$1500 budget in New York State... Best spot to start?

[Pete Fiannaca]

Awesome BP'ers...

I just began my career as a REI in July, closing on a SFR in the Rochester, NY market. I took an action step... which is better than most can say, and now I have an issue. I'm addicted. I've listened to every BP podcast (waiting for #200) and have made it through Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", Keller's "Millionaire Real Estate Investor" and Schaubs, "Building Wealth one House at a Time". The more time I pour into this stuff, the more excited I get about my family's future. 

After listening to BP #135 with Grant Cardone, I realized that I need to kick "I can't" out of my regular vocabulary. With that said, I was struggling in the late summer weeks realizing that I truly can't afford to buy long-term rentals at the rate I'd like to (currently doing conventional, 20%, and waiting 6-months on the cash out refi). I'm going to chug forward rocking 2 buy-and-holds a year as I've found a mortgage broker that'll let me carry 10 mortgages at a time. Once I hit the magic 10 mark, I'll start selling off my oldest assets to make room for the new incoming properties. It should end up being a nice 5 year hold plan as the old is recycled and the new is brought in. 

In the meantime, I need to do something! Certainly can't just sit around and wait to refinance... I've set aside about $1500 to invest into my first foray wholesaling. I'd like to ask the BP community - As a first timer, I'm still trying to develop a cash buyer list, trying to generate consistent leads, trying to develop systems for tracking leads and conversations, and trying to actually design letters, etc, and I'm not quite sure if it's advantageous to start in one place vs the other. I don't want to be in a position where I've generated a great lead, but maybe haven't developed a buyers list. God-forbid I get something under contract and then can't find an investor to assign the contract to (I'd be so upset). 

Any advice is WELCOMED! How best to spend the $1500 (letters, bandit signs, etc). What systems to automate? What to prioritize?

Much appreciated! I'll be happy to update the group as I continue to make progress!

Best,

Pete

Goal 2017: Close 17 Wholesale Deals

Goal 2018: Close 18 Wholesale Deals

Goal 2019: Close 19 Wholesale Deals

Goal 2020: Close 20 Wholesale Deals and Portfolio of 10 SFR

[Benjamin Burket]

Hi @Pete Fiannaca, it sounds like you're really getting after it, which is great!  I'm a fellow noob, so take my words with a grain of salt.  That being said, something I've heard over and over (and I'm sure you have to) in the podcasts and books is that the buyers will come if you have a good deal.  The hardest part is getting the deal, not the buyer.  I think getting started on marketing (yellow letters or postcards) would be the best way to move forward.  Of course, you should be networking at the same time, and you can do things like Craigslist ads for free.

I also agree about the fear of getting a property under contract and not being able to find a buyer.  I'm the type of guy that would do whatever it takes to fulfill my obligation to the buyer, even if it meant raising my own private funding or using hard money to finance the deal for myself.

I'd love to grab coffee sometime and talk about what you're doing.  I'm even interested in finding a good wholesaler, so maybe we could work together down the road (when I have capital, and you have deals)!