True wholesalers & inflated ARVs in the DC, Virginia & Maryland?

[Patrick Gilsenan]

Hello all,

It seems there is a lack of true wholesalers seeking to make reasonable profits on wholesale properties. Instead it seems there are an endless number of individuals who call themselves wholesalers, get a property under contract but then try to sell it to newbie investors for retail prices.

Many wholesale websites seem to be filled with ARVs that are at best chosen at random and at worst knowingly inflated. I recently inquired about a property that had identical sold comps (likely built at the same time by the same developer in the 1970s) within half a mile in much better condition. The ARV estimated on the wholesaling site, however, was tens of thousands above both the highest sold and highest active comp. The wholesaler with whom I spoke basically admitted that their ARVs are inflated and that they themselves wouldn't pay the prices they had set if they were investing in the property! But, they said, there are people out there who will pay the inflated prices based on inflated ARVs, so that is the price they set.