All Forum Posts by: Joshua McGinnis

Hi @Eric Magray - Welcome to BP. 

I'm really glad you finally decided to poke your head out and make yourself known the community. Whenever I talk to folks new to BP, they're often intimidated by the amount of information and the really successful members that are here. Everyone has to start somewhere and this is a great place to start.

There are so many ways for you to get involved in real estate and make money. Just know that success doesn't happen overnight and that it is important to maintain a "growth-oriented mindset" along the way. Understand that failure is par for the course amongst entrepreneurs and that each bump in the road is mile marker on your destination to success.

Listen to the podcasts, network - network - network, educate yourself, and get hands-on as soon as possible. Keep at it and you'll be a winner for sure!

I couldn't agree with you more. There should be a balance between "too open" and all offices where it is more difficult for folks to collaborate with one another.

For me and the engineers I've managed, we'd probably all vote to have offices due to the nature of work, but I know there is a hybrid approach that would allow devs to get the uninterrupted thought-cycles they need to write code but still be able to pop their heads up for quick collaboration. 

Thanks for your insights and again, welcome to BP. 

Hi @Natasha Sadikin welcome to BP!

I'd love to connect with you and hear more about your work as an architect. We do run into some folks from time-to-time that I could refer to you.

What are your thoughts on the recent articles in tech that are harping on how the "open office" concept you often see in tech companies are actually counterproductive? As an active software developer - I definitely agree that workspace has become too open.

As an aside, don't quit your job ... yet! You absolutely can create enough investment income to replace the income from your job, but I assure you, you'll reap a ton of benefits by being gainfully employed and trying to get your first few investments off the ground.

What kind of photography are you into?

@Logan Allec 

Is the house listed, but you marketed to it as a wholesaler and now you want to try and get the property at a lower price?

I can only speak from my personal experiences wholesaling. Generally, if a seller returns my call and their home is already on the market - they are not willing to negotiate down to true wholesale prices. They're talking to you because they think you might be willing to buy it at or near what they have it listed at. 

I'm sure there are exceptions, but that's been my experience with trying to wholesale on-market deals.

The other thing is that it would be hard to advise you on price without knowing the address or other specifics of the property necessary to do the analysis and come up with an accurate ARV. There are currently 12 properties on the market for $830K in the LA area based on my quick search.

That said, if you are trying to do a real wholesale deal and you believe the numbers look good (they leave enough equity on the table to give an investor 15-20% min return after cost of repairs), then make the offer. The worse they can say is no. In most cases, wholesalers should feel a little embarrassed by their offer (at least when starting out).

I hope this is helpful!

Welp! The first wave of marketing is over and here's a recap of how it went:

• 0 Closed deals (but that's OK - keep reading)
• 3 Offers Made (over the phone)
• 1 In-person appointment (he wanted retail so we let it go)
• 2 New on-the-ground partners
• ~ 50 Total Calls / 1203 letters mailed = 4.1% response rate
• A pipeline of 5-10 deals that I can continue to work
• Invited to Guest Speak on a RE Podcast (Listen to it)

The absolutely hardest part about this experience is:

- Figuring out the over-the-phone sales pitch. Frankly, this is really challenging and I'm looking to connect with other virtual wholesalers can you can coach me on the techniques that work for them. I've heard a few stories about virtual wholesalers getting properties under contract all long-distance without seeing the property first. HOW! That is the question I have.

- Overcoming the logistics of not being on the ground

It took me 3 solid weeks of networking in BP, Google, etc before I found two people that would be willing to look at my sales pipeline and offer some coaching. However, no one is doing any of the hard work for me.

What's next?

I need to do two things:

• Call back leads who were not ready
• Connect with other virtual wholesalers who can help me with my pitch
• Do another round of marketing to keep the phone ringing

I must keep going! One deal will put me in the black and give them the motivation I need to knock it out of the park.

I hope these series of posts have been helpful to other newbie wholesalers.

@Jason Russell thanks! Did you ever find a service to help you track down the contact info? A title rep is usually your best bet.

Hi @Blake Alexander  - welcome to BP! I wish you a lot of success!

Hi BP. I recently started an advice blog for agents and real estate investors who are new to the business or want to take their business to the next level. 

http://www.whatsbestforagents.com/

I'm looking for folks who would like to guest blog and share "what's best" for agents so that they can be more successful in their careers. 

Advice could be:

• Mindset-oriented
• Products / services you recommend
• Lead generation tactics that work for you
• Anecdotal experiences of how to manage your clients
• and more!

The Opportunity

Guest blogging can be a great way for you to gain credibility in the real estate agent marketplace. You'll have the opportunity to talk about your own experiences and even promote your own business / website. (SEO for the win!)

If you'd like to be a guest blogger, shoot me a PM and let's talk!

@Karen Margrave we're planning on being there around 9 - 10am. It's a bit of a drive so we just need to leave some room for traffic. 

We're looking forward to seeing the property and meeting you guys finally!

We've also got a few buyers looking for off-market deals as well. If you're a Los Angeles area wholesaler, please reach out and add me to your list.