All Forum Posts by: Chris Piper

Check under the resources tab at the top of this page, then click on FilePlace. Look under contracts or forms, and maybe you'll find something there. If not, google it. Maybe you could use a bird dog agreement from the forms section, and edit it for what you are doing.

Just ask your real estate agent for the standard sales and purchase agreement for your area. You can adjust it as needed and include any clauses or contingencies you might need.

When I suggested to talk to cash buyers in the way that I did, I obviously meant to know what you're talking about first. You don't need the experience, but you have to know what you're talking about or you will get laughed off the phone or dismissed by the cash buyer.

You can tell cash buyers anything you want. Has anyone seen the movie "Boiler Room?" Act as if. It's true. If you are a brand new wholesaler in your area, cash buyers will write you off before you can even present them with a deal. They want wholesalers that get stuff done, and bring them deals that they want. You can say you are new to the area but you have been wholesaling somewhere else for 5 years. Who cares? The goal is to get them to take you seriously, and to get them to understand that you are in business to help them. By totally qualifying them and getting the perfect house they are after, letting them know your expectations of them and what your process is and how it works, you will know that you have it sold before you even put it under contract. This will also let them know that you are serious, and whenever you call, you are calling with exactly what they want, and they better be prepared to act on it. They like confidence, no people who fumble over their words, and don't know what they are talking about.

If a cash buyer tells me to send them anything I get, send them an email, or just gives me the standard "3/2" I simply delete them from my cash buyer's list. When they tell me any of the previous things, it means a couple of things to me:

1. They think I'm a joke and won't deliver.

2. They think their time is worth more than mine.

Either way, they are wasting my time, and I don't waste time on anyone who isn't serious. I am trying to help them by bringing them exactly what they are asking for. If they aren't willing to take a couple of minutes to give me the details of their perfect investment property, then I don't have time to waste on them.

There are tons of cash buyers, and losing a few who are arrogant enough to think their time is more valuable than mine is no big loss. I would rather know upfront who to get rid of, and who is serious about working with me. I'm spending my time and money creating perfect deals for them. I don't give second chances to cash buyers. They're either serious and want to work with me, or they are wasting my time with BS excuses or reasons not to work with me.

Either way, once you have built your business up and are working with 5-10 or more cash buyers, and delivering perfect deals to them, your name will get around. Investors know other investors. Suddenly, those people who dismissed you in the beginning for whatever reason or viewed you as a joke, will see that you are exactly who you said you were and can deliver, and will wish that they had taken you a little more seriously. At that point, it's up to you whether you decide to work with them when they call you. Me personally, I don't. I came to them in the beginning, and they treated me like some amateur, so that is their loss.

By the way, if you think I'm way off on how I deal with cash buyers, listen to a little bit of Kent Clothier's material. That is exactly how he operates. He seems to be doing pretty well, so maybe I'm not that far off.

@Dev Horn you have to keep in mind, that in my example, the seller was only asking $50K. $44K is not too far off and would likely get accepted by most motivated sellers, especially when it's all cash.

I do feel that for wholesaling, you have to have much more profit available for deals to be profitable for both the wholesaler and for the rehabber/cash buyer. If you are in a competitive market, then you will have to fight off guys who will pay much more than what would make sense to a normal person just so they get the deal. That is why I focus on vacant properties, and not so much on REO's or anything in the MLS. You can get some deals that way, but the competition in almost any market will beat you out. There is little to no competition on vacant properties, and especially when the owner lives out of state.

You can absolutely do deals with none of you own money, but it will always be someone's money being used to complete a deal. When you put a wholesale deal under contract, you will need earnest money. It can be as little as $10, or as much as $1,000. Depends on who you're buying from, and what amount is agreed upon in the contract.

In any scenario where you are putting a property under contract, whether you plan to buy and hold, wholesale, rehab, or whatever, there will be money that needs to be provided. You can borrow whatever you need from friends or family, use your own money, get a personal loan, get a cash advance, withdraw money from a credit card, give yourself a loan from your 401K, get money from a private lender(an individual with cash to invest), or use a hard money lender.

