Hello, I have been doing various forms of marketing for a couple of months now and still have not gotten a deal. :banghead I was just wondering how long it took for everyone out there to get their first deal.
Thanks,
Michelle
Took me a few months… this stuff doesn’t happen overnight.
Michelle,
Once I really dedicated some time to wholesaling property…it took me about 2 months to get a deal. Three weeks later - I received my first check…the rest is history… :smile
What various forms of marketing are you using? Although, getting motivated sellers to call you is the best case scenario, if you want to speed up the process, you need to PUT YOURSELF IN FRONT OF THEM.
- Knock on the doors of owners in foreclosure
- Drive for abandoned, junk houses & contact the owners
- Put Bandit Signs Everywhere
Those three strategies alone should bring you enough deals to keep you super busy…
I guess I’m a slacker, because it took me 2 YEARS to get my first deal. That’s from the day I got my Carelton Sheet’s course to the day I closed on my first property (it was a sub2). I didn’t know ANYTHING about real estate, though. Nada.
There is a lot to learn if you are starting from scratch. It takes a lot of time and dedication, but if you are willing to put forth the effort, it is well worth it.
Steph :cool
My first successful short sale took me about 6 weeks to negotiate and close, then a month to rehab and sell. So about 3 months from my first meeting with the homeowner to getting paid at closing.
The note was for $98k. My negotiated short sale price was $50k. And my sale price to the end buyer was for $105k.
GooD LucK! :beer
Hey guys, thanks for responding. I was really frustrated yesterday but your replies reassured me that I am not a loser and that I am on the right track.
I have been using direct mail, bandit signs (on and off), magnetic car signs, sending postcards to vacant homeowners
I am 99% sure my biggest downfall is talking to sellers/negotiating. Today I decided to suck it up and make a bunch of phone calls to my surprise it went well.
Thanks again!
Michelle
Awesome Michelle!! Sucking it up and just doing it is more than most people do!! When I started getting phone calls I got real nervous… until I realized that I know MUCH more about real estate then the people calling me. Just practice, don’t get caught up in fear, and keep moving forward… GOOD JOB!
Michele…
I’m in the same boat. Just when I was starting to hang my head because I’ve had some challenges in finding deals and partners :banghead, I served a table tonight (I’m also a Waiter) and met an owner of a restaurant who was also a real estate investor and asked me for my business card. :shocked
Don’t give up…don’t ever give up! ~ Jimmy Valvano, former NCState basketball coach.
5 months? And I lost 16 000$ doing that deal too.
Somehow I’m still alive… Took me 8 months to do my first deal that made me any money at all.
Negotiation is probably the #1 thing holding back most investors besides marketing. There’s a lot of fear behind it, and in my oppinion, you really need to be a b**** in negotiations with sellers. I believe in that rapport stuff, but when the rubber meets the road, it’s the b**** inside of you that will get that low price on the property.
What exactly do you have problems with in negotiations with sellers? I may be able to give you a few tips if I can pinpoint your exact weakness.
Where are you having the most problems with? Which processes? What does your business model look like? Meaning, what kind of properties are you looking to buy? How are you looking to buy them?
Remember, just because you haven’t found a deal doesn’t mean anything. You merely found more ways that aren’t working and gaining experience in the meantime.
My marketing campaigns fail most of the time before I change / correct them. And then they fail yet again and I must continuously change / adapt / redo them.
Tough it out. Be a B*****. Never give up.
Not to be a smart a**, but how many offers have you made??? Remember, investors who make offers get deals!!!
Yes very true, amount of offers you make is proportional to the amount of deals you get.
Hey Tien, as far as my business model goes I am focusing on single family houses, typically under 100k and I plan on assigning either the option or the contract that I get on them. I am also looking for people that are willing to sell me their house with owner financing and then I will turn around and resell it with owner financing.
In the past 35 days I have probably made about 20 offers. 99% of my offers were made on homes listed on the MLS. They were very low offers and I have not heard back from any of the realtors so I will probably try resubmitting them just because I can.
When it comes to negotiating I think that I really just need to change my mindset and like you said have a little bit more attitude/confidence. I need to act as if I do not need to buy their house not as if I am a starving investor that has a car payment coming up.
It is great to hear that you are still alive after 8 months and losing 16k. You are obviously doing something right! Here’s to the inner b****
Thanks again
I’m serious about it.
When you sit down with a seller, build all the rapport you can, but deep down, never forget why the heck you are sitting down with them in the first place.
You aren’t here to make friends, you are here to make money. And how to make money is by aggressively getting YOUR PRICE.
Aggressive salesmen and women don’t make friends but they make money.
Get some other cheap marketing out there.
Get someone to put out 100-200 bandit signs.
Send hundreds of yellow letters to the foreclosure list.
Post ads like crazy in craigslist / kijiji.
Send hundreds more yellow letters to out of town owners.
Stir things up. Get uncomfortable.
Dan Kennedy says “If there isn’t atleast 1 person that is offended by your actions everyday, you aren’t saying or doing much at all”.
Deal more with non listed properties.
Go back to the marketing forums and dig real real deep for more gems to find.
But bottom line is get your phone ringing with sellers. That’s the lifeblood of this business.
The only thing I did right in the first year of business was that I never gave up.
Everything else was done completely wrong.
School of hardknocks.