What a "17th" Week for this Wholesaler

I talk to a lot of Investors throughout the course of a week, and a lot of sellers. In my conversation with Investors we normally discuss the ebb and flows and the highs and lows of the real estate industry.

Week 17 definitely was a up and down week for me. In the previous week I closed out the year with a great surprise closing a deal, but in the midst of working on that, I had property inspection that went very well. I would like to introduce to you how resilience pays off in the real estate industry.

As mentioned prior we are sending tons of mail and myself and another partner is doing the bulk of the acquisitions, so we are fielding calls and meeting with sellers at their homes. This is the part of the acquisition process that I enjoy most; meeting the seller. If you are good on the phone you have built a rapport with the seller and meeting them will strengthen your position because you have the majority of the critical information needed to present your offer. Normally I give the seller a sight unseen offer over the phone and do the majority of the negotiating then. In some cases the seller will negotiate with themselves and you will not have many barriers to gathering the information you need if you be patient enough. Just a side note: My dad is from Panama and he taught me if you let people talk long enough they will tell you all the information you need, but you have to ask the right questions and formulate those questions the right way.

To try and make a long story short I was riding high; I closed a deal on the last day of the year, I have my New Year's Declarations in order, and I know that  2015 will be a fruitful and prosperous year. So I Am Ready To Go!!!!

One of my first calls of the year I was able to scheduled a home inspection with an older gentleman and his daughter. Everything was going great, the conversation on the phone was engaging and their situation dictated that they needed to sell right away. The house was packed up, the were moving out of state, did not want to list the property with a Realtor because they needed to sell asap to transition to the new state. Simple as 1-2-3 RIGHT---WRONG.

In our discussion I vetted the call find out their situation the dad bought the house for the daughter, the daughter got divorced, and now both are moving together with another daughter out of state because they wanted to consolidate. The dad wanted his money back because he not only bought this house but the house they are moving to. He put a sizable down payment on that house so he is looking to cash out. 

We were only about 10k difference in what he was willing to accept, now remember I have not been to the house yet so I have no idea what it look like, but from the comps I left enough room to negotiate at the property once I go for the inspection. 

Inspection time; I know I said I would try make a long story short but I can't leave out all the juicy details, please forgive me. First of all I get to the area about 10-15 minutes early so I can drive through the neighborhood. The neighborhood looks solid a few rehabs that are on the market and one that is currently in the midst of a remodel, and their acquisition price was more than mines. This was a good sign there is investor activity so I should be able to move this house fast once I get it under contract. As I pull up to the house I saw something amazing "Moving Cubes" in the driveway, yes they are packing up which tells me that they are detached from the house and just looking to go to the next point in their life. 

So upon approach to the house I notice there are tons of things that have not been packed, and things are in disarray; which is to be expected they are moving. I was warmly greeted at the door by the daughter, I explained the process and asked if dad was there and he came out of the room. I always ask the seller to walk me through the house and give me a brief history and then afterwards I will take pics. Everything is done house is fine no major defects everything is cosmetic that need to be done. We were locking the house up at 170k with an ARV of 260k with 30k max rehab (if done really nice), so from the numbers you can see not a bad deal to start the first week of the year.

We agreed to terms and they told me just bring over the contract later that day and we can get this done. Now when meeting most older sellers I usually take a contract with me so I can go over it with them versus sending a docusign which would either confuse them or they do not have email.

Ok to wrap this up there is 2 lessons to be learned in this:

1. Put first things first

2. Remain Resilient

The mistake I made was in between the time I told them I would be back to with the contract I decided to stop at another sellers house to pick up keys and to get a testimonial. It was already late in the day and by doing this I started doing other things. It became late and I told myself well I will just go by first thing in the morning and get the needed signatures. Well I missed out on the deal because over night they thought about it and decided to let a family member stay in the house. PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST

Secondly, I could have used this to put a damper on my week and the start of my year but after talking with a colleague he reminded me; if the seller would have called me the next morning saying he wanted to change his position after having a signed contract the prior evening I would have respected that. The goal is to help sellers.

Remember there are ups and downs in this industry and remember your position is to help sellers, and have fun doing it. You have to be RESILIENT there will be ups and downs, you have to learn to how to navigate your way through the valley and while on the pinnacle.

Make sure you ENJOY THE JOURNEY.