All Forum Posts by: Ed Brancheau

That's a difficult question because it's pretty general. It would be easier to answer if you had more specific details on your mind so as not to confuse the issue.

I understand how tough this is for you starting, so I'll give a general answer that will hopefully help, and if you can clarify your questions, I'll be happy to answer them later.

That said, there are things you know. Like I know how to surf.

There are things you know you don't know. Like I don't know physics.

And there are things that you don't know you don't know. I can't give an example because I don't know what I don't know.

Seems like you're feeling like the last one. Am I right?

So, here are a few basic things about wholesaling that can help you stay focused and not overthink.

Most people have it all backwards.

This is how most people approach wholesaling:

1. Find the properties.
2. Find buyers for the properties.
3. Profit.

But this is how the most successful wholesalers do it:

1. Find the buyers.
2. Ask them what they want.
3. Find what they want.
4. Sell them what they want.

If an investor says that they purchase 3/2s in 92122, find them 3/2s in 92122.

One way to find more deals is by using different tactics than the competition.

For example, everyone and their mother wants 3/2s with 1200 sqft. So, there's a lot of competition.

But what if you searched for 2/1s with 1200 sqft where the buyer/investor could easily add a bathroom and a bedroom?

The seller can't charge as much because fewer individuals are in the market for two bedrooms. But even with your $10K wholesaling charge, your buyer/investor would still make far more than purchasing a 3/2 where the rate was increased from competitors.

Now, if you're looking for the perfect spot to start your investing journey and learn everything there is about wholesaling houses, check out that book store over on BiggerPockets. They carry all sorts of awesome books - even ones with really cool methods like BRRR (you know what I mean) and wholesaling!

And here's my most important piece of advice: don't just read these responses and the recommended books, take action every day starting today.

Every day, pick up your phone and call people.

Start out with a few real estate agents. You want to find someone who deals with investors because you are looking for help from them as well!

Just be aware that a significant percentage of them are going to tell you wholesaling is illegal and that you need a license. Of course there are some laws you need to follow, but it's legal in every state but Illinois.

The National Association of REALTORS has a video about it's legality on their site: https://www.nar.realtor/window...

So, if you get a real estate agent that says it's illegal, just move on to another.

If you can find a good real estate agent that works with investors, they'll bring you deals.

Then start calling property managers and ask them if any of their clients have said that they want to sell.

The point is that if you polled all of the successful people on BiggerPockets, I bet that they would tell you that taking action is crucial and it's unfortunate how many people let worry get in their way.

Likewise, they'd caution you about "Analysis Paralysis," which is essentially spending so much time looking for the perfect solution to a problem that it becomes impossible to find one. I'm absolutely guilty of this too and it actually slowed me down.

I should have known not to procrastinate.

If I had taken simple, imperfect action, instead of overeducating myself, when I started back then, who knows what success might’ve been waiting for me?

And people fool themselves by thinking they're "just learning" when they're really using education as a reason to fear moving forward.

No joke.

1. Are they successful.
2. Are their clients successful.
3. Do they treat other people with respect.
4. Would I like to have a beer with this person. Might sound stupid but you could be spending a lot of time together.

That's pretty much what I look for and what I try to be when I mentor people.

Most definitely. You'll find that the videos will work wonders if you just spiral out from the area you want to dominate. It's worked for all of my clients even in really competitive, ultra-expensive markets like Beverly Hills. And it's a pretty much free method.

You can use your phone to start and shoot most non-Instagram, non-Tiktok videos in "landscape" mode so that it looks like it was shot for TV or movie (just turn your phone sideways. Forgive me if that makes it seem like I'm treating you like your stupid. I'm not. I've just discovered that most of my clients didn't know it's that simple.)

You don't NEED anything else other than a cheap lavalier mic with a little windscreen ($20). Good audio is much more important than good video. People will watch a video that has good audio and bad video but they won't watch a video that has great video but bad audio.

And if you have a little extra money, a DJI OM 4 gimbal stabalizer / tripod that is a great little tool that makes holding your phone easier and more stable.

That's a pretty general question. So, first of all, you'll get much better answers with more specific questions.

That said, there are things you know like I know how to surf.

There are things you know you don't know like I know I don't know physics.

And there are things that you don't know you don't know. I can't give an example because I don't what I don't know.

This post feels like the last one, right?

Anyhow, here are some basics that are really important to NOT overthink.

First, most people think wholesaling is finding deals, signing deals, and then selling those deals to buyers/investors.

It's not. They have it backwards.

Wholesaling is finding BUYERS/INVESTORS, asking them what they want to buy, finding and negotiating those deals for them to buy, and then selling the contract to the buyer/investor.

If an investor says that they buy 3/2s in 92122, find them 3/2s in 92122.

Then learn other strategies to find them deals that other wholesalers don't use.

