Check List: The Top 7 Reasons New Wholesalers Fail (with solutions) #1 is a BIG SURPRISE!

[Tom Krol]

I am often asked about my early success in wholesaling real estate. Avoiding these common pitfalls that I see in new students will help you achieve great results.

1. Education over Action

By far this is the #1 Killer of new wholesalers success! Too much education is an absolute cancer in this business. Education will make you feel like you are moving closer to your goals when nothing could be further from the truth. It is like a warm blanket fooling you into thinking that you are progressing.

SOLUTION:

oTake immediate action on new information you learn.

oOnly reward yourself with education after taking Massive Action; let it end your day, not start it.

oAccept that you will never know everything about this business and be comfortable with that fact.

oBe honest with Buyers and Sellers that you are just starting out, do not “act as if”.

oKnow that 99.99999% of your education in wholesaling will come from doing, not learning.

oOnly use mentors as instruction manuals (Mr. Miyagi/Daniel San) not College Professors!

2. Reinventing the wheel

I understand this is a “cowboy” business filled with creative entrepreneurial Type A personalities who all think they know better; however, right now is NOT the time to try new ideas! I can promise you one thing about this business, a proven method has already been developed!

Solution:

oBe sure you are extremely clear on the instructions you are receiving. They should be step-by-step, in order and very easy to understand.

oIf you are not sure on the instructions, clarify them directly with the source they came from.

oDo not edit/revise/change any piece of the instructions. What may seem not important to you may be a critical piece of what makes it work!

3. No real faith in the business of Wholesaling

These students are usually very skeptical of wholesaling as a business. You don’t really believe that wholesaling is a real business, producing these insane results. I can tell you this really wasn’t an issue for me as my mentor was my brother Todd Toback, who I already knew was making over a million a year wholesaling.

Solution:

oAsk your mentor to see copies of all the checks he/she has picked up in the past 3 months (from wholesaling, not selling products) and make your decision from there.

oAsk your mentor to speak to some successful students who have closed more then 1 deal.

4. No real faith in yourself to make money at wholesaling

Maybe you believe the person you are learning from is just very good or very lucky. Maybe you believe you do not posses the skills needed to close these deals. There is very good news for you! You, Me, Cris Chico, Sean Terry, Todd Toback, Joe McCall, Kent Clothier - NO ONE will ever be able to “convince” anyone to sell their house significantly below market value! (Not legally anyway and not while creating a win/win scenario). When you are a good wholesaler, you are good at one thing – Being a Deal Finder, not a Deal Creator! When you are a Deal Finder you DO NOT have to be good at sales, because sellers are giving you their houses! I was fired from my sales job for not selling enough, then I started wholesaling and closed more than 100 deals in my first 18 months!

Solution:

oFocus on Finding Deals – Not Creating Deals (You are not a Real Estate Agent … You are a Pawn Shop for houses!)

oIt’s a numbers game. Get your numbers up and you will close more deals!

oRemember that it is imposable to mess up a Motivated Seller Call. If you are not closing deals it is because you are not in front of the right sellers!

oListen to Todd Toback’s podcast episode #10 on how to meet with a motivated seller, follow it exactly and it will work!

5. Too many marketing channels too soon

Many new students try to run multiple marketing channels simultaneously instead of absolutely crushing just one. An example would be a week where you put up a few bandit signs, make some cold calls from Craigslist and mail 500 post cards. No good!

Solution:

oStop dipping your toe in the water and go ALL IN on one marketing channel (in case you are wondering, Direct Mail is my bread and butter when it comes to finding motivated sellers).

oMake one channel Fat, Healthy and Producing Leads first. Become the number one person in your market dominating that channel. Then move onto another marketing channel.

oAlways be measuring your results from your marketing channels. Use different phone numbers to know what is working and what is not working.

oIf you really want to kill it, split test all your marketing all the time!

6. S.O.S. (shiny object syndrome)

GUILTY! I must admit this has been a weakness of mine! One of the biggest killers in this business is distraction. You are on one path when someone else starts shouting about how great something else is – and BAM! – you’re off starting from square one on a whole new adventure.

Solution:

oFind an accountability partner (seriously this works!). Tell them your goal and call them when you start focusing on building a mobile motivated seller app rather then wholesaling. LOL This happened to me…

oWARNING: The harder you try to stay focused, the better the distractions will start to become!!! Here are some examples of my recent distractions:

§Unnecessarily learning Podio while I’m crushing it with Highrise HQ

§Unnecessarily switching from Ring Central to Vonage Business Solutions

§Going through a Probate Course when I have access to a kick-butt inheritance list with US Lead List

7. Lack of GRIT

I learned this lesson a long time ago from my mentor Bob Parsons of GoDaddy.com: “When you are about to quit you are closer than you think.” No truer words have ever been spoken about Wholesaling. This business is simple but not easy! There is a ton of rejection and if you think your first deal was difficult to close, I can promise you the second one always seems to be even more difficult! If you do not have tenacious persistence, grit, determination and insane Stick-to-itiveness you most likely will not make it to deal 3.

Solution:

oRead The Dip by Seth Godin

oStay LASER FOCUSED on taking MASSIVE ACTION on REVENUE PRODUCING ACTIVITES (not education!!!)

oDo not give up – BELIEVE that wholesaling works!

oSTAY FOCUSED ON REALLY WANTING IT! You are sitting at a café with your family; a van pulls up, shoves your family inside and drives away. The next day you get the call, “Hey, you ever want to see your family again you have to wholesale a deal.” I guarantee that you will wholesale a house immediately!

oRemember what grit looks like: Picking up cardboard boxes from dumpsters to make bandit signs, selling your stupid TV for direct mail money, using your lunch break to cold call Craigslist, etc.…

BONUS!!!

The following are some common traits shared by successful wholesalers

1.Reading business books constantly!

2.Always having a mentor no matter how much success comes (be careful of the mentor without a mentor)

3.Mastering Networking

4.Utilizing a database

5.Always maintaining an abundance mindset (read the Go Giver!)

*** NOTICE THAT LACK OF MONEY IS NOWHERE ON THESE LISTS! ***

I truly hope Wholesaling is as much a blessing to you and your family as it has been for mine!

To Great Real Estate Adventures,

Tom Krol