@Aaron McFarlin go to the resources tab at the top of this page, then click on FilePlace. Look under contracts for the standard sales and purchase agreement. Also, as @Scott Costello mentioned, you can get a copy of the standard agreement in your area from any realtor.

@Chris Music you should need just a one page assignment to add to the original contract.

Go to patlive.com and get an anonymous phone number with voice mail. It's like $13 a month or something like that. Use that number on your signs, and it will route to whatever phone you want it to.

@Account Closed try this link: http://www.assessor.shelby.tn.us/content.aspx. You might find what you're looking for. If not, call the county assesor's office and find out and or get their email address if you need it.

@Brent Tatum try this link: http://www.manassascity.org/index.aspx?NID=133. Same thing. You might get what you need from the site, or you might have to call them to get their email address.

@Jessica Gourdine Here are my answers to your questions:

1. What info goes on to a postcard that doesn't go in a yellow letter?

A postcard will be either identical to what you would put in a yellow letter, or a more condensed version of it.

2. How often should I mail to my lists and how much is too much?

Every 3-4 weeks should be fine. No sooner than 2 weeks after your previous mailing. Repeat mailing is powerful, and will get who ever you are mailing to to start remembering you.

3. Is the same info sent in each mailing or should there be different info in, for example, each yellow letter or post card? Or is it best to alternate between letters and postcards?

It can be the same every time, or you can change it up. It's up to you. You will probably have to do some trial and error to find out what works best for you.

4. I want to make sure I understand ARV and how to come up with an offer price? If a house I'm interested in is valued at $100k, I'd take 70% of that ($70k) and then subtract whatever repairs are needed (say $10k), and that would be the price I offer to the buyer ($60k); so the price I offer to the seller would be less than that (say $50k) and that's where I would profit?

In your example:

ARV $100K

X 70%= $70K

- Repairs of $10K= $60K

$60K is the price you will sell to cash buyers at

From the $60K, you need to deduct your profit and any other fees

(closing costs, interest for funding, etc.)

So for example:

$60K (sell price to cash buyers)

- $10K profit

- $5K closing costs

-$3K financing costs/interest

So, $42K would be your maximum purchase price. I usually take my max purchase price, and multiply it by 85%, and that is my initial offer.

5. What does it mean and why is it a plus side to have a high equity owner?

High equity means that you are more likely to get a better deal. If a seller has a house worth $100K, but they only owe $20K, then they are more likely to accept a lower offer of say maybe $40K. Leaves you plenty of room to profit, and room for you cash buyers to profit as well.

6. As a wholesaler, what other costs do I need to factor in when I'm setting the price I'm presenting to a buyer? Does the wholesaler usually pay any closing costs or title fees, etc?

Here is my formula:

EXAMPLE

House selling at $50,000

ARV of $100K

X 70%= $70K

- Repairs $10K

-Closing Costs/Points for Transactional Funding for (double closes) $3K

- Profit $10K(10% of ARV)

- Counter Offer Margin (3% of ARV)

= Maximum Purchase Price $44K

7. What are a few questions I should always ask sellers when they make that initial phone call?

How much they owe, the lowest they would accept for an all cash offer, property details, etc.

If you're making an offer to a seller on their property, you do that through your real estate agent. You like the property, you make an offer through your agent. They present the offer to the seller's agent, who in turn presents it to the seller. If the seller likes your offer, they will accept it and the seller's agent will let your agent know that your offer has been accepted. Your agent will let you know. If the seller doesn't like your offer, they will either counter offer, or they will not respond at all.

If the seller doesn't have an agent, and or you don't either, then you would be dealing directly with the seller. If you negotiate a price, then you can use a standard sales and purchase agreement to put the property under contract. You can decide to use an agent to complete the deal for you, or you can use an attorney to do so.