For example, 3/2s with 1200 sqft are what everyone wants. But what if you searched for 2/1s with 120 sqft where the buyer/investor could easily add a bedroom and a bathroom?

Because many fewer people are in the market for two-bedrooms, the seller can't charge as much. But even with your $10K wholesaling fee, your buyer/investor would still make much more than buying a 3/2 where the price was driven up from competition.

Now, if you want a good place to start, check out the BiggerPockets bookstore. Those are all great books. Definitely buy the one about the BRRR Method and the one about wholesaling.

And here's the most important piece of advice I can give you...

Just take action in addition to reading!

Call people every day starting today. Call realtors in your area an find one or two that work with investors.

Trust me. If you polled all of the successful people on BiggerPockets, the overwhelming majority will tell you that taking action is the most important thing. Unfortunately, most people let fear slow them down.

They'd also warn you about "Analysis Paralysis" which is basically doing way to learning and research. I'm totally guilty of this one and it really slowed me down.

If I had just taken the action that I did in year three way back at the beginning, I would have been successful within a month.

No joke.

I'm not a realtor but I work with a ton of them and one great thing about what doing you're doing is that you can basically use your license to give you more trustworthiness than a regular wholesaler.

And your investor strategy is better than being a regular real estate agent because working with investors is a great niche.

Investors don't care what a place looks like. They only care about the numbers.

Also, after they've repaired the property, there's a good chance that they'll call you to list the deal. And real estate agents ALWAYS want Seller Listings over Buyer Listings.

Plus, the good ones know exactly what sells as quickly as possible for the best ROI. You don't have to hold their hands.

I answered another user's post (and now I mentor her) here where I showed how you can triple your commissions by working exclusively with investors: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

As for the brokers, you want to find someone that isn't going to force you to do a bunch of crap that doesn't work or dominate your time. The #1 complaint about my clients' previous brokers was that they had to go to lame sales meetings and stuff like that all of the time.

One of my clients even had a broker scream at her because she had the audacity to take a call from a lead during a meeting. I told her to find another broker because you need to call people back within five minutes because the first person to communicate with a lead wins their business 95% of the time.

You basically want a broker that will let you run wild and sign off on deals quickly.

Now to find a good broker, you first need to put yourself in the driver seat by building a list of LOCAL buyers/investors and what they want. Three bedrooms? Quads? 20-unit properties? Get specifics.

Then you'll be able to reach out to brokers and say, "I've built a list of local investors that want me to find them properties. Can I do that with relative autonomy through your brokerage?"

To find these buyers/investors, use software like Propstream or Freedomsoft to find people in your area that own five or more properties AND have bought a property with CASH within the last six to nine months.

If you like (or anyone reading this anywhere in the country), PM me and I'll do a search for you and send you a list of buyers/investors in your area for free. Hopefully, my kindness will have cause you to bring me some deals in the future.

======SIDE NOTE====== If you're working in a larger city like Chicago, you might come across some rude a-holes because they might be getting called by a lot of wholesalers that never do jack-diddly-squat.

But if you do get an a-hole, reach out to them via writing to show you're serious.

Investors in smaller cities don't get bugged as much.

And in larger cities, you might focus on a smaller area. I find an area with around 50K people works well. Here in the San Diego City area, that's a 1-3 mile radius. In Koreatown LA, it's like 1/4 mile. And out in Joshua Tree, it's like a 50 mile radius. ============

That will give you a good list of active buyers/investors to call and also follow up with a text.

Finally, make sure to do some house-hacking and, if you haven't already, use your VA loan over and over again. A lot of people don't know you can get VA loans for additional properties.

I'd buy a quad and live in one unit. Rent the others out. Maybe one on AirBnB and the other two normally.

Then buy more and more. A buddy of mine has done really well renting short term rentals near MCAS Miramar because the base has contractors come in all of the time for weeks to repair things.

I hate to say it but... it depends.

With that lame answer out of the way, I highly encourage you to move forward right now WITHOUT the contract.

But not in the way you think!

First, find your LOCAL buyers.

Most newbies think they need the deals first and that just takes more time and energy. This is the best place to start because you can find out what they want and then go find it.

Think of yourself as a commercial fisherman.

If all of your customers say they want tuna, you'd be stupid to go fishing in Kentucky Lake with a bunch of chum.

And, at this time, just talk to local investors because you're going to ask them what they want in a property AND a contract.

I want deals in TN but out of state investors like myself are not a good source for contracts. While I've done a few deals in WV, I haven't done one in TN. So, my contract might not be totally valid in TN.

To find them, use software like Propstream or Freedomsoft to find people in your area that own five or more properties AND have bought a property with CASH within the last six to nine months.

If you like (or anyone reading this anywhere in the country), PM me and I'll do a search for you and send you a list of buyers in your area for free. Hopefully, you'll bring me some deals in the future.

