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?