From the dumps to victory in 24 hours- my 1st wholesale purchase

[Michael Wentzel]

When November rolled around, I knew I was ready for my next purchase. My first four investment properties had been found on the MLS with the help of some investor-friendly Realtors. So I once again spent hours pouring over the MLS. I found 10 properties that looked interesting and decided to drive-by them last Friday. I finished the afternoon with six solid possibilities and sent them to my Realtor to set up showings on Tuesday.

The first bit of bad news came on Monday when 3 out of my six were delisted or under contract. So I was already down to three, but the remaining three showings were set for Tuesday afternoon and I was looking forward to it. Then the second piece of bad news. Tuesday morning my Realtor's assistant called to say two more had gone under contract and the third was not showing as they were in negotiation with a buyer. There would be now showing and I was back to square one.

So yesterday afternoon I sat in my office pretty discouraged. I had the cash to buy, but had no leads. Last week I had briefly talked to a wholesaler who works my market. So I thought I would follow up. I sent him a text and an email. He called me later in the afternoon, not really remembering who I was from the previous week. But we talked a bit about the market and my strategy.

Near the end of the 20-minute call he said, "I do have one property down there, but it is rough." I told him I'd be willing to look at it. He said it would have to be Wednesday, as others were interested.

So yesterday evening I looked at my schedule for Wednesday and it didn't look great. I would need two hours to drive-down to the property, walk it and drive back. The only slot available was 7 am until 9 am before my first meeting. So I jumped in the car early this morning and went down. It was rough, but had potential. I drove back and asked the wholesaler if my contractor and roofer could look at it. He said sure, but he had a cash offer in his hand that he hadn't accepted. By some miracle both my contractor and roofer answered their phones and made it over to inspect the property by early afternoon. All their estimates came in lower than mine, so it was time to make an offer.

I called the wholesaler and said I would give him his "listing price". He met with his other buyers to decline their offer (mine was better), drove to my office and we signed the assignment contract. We close on Friday.

So from the dumps on Tuesday afternoon I arrived in victory on Wednesday afternoon. Lessons learned...

1) Be more creative in looking for deals.

2) Act fast... the wholesaler said he was shocked that I actually made everything happen in 24 hours.

3) Keep moving... circumstances are in constant change. Don't be too discouraged by the lows or too excited about the highs.

Mike