Where are your efforts.....

Question

As a follow up to my Let's Beat A Dead Horse thread, let's talk about where your efforts are.

I see new people all the time focusing on the wrong stuff. Then they wonder why they don't have any deals or can't make any money. So let's break it down.

If you're new and just starting out, here's some things you DO NOT need to worry about:

You don't need an LLC right now, you don't necessarily need a website, you don't need a "team", you don't need to spend weeks/hours meeting with contractors, you don't need to meet with a CPA, you don't need to meet with lenders, depending on what you're wanting to do (wholesale, flip, buy/hold), you don't even necessarily have to go to networking events. None of the above will get you any closer at all to a deal*. With the exception of networking events if you're wanting buy/holds and maybe flips. If your goal is wholesaling, you probably won't find anything there that you can re wholesale!

I see new wholesalers all the time at networking events and the first thing I ask them when they tell me their a wholesaler is "do you have deals right now". Pretty much 100% of the time the answer is no. I always think to myself, then why are you here? And of course when I ask them, the answer is they want to find buyers. Buyers for what? You don't have a deal! lol

The most important part of any real estate transaction is a deal - without a deal, you have absolutely zero need for anything else whatsoever. If you have a deal, buyers are easy to find. If you have a deal and want to buy/hold, lenders are easy to find. If you have a deal and want to flip, contractors are easy to find. Without the deal, none of the rest matters.

You need to refocus your efforts and finding a deal FIRST. Here's just a few of the basic things you can do to find a deal:

mailers, bandit signs, knock on doors, write offers on MLS, drive for dollars, skip trace sellers, ask friends and family for referrals, call FSBO's. There is no 1 thing that is the right and only thing that will get you a deal. Do it all.

Once you get a deal, the rest will fall in place. You can easily find someone to help you once you have a deal. Even if you have an appointment and not sure what to do or are scared, bring someone experienced with you.

Make sure you're focusing on things that will produce the results you want. Don't get caught up in all the other stuff that doesn't produce deals.

Chris Hopper · Answer

@Courtney King wholesalers are going to sell for the most money they can get. I can't blame them for that. People are paying ridiculous prices today. I just contracted a large package of homes and am paying almost 90%. It doesn't make sense on any one of the houses individually, but as a package the appreciation is phenomenal and makes sense in the long run. You'll never find your best deals from wholesalers, but they do serve a purpose and you can find some deals from them. Especially when you factor in your marketing costs. It's $0 to buy from a wholesaler, where as you might spend $4-5K min and maybe only get 1 deal, and possibly zero deals. This doesn't really factor into this thread though, those wholesalers are working! This is about the people focusing on the wrong stuff and not doing anything to get themselves a deal.

Vijaianand Thirunageswaram · Answer

Again, perfectly nailed it @Chris Hopper. I get messages about can you help me CPA who can do LLC. Can you give me contact for insurance company for umbrella policy. I asked them do you have deal all in place. Nope, I am working on it.. Chris, one thing I would have to differ from his about wholesalers. They do need a buyer list to sell their deal. They should still work on getting that built in parallel with finding the deals but that can be build without even going to networking events. You can jump on Facebook group and within 2 days, you will have the list and more faster if you have deal. Coming back, don't worry about all the disturbances, work on your main theme performances and things will fall in place with help of others.

Courtney King · Answer

@Vijaianand Thirunageswaram and @Chris Hopper I appreciate both of your thoughts and dialogue! I absolutely agree with you guys. One other thing that I'd like to add to the convo is...Where are the wholesalers that are not so short sighted? My clients and I are actively buying but I have been seeing a lot of wholesaler who are advertising numbers that are no where near the reality to get their desired net AT THE EXPENSE of building actual meaningful relationships with buyers that will buy consistently on a monthly basis. No disrespect to them but in a changing market, I can't help but to notice them overlooking the long term perspective...Of course we all want to win and I approach it that way when dealing with wholesalers but most of my deals have NOT been from wholesalers because of this. I just thought I'd chime in! Keep up the good work!