Idiot Wholesalers and why they are awful - a story about Amoove.

[Linda Weygant]

This post is NOT for the wholesalers that are smart, know what they are doing and successfully bring both happy buyers and sellers together.  I know some of those guys and this post is not for you.

This post IS for all those newbie wholesalers who just can't seem to understand why what you do has a bad reputation and why so many people laugh at you, hang up on you, curse you out or otherwise absolutely will not deal with you.  

Read on....

So I've got a turnkey rental for sale (this is not a solicitation.  The ad for that is properly listed in Marketplace).

My ad indicates that it is tenanted until August.  Lists the rent amount and indicates that the tenant wants to stay long term and would definitely be interested in renewing.  There is room to increase the rent.  All spelled out in the ad.  I also indicate that the property is in OK shape, but not great.  You're getting basic rental finishes in this unit, not granite/stainless packages and gold plated fixtures.  Therefore, my price is listed a bit under the comps, which are all freshly remodeled in a very nice way.

OK - got the picture?  Turnkey package.  Decent shape but not awesome.  Priced accordingly, Happy tenant that wants to stay.  Room for rent increase in September.

This guy starts texting me over the weekend.  Says he drove by my "house" (it's a condo...) and says he'll send an offer over right now for $10K less than my advertised price.  By the way, he says his name is Dan (this is important later).  Wants my email so he can send me the offer.

I tell him that if I'd wanted to shave $10K off my price, I'd have listed with an agent.  Right now, I'm interested in selling on my own, I believe my price is fair, I send him over some comps that are all priced higher and I tell him that I am NOT a "motivated seller", because I don't care when this condo sells, as long as it sells during 2019 (for tax purposes).  If it doesn't sell before August, I'll move the tenant out, rehab it myself and sell it at market price.  So I've really got another 6 months before I need to make a decision on it and 10 months before I'm gonna start getting nervous.

He argues with me about the price, I tell him he really needs to get really close to my advertised price.  He asks for my email and says he'll send an offer over.  What the heck.... I give him my email.

This morning, the offer comes in.  Not for $10K under.  Not even for $20K under, but for $40K under my advertised price.  If you weren't serious about buying, why did you even spend the 20 seconds it apparently took you to put together the contract?

The offer comes from some guy named Joe Jernigan at Amoove Inc. (not Dan, the guy who was texting me over the weekend).  These guys are here on BP, apparently, doing business out of Winter Park, FL.  The guy in the contact is neither Dan nor Joe, so who the heck even knows at this point....

The offer tries to sell me that they will "Pay my moving costs" and "close in 15 days".  Idiot kinda forgot that I don't live there and I'm not in a hurry to sell.  Tells me that "most places close in 45 days..." like that's a big issue for me.

The contract he sent me is not in the name of the entity that owns the property, so this schmuck was too lazy to even bother looking up the owner name on county records.  The buyer's name is not mentioned, although there is an indication that the contract can be transferred.  So I'm supposed to sign this contract with zero indication of who is on the other end of the contract.  Who the heck am I supposed to sue if something goes wrong (I am sure this is intentional on their part).

So, newbie wholesalers - here are your lessons.

1.  Take notes on who you're talking to and what their motivations are.

2.  When you send your offer, after you spent over an hour haggling over text on the value, DO NOT insult your seller by then offering even less than the original amount you threw out there.  Especially when you were told that your price needs to come up, not "it's negotiable" or "Best Offer"

3.  I know you guys like your contracts that only protect you, but don't be an a**Hole about it.  Create a fair contract.

4.  If you say your name is Dan in text, don't send an email from Joe.  That's just freaking rude.  I thought you guys were all about "building a rapport" with your seller (whatever that means).  

Probably way more lessons to be learned from this, but I'm too busy laughing my butt off at these jokers.