All Forum Posts by: Chris G.

My partner and I have been doing some searching to see if we can find the same paper used in "Yellow Letters" that is not on the legal pad. We're trying to locate it so that we don't have to rip the sheets off the pad before printing.

We found some, but it is outrageously priced at $40 for 250 sheets.

If you have a source at a decent price, let me know please! Thanks!

Dan Kennedy's stuff doesn't just give you a postcard or letter copy, you should read it to understand marketing more thoroughly.

That being said my partner and I are starting our first yellow letter campaign today. 11 letters sent this morning.

You spending $1,000 on marketing next month scares me. I would hate to see you not due well and get discouraged.

I honestly cannot give you much advice when it comes to letters. I personally do postcards to out of state absentee owners.

I would highly suggest you do as much research as possible before you spend that much. Also do some split testing. Do at least two different campaigns. See which one does best. Next month split it again using a control (the version that did best last month) and a new version. Keep doing that until you find the one that is working best.

I also highly suggest you do read Dan Kennedy's "The Ultimate Sales Letter".

Good stuff. Thanks for posting that Josh!

Oscar,

As others stated, partnering up with another experienced wholesaler is a great way to learn the ropes. Go to you're local REIA to find some of them and stay in contact with them. Become genuinely interested in them and what they are doing. Offer do some of their legwork for free.

Don't get caught up on contracts. But to answer some of your contract questions.

Your contract with the seller will state that the contract is only valid if the property truly has a clear title (no liens). Once you have the property tied up in contract, that is when you contact your local title rep and ask them to pull a preliminary title search to determine whether the seller is indeed correct in that their title was in good standing order (some sellers may not even know that their title is messed up, so don't automatically assume they lied to you).

Any contract can be assigned unless verbiage in the contract specifically states otherwise.

If you are indeed assigning the contract, rather than doing a double close, you will be signing a separate contract (between you and the new buyer) titled "Assignment of Contract" which pretty much allows you transfer your interest in purchasing the property to you end-buyer (cash buyer, investor, rehabber, retail buyer, etc). When you assign your interest the new buyer is now legally obligated to uphold all of the agreements of the original PSA (purchase and sales agreement).

Start with a contract from one many guru's website. Then have a local attorney review and modify it if necessary to meet your local and state laws. Make sure the attorney will do this for a flat fee rather than charging per hour. Also make sure they don't start from scratch. Just have them start with something from someone else.

Most of this info I just regurgitated from Jason Hanson's blog post here on BP.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2011/02/13/how-can-i-make-sure-my-real-estate-contract-is-legal/

Depending on the volume you're dealing with, you can also join the CAA (California Apartment Association) and get California specific contracts for a yearly fee.

It just may not be in his business model to do flip-and-fixes or rentals right now, especially if this is his very first real estate deal.

Did you make sure to ask those investors if they are interested in purchasing property in the future?

Always ask investors

1) Are you looking to sell?
2) Are you looking to buy?
3) Are you looking to invest your money? (this one will come after you have built a relationship with them).

A variation of those three questions is to ask if they know anybody else that is looking ... (fill in questions 1 through 3).

Welcome Gene... Do us a favor and submit a profile picture. It makes it easier for others to recognize your future posts. It also makes it easier to build online relationships.

I agree that working with a buyer's agent is not the best approach to learning wholesaling.

Another thing that is crucial is to know your farm/market area. Know it like the back of your hand. Know it better than anybody else. That way you will know exactly how much a house is worth just by looking at the address. This will give you a heads up and will prevent the "catastrophic blunder" you mentioned earlier as you will never get a property under contract for more than other investors are willing to pay, thus minimizing the possibility of other investors ignoring your email's once you have a property under contract.

As already stated, read through the wholesaling sub-forum here. Also browse through the marketing and lease-option forum. You'll most likely come across more potential sellers that cannot sell for a steep cash discount, but could be open to selling on a "Terms" basis.

I do not have much experience with direct marketing, but from all the advice that I have received from successful investors, it seems like a more targeted marketing strategy works better than just blanketing a whole neighborhood.

BTW... you say English is not your first language, but you sure did type that quite nicely. You typed that a lot better than I could have.