Tom Krol as a wholesaling coach

[Roy K.]

With all the negativity out there about coaches and programs I wanted to take a second to say something about Tom.

I totally love this guy!!! Tom totally changed my wholesaling operation in 4 months.

He broke it down to simple-to-follow steps, didn’t leave me hanging or let me get away with anything. I liked how he says “over-education is a cancer” because I was learning as much as I could before taking action. 

Whether you're somewhat experienced or just learning the ropes, Tom is the real deal, getting large assignments almost every week now. I had to say something, since by far I have gotten the most the fastest from Tom’s group coaching.

Thanks Tom

[Ryan Johnston]

I joined the Wholesaling Inc program in the fall of 2017. Like most BP members, super skeptical of gurus. I have a small portfolio of rentals in Dallas, mostly purchased from good, reputable wholesalers, but I wanted to stop paying the middleman and source the deals myself so I could keep the best and pass on the rest. 

My thoughts after 6 months in the program:

- Worth every penny. What most people will care about is that I have netted over $100,000 that I would never have seen otherwise. Granted, that's probably an unusually high amount compared to most students, but there's no question the program gave me the tools to achieve this.

- The program insists that you have an attorney review everything you do, they inspire you to get out of your comfort zone and achieve success but are fanatical about making sure you stay legal

- They operate by Christian standards, empahsize the discipline of giving back, and inspire us to never sacrifice ethics for success. To me, this is one of the most important features of the system - wholesaling is laden with charlatans and unscrupulous operators.  @Tom Krol and his team are firm believers that the greatest success comes to those who operate by the highest moral standards, and I see that reflected in the program and in the coaches' own RE businesses. 

- Nothing they teach is rocket science. You could definitely figure it out if you spent enough hours on BP, listening to podcasts, and going by trial and error. For the fee they charge, about $5,000, I saved myself countless hours of frustration, mistakes, and missed opportunities, plus I have access to weekly coaching calls and a forum where questions are answered knowledgeably from one of the team's experts within an hour or two. The coaching calls are typically 2-3 hours long and are recorded so if you miss a call, you can listen later. That alone is worth the price - sooooooo much is learned in that forum!

Anyhow, I've seen Tom get a lot of grief on BP and other places. I owe a great debt of gratitude to the program and thought I'd jump in and throw in my two cents for anyone considering getting a coach.

[Jay Hinrichs]

@Ryan Johnston  just chuckling a little on your post congrats on your success.

but wholesaling and snagging other peoples equity is hard to say and equate it to being moral and Christian.

If a wholesaler or anyone buying someones real estate actually tells the owner what its really worth and how they can maximize their return that I see as the Christian thing to do.

going in and low balling NAH don't see that.. but as long as your good with it.. I hear you.

I have been buying distressed real estate for 40 years now..

so I understand the moral struggles we go through..

one reason I like buying vacant foreclosures and off of auction . com your insulated your making your best offer and off you go.

the second your talking to a home owner and you know the house is really worth 100k and your trying to snag it for 70k I just find it hard to equate that to doing the moral thing.. :)

I had a good friend who wanted to go back to work .. very deeply religious.. and I said well lets buy foreclosures in Bend he last one day.. he said I can't do that I donate to the church to help people keep their houses and can't very well buy them.. I thought it was kind of cute..

[Ryan Johnston]

Every deal I've ever done has blessed everyone involved.  If it's not a win for everyone, then I want out of the deal.  I am a full-time pastor, and Real Estate is my side business so that my wife can stay home with our kids.  I operate by the highest standards and take great pride in treating others fairly.  There are three options available to people who sell homes: speed, convenience, and price.  Of the three, a seller can typically choose only two.  Most sellers are most interested in price, but it would be incorrect to assume that EVERYONE is most interested in price. 

Every homeowner I speak to is told four very important things:

1) You should probably list with a realtor, and here's why (and I'll provide Realtor references if you'd like)

2) If you don't want to list, you should probably rent it out

3) If you do choose to do business with me, I will not be able to give you market price for your property, but I will be able to offer speed and convenience.  

