All Forum Posts by: Jason McDougall

@Roy N.

The homeowner needs the cash from the sale of their house to move, so I have to close first.

@Luke W.

 Great advice, thanks for the help!

I found a good wholesale deal, but the homeowner is a landlord, and they have tenants that haven't paid rent in 6 months. They'd like to sell to me, but I need to help them evict the current tenants first. 

How involved can I get in this process since I don't actually own the home? I've seen eviction services for around $500, and I thought about calling one of them and holding the owner's hand through the process to make sure they were comfortable and in control. The owners are elderly, and they've been taken advantage of by the tenants, so I'd really like to help them out.

Thanks!

Hey folks,

I've come across a couple of wholesale opportunities, and both homeowners want to stay for about a month after closing to use the cash to move. 

How should I handle a situation like this? I would of course disclose all of this up front to my buyer, but is this something that's common or reasonable?

Thanks in advance!

I can tell you from personal experience, they are absolutely illegal in most cities. Years ago my wife and I drove around putting out "We Buy Houses" bandit signs at 2am on a Saturday morning, and we were caught putting them out by a cop that HATED bandit signs. We were fined $600 each and put on probation for 6 months!

We did receive calls from those signs, but they're not worth the effort or the risk. Invest your time and marketing dollars into legal and scalable marketing such as direct mail or door hangers. All in all, I've received better deals via targeted and well planned direct mail versus the bandit signs that got me in trouble.

Hey Jeff,

Congrats on getting a house under contract! The seller's request of adding an "as-is" clause to the contract should be no problem at all for you. Often times the fact that we as wholesalers can purchase properties "as-is" helps us get a lot more deals from sellers.

With that said, be sure to do a thorough inspection of the property so that you have a good estimate of what repairs are needed and how much they will cost. It sounds like you got it at a good price too, just make sure the numbers still work after you factor in repairs.

Good luck and let us know how we can help!

Hey Pedro,

Mailing to absentee owners can be a great way to get leads, but also realize that every other wholesaler in your area is probably also marketing to the same list. If you can find a way to stand out from the crowd and show a true benefit of working with you versus your competition, you'll be ahead of the game!

We also mail to owners with equity and have had good success with that as well,

I suggest using listsource.com for your mailing lists.

Good luck!

Hi Pedro,

I agree with what others have written above - frequency and consistency is key! We send out our consecutive mailers every other month. We have several direct mail campaigns going on at any given time, so after time you might find yourself mailing out to 3 or 4 different lists in a given month. Plan on a direct mail budget for at least 7 mailings and stick with it. 

Remember, wholesaling is a numbers game. The more postcards you send out with proper frequency, the more deals you'll get. It all depends on how much you're able to spend on marketing.

Good luck!

Hey Anthony,

A lot of investors that scour Craigslist for deals usually search for a couple of keywords to locate potential deals versus reading through the endless listings that are posted each day. Also make sure that you actually have a deal! If you haven't gotten a response, it could be because the numbers don't work.

Here are a couple of tips to help your post get noticed:

- Post often! While most investors use keywords to search, some do actually look through the newest listings to find deals.

- Insert keywords at the bottom of your listing. You can add as many of these as you want. Consider keywords such as "as-is, handyman special, investor special, quick close, fast sale" or any other creative keywords that help convey your message.

- Include plenty of good pictures with your posting. Some folks will pass right over a posting that doesn't have any pictures.

Also, many REIA groups are setup on meetup.com and you can often times send a mass email to these groups with your property info. This would be a good way to find a buyer quickly.

If all else fails, you can always do a joint venture with another wholesaler and split a portion of your profit. Some money is better than no money!

Good luck!

Hey Liz,

There are some great blog and forum posts on here about different direct mail piece strategies. Browse through those as well, and you'll likely formulate something that will work well for you.

With that said, the direct marketing portion of wholesaling can be a lot of fun. It's almost like fishing. Try one piece and track your results. If your results are good, you may stick with it. If not, you can change your piece and try something different. 

Ultimately, there's no magic formula for direct mail that will yield you the best results, but it's the testing of different pieces that makes marketing fun.

Good luck!