Expectations when viewing home to wholesale

[Erin Elam]

Hello BP,

I need some help! This might seem trivial,  but it's happened so I'd like to know how wholesalers handle this. 

When I go see a house for possible wholesaling - first question: is it ok to go ahead and bring inspector and/ or GC with you?

The reasons being: time is money.  I want to make an educated offer before I leave that sellers porch.  And this is assuming I have already run comps before I set foot on the property. 

Second question (if yes is the answer to the first)... How in the world do you keep the seller busy while the inspector/GC does their thing? 

 Reason I'm asking:  I scheduled and met with a seller who was willing to let me take a look. I brought my inspector,  because I wanted as much info asap on condition of home... well the seller and I talked quite a bit,  but every single time he saw my inspector,  inspect .. "what is that? What do you see?" Etc..

So ... my seasoned wholesalers - I'm sure you are well versed in calculating a pretty accurate ARV without a GC or inspector ... what advice would you give to a new wholesaler??? I want a good reputation as a wholesaler, not a greedy or inaccurate one.

Many thanks in advance, 

Erin

[Andy Rumple]

#1- If the house is a rental or tenant occupied this should not really be a huge consideration.
       You will value it more by income unless it is in a pricey area.
#2-If house is a rehab and is empty then your scheduling should be more flexible and bringing them
      on first visit would be ok if cleared by owner.
#3-If house is owner occupied then definitely tell the owner that other people are coming and give an
      estimate of how long it will take.

#4-In ANY case I would not pay for an inspection until I was certain I was going to get a favorable
      price from the seller. Do not spend your teams time or resources on deals that are not deals.

[Erin Elam]

Originally posted by @Andy Rumple:

#1- If the house is a rental or tenant occupied this should not really be a huge consideration.
       You will value it more by income unless it is in a pricey area.
#2-If house is a rehab and is empty then your scheduling should be more flexible and bringing them
      on first visit would be ok if cleared by owner.
#3-If house is owner occupied then definitely tell the owner that other people are coming and give an
      estimate of how long it will take.

#4-In ANY case I would not pay for an inspection until I was certain I was going to get a favorable
      price from the seller. Do not spend your teams time or resources on deals that are not deals.

 Thanks Andy, that makes sense - yes in the situation I described,  it was owner-occupied.

 Would you say that running comps and getting the initial asking price over the phone before seeing in-person is advisable?

I've read some posts where it's said to not talk numbers over the phone with distressed sellers - that porch time is where the money is. 

But I'm wondering if that is the most efficient use of my time?  ... I guess I also should assume if my marketing material says the right thing,  then the seller should have an idea that (s)he's not walking away a millionaire ... and neither am I.