First deal done, $25,000 net profit wholetail!

First deal done, $25,000 net profit wholetail!

Investor · Manchester, CT · Member since 2015 · 53 posts · 52 votes

Hi all,

I have always found success stories very inspirational and I've looked forward to posting my own for a long time. I can finally say that my first deal is done, and my partner and I walked away with a net profit of just under $25k.

I found this property through a direct mail marketing campaign. I mailed letters to a list of absentee owners with over 70% equity. The seller had a large delinquent tax bill and was defaulting on his payment plan due to a financial crisis. He told me he had a "gun to his head" - most definitely a phrase that a motivated seller would use. 

He owed 70k on a private mortgage and the delinquent taxes were around 22k. We offered him 97k so that he could walk away with 5k cash in his pocket, and he accepted. We initially considered rehabbing the project, but realized that selling as-is would bring us a bigger profit. So we cleaned it out, did some minor landscaping, and put it on the market at 140k and got a cash offer at our asking price within 2 weeks.

So now I have my check for half that profit and I'm ready to more than triple my marketing efforts using this money! I can't wait to ramp my business up and take things to the next level! Thanks BP for all the education thus far and here's to much more success before the year is up!

Oz

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Real Estate Agent · Sacramento/Placer ~ San Francisco Bay Area counties · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 743 votes
10y

@Ike Igiebor  For your database on probate properties, try https://www.legaladstore.com/frmMaincfm. When you get to the website, search Legal Notices then new window will open. Go to "search ads" for your county "Alameda". Category will be "probate". You can always change the date range. Then select "notice type" which will be "Notice of probate petition". As of today, there's 207 probate files that need to be researched. And 260 probate properties coming up for sale. Or grab a newspaper (The Argus, Tribune, or Mercury News) and look in the classifieds under legal notices. 

No need to purchase a probate list as the website is "free". The papers you'll have to purchase. 

Alameda county is in your backyard or you can work Santa Clara county.

You can PM me or post here if you need additional assistance. 

Marl (N-CA)

Sac/Placer counties...

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  • Investor · Binghamton, NY · Member since 2014 · 118 posts · 66 votes
    10y
    Nice job Oz! Pretty sweet deal!
  • Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2016 · 30 posts · 11 votes
    10y

    This is amazing. How long were you doing direct marketing before you found the deal? I'm planning on moving to Connecticut within the next year, so I'd love to eventually work together/help you out. 

  • Rick SantasierePro Member
    Real Estate Broker · Granby, CT · Member since 2015 · 694 posts · 317 votes
    10y
    Nice work Oz Pariser !!
  • Investor · Manchester, CT · Member since 2015 · 53 posts · 52 votes
    10y

    Thanks @Christopher Stanis!

    Thanks @Rotimi Lademo! That was the third mailing of that campaign. Sounds great, shoot me a message when you get here

  • Investor · Manchester, CT · Member since 2015 · 53 posts · 52 votes
    10y
  • Real Estate Agent · West Columbia, SC · Member since 2016 · 37 posts · 7 votes
    10y

    @Oz Pariser That's very motivating and exciting to read about. It sounds like everyone got a win on the property and you've got the motivation to keep going! 

    I would love to know, if it is too personal I understand. Was this a Hard Money Lender,  Company, or your own/Partner's cash for this deal?

  • Portland, ME · Member since 2012 · 616 posts · 550 votes
    10y

    Congratulations!  Was the property in pretty good condition so that it could be conventionally financed by your buyer?  Most of the homes I buy are so trashed from being vacant for years that no bank will finance it.  

    Keep up the good work!

  • Investor · Manchester, CT · Member since 2015 · 53 posts · 52 votes
    10y

    Thank you @Josh Stevenson, definitely a win all around!

    Definitely not too personal.. I brought no money of my own to this deal aside from marketing dollars. I found the deal and brought it to my mentor/partner. We used a hard money lender, and my partner paid the down payment for the hard money..we then split the profit. Hope that helps

  • Investor · Manchester, CT · Member since 2015 · 53 posts · 52 votes
    10y

    Thanks @Amy A. the property was in pretty good condition but we specified that cash buyers were preferred when we listed it, we might've had to build some back steps if we tried to sell to a buyer using conventional financing. We also didn't want to wait that long for conventional financing because of the high cost of holding the property using hard money.

  • Real Estate Agent · West Columbia, SC · Member since 2016 · 37 posts · 7 votes
    10y

    @Oz Pariser wow! that's incredible! Sounds like the kind of way to get into Real Estate investing. I'm going to start with wholesaling for those very reasons. Sounds like it takes a whole lot of hustle and great relationships with partners/mentors. 

  • Portland, ME · Member since 2012 · 616 posts · 550 votes
    10y

    That's awesome that you found a cash buyer!  Those are rare where I live.

