Seattle-area wholesaling discussion / questions

[Mike C.]

Hi fellow Seattle area wholesalers,

I've recently started my first marketing campaign (initially directed towards non-owner occupied properties in Snohomish and King counties).  I'm hoping to gather some data to get a sense of how extensive one's marketing efforts need to be in order to find great deals, and what types of seller situations are most commonly encountered in the context of wholesale deals in our area, if that's possible to characterize.

I suspect this type of context would help a lot of new folks understand roughly what it takes to be successful, specific to this area. So, I propose some questions to get the discussion started (whichever ones you're comfortable answering :-)). 

     1. (Very roughly) how many wholesale deals have you done in 2015?

     2. What were the most common reasons why the seller wanted to sell to you at a deep discount, instead of going on the "hot market" and selling through an agent?  (This is one of the objections that comes up when considering the potential success of a wholesaler in this area, when properties tend to sell on the market with multiple offers very quickly.)

     3. For those using direct mail marketing, what were the response rates? (I do realize that this may depend a lot on what class of potential seller you're marketing to.)

     4. What is your favorite/most effective method of marketing?

     5. What specific locations do you focus on?  (This might help provide additional context and allow flippers reading this thread to connect with any wholesalers who respond in their target markets.)

     6. "Bonus" question - What's your take on RCW 61.34 (Distressed Property Conveyances)?  Does it significantly limit the types of deals which you can legally do?

Hopefully this leads to some good discussion and provides some useful data for those getting into this area.

Regards,

Mike Catalfamo