All Forum Posts by: Ryan Webber

I would focus on older, lower end areas that have a high number of sales on the MLS. You need areas that have plenty of equity (areas older than 30 years) and lower end areas attract rehabbers AND landlords.

As you already picked up on, higher end houses have more educated sellers and lawyers who are normally less motivated to sell cheap.

I personally would recommend you find your prime farm areas and then find your buyers in those areas. It will save you a lot of time and money in marketing if you focus on certain prime areas.

Eddie, I think the picture in dealing with assumptions is different then when dealing with hard data. Have you done any research on appreciation rates or are you just winging it with what you think and what you've heard?

My whole point is stop assuming and DO the research. The only way to know the truth in your market is to pull the numbers and see how the areas actually appreciate.

Mark, my point in referencing your meeting of "real" wholesalers was that you made it sound like they don't really exist. Like a "real" wholesaler who offers "real" deals only exists in some fantasy world propagated by gurus. I sensed some bitterness and disillusionment there, so I felt the need to point out their reality.

And there may not be any wholesalers in your area but I seriously doubt that means there is no opportunity for wholesaling or most other investment strategies there. Not sure if you meant 2% rental deals in your comment instead of 3%. 3% are really hard to find but they do exist. Probably not in your market, though. It doesn't sound like there is much opportunity in your area at all.

Nothing but acres of diamonds, of course.

NC Mark, you just met several "real" wholesalers.

Yes, wholesaling attracts the idiots like flies to a bug zapper, but that's because it does require the least knowledge and the least capital investment to be successful.

To be a successful landlord you will need to know lease laws, tenant rights, and property management inside and out. That's on top of having skills in finding deals, deal analysis, negotiations, contract law, financing options, networking, marketing, and accounting. And on top of normally needing excellent credit and a large amount of capital.

To be a successful rehabber you will need to have a strong grasp on contractor management and/or remodeling in general. That's on top of having skills in finding deals, deal analysis, negotiations, contract law, financing options, networking, marketing, and accounting. And on top of normally needing excellent credit and a large amount of capital.

To be a successful wholesaler you will need to have skills in finding deals, deal analysis, negotiations, contract law, marketing, and accounting, just like landlords and rehabbers, but you will NOT need to know lease laws, tenant rights, or property management like the landlords and you will NOT need to understand contractor management or much about remodeling in general like the rehabbers. And you will NOT need any credit or much capital. That along with doing it all with little or no financial risk or liability.

The thing is that wholesaling IS the easiest aspect to learn in this business, and it is IMO an excellent way to start off in the business. It allows a new investor to get acquainted with and learn the business and build their network with little or no risk. All the while making or at least trying to make money at it.

Do the village idiots flock to wholesaling? Yes, but that's because of what wholesaling honestly offers. A way to learn the ropes and make money in this business with little or no risk and little or no capital investment.

Does successfully wholesaling require hard work, diligence, and commitment? ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!! Success in ANY business will require these things, and wholesaling is no different.

Each state's foreclosure process is mandated by their property code. In Texas for a homestead, it requires a 20 day letter of default to be sent to the homeowner before a notice of sale is filed at the court house. The foreclosures in Texas are always on the first Tuesday of the month and the notice of sale has to be posted 21 days before the sale. So you would be likely looking at 45-60 days for foreclosure.

I got in a debate a year or two ago with a fellow investor about the whole low end cash flow versus high end appreciation so I went to the MLS and determined the appreciation rates for every area for the five years prior in my city. The results surprised me.

Out of the top 20 appreciating areas in my city, 11 of the area's average sales prices were less than 70% of the median house price of my city (meaning they were lower end areas). The median priced home was $125,000 in my city and 11 of the top 20 areas had an average sales price of $80,000 or under. The number one appreciating area in my city was less than 50% of the median price. The majority of high appreciating areas in my city were lower end.

The last time I updated the list was about 6 months ago, and it was still holding true. Not to say its true in every city or really any other city, but in my town, lower end areas generally appreciate better than upper end areas. Maybe that's true for Vegas, too. Maybe its true for more towns than anyone realizes. The only way to make an accurate determination for your town is to do the research.

Agreeing with others here, I would only trust my OWN research. Realtors are sales people. Ask to see the data yourself. Sit down and look at the MLS with them if you have to. There are a million ways to skew sales data from the MLS. Trust me, I have first hand experience with realtors "massaging" sales data, so just make sure what you are looking at is accurate.

Search for sold listings and filter it by financing type (cash is normally one of the options)

It would depend on how much time and money you are putting into finding deals. The degree of passive and proactive marketing you are doing is going to make a huge difference.

If you are spending an hour every couple days looking for deals, its going to take awhile. If you are putting in 4-8 hours a day diligently looking for deals then I would say within a month you should have your first deal.

If you are starting off with a $100 budget for marketing then you should expect that your cheap marketing strategies will take longer to generate a deal, but if you are dropping $10,000 on the right types of marketing then you should have a deal next week.

I found my first deal within about a month of getting started by just looking through the newspaper and on the MLS with no marketing at all.

The county clerk or some similar nomenclature will deal with the county's public records where you would file any public documents (mortgages, deeds, affidavits, judgments, etc.)

You could Google your county's or look it up in the phone book.

Recording fees are normally per page costs and are very reasonable. My county costs something like $16 for the first page and $4 for each additional page.

Understand to record something in the public records it will need to be notarized.

You don't need a license in any state that I know of to buy and sell houses or contracts on houses.