All Forum Posts by: Sean Cole

@Brian Cooke congrats on getting started!  How much work are you doing yourself vs. hiring contractors?  Your rehab budget is pretty good for a tri-level -- normally I figure $25k on one of those if I don't have roof or hvac to do.

I got an MBA later in life than most folks do - I started at the age of 32 and finished at 34.  I was already in real estate during that time and picked up a few interesting things during the course of study (at Xavier University in Ohio), but far more valuable were the connections I made with a few of the professors - one of which has directly led to a significant portion of the hard money lending that we do.

It's really an unsanswerable question, though.  You'll only know if it was worth it after you've completed it.

I've no doubt that you have a handle on how to Wholesale in Wisconsin, but the variety of laws and practice of enforcement in other states makes it unwise to make blanket statements about how to wholesale in other parts of the country.  As an example, Ohio doesn't care about Equitable Conversion - I've had several conversations with the Enforcement group at the Commerce Department in Ohio about this.

@Jay Hinrichs interesting on your minimum... When I'm looking at MLS deals to buy and resell I assume a margin to me of $5k when I'm running my numbers.

Here's the other thing about wholesalers on the MLS. If I'm looking to make $5k on a deal, every "real" investor should beat me out because I have to buy it about $7k less than they do (to account for closing costs, etc.). My modeling is such that I'm only selling you a property at a price you'd have been willing to pay if I weren't involved. You're not paying "extra" - it's built in - so if you'd have been willing to pay $100k for a house if you found it on your own, I'm not selling you the house for $105k, I'm selling it for $100k.

Maybe it's just happening in my local market but I doubt it. We're seeing more and more MLS listings from bank sellers that are paying 1% to the buyer's agent. On a $50,000 sale, it's not worth calling a bunch of clients to tour the property at that pay rate.

The reason that people will by MLS wholesale deals is that they have a full-time job and don't have time to track all of the possible deals coming up on the MLS, go visit them and submit offers and track those follow-ups.  If you are in that scenario, you're willing to pay a convenience fee for someone else to do all of that work for you.

@Jake Walroth, we're full-time here at Craftsman Properties.  We can either provide you with just a property or help you with contractor referrals, design assistance, materials selection, etc.  We also provide financing if a customer needs it.  Finally, because we're all licensed agents, we also offer to sell your house at completion for a discounted fee.  In short, we're full service if you want it.

@Wayne Brooks that'd be Tortious Interference and violates the REALTOR Code of Ethics.

People really didn't think San Diego prices would ever recover?  There's only so many places in the world with the weather that San Diego has.  It doesn't take a genius to figure out that property there will be in demand.

My customers look for deals all over and I encourage them to do so.  Some of my competition gets their panties in a wad if a customer buys a deal from anyone but them.  To me, if I don't have a deal that matches what you're looking for when you need it, then go buy it where you can.

I won't share my sources to find deals in Cincinnati since I'm in the business of selling them to investors like you guys, but there's value in having relationships with a few wholesalers and agents.  As @Anthony Dooley said, lots of agents claim to be experts dealing with investors and lots of wholesalers claim to have great deal flow, but the proof is in the pudding. As a 2 man shop last year, we sold 65 houses to real estate investors in Cincinnati and the median resale price of all houses resold since I started in the business is over 105% of my going in ARV.

Without a face-to-face conversation, I couldn't begin to guess why you haven't been able to pull the trigger on a deal yet.  If you'd like to have that conversation (even if it doesn't lead to buying a house from me), please call or email me.

It'll take a bit more legwork than running normal comps, but you'll need to find teardowns that are complete and resold. If the lot purchase didn't go through MLS, it'll still be public record on the Auditor site. So will the final sale price to the owner.

I'm more familiar with infill redevelopment in Montgomery, and it's generally accepted the the 1950s ranches on 1/3 to 1/2 acre sell for $200k-$250k and the new house retails in the high $700s or $800s.