Need Advice on Wholesaling in Bay Area, CA!

[Bri Austin]

Hello Bigger Pockets Family! I have a few questions for anyone willing to help. We are just getting started pretty quickly in the Investing universe. Our strategy will be to Wholesale for the time being until we can build some wealth to start funding some flips. We have decided to begin wholesaling SFH in a few Bay Area markets, but are definitely open to other strategies and ideas! I'm in desperate need of advice from a buyer who is familiar with Wholesaling in the South Bay, and who would be interested in hiring a bird dog for a while so that we can learn the business and the processes of how this all works. I currently have a nice long list of vacant homes in the Bay Area, but I would love to connect with a Buyer in a few of these markets and better understand what to look for in these listings and what the pricing should/would look like for these homes. Thanks so much and I'm really looking forward to learning from honest and trusted investors in the Area!! Cheers!! - Bri

[Sean Walton]

Hi @Bri Austin I'm relatively new myself but some things I've learned. Get out there and network in person. Jeff Pollock in San Jose has a very good meetup from what I've heard. @Bobby Sharma has a good one in San Mateo which isn't too far of a drive. Checkout meetup.com and of course bigger pockets meetups section. 

Wholesaling is not easy and it is not necessarily low or no cost especially in the bay area.

You need to get good at sales, building trust and rapport

Get good at determining value and rehab costs. Learn how to comp properties.

The 70% rule is very hard to hit in our area and often in the right neighborhood and lot 85% works if you can expand the property

Learn the different sub markets. Sometimes homes across the street from each other same size and condition go for vastly different prices just because the school district they are in.

It is a great way to get your foot in the door offering to bird dog on commission for deals that close, but you need to have another source of income hopefully because it takes a while to be profitable. It is sort of cliche to say I'm wholesaling to build up capital. 90% of people who say this at meetups are not around a year later so you may be met with skepticism at first. 

Be weary of gurus but there are some relatively inexpensive template type courses that have video instructions, scripts and contracts you can find online. PM me if you want more info