I have 10 bandit signs, a small buyers list, and a dream

[Quentin Taborn]

Hi everyone, My name is Quentin Taborn and I have recently made the shift to start my wholesaling business. My long term goal is to fix and flip as well as buy and hold. I am new to real estate investing and would love if anyone could offer any advice or expertise. I live in Oxford, NC and would like to reach out to investors in the Raleigh/Durham area. As of right now I have a small buyers list, and 10 bandit signs that are still in the box. I wanted to add that detail in my introduction so that I can look back on this post one day and see where I came from. Thanks for this opportunity, and I look forward to progressing with you all.

[Rich Hupper]

I do not buy lists. I sift through divorce cases, probate cases, land court cases, public notices, absentee owners, long term owners, obituaries, order notices, petitions to partition and drive for dollars.

I hone in on properties that are distressed in a low traffic neighborhood. After verifying the property has not been recently conveyed, I try to figure out who the most probable decision makers are and go knock on their door or send them a letter. 

I get much better responses from my letters when I do a significant amount of research into where they are going. 

Also the benefit to doing all this upfront work is you really know what is going on when they do call you or you get in touch with them. 

I am sure other wholesalers will disagree and advocate mass mailings, which is fine, but I am on a limited budget and have the time to do all this research. I also hand write most of my mail or have a helper do it. 

Also being a wholesaler is tougher than some people make it out to be. You are dealing directly with the public / owners. And for the deal to be good there needs to be something awry in their lives. You are speaking with them over the phone, gaining their trust, understanding their situation, negotiating with them, showing them why their property is only worth x, justifying your fee, all the while you are trying to find an investor buyer while not exactly "marketing" their home because you do not have a real estate license. In some instances you are showing the property to your buyers, and the owner needs to understand you are not actually buying the property, so they need to be okay with you having your buyers trudge through their house.

You need to know the comps, know what your buyer will pay, know rehab costs necessary to get it to sell at the ARV, understand contracts, adhere to dead lines or buy extensions, and so much more. It is made out to be very easy but in my experience so far, I have not found someone so detached from reality they have no idea what their property is worth. To the extent that I can get it under agreement for that "wholesale price".