Wholesaling

[TJ Sayers]

This is my first time posting and I would like to get some feedback on wholesaling. I am interested in wholesaling and I have read through this site and listened to hours upon hours of podcasts and youtube videos. I do know that it "sounds" easy, but I am sure that actually making money wholesaling is probably a lot of work. I am willing to put in the hours, energy, and effort into building a business out of Real Estate and thought it would be smart to learn as much as possible before getting started. I do have a lawn care business that I run during the summer months, but that is about to slow down significantly because of the seasons changing. I am looking for advice for getting started in Real Estate, specifically wholesaling. Unfortunately, I do not have a whole lot of money to invest into a fix and flip property but I do have enough saved to do some marketing.

Real Estate is something that I really like and want to do. I actually enjoy driving around and looking at properties to fix up. The problem has always been that I never have been able to save up enough money to buy a house to fix and flip or hold and rent.

It seems to me (from reading posts on this site) that a lot of wholesalers develop a bad name because they do not know what they are doing. I want to run a first class business and do things the right way. I really do not want to establish a bad name in my community. However, I also know from life experience that the best way to learn is to do. I have a friend who is a real estate investor (fix and flip and buy and hold), and I have spend many days in his office talking to him and riding around with him trying to learn as much as I can about the business. I also count my own home as experience. I bought my home as a foreclosure in 2010, and I (along with my dad) put in a lot of work fixing up my house. We ripped out the whole kitchen and a bathroom, replaced all tile, appliances, cabinets, built a deck, replaced all trim, painted, and refinished hardwood floors. I am saying this to demonstrate that I do have a little bit of knowledge of costs of repairs and time frame. My original plan was to flip my home and move out and do it again. Since then, I have got married and living in a house that I am fixing up is no longer an option.

I am sorry if I have babbled on and on, so I will get to my questions.

1) From what I have read, it seems like direct mail will be the best form of marketing. Is that correct? If so, are yellow letters better than postcards?

2) I have never done this before, but I suspect that most sellers will want to work with a Real Estate Agent. Is this the case? If so, how do you handle this?

3) Should I hire a mentor or coach to help me get started?

4) Is there any other advice that you guys would be willing to share with a new Real Estate Investor?

Thank you for any advice that you are willing to give, and I look forward to learning from you guys who have a lot more experience than me.