No Fail Wholesale! Contingency Nightmare!

[John Sherron]

Quick question BP Family! I've done a couple wholesale deals in the past but they were insane to say the least. Mind you I am self taught so that definitely didn't give me an advantage. I found it rather tricky trying to convince the seller to allow me a week or 2 for an inspection contingency. 

My question is this, what can I do or say in order to hold a property under contract for a longer amount of time where I can shop it around to sell. 

It has to be a better way than the inspection contingency, because that was hell dealing with that. Most sellers didn't even want to comply with the contingency. It was almost like they already knew something was up immediately, which made it rather awkward at times.

Any advice would be golden. Thanks in advance fam!

[Steven Leigh]

I've never had this problem. It might be your approach. When I talk to sellers, one of the first things I say is "I can close within about 21-30 days, and I never ask you to make any repairs." I put 30 days on my contracts and tell them I will try to do it quicker if possible, but sometimes the title process and inspections slow it down.

I am also very upfront about my intentions. From your wording it sounds like you're sort of "hiding" the wholesaling angle. I tell sellers I am an investor and I am buying their property to make money. Are they okay with that? I will do one of three things. 1. I will fix it and re-sell it for a profit. 2. I will turn it into a rental and make a profit. 3. I will pass it along to one of my partners and make a profit. Is all of that okay with you?

They always say yes, because realistically, they don't really care what I do with it. It's just that they're scared and suspicious or whatever and it makes them ask a lot of questions. Just hit them with a lot of honesty right in the face. It has a really calming effect and makes them trust you right away.

By the way, I also usually mention to sellers that if they have the time and money to fix up the property and they have time to list it with a realtor, that will always be their best option, as they will get more for the house than I can offer. I also ask if they've thought about holding onto it and turning it into a rental?

This does two things. 1. It builds trust because I'm literally pointing out that they have better options than me. 2. If they tell me a reason why they can't do these things, they just eliminated their other options and they start to realize that I'm their best current solution. They usually stop asking so many questions at that point (questions are really just objections) and start actually talking to me and working on making a deal.

You'll be amazed how being upfront about things and open and honest with sellers will actually win you MORE deals over time. I have had several sellers where I didn't even make an OFFER because I knew we weren't even close. I told them their best bet if they were looking for that kind of price was to call a realtor and list it, because I wasn't even in the ballpark. They were sort of shocked by my honesty, and they were expecting the hard sell. Flash forward a month later and I get a call back from that seller saying "Just out of curiosity, what kind of price COULD you do?" It's all because I built trust by backing away and giving them better options. Now if they later realize that they'd much rather sell quickly or with no repairs, etc. than they would to get market value, I'm the guy they call!