All Forum Posts by: Jerry Puckett

May I ask what the long term plan is? Move fix sell repeat? I can't speak for San Diego, but in Texas I know folks that buy HUD properties as owner occupants so they can bid before the investors.

Requires a full year occupancy. Works best for young and single (living through a rehab and moving fairly frequently is tough on the family).

You can also use the search feature to find BP pros in that area and connect directly. You'd would likely find something much faster that way.

Hope that helps, good luck, and please be sure to post the success story when it happens!

Hi @Dominique Dickens,

Welcome to BP! I got my start here more than 10 years ago and what a ride it's been!

All the information you need is here but it takes some time to learn your way around. Search feature is your FRIEND!

Tell us a little more...what's your background? Are you working full time? Married? Kids? How did you pick up the RE bug?

Do you have some carpentry and construction skills? Better with a phone than a hammer? Everyone starts someplace.

San Antonio, like the rest of the big 5 (Metro Tex) is a happening place with lots of opportunity. 

Beware the wholesale haters and trolls around here. Speaking of which, have you considered getting a license? If I had it to do all over again I'd have started there, but managed to succeed without one, so it is possible.

Keep at it and keep us  posted!

@Bryce Betley

The average person NEEDING to sell....it's not usually that the house is necessarily a disaster (though that's a great reason for rehabbing it...we don't usually rehab pretty houses though I prefer to stay away from guts myself)...it's usually because a person needs the money more than the house. Some of the folks you mention, like little old ladies, especially nursing homes, some would consider back to the wall. Thus you'll hear accusations of being predatory.

Some of the haters around here just can't stand it if you make a great deal off market, though they tout the concept of buying at a discount as foundational to making a profit. Very hypocritical in my opinion.

I just wanted to do a gut check with you. People have their back to a wall for a variety of reasons up to and including "people who are wanting to move and sell ASAP, expired listings, don't want to make repairs, going to nursing homes, divorce, etc.."

(Just BTW, my experience with expired listings is that it didn't sell because it was over priced, and the price couldn't be lowered because they still owe too much).

Every investor advertise cash, quick and as is because that's what folks are looking for. If they aren't they'll simply list. What sets me apart (I like to think) from my competitors is that I am persistent and consistent over time. There are just so many ways to ask "Would you like to sell your house?". 

Good marketing is not like using a vending machine where you drop in a few coins, pull a lever and get a pre wrapped, ready to eat, snack dropped right in your hands, right when you want. It's much more like farming where you prepare the ground, plant the seeds, water and nurture then enjoy a harvest that will feed you all winter long. Refrigerator magnets are great....if they actually put them on the fridge. 

Hope that helps. Thanks for sharing!

Hi Folks,

Over time, I've tried many different things. It took me nearly 3 years to construct a marketing machine that works well and keeps my business going forward. My hat's off and many, many thanks to the great Members of BP I learned so much from. I still try different things all the time to keep myself current. But I love swapping stories about the stupidest things we try.

I just answered in another post my experience with bandit signs when I was new and foolish. I think that is my personal worst. But I heard one today I just had to share....

The following is a TRUE story......

An associate of mine tried using lumpy mail (where you stuff something in the envelope to heighten curiosity and get the thing opened in a saturated market) once upon a time when it was still doable without extra machining costs from the USPS. 

He asked in his letter "are your tenants giving you a headache?" and would place two Tylenol in the envelope. After processing, (in which the letter was machined), when the letter arrived, the prospect opened the envelope, saw some white powder inside and called the cops. My associate was picked up for questioning due to recent terrorist anthrax scares.

What about you? What's your personal worst? (Assuming that it is now funny to you as it is to my associate rather than tragic)

@Bryce Betley

I would not recommend bandit signs. I used them for a while, many years ago when I was trying to figure it all out.....the second time I had to pay that $500 fine I said to hell with it. Code enforcement is getting a little slicker. They can't trace the number if you use Google voice, but they will call the number and pretend to be sellers. When you show up for the home inspection, you get a ticket...and they won't even give you your signs back!

Since you mention it, what is your plan and strategy? Most strategies work by being able to buy property at a discount. If people who are not willing to trade some of their equity for the speed and ease of the deal, who is your target market? The difference between wanting to sell and needing to sell makes the difference for most flippers, wholesalers, etc.

@Pooja Jangid

Absolutely not. It will not protect you in any way that makes a deal easier to do. It is helpful at tax time, but that's about it.

Many folks get caught up in the trappings of business, thinking they need a website, LLC, CRM, team of accountants, a lawyer, a logo, sign on their door, business cards, etc before they even begin. Helpful? At times. Necessary? Not at all. 

They are shiny objects distracting you from trying your hand at something new. I've seen many put all of these things together and just expect business to land in their lap with a "If you build it, they will come" sort of mentality. Worse, if it doesn't just happen, they give up having wasted all of that time, energy and money before they found out if they were any good at what they want to do. 

