Some things I have learned so far...

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Hello all....I started here not too long ago and have learned some things I think newbies might appreciate knowing ahead of time before jumping into wholesaling, especially in California. First of all, DO NOT DEAL WITH REALTORS if you can avoid it! They don't think wholesale, they think RETAIL and you can't blame them, they want top dollar for their expertise and often times promise their clients' the moon. If you do use them in California, expect to pay a hefty earnest money deposit on your contracts, in the neighborhood of $1500 to $5000 dollars each otherwise they won't take you seriously! Instead, find the truly motivated seller who doesn't have the money or time to list their property and be a PROBLEM SOLVER just as is recommended here on this site! You can use less earnest money and can negotiate more with them as well. Also, DO build your buyers' list BEFORE you start putting property under contract. Compile a never ending list of potential buyers and their criteria, it will come in handy, trust me. You also have to have someone on your payroll to look up owners of property you are researching if you are not able to quit your day job. It takes time to find property owners of record, ALOT of time. Offer them a flat rate or a fee if any leads they give you turn into deals that you flip. Websites offering this information are far too incomplete and costly in my experience so far. Regarding mentors, don't expect them to work with you for nothing, their time is valuable and their pain and sweat has gotten them where they are now, an instructor once told me, "there is no such thing as a free lunch" so expect to trade something with them, time, money, grunt work, something. Ask them to allow you to piggy back on their deals. What I mean is, ask them if you can help them sell it and offer it with your fee tacked on to what they want for it. For example, to allow you to find potential buyers, and just add your fee on top of their asking price. In many wholesale deals, this is possible, just don't get greedy! Keep your fee reasonable, say 1 to 2% of their asking price or just a flat amount like $1000 or $2000 depending on the size of the deal, so there is still plenty of profit and attraction in it for the end buyer. Remember, the end buyer/investor should always have the Lion's share of the profit, then they keep coming back to you because they know they will make money and you will close more deals, just makes sense. I'm currently doing this with an investor who runs my REI club because we happened to discuss how I was going to start my investing career. They actually gave me the idea and helped me formulate a reasonable fee as well. REI clubs are a GREAT resource for knowledge and potential deals! Utilize them! I'm still learning myself, but the foundation has been laid and I'm building now! Happy Investing! :superman: