All Forum Posts by: Jeff Joachim

@Austin Negron

Great question Austin! The most successful investors that I've encountered are open to all credible deal providers and sources. Just because someone has hired a realtor, and listed on MLS it doesn't make them any less distressed. To ignore on market deals is to ignore REO, auction, and short sale properties as well. There is a wide variety of deals that FHA and Convential buyers can't buy because of major repairs. Furthermore realtors love advertising shiny move in ready houses that they can do an open house in. Having an eye sore for a listing, with an anxious distressed seller is not necessarily an optimal scenario for an agent. The agent in many cases is motivated to get the property moved. Your offer helps get the convo started with the seller.

With that being said, the MLS will always be full of overpriced deals. Some agents are desperate for listings, and are too scared to tell sellers their property is overpriced. The same holds true for some wholesalers/investors that are desperate to get an off market deal, and aren't firm in negotiations with the seller.

There are ways to win with both deal sources, but ultimately it comes down to diligence and adhering to your preset investment criteria. If I wanted a 20% ROI on a flip, it doesn't matter if my bird dog is a real estate broker, a wholesaler, or distressed seller.

Our team sources profitable deals for our personal holdings and also for investor partners. We pride oursleves on leaving no stone unturned in our pursuit. We have sourced deals from post cards, yellow letters, text campaigns, ringless voice-mail, cold calling, pocket agents, word of mouth, auction, internet, door knocking, driving for dollars and MLS.

Through the combined efforts of our team, we have closed over 2,000 investment deals, in Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Columbus Ohio, Detroit, and in the Birmimgham Alabama area. 80%+ have been on market MLS deals.

Thanks for the opportunity to weigh in on your great question.

Hi @Ethan Stewart. Congrats on getting started!

Our team does a good bit of wholesaling throughout the country, and Detroit is a market that has performed well for us. Detroit is full of many highly motivated sellers, so you're in a great place to be able to acquire properties.

We enjoy working with, partnering  and helping wholesalers throughout the country. Feel free to message me so we can see if I can help. 

Hi @Heather Carrow. Learning to analyze properties remotely is definitely a valuable skill set. It is a big part of why our team is able to analyze and acquire properties anywhere in the country, and I suspect will take you far in the future as well. 

I learned to refine this skill, while buying properties from the public auctions here in Florida, and by selling and buying many properties sight unseen. 

You have definitely been directed to some great resources on here, and I hope to meaningfully add to the convo.

Keep in mind this is what has worked for me, and is a way to estimate, not an exact science. Nothing can replace physically walking the property.

With that being said, this is how I have been able to remotely calculate rehab numbers with the smallest margin of error:

First I determine the condition of the property using one or a combination of the methods below:

•  Most obvious: Get pictures  of the current condition of the property  (listing, google street view, zillow, etc), if available.
• Get information from the seller on the condition of the property- Talk to the seller or get a sellers disclosure if it is listed on the MLS.
• Look at the permit history- Some county code enforcement and permitting departments display a history of permitted work that can be easily accessible online. Do the research to see how long ago permitted work has been completed on the property. For example, if you  see the last time the roof was replaced was 30 years ago based on public records, you can make an assumption that the property will need a new roof. 

Next, calculate the appropriate level of rehab required for the neighborhood you plan to flip in.

• Is this a neighborhood with low end, moderate or high end homes?  Putting low end finishes in a high end neighborhood could affect your ability to take an exit, and over rehabbing a property will cause you to lose money.
• What are the kinds of repairs that the homes seeming to sell for top dollar have?  Do people in that neighborhood prefer modern finishes, is this this a historic community that prefers older more classic finishes, etc?

Now that you have determined the kind of updates needed to sell for your desired ARV, start determining how much it will cost local contractors to do the repairs. After getting enough quotes, repetition, and doing enough research you will eventually be able to estimate on your own.

Hope this has been helpful!

@Mir Ali , you are getting some spot on advice from @Jaysen Medhurst , and the others on this post. I think you should definitely consider restructuring your current holdings to more effectively capture better cash flow, and position yourself for a better internal rate of return as the others have mentioned. The suggestions you have been offered can dramatically alter the trajectory you are on in a positive way.

Cheers to your success so far! Please keep us posted on what you decide to do.

@Jose Ramirezfeliz Thank you for serving our country! I hope you are able to connect with some quality people in your area.

 I am a licensed real estate broker in (Florida and Alabama), mortgage loan originator in FL, and I source deals for investors throughout the country. If there is anything I can do to help, please feel free to reach out. 

