All Forum Posts by: Adam Johns

@Jimmy Moncrief Chattanooga is not exactly my backyard, but it's just a little up the street. If it happened on a weekend, I'd most likely come. My wife and I always love an exuse for a weekend getaway!

Adam Hofmann they may also be good for rentals or lease purchase. It just depends on the property, condition and the neighborhood.

You could (at least threaten to) file in Conciliation Court (small claims court). It's also only about $75 to file, you won't need a lawyer, and if you have the contract that says you're supposed to approve the repairs and they have no proof of you approving the repairs, it should be an easy win. Especially if they can't provide receipts and a list of repairs made. Small claims courts usually require much less proof and are relatively informal hearings.

http://www.mncourts.gov/selfhelp/?page=313 has all the information.

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer or a Minnesotan.

@Trevor Rutherford Most of these answers can be found in multiple posts on this forum, so I would suggest you spend a lot of time reading here. But, I'll give you short answers to most of them:

1. Marketing. Get lists from a website that provides them and find houses that match your (or your buyer's) criteria. Direct mail to those people. Also, you can post bandit signs (check local ordinances) and set up websites, adds on craigslitst, etc.

2 -4. Yes, you'll need to get a title report and payoff statements.

5. The contract should be a regular purchase agreement and any addendums applicable to your state. Many wholesalers also add "out clauses" to reduce risk.

6. Don't believe much of the "no money down" hype. If you noticed the answer to the first few questions, you'll see there is going to be some money involved for marketing and title reports, etc. Think of the money you put in as extra motivation to only contract good properties and get them sold.

Wholeselling costs money. There's really no way around it.

Edit: Forgot to say welcome to BP! If you have more questions, there are lots of people to ask. Also, find out if there is a local REIA and go to a couple meetings, look for wholesalers there who can help you out. And also, search "wholesaling" or "wholeselling" or "wholesale" in the search bar up top (right) and read over blogs and older forum posts about it!

Keido Valk hi, and welcome to BP! Being from Norway, you may recognize where my profile picture was taken! I was really just saying hi, and I don't know that I can add much to what Bill said. Just keep learning, try to work with someone who's making deals, and then you should build up the needed confidence.

Shaun Reilly I don't think there's anything we disagree about here. I was just throwing a number out there as an example, since I remembered the number used seemed very low to me. But since you seemed curious about the number, I went back and checked on where I heard/read this. There is a pretty popular podcaster who also has a free ebook and does webinars, etc (and who I'm not referring to by name on purpose, since he doesn't pay me to advertise for him) who once said on his podcast to figure rehab costs by multiplying ft^2 by $10.00. In his book he says $7 - $10. I was just trying to point out the trouble you could get into by blindly following advice. Someone could wonder for a long time why they can't wholesale a property when they're using all the numbers they were told to use, not numbers that they know are right (or close enough).

Shaun Reilly I was referring to someone I once heard that said, "repairs run about $5 per square foot." As a blanket statement. I agree 100% that getting the costs right is what counts, or at least being really close. If you know roofing in your area costs x per square foot, carpet costs y per square foot and you add x+y and say it's z per square foot, that's one thing. But sending people into the world with a set number is what I'm referring to. Not even knowing the scope of what needs to be done.

Jane George a Hi! I'm a newbie here too, and also considering wholesaling as my first foray into real estate. If the program you're working with is working for you, that's awesome! I don't think I read Joel's post the same way you did. I kind of look at is as if it doesn't apply, there's no need to take offense. I've decided that I'm not going to do my first deal until at least January. Why the delay? Because I'd rather do it right than do it quick. I've only been reading and learning about REI pretty seriously for a couple months and I don't think spending 6 months trying to learn before getting involved is unreasonable (in fact, it will probably only be enough to get me a problem to solve). Some (and no one is saying all, or your mentor) teach people to try to wholesale straight off the MLS as Joel was saying. Which could work, but not when you don't control the property. Others - and I've heard this first hand - throw out arbitrary numbers for estimating repairs (x amount ft^2). I'm sorry, but when that is what people approach buyers with, they've got to look foolish. I won't even consider approaching someone with a deal until I've done a line by line breakdown. I'm sure there are "gurus" out there that could have me doing my first deal tomorrow, but by avoiding that and striking out on my own, I think I have a pretty good grasp on different kinds of deal analysis (flip, rental, commercial, etc). I've also learned about tons of aspects of investing I otherwise might not have known. What does this do for me? It gives me more than one exit strategy. It lets me see deals that might not make sense to someone who is only looking at one strategy. I'm sure that having all the support and on-site coaching is great, but I could never do that. I don't want someone to do something for me, I want them to tell me how to do it. And then I want to figure out what I could do better. Having a guide is great for some people, but I prefer to wander around with a good map. That's what I consider BP. A map. I'll study it and stick it in my pocket. And if I ever get lost out there in the wilds, I can always pull it out and take a look.

I know there are a handful of investors here from around the Huntsville, Alabama region, I'm just curious if anyone has been to the Madison County REIA meetings. I will likely check it out next month, but I'm slightly concerned about the fact that they charge $240 a year for a membership and the "president" is someone whom I have heard sells $25k mentoring packages and $1,500 software.

I'm just concerned that I will be paying for a sales pitch. I know you can pay $20 at the door, which is of course what I'll do for that first one. $200 a year is not much to ask if there is truely potential to network with pros in the area, but it's a lot to pay to hear a sales pitch (I do my own 20 times a day, I don't care to hear anyone else's anymore).

Ollisha, (sorry, @ mention not working at the moment) although I agree with what Dion said above, I have a feeling you still want to know if there's a way to help your friend out in spite of the risk of strain on your relationship.

A lot of this depends on the details. How much equity do they have in the property? Is the $4200 the only amount required to bring the property current? What is it that your friend wants out of the deal (to keep the house, to make some money, to just get out of the home, etc)? What is the value of the property in it's current condition? What would it be worth with some repairs? How much would those repairs be worth? What is the rent in that area? What are the mortgage payments?

There are a lot of ways that you can help based on the answers to those questions. In my oppinion, I think the best case would be that your friend wants out of the property, you get them whatever money they're getting up front and two of you are done doing business. That will avoid many of the problems Dion is reffering to.

Post some details, and people will do their best to help you come up with something.