4) I may or may not actually be the one to close on your property. I may assign it to another investor for a profit, I may keep it and flip it for a profit, or I may keep it as a rental for cash flow. Are you ok with those scenarios?

Total transparency is the name of the game, and if folks aren't cool with all of that, we shake hands and part amicably. I've never had someone get upset with me for being honest. In fact, on more than one occasion I've been thanked for being so forthright, even though we didn't do a deal.  

The last people whose home I purchased had tried to sell it on the open market but could not because of its condition. Other wholesalers low-balled them and they refused the offers. I offered $20,000 more than the next best offer, additionally helped them negotiate down a $20,000 lien to $6,000, and still made a healthy profit.  The couple literally was in tears at the close because they were so grateful. They knew I was not operating a charity in buying their home - they knew I was going to make money, and they were thrilled for me. In fact, the owner asked me, when I made my offer, if I was sure I would make money at that number.  I could have backpedaled, offered less, and still got the deal, but I stuck to my original offer.

For these homeowners, they were desperate to offload this house, didn't know where to turn, had been mistreated by other wholesalers and sharks, and the offer I made allowed them to move on, clear the books of debt and back taxes, get some much-needed medical work done, and ultimately get a fresh start. 

My church ministers to down-and-out folks in our community.  I have had tenants whose kids have come to our church on the buses we send out into the community to reach these families.  I have a heart for helping people, and ethical wholesaling is, in my opinion, one of the best real estate niches, as it helps people in distress, earns a solid income, and helps revitalize communities one distressed house at a time.

My encouragement to everyone in this business is 

1) Don't judge every wholesaler or wholesaling coach just because there are some unscrupulous operators out there

2) Have a go-giver mindset, that the more you give back, the more you're going to receive (not just monetarily speaking)

3) There are LOTS of ways to make an honest living in RE - wholesaling is one of them

[Jay Hinrichs]

@Ryan Johnston  we all justify our actions I understand.. I hear ya.. I have donated more houses to churchs and charity than you have fingers.. so I understand both sides of the coin.

our state its illegal to wholesale the way you guys do and the way the guru's teach it but I bet the guru will take your money even though they SHOULD know its illegal in the state the person paying the fee is working in.

here is a snippet from our state department of real estate financial investigator a talk we had this week. I finally got fed up on is this legal to assign contracts or not.

here is her answer

"

The Agency is well aware that unlicensed “wholesalers” are rampant in our jurisdiction. Addressing the problems is like trying to put out small individual fires in a forest that is burning. The Agency’s investigations are complaint driven, so we rely heavily on the public, and our licensees to bring these individuals to our attention "

Now that's our state of Oregon but the real estate laws are basically the same in every state.. its just what state wants to enforce them.. I am sure your trainer has never mentioned this.

Most hide behind equitable interest theory which is great but when its a scheme its selling RE without a license plain and simple.

when your buying for your own account that's fine.. you close you own you do with them what you want.

And I get it on hoarder houses I bought 5 in the last year that were not saleable accept for cash I am not even sure a HML would loan on them LOL.. so folks are kind of stuck I get that.

but like your said lots of bad actors in this realm.

[Ryan Johnston]

I'll conclude my contribution to the dialogue with this: you are welcome to your perspective on wholesaling and I wish you the best in your ventures. I have had everything I do reviewed by numerous attorneys (including all the contracts I use, all the way down to the verbiage I typically employ when talking to a seller), and I have yet to have any red flags raised. At least in Texas, there's a big difference between marketing real estate and marketing a contract, though the vast majority of my business is purchasing the property outright and flipping it. In our business, we operate within the constraints of the law, partner with licensed realtors when we need to, close with reputable title companies, and operate with integrity. We do not justify our actions because we need to placate our consciences. Our business model is as acceptable as a realtor taking 6% of a home's value for simply listing it on MLS and maybe hosting an open house or two. I know, as I have sold numerous homes through realtors :-) I don't begrudge them for making a living doing real estate, and I don't expect others to begrudge me for the same. As long as we operate within the law, with ethics, honesty and integrity, there are plenty of ways to be successful in this business.