======SIDE NOTE====== If you're working in a larger city like Memphis, you might come across some rude a-holes because they might be getting called by a lot of wholesalers that never do jack-diddly-squat.

But if you do get an a-hole, reach out to them via writing to show you're serious.

Investors in smaller cities don't get bugged as much.

And in larger cities, you might focus on a smaller area. I find an area with around 50K people works well. Here in the San Diego City area, that's a 1-3 mile radius. In Koreatown LA, it's like 1/4 mile. And out in Joshua Tree, it's like a 50 mile radius. ============

That will give you a good list of active buyers to call and also follow up with a text. And another bonus to local buyers is that you can ask them to refer you to their attorney which you're going to need anyway.

When they tell you, ask them if they would mind sending you a contract that you can use as a template. Play to their sympathies like, "I'm sure you remember starting out broke and needing a little help."

To tell if you have a bad contract, look for typos or bad grammar. If you don't see any, it doesn't mean the contract is totally legal, but there's a good chance that it's a solid contract.

And if you think it's solid and don't have money, you might roll the dice with that contract. Remember that contracts are really only to protect you when problems occur. If you're just wholesaling right now, there's not much that can go wrong for you.

Yeah, it's possible that you could somehow get screwed out of a wholesale fee but it's unlikely. Investors want wholesalers that bring them deals. Screwing you out of your cut would be like biting the hand that feeds them.

I had to roll the dice the first time because I didn't know what I'm telling you now. It was no big deal other than the house was $500K. But as soon as I got paid, I hired a lawyer. Not a big deal when you have a get a check for $10K+ which, in my opinion, is the minimum you should factor in as your fee.

Now, if there are typos, I guarantee that it wasn't written by an attorney. Attorneys know that a misspelled word or misplaced comma can change the meaning of the contract and/or validity. So, they just do not let them happen... ever.

If I get contracts with typos... I'm out. Never going to work with those people because they're either not serious, don't pay attention to details, they're sketchy, or all of the above.

And if they don't have one or refuse to give it to you (never had that happen yet), they're not worth your time.

THEN go after deals, negotiate them over the phone and when they say "Yes", call up that attorney and send them a retainer.

If you don't have the money for a retainer, call the buyer and ask them to have their attorney to draw up a contract in which the buyer pays the attorney fees and retainers for this first deal and takes it out of your part of the deal.

Hope all of this helps.

That's awesome David. That's like a 2400% Annual ROI even though it took you two months.

And just about EVERY flipper has made the terrible decision of doing it themselves. 20/20 hindsight is a bleeping bleep, right?

It's like a right of passage that continues to creep up from time to time even though most of learn that it's better to hire experts.

Why do we do that? I've seen The Good Doctor and ER but I've never thought, "Yeah, I could do that. No problemo!"

But we all saw the shows on HGTV and went, "Yeah. That looks simple." And even though we know it didn't take them just a half-hour, the shows trick us into thinking 2-3 months is much faster.

It's like the vaccination against stupidity wears out every 18-months and we have to do something stupid to act as a booster shot (Sorry about the vaccine metaphors. I was watching the news as I wrote this.)

Personally, I have major back problems so nowadays I never think, "Oh, I can easily do this myself," but I used to.

Then I'd make some stupid mistake and I'd have to hire an expert to fix my mistake... and it usually costs me three times the price!

So I wasted me time and then had to pay 300% more than if I had just hire the expert in the first place.

Anyhow, here's a little trick I used to do before my back injury sidelined me completely.

I have a picture of my first deal and the horrible job I did hanging near my desktop to remind me of the pain and cost of trying to do it myself.

It works... most of the time.

One caveat is if you LOVE working with your hands or just like getting dirty.

I understand if do but pick a project that you can work on by yourself in the evenings or on weekends while not hold up the rest of the crew. Something like planting a tree or building a little breakfast nook or something.

You'll get your "fix" while not gumming up the works.

I used to like building a beautiful custom dining table that I'd just leave in the house with a little note like, "Welcome home! Dinner's on me!"

Yeah. It's a little corny but who doesn't like corn? (Monsters! That's who. And who wants to work with monsters?)

Anyhow, I didn't do it for the referrals but those tables get a lot of referrals.

I thought about why and I figure that it's because 90% of the time someone calls them asking about some real estate matter, where are they sitting?

At the table I made for them.

Who are they going to recommend?

Me!

Now I hire a friend to build them. Not as fun but really profitable.

(I also do it with the people that sign lease options with me.)

Also, one thing I've learned is that all of this strategy should apply to your home and other parts of your life as well.

Got a plugged toilet?

Hit it with the plunger and, if that doesn't work, call your plumber that you use for your investment properties. You'll get discounts pretty fast when you send them enough business.

I just did that on Friday and it cost me $600 to replace three pipe fittings for a washing machine and an outdoor faucet and to pinch some pipes off.

