All Forum Posts by: Jeff Rappaport

Cory,

I can relate to your pain!  You think you are doing everything you can and things are not working out the way the Guru told you it would.  Welcome to the real world!  I work with several investors helping them take their business to the next level.  That may be beginner, intermediate or advanced.  I agree with you that you should be working with someone.  Someone that is doing what you want to be doing.  It should not be hard!  You are basically offering to bring leads to another investor in return for some split and the knowledge of putting the deal together from start to finish.  By the way, if you become good at finding deals, cash buyers or private money you will never starve in this business.  These are all essentials every investor is always looking for.  If you can provide them you can always make money!  I agree with Brian about expanding your knowledge base and looking into other ways of buying properties.  If you generate leads then you need to have multiple ways of helping these sellers.  The more options you can provide the better chance you can create a deal.  I know things seem tough right now.  Markets are saturated with investors right now.   We are competing for many of the same deals.  You cannot compete with investors that are spending $20k or more a month on marketing.  You need to set yourself apart.  The last thing I will leave you with is that if creative real estate was easy everyone would be doing it!  Learn everything you can, zag when others are zigging, and commit to never giving up!  

Hi Kathy, welcome to the wonderful world of real estate investing!  This is a great place to start! Make sure you check out all the Real Estate Investment Associations we have here as well as the meetup groups.  I just got back from the first real estate wholesale meetup group in South Jordan. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to get in touch with me.  I have an earn while you learn program for new investors.  I would be interested in chatting with you.  

Hey Nate, I am an investor in the Utah market for the last 15 years. The multi-family market in Utah is on the high side. The ROI and cap rates are not great right now! However, there are some deals around. Even though there is some fraud that goes on here not every investor is unethical and immoral. If you would like to chat further pm me and I would be happy to steer you in the right direction.

Emory,

Expired listings are a great source of leads if you know what to do with them.  You may find a conventional wholesale deal every once in awhile.  In my opinion, the real money in expired listings is creating either owner financing or doing a lease purchase.  You can wholesale both of those type deals to another investor or an owner occupant. Just work out the terms of the deal and pass it on to someone else (assignment).  You collect a fee and are done!   If the numbers make sense (equity, low payment or great terms) you may want to stay in the middle of the transaction and collect a nice monthly cash flow and a nice payday when your new buyer gets a loan and cashes you out.  Please don't try this without the right type of training and knowledge.  Any type of wholesaling can get you in some trouble if you are not careful. Hope that helps!

Christopher and Crystal,

Congrats on getting involved in real estate!  It certainly can be a wild ride!  So,  I would tell you that real estate wholesaling is alive and well!  It certainly is being done every single day in every market across the US.  Some areas are a little easier to find deals and others are more competitive.  Does not matter!  It works!  I agree with a lot of what Justin mentioned.  Therefore, let me make a couple of suggestions that I have been making to a number of individuals the last few months starting out in real estate.  First, focus on one thing!  If you don't have a marketing budget or know how to use it focus on finding cash buyers.  Prescreen them and know what they want.  Now go meet all the wholesalers you can and find out if they have properties they need to get sold.  Get paid for putting your buyer and seller together.  No contracts (other than to make sure you get paid), earnest money, looking for deals, scurrying to find a buyer to meet your closing deadline and everything else that goes into wholesaling a property.  The other suggestion I would make is to seek out all of the wholesalers in your area and ask to be work for them or be mentored by them.  Basically a chance to earn while you learn.  Great way to learn your market, network and gain experience.  Last suggestion would be is not to give up!  There will be obstacles and road blocks.  There will be failures and successes.  Keep going!  The most successful investors out there all started where you are right now!  Good luck and let me know if I can help with any other suggestions.  

Hi Jennifer,

So what have you tried so far?  Who have you mailed to?  What kind of wholesaling are you trying to do?  What I mean by that is are you looking for houses that need work that you can flip to a rehabber?  Have you mailed to absentee owners with high equity?  Have you marketed to expired listings? Are you placing ads online?   Are you driving looking for vacant houses?  Are you interested in wholesaling lease options or owner financed properties?  Not sure what works best in Massachusetts but these are some that work well for me.  Give me a little more about what you are doing and I will do my best to point you in a specific direction.  Good luck!

Josh, I somewhat agree with Brian and his post.  Many of the statutes are written vaguely and can be interpreted in a number of different ways.  My impression from the Division of Real Estate in Idaho that having equitable interest in the property through a purchase and sale agreement with the appropriate disclosures would be enough to stay off of their radar.  However, this is what it will always come down to.  You don't want to be called in to the Division of Real Estate.  Any complaint that is made against you will trigger an investigation.  During the investigation the investigators dig for information that can be used against you.  So, how do you avoid this?  First, much better if you do not deal with properties that have realtors involved.  They are the ones that would make a claim that you are selling real estate without a license.  If realtors are involved then I would want them to know exactly what is going on and let them know they will still get compensated as if you were never involved in the deal.  Second, do not go and openly market the property for sale.  What I mean is do not advertise the property on Craigslist, Zillow or other search engine.  Even using signs around the property could get you into trouble.  Use your buyers list to market the property.  If you don't have a buyers list co-wholesale with other investors that do.  That way you are only marketing to other investors.  If you want to take it to another level, only market the contract.  If you are not marketing the property but the contract that you have on the property then you should be ok.  Certainly a bit more difficult but still doable if the property is a good enough deal.  The last bit of advice I would give you is you can get your real estate license.  The drawbacks are that you will be governed by certain guidelines and laws.  You will be scrutinized even more because you have your license.  However, you may be able to skirt some of these potential issues by having your license.  That is an individual choice that every investor has to make.  Some have no problem with it and others totally resist it.  I do not claim to know everything and I am certainly not an attorney but I have dealt with the Division of Real Estate in two states.  My philosophy is get as much knowledge as possible (look up statutes, talk to attorneys, division of real estate, etc.) and make the best decision for you.  I would certainly look up what Jeff Watson has to say as well.  All investors deal with this issue!  

Hey Josh, I am currently wholesaling properties in Idaho and Utah. I can tell you it is much easier to wholesale in Idaho than in Utah. I have had a run in with the Division of Real Estate in Utah which caused me to chat with the Division in Idaho. You should know that I rarely do any double closings or transaction funding. I almost always do assignments. When you put the property under contract you should make sure you make it very clear what is going to happen. In Idaho, the contract is assignable. However, I will always include an addendum with certain disclosures. For example, I will say I am a "for profit" company; not a licensed realtor: not an attorney and not offering any legal advice; and this contract is fully assignable. I have run that by the Division and they were very happy with it. I would also tell you to make sure you seek out the right type of professionals to work with. Make sure you have an investor friendly title company and realtor. I would also make sure whatever paperwork you are going to use for each type of transaction (cash, L/O, owner financing etc) you run by a real estate attorney. You only have to do it once! Hope that helps! Let me know if I can help in any other way.

Henrietta,

I am an investor in SLC.  I do wholesaling and virtual wholesaling.  I can certainly help with some advice and I am trustworthy.  Not sure if you are looking for people in FL and OH but I can help with just about anything else.  Email me back and we can chat.  Good luck!

David,

I am an investor in Salt Lake, Davis and Utah counties.  I am always actively looking for birddogs.  Just signed one up last week.  I will train you on what you need to do and how to go about doing it.  There are a number of different things you could do.  I would want to find out what your interests are and how much time you can spend.  If you are serious, let me know and we will discuss!