All Forum Posts by: Trey Watson

@Lawrence Taylor

That's good that you're willing to knock on doors and put in the hustle to get the contract, but that's not what I'm saying. 

I am referring to a system of service. You need to think about how you're going to handle the transaction once you already have the sellers contract. Then on top of that you have to think about how your're going to handle it on your buyers side. You need to have a plan and system. 

If you don't have that system in place, and you don't have your paperwork right, how can you expect any seller or buyer to trust you enough to sign a contract with you? You're talking about the biggest transaction of most peoples lives- a house. 

A smooth, seamless transaction is what people want, on both the buy and sale side and that is what will set you apart from other wholesalers in this saturated market.

Roi obviously depends on what area of Houston you buy in but 9-12% is not unrealistic on single family rental properties under management here.

From talking to clients from California and talking to the guys in our LA office, its borderline impossible to find rental property with half decent returns out there.

@ lawrence taylor 

One thing to consider when you are at these REI events is that many people who seem like they are "making it rain" with marketing or picking up properties, exaggerate what they're doing, how much they have and what they've done. This causes spectators and followers to have unrealistic expectations, especially if they're new in the industry. I see it all the time. I meet someone at an event. They openly tell me how many properties they've done or how much money they have, or how much they spend on marketing. Then later they end up applying for financing through us or having to provide proof of funds and 75% of the time they were exaggerating or just straight up lying. 

The reality is, there are more home investors and wholesalers than ever in history, including wannabes. This is simply because our population is more financially educated and has more access to marketing avenues, internet & education. Everyone is always looking for an edge and easy way to make money. There is this common false idea that wholesaling is easy and it leads to big gains really quick and this falsehood is enhanced by people who put on these seminars or start these collective real estate groups catered to new investors. It's borderline predatory and if you think that going to a weekend seminar will get you ready to wholesale- be prepared to be disappointed.

While you can make money quickly, its not nearly as easy as these jimmy seminars or GURUS try to tell you. The market is saturated with wholesalers and investors and will continue to be saturated as long as real estate becomes easier and easier to buy. The way to mitigate being treated as one of these wannabes- have all of your ducks in a row. You must have a system in place that makes your buyer and seller feel comfortable with the process and they must know that you are a professional and know what you're doing. Then you must prove it. 1000 letters DOES NOT equal 1 or 2 buys. It's all about your system and your service.

If you're wholesaling it definitely pays to connect with agents on both sides- the buy and the sale. I am licensed but I work for a large wholesaler and have had experience on both sides.

If an agent has a property, they know they can call me and get an accurate ballpark offer over the phone within an hour or 2. If my ballpark is close to the price they want for the property, I go look at it in person and make them a real offer. Agents want wholesalers who are not going to waist their time and who will shoot them straight. This saves them time.

On the sale side, agents who have investors often have trouble finding properties that suit their clients profit requirement. If you can make an agent feel comfortable enough with your process, the agent will work their client for you and now both of you get paid (Make sure not to step on any toes and run all communication with agents client through the agent). Aside from showing the agent respect, the important part is to lay out all the fine print about your process and closing costs up front before you show any of their clients houses. This will save you both time and grief down the road. Transparency and having a seamless and established system of contracting and closing are key to making the agent feel comfortable working with you.

I can almost guarantee you'll want to avoid that deal if you're a rookie. I would never suggest one of my rookie clients buy a tear down/new build as their first or even 2nd 3rd or 4th project. 

Find something more straight forward

@Oscar Riojasundefined

I think the people who use hard money for buy and holds intend on using hard money to complete the repairs. Once the borrower is finished with the repairs, the borrower is refinanced into a conventional 30 year fixed loan. 

In my opinion a decent rate to expect is 4.5-5.5% on a conventional and for the hard money portion- 9.99-14%. 

I'll put the link below to an article that talks about this, but basically we have not seen home prices be affected, but as an agent working for a larger wholesaler I can definitely tell that market sentiment for investors has shifted. Not to panic mode. More like cautious mode. 

Link below

How the oil slump is affecting residential real estate in Houston

Paying attention to inventory levels in whatever particular market or neighborhood you are in, I think could be more beneficial than speculating on the market as a whole. 

Each city's market will react slightly different depending on so many different factors. Many of these factors cannot be quantified. 

@Bil Casimir

I'm all for time efficiency and I understand people are busy, but lets be realistic. Most people can find 30 minutes or an hour in their day to meet someone who could help them expand their portfolio.

I am willing to bet the majority waste more time analyzing garbage deals than if they were to take a half day, go meet 4 stud wholesalers, and get quality inventory that way. Quality over quantity. 

If savvy investors are good at doing their research then they should be able to get online and figure out who the good wholesalers are.

When people tell me they're too busy to meet with me, I just let them know that our program probably wont work with their busy schedule. If you cant take one hour to meet me, you wont have time to go look at my properties either. 

I went from interested to passionate pretty quickly. Being one of the younger professionals in the industry, I have naturally built a network of people who are very willing to teach me what they know, which has brought me the most value.