Confession of a Wholesaler: The Real Scoop On How I Sell Houses

[Wendell De Guzman]

I have been a real estate investor since 2003 but I started wholesaling in 2005. After wholesaling a LOT of deals, one of the questions I encounter from beginner wholesalers is "How do you sell houses?" Some beginning wholesalers do not even dare to make offers for fear that they could get stuck with a house they cannot sell.

I am starting this post to get experienced wholesalers like myself to "confess" or reveal their techniques on how they sell houses quickly.

I will share 2 of my secrets on how I sell properties quickly. Let me just warn you that these techniques are NOT earth shattering, profound or high tech. They're old fashioned...simple but they work. In fact, let me share with you how I sold 2 houses recently (this month) using these 2 secrets.

1. House on Flossmoor - This house is worth $300,000 after repairs. I got it cheap and so I sold it for a below wholesale price of $129,000. I found a buyer for this house in 11 days. How did I find a buyer so quickly? I sold it to a rehabber I met in a real estate meeting 6 months ago. I sent an email to people on my database.

Lesson: network, network, network! Biggerpockets is awesome because it allows you to meet real estate people all around the world. But you have to do the work of meeting people face-to-face. Nothing beats face-to-face interaction. It establishes trust. And of course, people do business with people they can trust.

2. House on Crete - This house is worth $120,000 after repairs and I sold it for $55,000. I found a buyer in 8 days. How? Another wholesaler sold the deal for me. So really...I did NOT find the buyer - another wholesaler did.

Lesson: network, network, network. If I did not meet this wholesaler, maybe I will still be selling the house and not have any buyer lined up.

Another lesson: find a good deal and the money follows. The problem with beginner wholesalers is they get mediocre deals and they wonder why they cannot sell them. Do not get a deal off the MLS and sell it above the listing price. You'll lose credibility really quickly if you do that.

If you have a good deal, ask yourself the question: is this such a good deal that there is enough spread in the deal so that I can get another wholesaler to wholesale it for me? If not, maybe you have a mediocre deal.

So there: I revealed 2 of my secrets to selling a house fast as a wholesaler. Network like crazy so you can meet a lot of people (buyers, sellers, lenders) and do the hard work of finding a great deal.

What about the other experienced wholesalers out there? What are your secrets to selling houses FAST?

[Stephen Johnson]

When we contract a good deal, we deploy three marketing strategies immediately to sell the property quickly:

Number 1: Network, network, network, just like @Wendell De Guzman stated. Call your best buyers (if you have any yet), stand up at the REIA meetings and tell everyone you have a deal, and let the local wholesalers in the area know you are willing to pay them to bring you a buyer (ask them NOT to mark up the property, it looks bad when the same deal gets sent out at multiple price points).

Number 2: The day you contract a good deal, find all similar properties sold in the area within the past 6 months which sold for cash, as well as all properties listed for rent in the area. Send a hand written letter to the owner of each property labeling you as a motivated seller, include the property address, and urge them to call you immediately to make you an offer.

Number 3: Put no less than 27 bandit signs out for the property. Put three in the yard of the property for sale (yes three), put four signs on the corners of the four closest major intersections surrounding the property, put four at each end of the street the property is located on, this should add up to 27 signs. If you can put out more, do! Repeat weekly!

If you have a deal, these three steps should make your phone ring!