I am getting really frustrated landing a deal, am not new to real estate- have flipped over 10 homes in the past but since getting or trying to get back into the market the last 6 months nothing is happening.
Doing the letters and followups to preforeclosures, bidding on Huds in several states, sending letters to vacant or abandoned property homeowners- when you can find them. Have watched way too many webinars from the gurus (who flip 30 houses a month), read tons of books, gone to seminars, the last one the guy wanted 10k and that was the cheapest entry into his class, made well over a hundred offers on REO’s and private sellers. When looking back over my offers since I am anxious to make just the first deal happen, I have raised my bids/offers… and I am not even getting counters.
The things I have not done-make website, knock on doors of people in foreclosure, offered full price, postcards from listing sources, cold call everyone advertising on Craigslist and newspapers. Just running out of money and time…the thing that scares me is if I find a deal and make 20k (forget the 30k minimum) is it going to take another 6 months to find the next???
Hi,
You do not specify your intention, is it to find and buy rentals or to wholesale or flip (Flip or Fix & Flip) as you stated you did in the past. You did not really say what state your in and what market your trying to purchase in?
Right now the best states for real estate opportunities are California, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Washington DC Area (This includes surrounding Maryland and Virginia Markets), Utah, Colorado, North Carolina to name some. The last time I was offering on REO’s I had to make a couple hundred offers just to get one property in contract.
Are their buying services in your state / city where companies will buy a specific home for you at the foreclosure sale (Court House Steps) although you will need hard money lined up (A lot of companies who straw buy for other investors in California, Nevada and Arizona have hard money available through them as a service.) you can bid for properties you research in advance up to your number.
You might continue trying to purchase REO properties as they are plentiful and if the bank has not been able to move them in a reasonable period of time they have been shown to reduce the price and except reduced priced offers, however you may need to make hundreds of offers before you get one excepted. I have heard some investors say they had to write 300 offers on REO’s to get one excepted.
Just keep at it and try to learn all you can and you will make it!
Good Luck,
GR
...the thing that scares me is if I find a deal and make 20k (forget the 30k minimum) is it going to take another 6 months to find the next???
Who said $30K was a minimum? I don’t think you’ve actually done 10 deals. If you had, you would already know that your sources of deals are going to come from a dozen different places and persons.
Nobody I know that’s even done five deals (in a reasonable length of time), got them from one source, except if the source was overwhelming, such as mailing 5,000 postcards every month. Then you’ll do five deals a month from the same source.
If you’re really out of money, that’s good.
That means you’ll have to go back to the basics, which you’ve essentially ignored at this point.
Meantime, you’ll learn (relearn) how important it is to get your free advertising hooks out there, and keep them out there, including getting rid of your business cards like they were radio active, and maintaining at least ‘100’ exposures of your name and phone number and a call to action, every single week in your farm.
This includes posting 20 bandits signs on the weekends, maintaining Craigslist ads for buyers, with your (phantom) house for sale, and for sellers offering a free market analysis and a cash offer, and contacting other wholesalers in your area and offering to bring them buyers for their ‘hard-to-sell’ dumps.
Short of that and you can post how you can’t make it in this business.
Perhaps you should look to lower your profit margin. In the current market, shooting to make $20k on each deal may be a little high. If you are not even getting counter offers, then that should tell you that you are shooting way too low. Perhaps after hundreds of offers, someone may bite and you will make your $20k, but what if in the mean time you did 10 deals that made you $5k each? Same amount of offers, but now you have cash flow and you end up with way more in the end.
Ok folks thanks for the advice -
except for javipa who questions my honesty.
Now things are looking up- got a contract signed for 26 unit apt house in Aberdeen WA. for 225K which is about 10k a month in rents, now I am looking/advertising everywhere to find cash buyer and move on to the next deal.
Anyone interested or know of a good way to advertize and network better please let me know.
HA! I didn’t do, or say, anything of the sort. I said I didn’t believe you.
That doesn’t mean you’re dishonest. That just means my experiences are so different from yours, that I can’t believe what you’re saying is true.
Well, I couldn’t either believe that Obama got elected twice, but he did. So, there ya go.
That all said, I genuinely wish you well, and hope this current deal is overwhelmingly successful for you. Honestly.