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Updated almost 9 years ago, 01/06/2016
First Atlanta Wholesale Deal Completed!!!
So after almost 2 years of reading books, asking a millions questions on BP, going to REIA meetings, listening to podcasts....IT"S DONE!!
Closed on my first Wholesale deal in Dekalb County, Ga. It was very surreal looking at the check i received, knowing it came from months and months of learning, setbacks, confusion, patience and hard work!! Best part is i provided a great service to the seller who couldn't WAIT to close and move to live with her children.
I must say, I never would have got to the finish line without Biggerpockets and the resources that are here. It sounds crazy, but as soon as the seller accepted the offer, everything I learned on this site and from books just all "made sense" in that very instance....I immediately saw a million other strategies(hard money, flipping to retail) that I could have applied. It was definitely a difinitive moment, and I kept thinking (ahh, NOW i REALLY get why people spend so much energy and money to get to speak to these sellers directly...)
Important things i can say is 1)marketing does work if it is consistent and 2)to use BP for the potential relationships, tools and knowledge it has to offer to close your deal!
Thanks to all who gave me great advice on this site and who i learned from, Ned Carey, Jerry Puckett, Sharon Vornholt, Danny Johnson, Bruce Duval, Ann Marie Poe and Lisa Phillips to name a few, and everyone else who answered a billion questions i had! You guys rock!
On to the next one!!!
Thanks Sharon, you were definitely an inspiration and answered a bunch of my questions in the beginning!
Congrats @Morris Lucas Me next!!
@Morris Lucas congratulations sir, this is great to hear. So as was said before in this thread - add me to your buyers list!
@Morris Lucas congrats on your deal! Im in Gwinnett county myself and would like some more information if you don't mind.
Did you/do you have a real estate agent who drafted up the contract? How did you find which title company to use? Had you already built up a buyers list or how did you find your buyer? Was it a hard money or cash buyer? What % arv worked for this deal? Was your seller reached by one of your DM mailers as to why you enforce consistency of marketing? If so what type of mailer hooked this seller? Did you just put your personal phone number on your marketing ads or use a phone service? How long did it take from you giving offer to receiving your check?
Right now thats all I have - hope I didn't overwhelm you :).
Exceptional work!
@Morris Lucas Congrats to you! May you continue to be successful!
Erin;
Yes, an agent i partnered with drafted the contract, and also brought a buyer to the table. If you look in your town, i highly recommend you find companies/investors that buy a lot of houses per month. They will know what a deal is and may be able to give you specific criteria so you don't waste your time with duds. They are in every major town. Agent and I went through comps on MLS, 65-75% arv worked as there was not many repairs at all. Incidentally, when we walked the house, we went through everything you need to look for when doing an evaluation, which was priceless.
We used an attorney to close the deal. Once you network with local Reia,investors etc, you will find attorneys that already have title companies, staff etc, with all this stuff in place. you don't have to invent the wheel.
I used postcard with business phone number app i use on my Galaxy phone, and yes, this deal came from Direct Mail, we closed about 2-3 weeks after offer. Marketing is everything, you have to have deals or none of the other stuff matters. Contracts, title companies, buyer's list all come second IMO, great deals will put light in the tunnel...you'll see.....Good luck!
Matthew, Terrance, Troy, Carlos, John,thanks!!
Nice job! Congratulations.
Originally posted by @Morris Lucas:
Erin;
Yes, an agent i partnered with drafted the contract, and also brought a buyer to the table. If you look in your town, i highly recommend you find companies/investors that buy a lot of houses per month. They will know what a deal is and may be able to give you specific criteria so you don't waste your time with duds. They are in every major town. Agent and I went through comps on MLS, 65-75% arv worked as there was not many repairs at all. Incidentally, when we walked the house, we went through everything you need to look for when doing an evaluation, which was priceless.
We used an attorney to close the deal. Once you network with local Reia,investors etc, you will find attorneys that already have title companies, staff etc, with all this stuff in place. you don't have to invent the wheel.
I used postcard with business phone number app i use on my Galaxy phone, and yes, this deal came from Direct Mail, we closed about 2-3 weeks after offer. Marketing is everything, you have to have deals or none of the other stuff matters. Contracts, title companies, buyer's list all come second IMO, great deals will put light in the tunnel...you'll see.....Good luck!
Matthew, Terrance, Troy, Carlos, John,thanks!!
