half of my clients are Agents or Brokers. They use exactly the same marketing materials as those pesky wholesalers. Most of them wish to buy at a discount, and use a listing as a backup if they can't get their price. No one seems to have a problem with that, right?

But what this thread is about, as @Brett Tvenge so aptly pointed out and the thing that seems to tick everyone is the sheer volume of people who come here and waste time with pie in the sky questions and attitudes. (Oddly enough these posts can be ignored with less effort than it takes to read or respond, right?) 

More oddly, the site's own marketing is designed to attract the very people that seem to annoy so many . And maybe that's what @Don Konipol's post was about as @Scott Trench picked up on. Believe me, Bigger Pockets wants these people here. The moderators do not take the posts down. If you see one that just gets to you, try reporting it or the offending user and see what they say. As far as the admins are concerned, everyone is equal, seasoned or not. 

You want to change the site culture? Try taking it to the site instead of sticking it to the users. Just a thought. This place has always been open to wholesalers. And Agents, Lenders, Marketers, Flippers and Landlords to name a few. 

From the About us Page: "We offer content, tools, and a community of over 2,000,000 members to help people avoid mistakes; learn valuable tips; find partners, deals, and financing and make the best investing decisions possible. BiggerPockets works hard to bring together real estate experts, newbies and everyone in between to gain the knowledge needed to reach their full potential." - Emphasis mine.

And from the site rules in case anyone is interested: 

I - Do Not Flame or Troll

Flaming, flame-baiting, and trolling are not allowed anywhere on this site, including in posts, signatures, and private messages. Flaming is directly insulting another member, flame-baiting is making a comment with the intention of getting a flame as a response, and trolling involves starting arguments or upsetting people by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages with the intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

J - Remember - All Members are Equals

Treat all BiggerPockets members equally, whether they are an admin, a moderator, or an average member. Do not single a member out because they have a low post count or a low status on the site. In addition, do not personally attack members who violate these rules. Instead, report the member or post to a moderator or admin.

Hope that helps. This isn't wholesalers vs agents as I see it. It's about improving the site for everyone. Including those pesky wholesalers and all the newbies this site was designed to help. Friendly rivalry is great and helpful. Disdain and disgust taste bad even in your own mouth doesn't it? 

Hi Scott,

@Will Barnard has a great post that used to be a sticky (not sure if it still is or not) called "the Truth About Wholesaling". It's something of a juggernaut, a really long read, rambles and goes off point at times......but gets down to the nitty gritty about how hard it is to do things (wholesaling) right. At the time I was relatively new, but folks like Will really helped me out and set me straight and I never looked back.

Speaking of which, @Eric James (sorry, at (@) thingy seems to not offer up your name....maybe it will link when posted) Your comment seems very broad:      "11. After a couple months of trying to be a wholesaler they are never heard from again on BP."

Of course, I'm sure it's meant to be humorous. As was @Brett Tvenge's. It's been 10 years or more. I'm still here, so it's humorous to me, but hasn't always been so. I've gone without posting sometimes for years at a time because posts and threads like these are for the most part very tedious, easily misunderstood and difficult to avoid.

I'm curious....do you believe that Agents and Brokers as a category have just as many questionable folks, trends and practices as other sectors? A license is a truly great thing to have and I encourage as many as I can to get one....but it isn't a magical-mystical-makes-everything-okay badge of honor is it? It's just I don't often see the licensed dealing with their own. I see them frequently trying to deal out jabs, funny or otherwise at others, particularly wholesalers, but rarely point that filter back at themselves or others in the same role. Could be missing it though...this site is really big and I limit myself to forum categories that reflect my interest.

This being an online and open forum, there are many here from all walks of life. The founders of BP meant for this to be an open discussion where people could learn without being bullied. But free speech is also encouraged and no one has to engage with anyone they don't wish to, however I've just never really understood the foray into topics that annoy, and the meanness displayed to people attracted to a site that was designed to attract those very people.

Lastly, @Duane Alexander (at (@) thingy still not working, apologies)....I hear you. I feel your pain and agree with most what you're saying. But this thread, as started and intended was not one of "those". I long ago gave up on trying to keep up with posts like "those" (Angry agents hating, trolling and flaming). 

But this one, as intended by @Don Konipol is indeed using humor to try to rectify what is certainly a problem....the problem being that the average newbie wholesaler does not often look before leaping. Instead of trying to use the search feature to learn the site, the people and the many resources available, they will start a new thread asking to be spoon fed information that has been dished out over and over again. It is indeed annoying.

Just last week, I encountered no less than 6 threads where "I'm starting my journey, decided on wholesaling and want you guys to teach me everything". Please note the answer that I, someone sympathetic to their cause, gave them. This exactly the the sort of thing that this thread is targeting, and I think Scott Trench nailed it.  

@Don Konipol and @Jay Hinrichs have contributed so much good content over time that they are foundational to this site and not a mean bone in there anywhere. They are the real deal and choose to help people on real, practical level which includes pruning back pie in the sky attitudes. I appreciate that because as mentioned, Will Barnard, Don and many many others did that for me and my business has thrived ever since.

TL;DR

New Wholesaler / Wholesaler wannabees: The search glass is your friend! Get enough education to ask concrete answerable questions

Agents / Brokers: You aren't the only ones here. I estimate that more than half of the traffic here concerns wholesaling in some form or another. If wholesalers / wholesaling annoys you why not leave them alone and stick to the threads where your buddies are so that everyone can enjoy the site as intended?

Annoyed by Marketing efforts?: Do "Dominoes" coupons that you get in the mail every week annoy you? Car warranty calls? All of the other services advertising to a "New Mover" list when you buy a new property? I don't know what to tell you. It's not going to change any time soon. Direct mail, calling, text, email, billboards, splash pages....every industry uses them and will continue to. Perhaps coping with it instead of railing against it would give more peace, more balance.

Thanks for reading. 

Generally speaking, a Wholesaler writes (fills out) his or her own contract.

Negotiate, make an offer,  embody price and terms in your contract, then execute.

I'd recommend using the standard or promulgated contract rather than inventing or using some wholesaling contract you find off the internet. Nearly every State's contract has a section for special instructions to lay out terms, add extra documentation etc.

The "one pager" contract has its place, but I use the State contract 98% of the time because it offers excellent protection to both seller and buyer, is easy to fill out, and is what everyone is used to seeing.