All Forum Posts by: Steven Leigh

The general statistic is it takes about 1,000 letters to get an average of 40 calls, which gives you an average of 1-2 deals. Of course, it can happen sooner or it can happen later than that. But if you sent 500 a month, on average you could expect a deal every other month or so. If you invest a big chunk of your profits back into your marketing, you can quickly ramp up to 1,000 or more a month. Then it can snowball into say 4,000 where you would average a deal a week, etc. 

Just start with what you can afford to start with and be patient. Then invest back into the marketing so you can grow your business. 

 So you're just flat out insulting a whole group of investors now? Is this really how you want to conduct yourself on BP? Does this seem helpful to the community to you?

As a wholesaler, 10% is high for most markets. More experienced wholesalers are getting about 10% of ARV, but in some markets it's probably not even that likely.

Property management generally runs about 8-12% so 10 is about average.

Adding the syndicator stake of 10% really takes a chunk out, though, which makes me think the pressure is on the wholesaler that much more to get a 10% lower price, or maybe the deals just end up 10% higher than they really should be.

I would worry less about all these fees, though, and just evaluate the end deal itself. What is the cash-on-cash, what is the ROI, etc? That is the more important criteria. If they can include all these fees and still have an ROI that is competitive in the market? Then go for it! If it's a little higher but obviously they are doing all the work for you, it still might be worth the tradeoff.

I agree with Thoai that it is probably fair game. If the original wholesaler is getting a price he is happy with and you can make a little more than it's still a win for everyone. 

However, there are a few things you would need to think about:

1. You'll probably need a strong cash buyers list to where you can quickly find a buyer within a VERY short amount of time. You need buyers who are hungry for deals.

2. Make sure the wholesale deal on Craigslist is actually a real property. :) Many wholesalers put up "ghost ads" on Craigslist. They will list either a vacant house or just use photos and never actually give the address, etc. The reason they do this is they are looking for cash buyers. When someone responds they say "Sorry, that one sold, but can I put you on my buyers list and send you future deals?" Sleazy, but it's pretty common, unfortunately.

@Merry Briotta I've heard this and haven't tried it yet. Have you done it? Are they reluctant to talk to you? How do you approach them?

I will often increase the time period to 12, 18, or even 24 months before I will increase the radius. You have to take it with a little grain of salt when you do that, but if the market hasn't shifted a lot in that time period the numbers should still help.

The other option is you can look at houses currently listed, but you should probably subtract about 6% or even a little more for realtors commissions and the fact that it will probably sell for under listing (unless it's a hot market that usually sells for more).

Lastly, as Christopher said, you can just go with different beds and baths and try to adjust, but that can get sort of tricky too.

None of these is as ideal as your original method, but I work them in the order I listed here and just do the best I can. Realistically, you could spend months trying to hone in on the "perfect value" and it wouldn't really matter anyway, because it's ultimately worth what the end buyer will pay for it. Sometimes you're better off spending less time trying for the perfect value and just adjust the deal later if you have to with a price reduction if needed.

Then you can spend that extra time looking for more deals.

@Account Closed Dayton is a fantastic market. The REI Meetup Darrin mentioned above is fantastic and I can't recommend it highly enough.

As far as looking for a house to live in, your A and B areas will generally be Kettering, Centerville, and Beavercreek. All 3 have some of the best schools in Greater Dayton, and each has a range of houses from smaller and less expensive to large and very expensive. 

When you get a closer idea of what you might be looking for and when you're closer to actually buying, send me a PM. I'm a wholesaler, so I might come upon a property that would fit your criteria. I can keep a lookout.

Good luck!

 You have it right. The bank will likely foreclose, hang onto it for WAY too long, and not take any offers. Then they will short sale it, and keep dropping the price until it finally sells at the price investors had been offering a year prior, yet the banks will have accrued thousands in holding costs in the interim. Great system, right? 

I disagree that finding cash buyers is easy with a good deal. To be a successful wholesaler you need a STRONG cash buyer list. Yes, you will probably find buyers if it's a good deal, but can they actually close? Do they know what they are doing? These are things that are good to know ahead of time. And the wholesaler with the largest cash buyer list makes the most money from their deals.

Here's a great link with a lot of good ideas for building your list:

http://retipster.com/buyerslist1/

You're probably going to have to back out of the contract, and if the seller didn't disclose all this to you, you are certainly within your right to do it.

Unfortunately, no buyer is going to buy this without title insurance, and title companies probably won't even process it.

You could at least call the county and explain the situation and ask what your options are. If it's a good enough deal, you might have the option of paying the back taxes to stop the sale, but make sure that will allow title insurance or you'll be in a worse situation.

As I said, though, be prepared to just walk.