All Forum Posts by: Lydia R.

 My best advice if you are going to drive for dollars (Im guessing you are starting here because you are on a tight budget) is to get a code violation list from the city and drive with a purpose. Use BatchGeo (or similar mapping tool) and use that to make your driving more efficient. Dont just aimlessly drive around hoping to find a house that looks run down. I would also suggest doing a little Google research and determine what the median sales price is for your area. And then get on Zillow and filter for homes priced below that median amount. This will identify the neighborhoods where homes are still affordably priced. Target those areas. Affordable housing has the largest potential buyer pool compared to mid and higher end homes. The more exit strategies available the more potential buyers and the easier it will be to sell those wholesale deals. 

 Free skiptracing is notoriously inaccurate. Id suggest using a paid skiptracing service for better results. Skip Matrix is good, batch skiptrcing is good. If you want to find these people then a paid skiptracer is your best option. 

 There are dozens of  Texas Facebook groups where wholesalers post deals. You can connect with wholesalers here on BP, local REIAs and meetup groups. I also have some contacts in Houston I can connect you to. 

 In general you want to market to property owners who have owned their property for at least 10 years because they should have enough equity at that point to be able to sell. There is no way to know exactly how much equity an owner has because there is no way to know their loan balance BUT length of ownership is a pretty good clue. You can also pull 100% equity lists to get homeowners that have no mortgage at all. 

Your job as the wholesaler is to get the house as cheaply as possible. Dont be married to a % of the ARV because this isnt math class.

ARV is after repair value. Most people dont actually understand what that means. When an investor buys a property their end goal is to make money. In order to know if there is money to be made they need to know 1. How much can the property (your wholesale deal) be bought for 2. How much work does it need? (How much money are they going to spend fixing it up) 3. What can they sell it for after the work is done? #3 is the ARV. What can the house sell for after its been renovated.

ARV is determined by looking at comps. A comp is a similar house that has sold. If renovated houses in a neighborhood are all selling for $250,000-$260,000 then its safe to assume if you renovated a house in that same neighborhood then you would be able to sell it in that same range. When you are looking at comps to determine ARV that is what you are looking for. What is the future value of my subject property AKA my wholesale deal.

 First of all, with an on market deal the agent represents the seller and their best interest not yours. So they are going to write an agreement with terms favorable to the seller. Its like asking your teenagers to decide what time they get to come home. Are they going to pick a reasonable time or are they going to say 2am sounds good? The agent does not work for you and has zero interest in your profits so you cannot assume they will work in your best interests. 

Yes you are missing some steps. EMD and POF to start. You will need to put up EMD for your agreement and the standard for listed properties is 1% of the list price. The agent will also want to see POF and if you are claiming to pay cash then agent will want a bank statement showing you have the actual cash to pay for the property. If wholesaling listed properties was as easy as the gurus made it look then everyone would be doing it. There is a reason that most wholesalers stick to off market deals. Actually there are multiple reasons. After you put the property under contract you have to show it to your buyers. Which means explaining to the seller and the agent why you are bringing people through the property AND it means trusting that your buyers wont try to speak directly to the agent or the seller while they are walking through the home. You will also have a hard time finding buyers who will be willing to pay an assignment fee for a listed deal. Especially if your asking price is higher than the list price. In order to make the MLS deal attractive to an investor it needs to be deeply discounted.

Last thing you need to think about is title. Yes in theory you hand all the paper work to the title company and they handle everything BUT all title companies are NOT created equal. If the agent has opened title at a NON investor friendly title company you are going to have a heck of a time trying to assign a contract using a title company that has no idea what an assignment is or how to close an assignment deal. And since the listing agent chose the title company, changing companies is going to be a tough sell. 

There is a reason most wholesalers find off market deals. Have you figured out why yet?

 All you are doing is looking for other lots that have sold. The rules that apply to residential properties do not translate to vacant lots. Look for other lots that have sold in the last 12 months, but pay closer attention to the ones that have sold in the last 6 months. If there arent lots that are the same size as your subject then just calculate the sold $/sqft and use that to get an estimate on your lot value. It really is that simple. 

Quote from @Nickolas Werth:

Hey all, 

I am currently working on direct mail for wholesaling and I am currently not getting the greatest return percentage on either my website or my mailers. I'm still getting the verbiage in the mailers down and I was curious if anyone would be willing to give me their opinions on how they are worded and the call to action along with other things that are a part of the mailer.

I am currently doing a handwritten frontage with the inside being a printed page that has a call to action and where to find me. I have also redone the inside of the envelopes to be more customized based on who I a mailing. I have sent about 300 and have received about 10 calls. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much.  

 Honestly, real estate marketing is a numbers game. If you dont have a bunch of cash to throw at it, then you have to be patient. Most clients need at least 5 touches before you hear from them. Consider a campaign that incorporates different pieces. A letter than a follow up postcard and then another letter. There is no magic set of words that will convert a non seller into a seller. Keep sending the letters to your list and the people who are interested will call you and the ones who arent will not. Consistency is key

I think Propstream or ListSource would give you the lists that you are looking for. Off market deals are definitely a great alternative to looking on MLS for deals.

 You are correct. Propstream does not have those types of city specific lists. Those lists can only be obtained directly through the city or county. But they are usually very simple to request. 

Great question! I offer a $250 appointment bonus and a $500 closing bonus for my VAs. And if they are working for you through a service (you didnt hire them directly) then make sure they get the entirety of the bonus. Some services will take a portion and give the VA only a fraction of the bonus they earned.