Hi @Ashley Berry. Congrats on getting started!

We wholesale and invest in a few different states (Florida, Alabama, Michigan, and Ohio).  The same holds true for every market we go to as we continue expanding.... Investors love connecting with credible deal providers, if you take the time to source great deals. At the risk of oversimplifying the process... if you acquire quality deals, the investors will come.  This is especially true if you live in a place with an active investor community.  

If you have the ability to source quality investment deals then you are way ahead of the curve, and can be of tremendous value to investors, other wholesalers, and end buyers. Having the ability to properly analyze, source and negotiate investment deals is a very valuable skill set and probably the hardest part of the wholesaling process. I just wanted to emphasize this point, because you should be proud if you have this ability already and you should feel confident if you acquire a good deal can sell.

Our acquisition team is constantly in various stages of negotiation with 100's of sellers every month. Depending on the type of lead it can sometimes take filtering through, analyzing and negotiating 100+ leads to provide 3 to 5 quality deals to our investor network. Analyzing and sourcing deals are the most intensive parts of the process and where you really earn your money.

There are some great insights provided by others in the post about how to find buyers. When you meet those buyers, letting them know that you have a property to sell that is worth 50-80% of its after repair value is an easy convo to have.

Here is what I would do:

1. Step 1. Do research on the tax records, ask other wholesalers, and members of REI groups and bigger pockets to gain insight. Find out what investors are buying in your area, and their desired returns, before actually acquiring anything. It's the equivalent of doing market research before starting a business. Example: Lets say investors seem to be buying homes for $500k in the neighborhood you are targeting and flip them for $750k. Then you can feel confident that if you acquire a home in that neighborhood for $450k, it will sell quickly.
2. Step 2. Make a list of cash buyers that have purchased from the tax records, plus wholesalers that have a reputation for selling a lot of properties in your area and start compiling their contact info.
   
3. Step 3. Get to work, acquiring a quality property.
   
4. Step 4. When you are finalizing your negotiations with a seller, put a little teaser out to that list compiled in step 2. "Hi _____ I noticed you recently purchased and flipped/wholesaled a property in the ____ neighborhood. I have a similar deal that I may have coming up that is at a similar price point. Would you have an interest in picking up another?"
   
5. Step 5. Acquire the property with the seller, and sell to any interested parties from step 4.
   

Hope this helps! DM if you want help with any parts of the process. We actively partner, JV, and mentor wholesalers throughout the country.

Welcome @Terrence Lovett to FL, from one New York transplant to another! We do a lot of investment deals in Central FL and have resources in other areas. Happy to help in any way we can!

Hi @Jose Zuniga there are a ton of good ideas on this thread. Congrats on the start of your journey! 

I left a lucrative sales job, grabbed a job weighing tables at night while doing real estate by day, then eventually made my way to wholesaling and investing. Find a way to earn income in the real estate or investing world. It may require working a job to support your passion, until it takes off. 

Hi @Breana Scroggins. I hope you are able to make some good connections on here. We wholesale in Florida, Ohio, Michigan, and Alabama and also help wholesalers and investors source deals in other states. If you need help, feel free to reach out. 

@Casey Bishop ...Kudos to you for having an awesome team and great support system! I don't think it is a complete fantasy.

I'm based here in FL, and I am a licensed Real Estate Broker in both Florida and Alabama, as well as a Mortgage Loan Orignator. In addition my business partners are a Real Estate attorney, Licensed Title Agent, General Contractor, Hard Money Lender, and Home Inspector. As an investor and wholesaler, we found that we needed reliable folks throughout the entire vertical of real estate investing. For a while we kept trying to refer business to others with mixed effectiveness. Eventually, we found that a lot of our end buyers and other investors, needed reliable deals, contractors, investor friendly title companies, solid realtors, home inspectors, etc. This led us to slowly forming the collective of companies  we have now to support our personal investments as well as the needs of our clients.

Of the 3 you mentioned, here are the most useful licenses (in order):

1. Real Estate License: having access to the MLS is the best and easiest way to pull comps, and find more deals both for investing and wholesaling. Plus you can earn a commission when acquiring, and save commission on disposition.

2. General Contractor: It is super hard to find a good GC that is consistently reliable. Having someone on your team that can accurately quote rehab numbers, and save you money on projects, while doing quality work is huge.

3. CPA- I'm leaning more towards @Bob Norton on this one. I think this isn't a high priority. We hired a book keeper and a CPA and are very satisfied. 

I wish you the best in assembling your dream team, sounds like you are off to a great start!