Newbie getting started today, anyone care to share their past success stories

I’m a semi-experienced investor and I’m looking to start working wholesale contracts starting today (building my list this evening by calling potential buyers and investors). I’m a little nervous about getting started but I’m still determined to make things happen. I was just wondering if anyone out there would care to share some of their experiences.

I’m really interested in how people have found the homes they put under contract and how they matched them up with investors. Also what are some of the numbers you’ve managed to work out?

I recently wholesaled a deal. Found a house that was condemned by the City, tracked down the owner & signed a contract. The house was owned free & clear by the Seller. I decided to wholesale b/c I didn’t have time to rehab. Sold via double close to someone on my buyer’s list. The entire transaction took 2 weeks from contract to closing. Made a nice chunk of $.

Thanks for this, OP! I hope i am not threadjacking here…I might be interested in doing this. I 've kind of ignored wholesaling because I didn’t think that it would be something I wanted to do, but I have rethought that point. So now, I have a few questions.

How do you get the owner to sign it over and what kind of contracts did you use that allows you then to sell it?

How were you able to do the double close and make sure everyone involved was happy?

When you say a nice chunk of change, what does that mean? What (or how much) should you expect from the buyer?

TIA!

I’m in TX. I used the standard TX approved contract: http://www.trec.state.tx.us/formslawscontracts/forms/forms-contracts.asp

I just negotiated a price with the owner, filled out the above contract, and the owner & I signed it. I submitted the contract to the Title Company I use that does double closings.

I then negotiated a price with my buyer. We signed a contract - the same one referenced above, and submitted it to the same Title Company.

Nice chunk of change to me = >$10K

No set rule for how much you expect from the buyer. If you negotiated what turns out to be a low price, then you have the potential to make more $.

Thank you for the answer. Which contract did you use? I am in CA, but I would like to pair the one you used for my state. If it’s the first one, how do you answer the question of how you are paying for the house?

Also, are you just repping yourself? I’ve read up on double closes and that some agents may have issues with them and feel like they deserve double for it.

When you negotiate with your buyer, does he/she know what is going on, or do you simply say that it’s your house?

I wish I knew about this when I found the house I am under contract with now (with my investing mentor). I’d have like $20K in my pocket…

Sorry for all the newbie questions.

Moonstruck:

I used the standard contract approved by the Texas Real Estate Commission. I am not an RE agent.

If they ask how I’m paying for the house, I have proof of funds/pre-qualification letters from Hard Money Lenders. B/C if I’ve truly negotiated a good deal, then if it doesn’t sell on a flip, then I’ll buy it myself.

For the house I flipped, the buyer was actually a RE Agent & investor. All they cared about was that they got a good deal. And I negotiated that the buyer paid for all the closing costs.

I told my buyer that I have the house under contract.

FYI: If you ask, why wouldn’t the house sell on a flip if it was a good deal, here’s some reasons:

My situation, the house needed extensive repairs. The price I thought was good, but many investors time wise did not want to be bothered with the extensive repairs (foundation repair, new siding, windows, complete interior rehab, etc.). I could have easily gotten a hard money loan on the property.

Some wanted a substantial reduced price that wouldn’t have worked due to the price I had negotiated with the Seller. I found a price that would mke me happy profit wise, pay the Seller & the buyer got a good deal.

rgchamb

Question for you: Once I have a contract approved for a SS, then I get my buyer to sign a contract as well and just both signed contracts in escrow at my title company and then double close and that is it?

I guess my point is can I get a sales contract on a property that I don’t actually own yet?

Thanks,

Joshua

Thank you for the answers, again. What if I simply want to take the house off the market and sell it to one of my investors? If I have no interest in it myself? Or is that not possible?

Yes. Just make sure that it has been approved by the bank. They’ll fax you settlement info. They’ll usually want to close by the end of the month.

I guess by taking the house off the market means that you’ve had it listed by an RE Agent?

When I have properties to flip, I don’t use RE Agents (doesn’t mean I never will). I have an extensive buyer’s list of investors so there’s really no need to use an Agent.

Joshua:

I meant to say to make sure the Short Sale is approved by the bank, not the double close. The double close is none of their business.

Ok, so the second I get the bank to approve my SS then I can turn right around and get my buyer locked in…I send both contracts my title company and on the day of closing, we double close, and donsky?

Can you answer another obscure question…How do you ensure that the bank doens’t seek a deficiency judgement? Can you write that in the offer contract somewhere or how do you write that in to ensure they can do it?

Thanks for the help, I really do appreciate it.

V/R

joshua

Thanks for the replies so far. I love this site, I’m learning so much.

My wife and I did a little driving around our neighborhood this past weekend looking for vacant homes, we came across a couple of homes that appear to be abandoned. So now we’re working on tracking down the owners (which we’ve been able to partially do through a few helpful posts on others areas of this forum). For the investors who’ve gone this route, do you try to contact the owners of a vacant property by phone or through the mail? And if by the phone how do you break down the initial barrier of being a stranger on someone’s phone? I used to work telemarketing many years ago and I recall that many people are very leery of doing or talking about business with strangers over the phone. Do you have a script or some way of making the homeowner feel at ease before making a proposition of buying their property?

So I have to have funding myself before I offer even if I have a buyer?

That’s a good question, I was wondering about that one myself. One of the reasons I want to work wholesale deals right now is because I don’t want to assume a loan or put up any substantial money into an investment. I was under the impression that the key to doing good wholesale deals is building an extensive network of investors and in the event that no buyers are able to assume the contract, an escape clause written into the agreement would absolve me from completing the transaction.

I would highly recommend it. It’s real easy to get a pre-qualification letter/proof of funds letter from a hard money lender. If you negotiate a low enough price, you could buy it yourself via a HML (or private financing), but if the deal is good enough, you won’t have a problem finding a buyer.

A good reason to have a loan in place is if you had a short time frame for closing. If you didn’t find a buyer during the contract time frame, you could buy it to give yourself at least another month to find a buyer.

So you figure it may cost about $1,500 to get a HML. So if you flip it for at least $5K profit, then you get $3,500, which is better than nothing.

Steve Cook has recommended a financing contingency in the Contract. You can show your proof of funds letter from the HML. If the HML rejects giving you the cash, then your deal was not good enough, therefore you can get out of the contract.

Alternatively, if the deal is not good enough, you can always go back to the Seller & try to re-negotiate a lower price.

I actually contacted the owner several times by phone, then physically visited the owner’s house.

In calling, just be honest. You’re calling about the house on such & such St. You’re not a telemarketer, you’re a local investor that is interested in buying the house. That’s it.

Virtually all SS purchase contracts are contingent on the lender approving the SS (typical lender requirement), which is why I wait until the bank approves the SS.

So the answer to your 1st question is yes.

For the 2nd question, I’ve heard that people put that as a contingency in the contract.