New to real estate in norfolk NE need help getting started

[Austin Sanne]

hi my name is austin. I unfortunatley lost my job recently, but can get it back in a few months. So i thought with this free time i could get into something i might enjoy a little better than slaving away in a wharehouse. Ive been interested in owning property for awhile now but never got too serious until now. I own a home and was thinking about renting it out for about 950-1000/m..i think that might be a good start if i can find the right tenant that doesnt trash the place..thoughts on this?? But anyway ive been reading and watching videos on wholesaling real estate and the concept blew my mind. I would really enjoy getting a deal or 2 going but lack the experience..so i guess my question is, do i just start walking into real estate agencies asking all sorts of newbie questions? Do i just knock on doors offering to sell there house even if theres a real estate agent sign in the yard? Where or how do i get a contract  for everybody to sign? Any advice and feed back is appreciated. thank you!!

[Chris Piper]

@Austin Sanne Wholesaling is pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Find a house for sale NOT listed on the MLS and NOT listed with an agent. You need MOTIVATED sellers with offline deals for sale. You negotiate a good price, and then sell it to a cash buyer for a higher price. DO NOT offer to sell anyone's house for them EVER!!! You can go to jail for acting as an agent without a license.

You can legally wholesale, but as I said, that only works for properties that aren't listed with an agent. You find those deals by using bandit signs(WE BUY HOUSES), Craigslist, etc.Once you find a property, walk through it with the owner, see what needs to be fixed/repiared, figure out the repair costs(if you don't know how, call a few contractors out there to give you estimates), then you need an agent to pull 3 comps for the property. Similar size, beds, baths, etc within 1/2 mile of the property you are looking at, and all SOLD within the last 30-120 days. 

Once you have your comps(comps let you know how much the house you're looking at can be worth once it''s fixed up, also know as ARV- After Repaired Value), and know how much your repair costs are, then you figure out how much you can pay at the most for the property(also known as the MAO- Max Allowable Offer). Here is the formula to figure out how much you can pay at most for a property:

ARV-Repair Costs-Your Profit= MAO

Example: Property ARV $100,000-30%(Investor's Profit, etc.)-Repairs $20,000-Your Profit $7,000= Your MAO is $43,000.

So you can offer a maximum of $43,000 for that property,but not any more than that. I usually start at 85% of my MAO for my offer.

Example: MAO $43,000X85%= $36,550 Initial Offer

If it's rejected by the seller, you can counter offer somewhere between what they came back with and what you can pay. If they won't take less than your MAO, then it's not a good deal.

Google "The Wholesaler's Bible" by Jerry Norton. You can donwload it for free. It will give you some good info to get started with in wholesaling.