Author Archive
Handling Title Issues – Communication Is Key
Posted on September 16, 2015 byIf you have done wholesaling for even just a handful of months, you have undoubtedly come across that property that was going to be an easy deal, a sweet deal, a killer deal only to have it stall and possibly unravel because of a title issue. Obtaining clear and marketable title is a key item that rarely gets focus in courses I come across. It is usually a ‘the attorneys will take care of it’ issue. This is 100% true except that it is still YOUR deal first and as long as it is your deal, you must remain in the driver’s seat.
Too many times, I have come across deals that stall simply because as a wholesaler, we forget that the closing attorneys get rather busy themselves and we may find our transaction playing second fiddle or even backburner to ‘easier’ transactions for the closing attorney. This is not a fault of the closing attorney. Think about it, like you they most likely want to knock out the low hanging fruit the same way you thought your deal would be an easy one!
Sadly, this results in even more time to resolve issues and potentially frustrated Buyers both with you and the closing attorney. Not all Buyers have the same desire to be patient to get a deal done. So how do we handle this? Read More→
Marketing in a High Demand Market
Posted on August 1, 2015 byYou may have heard the news that the real estate market is improving throughout the USA. While in some areas, the market improvement is steady, some markets are just hot! An interesting observation we have noticed is that private sellers in particular hear the news on Fox, CNN, CBS, etc. and immediately think their property is worth what it was in 2007 at the peak. The idea of gradual appreciation seems to escape a significant number of them as it seems at every corner everyone is saying sell! Even banks are selling REO’s at or near full retail value…before rehab!
In the midst of this, you may be hearing the phrase ‘limited inventory’ or ‘fierce competition’. And depending on your market, there is probably some truth to this. More agents are coming back on the scene. Real Estate gurus are selling Wholesale courses like M&M’s at the grocery store about how easy it is to be rich tomorrow. They all have some kind of ‘secret’ message to get deals flowing in to everyone. However, if you sell it to everyone, how is it a secret at that point?
So what is a wholesaler to do? Read More→
Market is Hot? Don’t Let It Mess With Your Numbers.
Posted on July 2, 2015 byYou may have noticed that the Atlanta market in general is hot right now. Prices are going up. The newspaper is telling people values are going up. CNN, Fox and more are reporting more new developments every week it seems. If you are a homeowner, this is the news you have been wanting to hear. ‘Sellers’ market!’ is being proclaimed by agents in recent months and to a reasonable degree, that is the case.
So where does this leave you as a wholesaler? I would argue it leaves us in one of a few positions:
- Ride the wave and pay more for properties and hopefully wholesale for higher LTV’s
- Learn more about creative financing
- If you want to wholesale, stick to your formulas that you know work based on today’s values
Which is the right answer? As a wholesaler, clearly number 3 and to some degree number 2 if you want to branch out from just wholesaling. Yet answer number 1 is the answer that seems to be taken by the majority of wholesale deals that cross my desk. Read More→
Keeping Up With Your Deal
Posted on May 29, 2015 byPicture this familiar story: You go to a real estate meeting and meet a Buyer looking for property. Ecstatically, you immediately add them to your Buyers list which they fully expect. Within the next week or two, you get a deal and send it to them via your Buyers list. A day later or perhaps only a few hours, you get a phone call from the Buyer (let’s call them Bob) and it goes something like this:
You: Good afternoon Bob, how are you?
Bob: Doing well, yourself?
You: Doing well. How can I help you?
Bob: Well I got this deal here at 123 Main St that you sent me however I have gotten it from five other people and am trying to figure out who has it since they all have different prices. I am very interested but need to know who really has the contract so I am not wasting my time. Another gentleman called me and said he was under contract but it seemed odd since your price was lower yet he was adamant. You seemed like a nice fellow and your price is the lowest so I am starting with you. Is this your deal?
Read More→
Builders – An Excellent Source Of Buyers To Have On Hand
Posted on April 30, 2015 byWe always hear how it is important to get a solid Buyers list whether large or small but ultimately of people that can perform. One such Buyer that is relatively untapped for wholesalers are Builders. These are in many ways some of my favorite Buyers because they can oftentimes pay higher prices than investor Buyers who have to hire them. Let’s take a look at why this is:
- Builders can choose whether or not to pay themselves during a build process. If they choose just to get paid on the end profit, this averages a savings of 15-20% that an investor Buyer would have to pay to them.
- Builders can save on their construction costs by not marking up anything. Investors are often billed a markup for these materials costs since they or their subcontractors have to source and pick up the materials.
- Builders save on the overhead of timing. Time is money and a builder has less people to coordinate with to accomplish building a house whereas an investor has to manage more people.
- Builders may do some of the labor themselves. Some of them just love to get their hands dirty no matter how good their crew is.
- Builders may have their own capital. Many investors leverage private capital but a well funded builder may have their own capital, thus saving on interest fees.
When you start mixing some of these potentials savings together, you can see how they can pay more for a house than an investor can thus making the difference in having a deal done vs having no Buyer. Let’s look at a specific example. Read More→
Advertising Your Deals To Buyers – Do’s And Don’ts To Always Apply
Posted on April 3, 2015 byAs an active investor, I get a ton of deals regularly from other wholesalers especially with springtime rolling in. They come in all sorts of shapes, forms, fonts, graphics and so forth. While they all have a variety of information, it is rare that ads come with enough information to make a decision on whether it is worth spending time on them. So as a Buyer as well as a wholesaler, I thought I would share some do’s and don’ts to apply when you put ads out to your Buyers to set yourself up for success.
DO’S
DO put the address – I am amazed at why anyone would think I would look at a deal without an address but it happens.
DO think like a homeowner wanting a perfect house to describe repairs – This is what your Buyer is going to be aiming for. As an example, you may be ‘ok’ with the minor carpet stain however that won’t cut it when your Buyer’s Buyer will want new carpet. Description trumps number estimates since each Buyer has their own contractor with their own pricing.
DO give comparable sales that make sense – radically mixing styles of homes, comps that are too far away for the geographic area, large square footage differences, ignoring unique features such as lakefront, acreage and many more considerations can radically affect what are the best comps. Read More→
