How to Begin Reverse Wholesaling in Indianapolis

Question

Hi, my name is Marissa and I am a newbie at Bigger Pockets looking to get into real estate investing. To start, I would like to begin reverse wholesaling. I am still in the research phase, but I am trying to build on what I am learning and take actionable steps each day.  I have bought and am in the process of reading several books from BP, including “Finding and Funding Great Deals” by Anson Young.

In it, he describes a way to use listsource.com to put together a list of zip codes that are “hot” to investors. Using his method, I found 8 zip codes in Indianapolis that are currently seeing a lot of investor activity. I am trying to put together a list of these investors so I can find out what they are looking for and start searching for properties for them.

I asked a real estate agent to put together a list of cash buyers for these zip codes, but he could only provide a list of the properties in those zip codes that were paid for with cash.

So now I am trying to find out the cash buyers for these properties - it does not appear that the Marion County’s Recorder’s Office provides this service for free, at least not online.

There do seem to be a couple of sites that provide this information, but each property costs between $4.95 - $6.95 to find out who bought it. I would rather not spend $2K to find out this information this way, so if anyone has a suggestion, I’d love to hear it.

Is there a site who will provide this information with a monthly membership where I could pay the fee for the month and perform unlimited searches?

Are there any other tips or suggestions that you have for starting reverse wholesaling?

Any comments or suggestions that you have will be much appreciated.

Thanks for reading this far, and I look forward to hearing your responses. Hope to hear from you soon!

Salvatore Lentini · Answer

Reverse Wholesaling? I disagree with that method. Finding buyers is easy if you find a good deal.  Finding good deals is the hard part.  If you find a good deal there will be no shortage of cash buyers knocking at your door especially in this market of low inventory.

Anthony Blocker · Answer

@Marissa Staller If he gave you 8 properties that were paid for with cash you should look up who bought the property and email/call them. Honestly, you can find a deal then a buyer you don’t always need an end buyer up front if it’s a good enough deal someone will bite!

Account Closed · Answer

@Marissa Staller  flipping. Once you get a property under contract, the buyers will come. I did this in Atlanta and now in Tampa. I don't need to be an agent and I don't want to be an agent. I have friends who can help if I need.

I never talked with RE agents because the agents work with MLS and it is rare that my buyers want a fixer from MLS.

I see you are Indianapolis and I don't know how the market looks. However it can be done where you live.

Like @Salvatore Lentini wrote, finding good deals is hard.

Christopher Petrillo · Answer

Hi @Marissa Staller!

I was just seeing how it is going?  I currently invest in Indianapolis myself and if you have any questions DM me.

Marissa Staller · Answer

@Jingru Sui Reverse wholesaling is when you have a buyer's list are they give you the criteria of what they are looking for. You go scouting for them, and if they like what you have to offer, you assign the contract to them for a fee. I'm in the process of trying to put together my buyer's list.

@Mike D'Arrigo Thanks for the suggestion, Mike! The website you offered has been very helpful in compiling a list of owners who paid cash. I'm not done yet - it's time consuming and I have a pretty thorough spreadsheet I'm filling out, but it is definitely working. Thank you!

Jingru Sui · Answer

You can find owner information from tax appraiser website. Should be public information.

Jingru Sui · Answer

I'm trying to understand what's reverse wholesaling. How you make money? by being a real estate agent? I started investing by saving enough down payment and doing the BRRRR. So far I own 3 rental. It used to take me 2 years to save enough for 1 house now with the rental income start to build up it takes me half year to save for 1 house.

Brian Van Pelt · Answer

@Marissa Staller

This was a very amusing post, What you are describing as "Reverse Wholesaling" is another name for "Real Estate Agent". I work with Buyers and Investors who look for investment properties. I keep a list of wholesalers that I email when i have a client looking to buy and investment property.

Why not just get your real estate licence and you can easily do both ?

Developing a list of cash buyers takes time and is a fair chunk of my repeat business, why on earth would any realtor turn over a part of their book of business to someone ? That's like committing career suicide . It basically makes you their competitor. It's not that your realtor can't make you a list of cash buyers, it's that there is no incentive in it for him. Cash buyers don't need a realtor to purchase a property since you are going to be looking for properties for them. If your realtor does develop such a list for anyone , they won't be in business long.

How to Begin Reverse Wholesaling in Indianapolis

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