My Current View on Investing in Florida

[Sheena Prattis]

Just beginning to learn about investing. Been reading on wholesaling and contract flipping. I talked to a realtor yesterday who basically made me rethink what I'm trying to do (dream buster). He told me that he was working with a man who tried doing the same thing and for two months, he and the guy would meet twice a week. He never made any $$ because the guy wasn't able to locate any property where the seller would allow the contract to be sold, plus most realtors are not agreeable with it. He wasn't totally sure what the client was initially doing because he was never direct about it, but eventually he figured it out. He said this type of business (flipping contracts) is more difficult to perform than any other real estate deal. He did tell me about the ABC transactions with short sales but you need thousands of dollars to purchase the home in order to resell it. Florida, he states, is very competitive in real estate, and there are many investors with huge amounts of money; basically if you don't have thousands of dollars to invest initially, you won't get much assistance. In fact, I contacted a couple of title companies to get information on their services and mentioned what I wanted to do (assignment of contracts) and never got a response back. I can't avoid what I want to do so I've been honest with anyone I speak with. I'm not asking anyone for a handout and I believe in bootstrapping my way if necessary, if that's what the environment calls, but there must be an easier way for the little people like me to connect to someone that can at least be a mentor and say 'yes' or 'no' from time to time as I find my way. Many investors have been in the same position that I've been years ago. Then again, many people forget that's where they once been.