All of those things are conveniences and will come in time as you need them. But at the top what matters most is connecting with people, hearing them out, understanding their needs and solving their problems. That's it. I've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to come to the realization that I can run my entire RE business with a cell phone, notepad, pen, a few different documents and a spreadsheet.

Hope that helps!

@Dylan Heath Smart

Nothing really replaces local knowledge, which almost always trumps internet sleuthing. It could be as simple as the subject needing a major unaffordable repair, but....here are a few things I note. 

The first being that your comp is quite a bit larger; Redfin and Realtor.com has it at 2668 sqft.....Limestone County unavailable on Corelogic and these addresses are not found in Limestone County assessor real property search. Also, newer with a 2002 build as opposed to the 1976 build of the comp. 

Next, in my little google car, I drove the short distance between the two and saw a fairly dramatic difference between Posh and Rustic.

Third, Comp has a larger lot and more bathrooms....

It would appear that Zillow's square footage is incorrect, but since the county data seems to be inaccessible (at least in the short time I've played with it) that's tough to verify. Maybe they built an addition or are including the renovated garage space in the listing as extra square footage.

These houses are very different. Hope that helps!

Hello @Kaylan Haight

I end up answering this very same, exact question multiple times a week, so I apologize if it reads a little snarky; it's not meant to be. More of a challenge. 

You say "learning process" what does that mean to you? Are you reading through the guides available to you? Using any of the tools under the "education" tab at the top of this page? Those are great places to start. Go at your own pace. Real Estate isn't going to leave while you are learning so you should have no fear of missing out :-) 

Here's the often repeated reply: 

"If you'd like to succeed in any version of real estate, you'll need to learn how to research.

There is no end of information on wholesaling on this site. Thousands of questions asked and answered. All you need to do is get busy with the search glass at the top of the page and the technique will unfold before you.

When you have the basics down, come back and ask more detailed closed ended questions. In my experience this site's all star professionals favor self starters who can and will get after it, while folks who need to be spoon fed get eaten alive by the gurus and salesmen who spot a mark".

Hope that helps!

Hello @Sawyer Scott

Sad to say, but ordinarily a post like this draws all the wholesale haters out of the woodwork. In retail, very often, a full price offer is made just to hold the property down for a look see. Most Agents don't consider that unethical....to tie up a property and take it off the market just for a look and a thank you , no....but plenty of sellers do.

You'll be told that if aren't in a position to close, you shouldn't make offers because you will in fact be operating as an unlicensed broker. And that's true, but doesn't answer your questions.

Now that that's out of the way....

The answer is yes, telling them your position in detail will scare them away and aggravate them. You'll basically be saying "I have absolutely no intention of closing, I'm just a middleman acting as an unlicensed broker, which may or may not be legal in this state".

When I'm asked, "what are you going to do with the property?" I simply smile and tell them the truth. "I don't know yet, I haven't even inspected or made an offer...let's not get ahead of ourselves" If I make an offer, the one single contingency I need, that practically everyone asks for whether retail or no, is the opportunity to inspect the property. I make my offer subject to inspection. 

Who knows? I might take it down and flip it. I might vest it in one of various LLCs I own, am a partner in, or even offer it to someone else I'm acquainted with. I look the property over and the only number I give is what it is worth to me. I am not required to pay full retail price if I can negotiate something better. That idea is absurd. If they don't like my offer, they do not have to take it and I'm on to the next.

And because I am not sure how I will choose to close the property, I make the contract assignable. If I want to change my mind a week, a day an hour or a minute before I close...that's up to me.

If, during the inspection period I find that it doesn't make sense to me or anyone I work with, I have two choices. I can terminate the contract, or I can renegotiate based on my findings. Again, it happens all the time in retail. Contracts are negotiated. Ask, offer, counter offer....Nothing moves forward until everyone is in agreement. I don't care if you flip, wholesale, hold, list, lease option, seller finance....whatever....the process is the same.

If you make an offer and find zero justification for it during the inspection period, you didn't make a good deal. Don't waste more of Seller's time...unwind or renegotiate. Let me put it a different way. If you make yourself a good deal, folks will come out of the woodwork asking to buy it from you and you can choose whether to buy it yourself or assign. But if you make a bad deal, and your numbers are wrong, no one else will be interested either and you will know this very quickly.

As for a contract...there are tons of simple one pagers out there and they have their place. But best practice and a basic rule of thumb would be to get ahold of your State's contract and use it. It's what everyone is used to seeing. If you should ever, (God forbid) get hauled in front of a judge, one look at the one pager will knock whatever leg you have to stand on right out from under you.

Or.....you could learn to source your own deals by developing a list of likely owners. Send them some mail, see if they want to sell. 

That's what the wholesalers do and the price you'd spend on one wholesale fee would likely cover a half year of marketing and produce multiple deals.