All Forum Posts by: Nathan Claire

What's made a huge impact in my business is keeping track of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). For example, how many calls does it take to get a lead? or how many leads does it take to get a wholesale contract. This has helped my business to look back on the past week or month and see what we need to do to SCALE and multiply our results by 2, 3, 5 etc. Another game changer is using a quality CRM to keep track of all of your leads and follow up with them when the time is right. Staying organized is important as you don't want to let any leads fall off your wholesaling planet. And as Jerryll said above, SEO is a great marketing tool to take advantage of, so look into it! 

Some great lists to target are:

-Probate/Pre-Probate

- Pre-Foreclosure

- Tax Delinquent

- Code Violations

- Equity of 40-100%

You can also "stack" these lists for the best results. Stacking means to find sellers/properties that are on multiple lists to seek out high motivation or distress.

Many wholesalers get a bad rep because of their lack of commitment to what they tell the seller. Since wholesaling can be practiced without a license (excluding IL), the barrier of entry is very low. What ends up happening is "newbie" wholesales who are hungry for their first deal end up getting a property under contract at a price that it typically too high for the market. In addition to this, many of these first time wholesalers have little to no cash buyers lined up to purchase this property. Since they are brand new to the business, they treat this deal like GOLD and try their hardest to get it assigned. They drag the seller on for a while until they finally decide to ghost the seller or come back to them with a substantial price reduction based on the feedback they received about their "GREAT DEAL". Both of these scenarios can do damage to the seller especially if they are counting on that money to relocate or pay for other expenses. Being a wholesaler doesn't have to be "do it this way or the other way." As long as you can back what you say and make sure you communicate with the seller from start to finish, there shouldn't be an issue with your actions. Now, if the seller sees the HUD statement at closing and notices how much you're making on the assignment fee, they may feel "some type of way." However, this surprise can be mitigated if you are up front with letting them know that you will be working with an investor partner and be paid a fee for bringing them the property. Or you could double close, either way, it's all about transparency. Communicate with the seller, don't make false promises, and don't lie about what you are doing with their property. Real estate is a people business, and what you say and how you act matter. People will only want to do business with you if you have a sound track record and can earn their trust and are confident you will do what you say. SO DO WHAT YOU SAY! This way wholesalers wont get such a bad rep! :)

I think real estate in general has been known for a long time as one of the more lucrative fields to get involved with. No matter whether you're an agent, a lender, a flipper, or a landlord. How well everyone understands what goes on in each field of real estate is tough to say, but there will always be people who complain and want to "tighten things up." The federal government along with local municipalities are always going to want to see a fair run game. However, like you mentioned with the "greedy landlord," issue always pop up since this is a people to people business at the end of the day. There is always gonna be someone pointing the finger at someone else and ofter times these reoccurring issues  can cause some enforcement to be advocated for and in turn put into place (such as the wholesaling laws in IL). As long as you're doing your best job and following proper ethics in your respective field, you should be fine and also have to realize that you can't control the actions people take and the way others run their show. Real estate is one of the most misunderstood practices in America just because of all the moving parts involved. Many individuals of power want to voice their opinions and push measures to make things "better" yet they aren't involved enough in the business to understand what happens day to day and how these measures effect the big picture.

One of the best ways to get financing for rental properties is being CREATIVE. I own 6 properties currently and 4 of them I got through "owner finance and subject to." Many investors are typically too afraid to ask sellers for terms because they believe that they would rather just go with an all cash offer. However, this is far from the truth. Every seller is different and many don't need all of that cash up front. Some would rather take little to no downpayment and get paid monthly while earning interest on their investment. Others simply want their mortgage taken care of each month with enough money to cover moving expenses. For the sellers that choose owner finance, they know that the interest will pay them more in the long run so they choose to go that route instead of taking the up front lump sum. Having the seller carry a note for you compared to the bank can makes things go a lot faster since seller's don't have underwriters and strict guidelines. As long as they trust you to make good on the agreement you promised them then you won't have any issue with taking possession of their property and making it part of your rental portfolio. It's all about giving the seller what THEY want and truly HELPING PEOPLE by asking questions and finding out how you can solve that person's problems. In turn, you'll create an abundance of value and wealth for yourself and your business.

Real estate, and rental property investing especially, is a long term game. The most successful investors I know are ones that have been in this 10,15,20 years+ who truly understand how to react to an up market and a down market. These investors made it through the crash of 2008 because they bought right and were not over leveraged to a point where they couldn't cover their butts if something went wrong (and it did). Investing in anything comes with risk, real estate is not a get rich quick scheme and never will be and that's why it's best to hang on for the ride. We all know that a downturn will come one day, but that shouldn't stop you from taking a chance on buying property now. Like Joe said above, buy at the right price with the right strategy, and even when the market does turn you won't have to worry about having to hand your properties over to the bank or sell them off for peanuts.

The best way to go about this in my opinion would be to get it under contract and then privately reach out to seasoned and reputable investors in your area. Present the deal well with accurate numbers such as renovation cost and after repair value. You have probably already seen some investors flipping houses in your area, these are the ones you should reach out to. You can also find other local buyers by typing in "we buy houses (insert city and state) on Google. If the seller is only wanting to do FSBO and is not wanting to list, don't act as a buyer and then do what they don't want you to (list their property). Simply get an assignable contract signed and then find an end buyer who can close fast, this way all parties win! :)

@Cyrus Compton SEO is a longterm game, take some time now to understand how it all works and they begin to utilize the many strategies found online. In addition to this, make sure to build your website to please not only Google, but the consumer as well. This is a double edge sword sometimes so you need to be careful where you want to give up SEO stats for credibility points with your clients. Once you really dig deep with SEO and building your site the right way, you'll start to see results and realize how much it really matters to your business. There are challenges and obstacles along the way but just remember that the hardest ones you choose to get through are the same ones many other individuals will give up or turn around at.

If $300,000 cash fell down from the heaven's and landed in my lap, I would buy up as many single family rental properties I could with at least 30% equity after I rehab them. I would then BRRRR these rental properties to pull back out the 300k and then....do it again! Using this method you should be able to continuously invest that same 300k into rentals over and over, building your portfolio and providing tons of affordable housing. Easier said than done. The only problem? Finding the deals! (And keeping your numbers accurate and your rehabs running smooth) Another route to utilizing this 300k would be to spend a weekend in Vegas playing blackjack and buying Mai Tais...but those days are behind me!