New investor with ALOT of questions

[Isaac Lipscomb]

Hello Fellow Investors! I’m new to investing and I’ve been chomping at the bit to find a good way to start. Right now capital is at a minimum and I’m improving credit so while I start saving money and networking with other investors, I’ve decided that whole-selling is probably my best bet to get a little extra cash in the bank account before I go buy a hold property. Anyway, I’m curious on a few things: What’s an average wholesale fee in California? Has anyone had success in the Orange County/ LA/ Riverside/ San Diego area with wholesale? Any tips on marketing/website design? Who has a good mailer campaign company that they use to send out mailers? Also.. looking to network with any investors especially in the SoCal area (I’m based out of OC) so would love to hear some success stories / cautions of warning if anyone has some to share!

[Tim G.]

Originally posted by @Isaac Lipscomb:

Hello Fellow Investors!

I’m new to investing and I’ve been chomping at the bit to find a good way to start. Right now capital is at a minimum and I’m improving credit so while I start saving money and networking with other investors, I’ve decided that whole-selling is probably my best bet to get a little extra cash in the bank account before I go buy a hold property.

Anyway, I’m curious on a few things:

What’s an average wholesale fee in California?

Has anyone had success in the Orange County/ LA/ Riverside/ San Diego area with wholesale?

Any tips on marketing/website design?

Who has a good mailer campaign company that they use to send out mailers?

Also.. looking to network with any investors especially in the SoCal area (I’m based out of OC) so would love to hear some success stories / cautions of warning if anyone has some to share!

 
Welcome, I have wholesaled over $20M in real estate in Southern California. Let me give you some current, and accurate info. 

Wholesaling is not the fast track to build capital as it used to be. Anyone telling you to start wholesaling in Socal has probably not closed a deal here in years if at all.

Direct mail is no longer a creative marketing strategy, 4 years ago it was. Today its an old trick used by investors, agents, everyone. Its a quick way to go broke. It takes around 2-3 years for a website to rank organically and produce deals.

As most deals today can be listed an sold as is to regular non investor buyers for a premium. Most sellers are best off listing their home and selling it for more (closer to the price they wanted) than lowering it to sell to an investor or wholesaler. Since the pie has shrunk, there are less deals for investors to buy. The area where there is growth is standard buyers picking up light fixers on the MLS as they are confident in market conditions, prices are high and its a way to get a house at a small discount (too much for an investor to pay).

So, the fastest way to build capital in Southern California is to be a listing agent. Marketing direct to sellers, offering to buy the deal as a wholesaler or investor and if they don't like that price, offering to list the home. Direct marketing will reach motivated sellers but the majority will want a higher price than an investor can pay. So, why not list that home and get a commission versus focusing on a smaller piece of the pie by trying to low ball them. Its a sellers market, work with the system. 

As an agent you can list the deal, or wholesale it. Best of both worlds, as a wholesaler you can do only one. You will spend a lot of money on marketing to talk to great listing leads and do nothing with them if you only have one trick in your bag. The "wholesaling is the best place to start" line is complete bull@#% with no consideration for current market conditions. Its like someone telling you to grab an umbrella without checking the weather report. You need to know current market conditions to make an educated decision on how to move forward.