My father said, like I personally stole it from his back pocket, "$600?! You could easily do that yourself! I taught you how!"

And even the my Irish grandmother's voice in my head was saying the same thing.

But in the two hours that the plumber was fixing the pipes, I followed up on and closed a deal that will make around $15K at signing and another $300 per month for 10 years.

Hmmm...

If I had listened to my father or my Irish grandmother whispering in my head, I'd have saved $600 but I'd have back pain for days and I might have missed out on a deal that will be worth around $50K total.

I think I made the right call and it sounds like you'll do the same and let the experts take care of it.

Finally, it took me a while to give in but I applied this to other parts of life as well.

I hired a cleaning lady / cook / dynamo that comes to my house 2-3 times per week to clean my house and drop off healthy, pre-made tasty meals for $600 per week (plus the cost of food which is actually less than what I was paying before; honest to God, she's a miracle that I can't believe somebody let go.)

Hey... there's that $600 again!

And I don't even care if it takes her only 20 hours. Plus, she's been getting interested and finding deals for me in the Spanish-speaking areas of San Diego (definitely not as competitive.) Believe, there's practically nobody that isn't interested in making money in real estate.

Get a meal delivery service like Blue Apron ASAP. Their services are like <$10 a meal and save a ton of time. Plus, you'll eat healthier.

And one young woman I'm mentoring did this and used the extra time she used to shop and cook to make phone calls after she got off work.

I think she called from 5pm until 11:30pm Mon-Thurs (She lives in NY and would just start calling other time zones later in the evening) for three weeks.

She got nine or ten nibbles the first week, hooked four or five the second week, and reeled in two on the third week.

I don't know how much she made exactly but I do know that she charges a minimum $10K fee. So, she made at least $20K.

That comes out to $1000K per night or around $200 per hour.

So, in that one hour she saves from not grocery shopping or cooking, she makes $50 while paying $10 for food. That hour per night she buys herself is worth $3000.

Plus, even though she quit her job, does wholesaling and lease options full-time, and has more time, she still uses the food delivery service so she can relax.

She, and I as well, use services like Instacart and Doordash to save time on things we have to do.

Here's the BiggerPockets post she found me from: https://www.biggerpockets.com/... (Also, I've partnered with the young woman who wrote that question.)

But I do LOVE to cook!

So, I take Sunday afternoons to fire up the grill and cook dinner for the family.

The rest of the time I spent is used for finding deals, watching movies, and playing video games (probably too much of the last two but WTH? You got to relax and recharge!)

My point is that if I could go back in time, I would have loved to hire her much earlier but I couldn't afford $600 on a regular basis.

But I would recommend getting a cleaning service for once a week. Then add on some other service every time you make a deal and build more confidence.

Because I while I had money coming in before, I didn't have any freedom. Once I started paying other people to do the stuff I hate, like plumbing, or am not an expert at, like digital marketing, I started making more money AND having more free time.

Hit me up if you want any advice or want to partner up on something. You seem like the type of person that is going to continue to take more and more action and do bigger and bigger deals.

And I want on board your gravy train, David!

P.S. I think Mark Twain's quote is appropriate here... "Sorry I didn't write a shorter letter but I didn't have the time."

First, as a licensed realtor, you have "trust" advantage. Play to that strength. Plus, even though wholesaling is legal in Colorado, so many people believe it's not. Even though the NAR's VP of Legal even created a video on their site because so many people were claiming it's not.

Second, you can double dip your commissions while giving the seller a "deal" by waiving your commission because you're going to get a minimum fee from the buyer of 10% or $10K whichever is more. Don't settle for less because your worth it.

Third, I'd advise you to only work with investors. Make that your niche because you'll have a built in buyer list plus, in general, investors don't need to be hand-held. Just show them the numbers and BAM!

I responded to another BP user that asked a very similar question with more details here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

I'm now mentoring her and sending her hot leads because I know she's focused her niche.

And here's the link to that search: https://www.google.com/search?...

I don't have a personal recommendation for a wholesale friendly title company in Delaware.

A lot of friendly title companies tell me it's illegal.

I used to argue with them and send them a video on the REALTORS association website where they're VP of Legal confirms that it's totally legal (except in Illinois.)

Now, I just put them on a list to never call again because they don't know what they're talking about.

But one great thing about BiggerPockets is that so many questions have already been answered.

The problem is that it takes a bit of advanced search to find those answers.

So, here's how you can easily find the answer:

1. Go to Google
2. Search for "wholesaling" "title" "delaware" site:biggerpockets.com (make sure you use the quotation marks to make sure that the post has all of those words)
   1. This will show you all posts on BP that have all of those words somewhere in the text.
3. Start going through the results. I saw some great answers in the results.

That takes a lot less time and it's much less frustrating than waiting for someone to reply.