Real Estate Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2008 · 2 posts · 0 votes
Ok, I've read (picked through) all 16 pages of the Wholesaling Forum and I couldn't find out the answer to my question.
I've just started building my wholesaling & REI business, joined the local REIA, and I've found some houses that would be perfect to wholesale.
My questions are:
1. Would it be better to put the house under contract before you start to market the house for wholesale.
2. Would it be better to build a buyers list first? or do I get my own list of properties THEN get a list?
3. How would you give an offer? Do you just walk up to the front door, knock, and hand it over?
4. Can I be a bird dog for a wholesaler, and HAVE bird dogs for me? Or should I focus on being a birddog first to learn the ropes and go through a few deals first with a wholesaler before becoming one myself?
Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
18y
1. You should have a house under contract before you specifically market that house. If not, someone can easily slip around you and buy it directly from the seller.
2. Work on both at the same time.
3. Its more complicated than that. You need to have a conversation with the seller to find out what they want, what their needs are, etc. The offer is part of that conversation.
4. The more people and layers involved, the more the profit gets split up.
Real Estate Investor · Katy, TX · Member since 2008 · 430 posts · 22 votes
18y
Good to see more people from Houston. Just an FYI I created a Houston 'group' here on BP, go up to Groups at the top, and search for Houston you will find it.
Anyways, Wheatie did a great job of answering your questions, but I will put my own input.
1. You can market the properties before they are under contract, but obviously it is probably not a very smart thing to do. Just like wheatie said someone can go around you and take the property. The only way you can tie up a property is by getting it under contract.
2. Definitely always be working on a buyers list, ALWAYS, even if you are seasoned, some of your buyers will stop buying. So with that said, work on your buyers list at all times. If you happen to get properties under contract as well, then that's an added bonus. One great way to get good buyers is to have a good inventory.
3. A verbal offer is mostly how I do it when I talking to them. If they accept then I get them a contract with that price ASAP, either by delivering it to them or by fax or computer.
4. Wheatie is right on. You can definitely birddog a birddogs lead or wholesale a wholesale, but the more this happens, the more complicated it gets, the more the money gets split. I try to stay away from these types of transactions unless it's a done deal and doesnt take much of my time.
Flipper/Rehabber · Tampa, FL · Member since 2008 · 403 posts · 109 votes
18y
Why bird dog when you can flip the property yourself? You're talking about a fraction of the profit. You should only bird dog properties that don't fit your specific criteria, and those should go to realtors and brokers. Don't pass a good lead to another wholesaler and watch him make all the money.
If you need to learn the ropes, either hire someone to teach you, or jump in and make a go of it. I wouldn't bird dog, though.