Wholesaler/Real Estate Agent · Providence, RI · Member since 2014 · 75 posts · 19 votes
Alright so I've been slaving away for the past week or so trying to find discounted properties in the Miami-Dade County area and I realized that I had to sort of change my mindset about the pricing of the properties. Since I am just starting out, I wanted to find properties that ranged from $50,000-$100,000 in the area. After several days of tirelessly searching over the web...that is near to impossible in Miami unless you want a house in the ghetto (which is obviously not what I'm going for). So now instead of that $50,000 range, I'll probably be looking for properties near $120,000-$200,000. Not ideal for my first wholesale deal but I guess I have to go where the market takes me.
Just thought I'd share a piece of my journey with you all...Thank you for taking the time to read it and any tips/comments would be greatly appreciated!!
Appraiser · Austin, TX · Member since 2014 · 162 posts · 19 votes
11y
You gotta beat the streets! @Account Closed
Get out and knock on some doors, send letters, drive around and find vacant houses (driving for dollars) do research on those vacant houses and talk with the neighbors. Talking with people is where the real money lies.
Real Estate Broker · Hollywood, FL · Member since 2014 · 34 posts · 6 votes
11y
@Account Closed and I have found wholesale deals thru either referrals or by direct marketing mailing campaigns with people who have a need to sell and either because they need money fast, tired of dealing with tenants, etc. Also in my humble opinion if what you are trying to do is to wholesale properties and not flipping them then you don't really need to have the cash available to close since the end buyer will be the one paying for acquiring the house therefore even though is not a bad idea to have a price range where you want to be is not really necessary.
Residential Real Estate Agent · Miami, FL · Member since 2013 · 195 posts · 138 votes
11y
Claire,
Even $200,000 won't get you all that much. I've seen trashed homes needing new roofs, new flooring, new HVAC, and new appliances still asking 200k (in C neighborhoods).
Realistically, I think you need to consider changing your targets (to condos or townhomes) OR changing your target market (you can find much more affordable housing either north in Broward or south approaching Homestead).
If you're set on SFR in Miami and you want to stay under 200k, the county auction may be your best bet (but that brings a whole set of different issues/concerns into play).
Herndon, VA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 324 votes
11y
Do you have potential buyers? If so what are they looking for? If you are wholesaling, what the end buyer is targeting is what you want to get under contract.
Appraiser · Austin, TX · Member since 2014 · 162 posts · 19 votes
11y
You gotta beat the streets! @Account Closed
Get out and knock on some doors, send letters, drive around and find vacant houses (driving for dollars) do research on those vacant houses and talk with the neighbors. Talking with people is where the real money lies.
Real Estate Agent · tampa, Florida (FL) · Member since 2013 · 206 posts · 96 votes
11y
I would suggest changing your acquisition model before changing your targets. If you are exclusively looking for properties that are online, most of the bargains are going to be gone as soon as they hit the market, especially if there is enough meat on the bone for a wholesaler to make a profit as well. I would suggest trying to direct market to different prospects in areas you are interested in, knock on doors, drive the neighborhoods and talk to people out walking their dogs or doing lawn/car work. Do the grunt work that most people won't want to do and rather spend 5 minutes a day on zillow or the mls and say they are putting in the work. you never know who may be selling their house or want to sell their house and hasn't put it up for sale yet.
Real Estate Broker · Hollywood, FL · Member since 2014 · 34 posts · 6 votes
11y
@Jesse T. couldn't agree with you more... I don't see the point of going for condos or townhouses if that is not what your investors are looking for. After all you are whole selling you are not buying for yourself and you are not planing either on keeping the property for cash flow.... And to be quite honest I don't think an auction is the solution either. On auction sales you have a lot of restrictions, some times the deed will come with restrictions for re sale value (i.e not allow to sell in 30 days or to sell within 90 days for over 120% of purchase price) which you can also find quite a lot on foreclosure properties and short sale transactions. In my opinion the amount of the purchase price of property should not bother you since you will not need to use your own money to close on the transaction but the money from the investor who is actually going to flip it or keep it for rent. Like @Jesse T. said before focus on finding the deals your investors are looking for. There is no point on getting a condo $100,000 below market if you can not find a buyer before your contract expires or if you don't have the money to close. Also remember condos have high expenses such condo associations, assessments, etc.... and 80%-90% of them require a buyer approval before they can close which could complicate things as well without even mentioning the right of first refusal which some condominiums have on their bylaws.... (pardon my grammar, english is my second language)
Residential Real Estate Agent · Miami, FL · Member since 2013 · 195 posts · 138 votes
11y
Originally posted by @Miguel Maria:
I don't see the point of going for condos or townhouses if that is not what your investors are looking for. After all you are whole selling you are not buying for yourself and you are not planing either on keeping the property for cash flow.... And to be quite honest I don't think an auction is the solution either.
Miguel Maria
You are absolutely correct. My initial reply was to the text in her post and I totally missed the "wholesale" in the title. Given her goal of wholesaling the properties, I'd imagine her desired price range is a lot less important then what the buyers are looking for and willing to pay. If the demand is there, she may just need to get accustomed to working more expensive properties.
Real Estate Agent · VA · Member since 2008 · 420 posts · 175 votes
10y
@Account Closed I have personally wholesaled some single family homes under 100k, heck even in the 50k or less market in the Miami area. Keep in mind that some were in bad neighborhoods and some were in not so bad neighborhood. Believe it or not, I love wholesaling the bad neighborhoods deals because the end buyer will get a property so cheap fix it up, and still make a killing' using section 8 rentals.
Just know that the market is very competitive and like many others whom have chimed in, you have far less competition in Broward and far more inventory in that price bracket.
Real Estate Investor · Sunny Isles Beach, FL · Member since 2013 · 788 posts · 333 votes
10y
@Account Closed - If you are merely wholesaling the property to another investor, what's wrong with the deals in rougher parts of town? Further, if you're up in Rhode Island, you presumably won't even have to go into the rough area yourself, so what's the concern? There's buyers out there for everything, and deals at that price point are flying off the shelves right now.
Rental Property Investor · Providence, RI · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 594 votes
10y
my question would have to be why are you trying to start wholesaling in a completely different market? I know that people have done it, but if you are newer at this, it is much easier to start working locally, learn the business, and then once your established, if a deal comes your way in another market, you have the experience to see that it is done properly. It's a logistical nightmare doing deals at a distance unless you absolutely score them where it's a no brainier.
@Account Closed I have personally wholesaled some single family homes under 100k, heck even in the 50k or less market in the Miami area. Keep in mind that some were in bad neighborhoods and some were in not so bad neighborhood. Believe it or not, I love wholesaling the bad neighborhoods deals because the end buyer will get a property so cheap fix it up, and still make a killing' using section 8 rentals.
Just know that the market is very competitive and like many others whom have chimed in, you have far less competition in Broward and far more inventory in that price bracket.
Great insight Edgar, I'm a newbie and was looking to get my feet wet in wholesaling out of Miami and I'm definitely going to look into Broward County after reading what you had to add. Thanks for the heads up!