All Forum Posts by: Chris P.

I've been investing in Macon for a decade.  If you pm me i can help you evaluate these properties very well.

In terms of earnest money, i put down $100 payable to our attorney when i'm dealing directly with an owner. If it's listed on the MLS you likely will have an agent demand more. Since your talking about doing this through an agent let me ask this...Is this property you mention on the MLS? If so, you are probably not going to be able to wholesale it, honestly. I haven't seen it or read the listing etc. In my experience if a property is on the MLS it's already had market exposure at that price point and it's unlikely that you will tie it up and then be able to resell the contract at a profit. I'm not saying it can't be done, just that if your trying to wholesale your first deal and you found it on the MLS, it's unlikely to have enough room for you and a rehabber/landlord to BOTH make money. Maybe you can hit the sellers at just the right time and get them to bend enough. But the sure fire way to get a REAL deal to wholesale is to drive around yourself, find vacant houses, and call write a letter to the owners. VERY LITTLE competition for those deals.

To your other questions...For MLS earnest money, if the deal is REALLY good i'll put down $1,000 paid to MY attorney. Never contact your end buyers until you have the deal tied up. If you put down earnest money with a listing on the MLS i hope you have the ability/intention of actually being able to close the deal, whether your end buyers want it or not (another reason to be darn sure your numbers are good when dealing with listed properties). The only fee there should be when your flipping a contract is the fee you charge your end buyer. RE agent should not get a cut of that at all...

@Steve Rozenberg CAPS are for Em-Fa-Sis for particular words only, no intention of damaging ear drums :)

I focused my post on the aspect of marketing to potential renters since that is the forum you asked the question.  In the other areas you mention, i do agree with what you've stated.  At first I kind of disagreed with the marketing for Vendors/Contractors.  Then i remembered I've been running an ad for over two years for "Reliable Handyman Needed" on Craigslist.  So i had to eat the words I was about to type.

I love what you stated here

"If you are not marketing and doing what is current then you are going out of business you just do not realize it yet."

So...So...TRUE.

I checked out your website and let me just say from a business owners persepctive...WOW.  So many AWESOME implementations of marketing strategies and great salesmanship are present there.  Great Site!

Your asking how to do this and I'm just going to be really honest with you and bust your bubble.  My best advice on partnerships can be summed up in 3 words. 

DON'T DO IT.

There's really no need for a formal partnership and anything you would normally do in a partnership you can do informally with hand shake agreements and PER DEAL paperwork.  A formal partnership is really like a marriage, and between three people to boot in your case.

So let me ask you an important question.  WHY do you feel a formal partnership is in YOUR personal best interest?

I'd recommend a HELOC because you can use it like a checking account and close it when you are done needing it. You can borrow to buy a house, wholesale it, rehab it etc, then simply pay it back when your deals allow. Very flexible and fast.

I don't do deals in Texas, but i can tell you that an assignment contract really shouldn't look any different from a regular purchase and sale agreement, other than the addition of a simple "Assignment Clause". Essentially : "Buyer shall have the right to assign this contract to another buyer who shall perform all of Buyer's obligations under this contract..." That's on all of our P&S docs whether we intend to assign the deal or close ourselves. I can't see why a title company would have a problem with this. But again, i'm not familiar with any specific Texas laws prohibiting assigning a contract.

In looking for a title company that "works with wholesalers" you probably mean a title co that will allow you to do what's called a dry closing.  This means your seller shows up and signs the selling paperwork, at a different time your buyer shows up and signs the buying paperwork, then the title company releases funds to you and the seller, who comes back and picks up their check later the same day.  In GA we close with attorneys and sometimes we do this in reverse, buyer, then seller, so that the seller has funds when they leave the first time and no return visit in needed.  In either order, if i'm assigning or wholesaling the deal at the closing, i never have to bring funds.  Regardless, your best bet is to go to a local real estate investors meeting and ask the pro's who they close with.  I did this over ten years ago, and we still close with the same attorney for nearly every deal.

BLUF: Worry less about marketing your business and more about having quality houses/apts to rent that are listed on major public websites.  Your customer doesn't care on whit about your company until you have a good looking rental unit.

Since you posted this in the Landlord Forums, i'm going to assume that you are most interested in the rental side of advertising.  My personal experience had lead to me to this conclusion, to which i welcome challenges:  

People really don't care WHO you are AT FIRST, all they want is a home/apt to rent/buy.

The ONLY thing that matters when it comes to filling your properties is letting the world know it's available to be rented.  There are two ways people do this.  Online and drive-by.  Obviously online is number one.  People will shop with the mouse or on their mobile device so you MUST have an online presence in the major rental advertisers.  Zillow, Trulia, Craigslist top the list as far as i know.  Once they find the listing there, the rule of thumb is the "The More you TELL the More you SELL"  so give them plenty of reasons to spend time on the listing.  Pictures, Walk Through Videos and a link to your business website.

ONLY then will they go to your website.  It should be modern, polished and mobile friendly.  This is where it begins to matter who you are and how you present your company.  But if you don't have a house in the area they want when they search on zillow,trulia, craigslist, then your website and your "WHO You Are" doesn't make on bit of difference to that potential customer.

The other way they will find your house is by going out and driving around.  You've got to have directional signs to your available properties.  Yes they are bandit signs.  Yes they are illegal in many places.  However, i've found that a small directional sign to a house available for rent is infinitely more tolerable by nearby homeowners and any code enforcement, especially if it looks like it was hand written, simply because it DOESN'T say any of the commonly offensive Sales Pitches (We Buy Houses, Free Cell Phone, Medicaid Prescription Coverage, etc).  

People find out about you 2 ways, searching for a house on a major online real estate website, or driving around in neighborhoods where they way to live.  Only after they think you have a good property to fit their individual requirements will they care about your website.  Still, it better be a good one.

Forget a file cabinet.  Get a good scanner and file it electronically.  Infinitely more usable and searchable.  After you do the onsite management of this first property i would suggest never letting a tenant know where you live.

I've done several probate deals and the common issue is this: Too Many Interested Parties.  If you've got one, maybe two, folks involved in the estate, OF/LO can be an attractive option if all heirs are currently solvent and don't really NEED a lump sum of cash.  However, that's not the case in my experience.  Get three or more people in the estate and you'll figure out quickly that YOU may not want to be tied to these folks longer than necessary :)

Out of curiosity, why not just wholesale the thing and be done with it?  Cleaner, not tied to a lond distance property for long term with someone who is an unknown to you.  I see some value in creating a relationship with another investor, but at that kind of distance and assuming you don't come across deals in that area too often...might consider an "in cheap out cheap" exit strategy.