Wholesaling in Orange County CA, is it realistic?

[Rusty Eddy]

Hi All,

I'm a newbie to this site (just found it last night) as well as a
newbie/wannabe RE Investor. What a great site! Thanks to all you experienced investors willing to take the time and share your hard earned knowledge!

My partner and I are newbie/wannabe RE investors. I am in the process of hammering out our business plan and looking to this site for feedback and advice on investing in Orange County, CA. (We have a 'significant' amount of cash to be invested), now we need to find a smart way to invest our time and money.

So our focus for the time being is on flipping: wholesale then move to rehab/retail. Is there anybody successfully doing this in North OC (Garden Grove, Westiminster, Santa Ana, etc?). A couple questions:

How realistic is it expect to be able to find wholesale deals in this area: (65-70% ARV less repair costs), and still collect a wholesale fee ($5-10k)?

I know finding the deals is the hardest thing to do. I am prepared for the hardwork/thinking outside the box. My main concern: are there deals to be found if one puts in the requisit effort/smarts. Or is it akin to winning the lottery trying to find deals? (The prices in my immediate area can be discouraging)..

I need to decide if we continue down the flipping/wholesale path
locally or consider a different avenue, perhaps out-of-area investing. I'll be out of town all next week, but look forward to reading all responses that you all are kind enough to give!

Any input from investors active in OC will be greatly appreciated!!! And even get yourself a free lunch if you are so inclined :)

George (Rusty) Eddy

[Rusty Eddy]

It is about time for an update, thanks for asking Jake. All thanks for the very helpful and encouraging words! It is amazing how helpful people are willing to be. When I first wrote this post, I wasn't involved in any local REI clubs, I've since started to become plugged in and have made some great connections. Including great mentors in Will and Mike at Nationwide (big props!)

I have been hanging around long enough to find people are able to wholesale properties in OC, bargains can be found but it is hard and as stated margins are really tight, particularly trying to squeeze in a wholesale fee. Generally OC has high prices with tight margins making the ROI lower than other places, with a higher capital outlay.

As of today, we are about to close on our first escrow, and will likely close on a second escrow by friday. Both of these properties will be light rehabs in LA. LA is much, much larger providing more possibilities, though the competition is heating up there as well. So the journey begins!!!

Having said that, opportunities seem to be popping up here in OC on occasion, maybe slow changes in the market, but probably in direct relation to starting to build a network. Without a doubt, the relationships you build are your most important asset!

For the near term, I'm focused on the two properties at hand. Will continue contacting REO brokers. My next step will be finishing up a whole marketing campaign to contact sellers directly, I'm actually looking to looking for Free&Clear/High Equity seller financing deals, with the intent of hanging on to a couple here and there..

I'd actually like to do a couple other things as well, but as you all know, I need to take one step at a time :)

Thanks for asking!