Introduction From Portland Oregon, Building A Wholesale Network

[Andrew Ferguson]

Hello Everyone,

I've recently moved to the Portland Oregon area (technically Hillsboro Oregon). I really want to build a life for myself in the area and so I am looking to get into real estate. Wholesaling has interested me for awhile now. Wholesaling seems like a great place to start and a great way to network as well. I would like to know real estate investors in the area so I can get a feel for the types of deals you like to do and put you on my first-call list, essentially do some leg work for you. I'd also be interested in knowing other wholesalers. I know the success rate of staying in the wholesale game is relatively low so maybe a network or entrepreneurs could help. Anyway, just glad to be here and to start getting involved. 

Andrew Ferguson 

[Mike Nuss]

@Andrew Ferguson I'll cut to the chase and avoid the sugar coating. Wholesaling, as a business model is extremely difficult in our area. It's also illegal in Oregon, as taught by the gurus. People will argue this to death, but if you read what constitutes "real estate activity", as defined by the Oregon REA, it requires a license. I don't understand how people argue that it's legal, but if you use the term "buyer's list" you're breaking the law if you have no license and no agreement to market the property (that bs about "I'm not marketing the property, I'm marketing the contract" won't hold up at all in court, so take that advice with a grain of salt). 

In order to succeed, you have to find off market deals or risk pissing a bunch of people off and winding up in court defending yourself for doing RE activity without a license. Your competition spends thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars every single month in marketing for those off market deals and there are hundreds of "wholesalers" out there. Response rates have consistently dropped over the past few years as more gurus come through town teaching wholesaling. Than Merrill is coming again in the next month so the next wave of wholesales is about to come. You have to either be good at what you do or find super motivated/inexperienced property owners to take advantage of, if you're going to do a deal without experience. It's tough. It can be done, people do succeed, but the ones that do are the 1 in 1,000 or they have a huge budget and experience in what they do. It's not for the weak at heart. 

That being said, "assignments" (the essence of wholesaling) are a great tool and one that should be in every investors tool bag. However, in my opinion, if you need to defend yourself in court (which is the barometer to whether or not it's legal), you need to show that you do other re investing outside of just assignments (wholesaling). So again, getting started as a wholesaler comes with more barriers to entry than any guru will ever tell you. It's actually much cheaper, easier and casts a wider net for success just getting a brokers license and becoming a broker. There is a reason @Jay Hinrichs preaches that day in and day out on this site. 

I've been marketing for years, success comes in waves and you have to stay consistent. I went 12+ months with no deals from direct mail, but kept spending 2K each month regardless. Staying consistent resulted in 4 closed deals in April. So it's a numbers game for sure, but you must spend $ to keep those numbers consistent. Unless you get lucky like the friend I mentioned. 

That being said, I've seen one of the best deals I've ever seen come from a friend that sent out 40 letters (literally spent less than $50 on marketing). It was a seller finance 4plex deal with similar terms as an FHA loan (that was the basis of the seller carry negotiation) and they made 10X on their investment. Borrowing 40K for a deal like that is simple, so why wholesale? So that goes back to the initial point, it's a tool and not a business model. Why wholesale something like that when you can raise 40K and make 400K? Don't limit yourself by choosing a business model. Fill your tool belt with as many tools as possible and sharpen the **** out of them tools.