This is an ongoing topic where I will post my progress until I complete my first wholesale deal.
Right now I have
a car
a cell phone
neon green car magnets (We Buy Houses)
handmade post cards
handmade business cards
and Im a member of reiclub.com (they havent kicked me out yet?)
I have almost no money to fuel my campaign.
I will begin today by posting a few ads on Craigslist…
Thinking of pirating some bandit signs, painting over them white, or neon spray paint, then writing my own message over it.
I found some strong wire in the garage. Im going to tie my sign posts down…
I just found 10 Forever stamps in my finance box.
I have a box of small white envelopes. I have a pad of white paper for writing.
I just put $10 Cash into an envelope. This is the beginning of my wholesale funds.
I have an old digital camera that works.
I found a clipboard, a folder, and several different color pens
I have Three paper contracts for wholesaling (unsure if they are any good)
What information does you le county assessor have online? On my county, I can literally pull down an excel spreadsheet that lists every property. I’ve been having a bird dog pull them down by zip code. They then run an excel formula that compares the property address to the mailing address, and have it delete the rows where both addresses are the same (owner occupants). This leaves me with a list of absentee owners.
I’ve been mailing to this list I created for free. I created a handwritten font for free at myscriptfont.com and type up a simple letter and used mail merge to print the letter AND envelopes. The only thing I have to do is stuff and stamp the envelopes.
Today I found a mobile home with a For Sale By Owner. The guy just put it out today. Its unoccupied. Its in decent shape.
Then I got to view the inside of the property. Its in decent shape. I think it just needs a new roof and a paint job. The previous owners took okay care of the property. Its just a bad roof.
Today I fumbled trying to do comps and find a price. I am confused in the comp department. I used various websites and got myself a ballpark number before visiting the property. I asked the owner what he would take for the property if I paid cash today, and the number was way way more then double what I thought he would say.
I told the guy I will make an offer tomorrow and hope to sign an agreement that allows me time for inspection. Im going to call him tomorrow and give a lowball offer.
Today I am also learning that the investor lady I bird dog for is probably going to pay me nearly jack squat for bringing her a deal. Shes so liquored up I dont know what I was ever thinking. I need to find investors who would compensate me more fairly if I bring them a deal. This is good because I called a couple other more friendly investors and got other suggestions for other people to contact.
Thats where I am at. Ready to make an offer he cant refuse. Ready to get an agreement signed in blood. Ready to fork over $20 Cash deposit on this deal pronto amigos…
Depending on your county, isn’t that list 100,000+ long? Do you mail that many envelopes?
After you send this list out once, what do you do next?
Do you target the same list?
Has this strategy always provided a return on investment?
Do you use your real first and last name?
Red thats unrelated in my topic here because Im working deals on a shoestring. Start your own quesion topic.
Sooooo heres an update about the mobile home I found yesterday////
I called him back this morning and threw down a low ball offer. Turns out he handed the property over to some agency/Broker last night, so Im crossing this one off my list, and since this was the only property on my list, Im back to square one
A couple things i learned
be more pushy about signing a contract. Dont tell the seller “i will have an offer for you tomorrow”. Instead I want to make an offer in just a few hours after seeing the property and crunching all the numbers
get a Realtor to do the comp for me. I was using various free websites and my numbers were way way off. Nothing compares to the MLS.
Know what the property is worth before going. You should be able to sit in the driveway and say to yourself “This house is worth $125,000 all fixed up.”
That being said; good job on getting out there. You’ve now accomplished more than 90% of people who want to get into real estate. It’s only a matter of time.
Red I’ll answer in a new topic here in a bit.
Thanks luke, yeah red not in this topic.
///
About getting the numbers quickly in the driveway…
I need a Realtor with MLS access to just quick call and get a Comp…
I know bunches of Realtors but I trust none of them…
Question: You guys are big on spending lots of money on mailers. What’s wrong with just going for these For Sale By Owner signs? The signs usually have a phone number and then you can connect with owners so quickly and even view the house and if your negotiation skills are great it just seems like being right there on the property with the owner who wants to sell, it sounds best… Its also not costing me much money
Is mailing thousands of postcards the best way of wholesaling? It sort of sounds like the easier way…
Today i am dedicating 30 more minutes of drive time in a neighborhood, cruising for dollars, looking for trashed houses, and looking for more FSBO signs… Im looking for houses now, no more mobike homes…
Today I completed a we buy houses ad at craigslist. Its up and running and includes my actual cell phone number
I do not have a google voice number, yet
I plan to make a new we buy houses ad every week and keep nenewing them
CA$H FOR YOUR HOU$E$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
You’re exactly right. Once you’ve done a few deals and have some dollars in the bank, you’ll have enough leads coming in that it just doesn’t make sense to drive around looking for junkers. Your time is best spent negotiating deals, improving your advertising campaign, and building this thing into an actual business.
Okay I found another FSBO today. This time its a 3 bed 2 bath house. The owner (apparently) is living in it. She walked me through the house. She said its worth $300 but I seriously doubt it, maybe if it was brand new but this place is kind of skuzzy, it needs all new paint and carpeting is nasty, and lots of other things need repair, including the owner who is medicated on who knows what, shes wacky
I made an offer of $195,000. I think if it was fixed up perfectly it would be $295K. That is what several other 3/2’s recently sold for in her neighborhood and photos online show those houses looked fixed up perfectly. Again my comps are being pulled out of my ass, but I estimated 55K in repairs with relative ease. Basically I was looking to squeeze 20-25K out of this as a wholesale deal.
She turned my 195 offer down and just said no and asked me to leave after that. Her tune changed pretty quickly after my low ball offer. Then again she would not even negotiate as if 195 was too insulting. I will tell you 195 is nothing to bat your eyebrows at. Shes crazy. Also my negotiating skkills need improvement…
Hi,
As an investor we should buy a relatively perfect, upgraded in last 5 to 7 years with no deferred maintenance for about 70% of FMV!
Any remodeling costs, carrying cost’s, closing costs for original purchase, overhead, utilities, etc. are deducted from the 70% of FMV!
$295,000 FMV
$206,500 70% of FMV
-$55,000 Rehab / Remodel Cost
-$4,130 Purchase closing cost
-$12,000 Carrying cost for 4 months @ 18%
$135,370 Actual Purchase Price
$195,000
$55,000
$4,130
$12,000
$17,700 Realtor Sales Cost
$7,375 Escrow / Title Closing Cost for Sale
$291,205
So your going to fix and flip and take the financial risk for this home for $3,795 Dollars in profit?
Actually less because your unlikely to get a full priced offer!
Really??? Make sure you thank her! She saved your ass!
GR
Gold,
I am still learning how to process all those numbers and get accurate figures, by reading the book No Money Down.
Currently I am taking a break from real estate. It is pretty exhausting to learn all this stuff so quickly.
However I am adding to this project, that my time line goal for my first wholesale is by Thanksgiving Day.
Gold River,
Don’t those numbers make basically anything seem impossible to profit on?
I remember Javipa saying he has sometimes sold houses to investors for up to 85% FMV.
I was kind of counting on that because that 70% figure seems like an impossible obstacle.
Granted, I haven’t gotten a call yet.