Best of wishes in your niche!

[Jay Hinrichs]

@Ryan Johnston  Texas is one of the most forgiving on the wholesaling model. your fine.

other states not so much.

also Attorneys are not god.. they don't make the laws they argue them.. don't fall into the trap that they are perfect .. if the state disagrees you can tell who will win that battle unless you have 100's of thousands to fight it in front of administrative law judges..

but like our regulator said its like putting out little camp fires in a forest fire.

some states are really starting to enforce these laws finally.. Ohio... FLA  CA  OR.. its regional for sure.. so just play the hand your dealt.

[Brian Pulaski]

How does someone advertise a contract without advertising the house in the contract? This is one of the "go to" outs wholesalers use, they aren't selling houses... they are selling contracts. I get the fact that it is a contract, however the actual buyer doesn't get emailed a CONTRACT to review, he gets emailed an address, with SF, beds/baths, photos of a house, not a contract, and so on. The only thing they don't see is the actual contract. Just some curiosity of mine.

[Jay Hinrichs]

Originally posted by @Brian Pulaski:

How does someone advertise a contract without advertising the house in the contract? This is one of the "go to" outs wholesalers use, they aren't selling houses... they are selling contracts. I get the fact that it is a contract, however the actual buyer doesn't get emailed a CONTRACT to review, he gets emailed an address, with SF, beds/baths, photos of a house, not a contract, and so on. The only thing they don't see is the actual contract. Just some curiosity of mine.

 when talking to MY STATE regulator that don't fly its a scheme to circumvent the license laws plain and simple.

sounds good though and that's how the wholesale teaching community couch's it and some lawyers may take that position but as one that has been up against regulators your lawyer can be right but you can be dead wrong..

but really its state specific and I suspect at some point NAR is going to jump into this and really start to get on states to enforce the license laws.. I know In our state if you make a complaint and its takes about 90 seconds on line.. they WILL follow up.. but we are only 3 million in the wholestate.. so I see wholesaling more as a speeding issue.. do we all speed Hell yes.. is it legal Hell no.. we do it until we get a ticket.. the only difference in our state is a ticket cost you money hiring an attorney to defend yourself and usually about a 5k fine.. and get caught a second time your really in trouble.. that's why a few of the local bird dogs who don't want to get licensed use me as a capital partner we HAVE to come into title then we market it.. not before.

[Ryan Johnston]

@Brian Pulaski, it's all in the fine print, as it is in so many businesses where the difference between being 100% good and opening oneself to trouble is just a simple disclaimer that clarifies the nature of your proposition. Again, I can only speak for Texas, but there is verbiage (tested by case law, mind you) that we put on all marketing materials that clearly discloses that we are marketing an equitable interest in the property and not the property itself. That said, I still take down the majority of my properties and sell on the MLS. I make more that way, anyway. Nonetheless, I have absolutely no qualms assigning contracts or double-closing when that's the better exit strategy. But I certainly get that you can't do things the same way in other states.

[Ryan Johnston]

Just a quick aside, the ability to wholesale freely in Texas isn't simply a matter of our getting away with something that authorities have simply chosen to ignore.  In fact, new legislation passed just last September, 2017 clarified the rights of wholesalers to do exactly what I just described.  Here's the relevant verbiage:

Sec. 1101.0045. EQUITABLE INTERESTS IN REAL PROPERTY. 

(a) A person may acquire an option or an interest in a contract to purchase real property and then sell or offer to sell the option or assign or offer to assign the contract without holding a license issued under this chapter if the person:

(1) does not use the option or contract to purchase to engage in real estate brokerage; and
(2) discloses the nature of the equitable interest to any potential buyer.

(b) A person selling or offering to sell an option or assigning or offering to assign an interest in a contract to purchase real property without disclosing the nature of that interest to a potential buyer is engaging in real estate brokerage.

The key is disclosure, and Texas is (in my opinion) wisely recognizing the benefit that wholesalers bring to communities by clarifying their rights to do business.