Finding local wholesalers

[Jackie F.]

I hope I'm posting this in the right forum. Part of the education in learning how to flip homes is learning how the wholesale business works. I have been reading a lot of discussions here and it really helps to understand how to purchase from wholesalers when you know how they operate.

Anyhow, how can I find good wholesalers in my local vicinity (Orlando/Central Florida)? I've met a few wholesalers so far (2 of them) but they are asking close to retail (5% - 8% discount). That is not enough to repair and resell at any profit. Yet they insist this is what the market is dictating which I personally am not satisfied with.

I want to find some wholesalers that are moving deals. The fact that these wholesalers sent me detailed fliers of the properties they have with comps and ARV simply means that the properties they are trying to sell me are not moving and they have to put in some work to sell them quickly.

Any advice would be great, thanks.

[Will Barnard]

Jackie, your radar is turned on so trust it. You are 100% correct trhat if a so called "wholesaler" has full property detail flyers and such, it is likely not a wholesale deal, but a retail one.
As for their comment on what the market is, again, your BS detector is right on, don't buy into that.

Now, on to your question, how to find them. This is a numbers game as is most everything in the biz, so you need to go through a ton of them before you find a real one. Start with your local RE investment clubs, here on BP, and (although it is a long shot) some public advertisements like craigs list and other websites that offer wholesale deals. Just keep in mind that most of those are not deals at all.

A real wholesaler is going to add value, they are not the ones who find something on the MLS, offer full or over ask price, then mark it up even more and offer it to you. That is not wholesaling. A true wholesaler will add value in that they locate and contract a deal with a spread even larger than what a rehabber needs so that there is room to mark it up for their fee and still deliver it to the rehab buyer with a spread that makes sense.

My advice to you is to spend more of your time forming relationships with those who can get you deals (REO brokers, short sale list agents, etc) and get the deals directly on your own, skipping the middle man. As you gain more experience in the biz, you will likely run into wholesalers, they will likely be coming to you and finding you and then all you need to do is sift through the garbage (and tons of it) until you find that gem.