Need Some Advice in DFW

[Pat Healey]

My husband and I are newbies, but have been looking for our first flip property. Having done a lot of reading (including J Scott's book) the 70% rule has been drummed into us. And, since we will be starting out with hard money, I know the deal has to fit into that 70% rule criteria. I have been scouring the usual places (wholesalers, foreclosures, Craigslist, etc...) and working on SEO for lead generation. When I do the math (70%) on possible properties, the purchase price comes out way low, to the point that I can't see anyone accepting it as an offer. The other issue I am having is the ARV. I go to Zillow to at least get a ballpark and then get comps from my realtor. Can anyone share how you go about finding a property and then deciding to make an offer? I should also mention we live in the DFW area and our market is very strong. We are raring to go, but feel a little discouraged at this point. I have a feeling I may not be correctly approaching my search.

[Andrew Herrig]

Most of the deals I see coming from wholesalers in DFW right now are going for 78-80% of ARV (these are generally houses with ARV from $150-$250k). You can do better than that, but it will take more work. As Hattie mentioned above, the DFW retail market is hot, so the more you can do to market directly to the seller, the better your chance of finding a good deal. I've had decent results with direct mail so far (started in January this year).