Should we use a different term for professional wholesalers?

Should we use a different term for professional wholesalers?

Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2012 · 506 posts · 331 votes

Having just recently made an effort to get active on BP, I see that the prevailing thoughts here about wholesalers are actually the same as mine - and I wholesale for a living! So many folks without money or experience hear that they should get started by wholesaling deals because "it's easy money." I get leads from new wholesalers every now and then, and they rehabs are almost always tens of thousands of dollars more than they say, or the ARV is tens of thousands less than they say. Even worse is when I use their own numbers and it's a terrible deal!

Having been a full-time wholesaler for 4 years now, with nearly 300 houses wholesaled, I still don't like telling friends, acquaintances, etc. that I'm a "wholesaler" because I don't want to be lumped into the same category as the fly-by-night guys and newbies. It turns into, however, a 15 second description of what I do, which is truthfully more than just wholesaling if our customers need the help or HML.

So, is there another term that we can use to describe a pro wholesaler who does it full-time because they prefer to wholesale instead of rehabbing themselves?  I find that we're great at finding deals and are better off financially making a few grand 60 times a year than rehabbing 3-4 houses a year.  We're also in a different risk/reward position than rehabbers, but we also genuinely love helping people find new deals.  In fact, a new lead was referred to me 2 weeks ago because she'd finished and sold her first rehab 10 weeks prior and had been desperately seeking a house to rehab since then.  I didn't have one available in her target markets, but did have one just outside her area and it was one that I knew would fit the design aesthetic I saw on her first rehab.  Within days, she'd signed to buy the house we showed her and we're both ecstatic.

That's why I wholesale full-time.  

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Ned CareyPro Member
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Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes
10y

I don't think the name is important. People who use and understand wholesalers don't view it as a negative term.

You think newbies and numbskulls wouldn't adopt any new term you come up with anyway?

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  • Real Estate Professional · Dayton, OH · Member since 2015 · 423 posts · 187 votes
    10y

    Just tell them you are a real estate investor who buys property in bulk mainly for immediate resale.

  • Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2015 · 531 posts · 266 votes
    10y

    You are a real estate investor, my friend. You help distressed owners exit by your vast network of rehabbers.  

  • Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2012 · 506 posts · 331 votes
    10y

    Thanks for replying, @Sarah Ziehr and @Account Closed.  I spend hours giving contractor referrals to friends who have work to do around their own houses because I "flip houses."


    I guess I meant to ask a different question in the first place.  Can we come up with another term to use on BP to differentiate newbie wholesalers from pros?

  • Real Estate Professional · Dayton, OH · Member since 2015 · 423 posts · 187 votes
    10y

    Seasoned wholesaler

  • Investor · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2015 · 504 posts · 217 votes
    10y

    How long has the term and concept of wholesaling been prominent in RE markets? 

    Newbies  and those from fresh plowed guru shops absolutely give wholesaling a bad name. That is why I wrote the questions in my post as well.  

    "Can a wholesaler be a crook with a contract?" Yes they can! Are all of them crooks? Of course not!.

    Are there any regulations on who!esalers?

  • Ned CareyPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    10y

    I don't think the name is important. People who use and understand wholesalers don't view it as a negative term.

    You think newbies and numbskulls wouldn't adopt any new term you come up with anyway?

  • Real Estate Professional · Dayton, OH · Member since 2015 · 423 posts · 187 votes
    10y

    Of course the name you use for yourself is important.  Why do you think corporations spend millions of dollars building a brand?

  • Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2012 · 506 posts · 331 votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Carolyn Morales:

    How long has the term and concept of wholesaling been prominent in RE markets? 

    Newbies  and those from fresh plowed guru shops absolutely give wholesaling a bad name. That is why I wrote the questions in my post as well.  

    "Can a wholesaler be a crook with a contract?" Yes they can! Are all of them crooks? Of course not!.

    Are there any regulations on who!esalers?

     In Ohio, whether you're a licensed real estate agent or not, the Division of Real Estate will get involved if you break license law.  It's sorta like doing a rehab without getting permits.  You can do it, but there's problems for sure if you do it wrong.

  • Real Estate Agent · Elmhurst, IL · Member since 2016 · 153 posts · 36 votes
    10y

    Sean,

    Do you ever get any inventory in the Chicago area?  

    Notice  I didn't use the term "wholesalers "

    Lol...Don 

  • Investor · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2015 · 504 posts · 217 votes
    10y

    "HOUSING INVENTORY TRANSFER SPECIALIST"

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