  • Investor · Manchester, CT · Member since 2015 · 53 posts · 52 votes
    10y

    For sure it took a lot of hustle and also the good fortune of having a great mentor. But with the right connections investing in real estate with little money really is possible

  • Investor · Manchester, CT · Member since 2015 · 53 posts · 52 votes
    10y

    Had some let-downs along the way. One seller signed a contract with us but his wife who was also on title wasn't present to sign. He strung us along saying he was getting her signature, meanwhile signed a contract with another buyer and sold it to him, right out from under us.

    Had another great deal under contract, waiting on some paperwork before we could close, and the seller died, rest her soul, voiding the contract and now everything is completely up in the air.

    Real estate is an unpredictable business!

  • Developer · Little Ferry, NJ · Member since 2016 · 426 posts · 226 votes
    10y

    Great job Oz. I really hope my future first deal goes as smoothly as yours did. Quick question, how do you find where to send letters to? Like where do you look for absentees? Is there a website? Do you drive around town and just look for run down houses?

    Today, I did this for the first time, I drove around my town for like 1 year and took note of the address of all the houses that seemed abandoned and were run down. I wrote down the address but I have no idea what to do with the address. Should I just send a letter to the address and see if there is a response?

    Additionally, as I was driving town and looking for the run-down houses, I came across a FSBO home that looked in good condition, I ended up not calling today because it was labor day, but I will call tomorrow and ask how much he wants for it, what kind of deal he is willing to work out and for a showing of the house. With regards to this, if the house is in poor condition on the interior, is it wise to first get it inspected by a contractor for the ARV or simply offer him something and see if he bites? I don't have any funds to buy the house, but I heard that if I can find the deal and some investors like it, they'd pay me a finders fee for the house. What is the best course of action in your guys opinion.

    Thanks in advance,

    Matt

    @Oz Pariser

  • Investor · Manchester, CT · Member since 2015 · 53 posts · 52 votes
    10y

    Thanks @Mateusz Prawdzik

    I found the absentee owners list through listsource.com. 

    I also do "drive for dollars" and have compiled those run-down/vacant properties I see into a list, and searched for the owner names and addresses through the town tax assessor websites. I'll be mailing to these for the first time very soon.

    As far as the FSBO, my personal opinion is it's first wise to get a feel for what repair costs are like by looking through houses in your area and with a book like "the book on estimating rehab costs" which I found very helpful. I also had the opportunity to walk through a lot of houses with my mentor which gave me a good feel for repairs/costs. While this is tough in the beginning you eventually get better and better at estimating the numbers. I wouldn't waste a contractor's time having him quote a house unless you somehow plan on compensating him for it. The ARV you'll find by looking at comparable sales in the area. But without access to the MLS this can be difficult. Some people recommend zillow as a very rough starting point of what the ARV might be. So once you have the estimated repairs and the ARV you can figure out what you'd be willing to offer and go from there. Good luck

  • Developer · Little Ferry, NJ · Member since 2016 · 426 posts · 226 votes
    10y

    thanks a bunch, that was really helpful. I appreciate it. Without a mentor by my side it'll definitely be a little more difficult but I'm sure I can do it. I don't know if you pick up on questions your mentor/partner asked while looking at houses. What were some of the questions, what do you feel is really important to ask? 

    Thanks again,

    Matt

  • Real Estate Agent · Southington, CT · Member since 2008 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    10y

    @Oz Pariser Congrats on this deal. Looks like you not only made some money but learned a ton in the process. 

    If you don't mind me asking, how did you close the purchase on the front end? Did you use cash, a hard money lender, some other means?  

    I think the strategy of actually buying the house (not assigning or double close) off market, cleaning it up a bit like you did and then reselling is a unique one for this market and was just wondering how the logistics and flow of the transaction worked  

  • Real Estate Agent · Ridgefield, CT · Member since 2016 · 72 posts · 37 votes
    10y

    @Oz Pariser Congrats!  Keep up the great work and love hearing the success stories.

  • Investor · Leander, TX · Member since 2016 · 105 posts · 40 votes
    10y
    Great job, Oz Pariser. Your success story is inspiration for newbies like us. Thanks.
  • Ian WalshBusiness Member
    Lender · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    10y

    Congrats and nice plan with the proceeds.  

  • Investor · Middlebury, CT · Member since 2016 · 31 posts · 6 votes
    10y

    Great Job @Oz Pariser

  • New Brunswick, NJ · Member since 2015 · 54 posts · 12 votes
    10y

    Great job, congrats!  The owner who died - that now has to go though probate?

  • Investor · Rochester, NY · Member since 2016 · 477 posts · 426 votes
    10y

    Nailed it - Great job @Oz Pariser!

  • Real Estate Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2016 · 63 posts · 35 votes
    10y

    @Oz Pariser Congratulations!

    What is "Wholetail"?

  • Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2016 · 30 posts · 11 votes
    10y

    Essentially it's when you find a deal and then sell it to a retail buyer, as-is, at market value. It's probably one of the most profitable strategies in my opinion. I saw on your profile that you are doing some special "market data analysis system". Just out of curiosity, what does that mean. Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Thanks!

    P.S. I'd listen to this podcast to learn more about wholetailing https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/07/03/bp-podcast-077-negotiating-way-1000-wholetail-deals-michael-quarles/

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