Thanks for the info!
Morris this post is one of the reasons that make BP so valuable and important in every newbie or even seasoned investors life. We all need to hear stories like this on a daily basis to keep us going. I have the same mind set as you right now just market market, market. This is truly the most important part of any business you are in. So I read on other topics and continue to learn but my main focus is marketing first and all else will fall into place. Congrats on the first one and can't wait to hear you talk about deal 100!
Thanks Gary!
You can't go wrong with that strategy, keep marketing every month, no matter what. You may get discouraged if you don't see immediate action, but look at it as like a long-term 6 month-year plan. It will pay off eventually. Key thing to remember is, if you have a juicy deal, the investor/buyer, agent, whomever you deal with, they want to close the deal just as much as you!! So all parties will assist you with whatever areas you are a little weak in...think about it...if you have 10-30k profit on the line, are you gonna let finding a Title company or finding the correct contract stand in your way?
Did I miss some info somewhere??
How much did you make on this wholesale deal and how much outlay in marketing costs over time??
Example over 6 months you spent 3k and finally landed a wholesale deal at 5k fee so are up 2k = 333 a month for return.
Maybe it's late at night and I glossed over it in a post.
- Joel Owens
- Podcast Guest on Show #47
Nah, i don't think i spent anywhere near 3k...for like 3 or 4 months i did like 150-200 bucks a months maybe in stamps, spent about 4-500 in signs and placement.
If you deduct all the envelopes, stamps, etc, i probably cleared at least a few grand.
I wasn't keeping exact record of marketing costs back then like i should, i was just hungry to get one in the can, definitely should have done better in that area.
To be honest though, to me, the actual profit wasn't even in my mind. i just wanted to prove it could be done, even if i only made one dollar. Hell, in hindsight, if i could do all over, i wouldn't even have wholesaled it, i would have found a way to buy it and flip it myself!!!
This was purely a mindset goal...next 10 will go a whole lot different with the numbers, lol.
Morris, congratulations on your hard work paying off!
Originally posted by @Larry Turowski:
Originally posted by @Morris Lucas:
it came from months and months of learning, setbacks, confusion, patience and hard work!!
THIS is what sets you and successful investors apart. Congrats!!!
Exactly. I tell people all the time to expect it to take a year or more to get a first wholesale deal done, and I can tell from their reaction that they were expecting it to take closer to 2 weeks. It's at that point I know the person won't be successful at this business.
Wholesaling isn't rocket science. It's not difficult. But, it does take a LOT of time, effort and study...three things a lot of people aren't interested in investing...
Congratulations! I'm always just a tad happier to hear success stories from people in Georgia. Even if it's not anywhere near my farm area.
When you first made contact with the seller, what questions did you ask to discern whether the property would be something you could wholesale? I know there are plenty threads on BP about scripts, but I just like to know how that conversation goes based on real-life, closed deals. :)
congrats! Your post has me more focused than ever
J Scott, you're right, it probably takes close to a year to figure out your marketing, how to answer the calls right, where to get lists, etc, tweaking marketing, etc. Seems like after a while once you have the machine turned on, the process gets easier and you get a better understanding of where to spend your time.
Nikki;
I normally at least ask these questions...definitely search forums for other advice on this..
1)Is there any mortgage on home and how much?
2)Any estimate on repairs needed
3)Number of rooms/baths
4)Would you be willing to close for cash in less than 30 days?
5)What is ballpark number you would take for property, as is, to close in 15-30 days?
All i can think of at the minute, but that's the basics.
congrads on sticking it out, its good to see the hard work paid off. Best of luck on many more!
your right sometime you just have to jump in and learn along the way, but it does come with bruises... lots of them :)
Dude, I'm inspired!!
Are you wholesaling in Georgia? Other than this post, how can we get in contact?
I'm fairly new to the wholesaling and I'm reaching out to seasoned and unseasoned wholesalers. I appreciate your posts. Can't wait to post my own also.
Thanks Jerry!
Tyrone, I just moved to Dallas, but i am still marketing in Georgia. PM me if you need to contact me.
Awesome...best is to be honest with your buyers list ....most of the time they are smart and have lots of information.
Congratulations on your success, and much more to you!
Wow very inspiring!!! I am looking to get started with wholesaling as well I was all over the place this year decided to just focus on pod casts and reading this forum and asking questions. Looking forward to more success stories. Thank you
Michelle