All Forum Posts by: Adrienne Bryson

My rule of thumb is 5% ARV. However I am in a much cheaper market.  In this case your fee would come out to be $80k.  I don't know if that's normal in NYC.  But that repair estimate seems super high.

Side note, I also incorporate 5% as a "cushion" for my end buyer.  So my formula actually looks like

(ARV x 60%) - repairs = MAO

Hope that helps...

What are you looking to do exactly?  What kind of property are you looking to buy?  What are going to do with it (flip, hold, wholesale...)?  How do you plan to source your deals?  How will you be financing your investments?

The first step is to clarify in your own mind not only what you want to do but how.  Then go from there.

I sent my first set of yellow letters the last week of July.  I got my first deal the second week of August.  I was totally shocked how fast it happened after having read and heard multiple times that it would take 6 months!

I don't have experience with anything like that, but I personally think if you're a newbie the best thing to do is to learn.  You won't really be learning anything about your market or about marketing if you buy "ready made" leads.

Also, the more readily available information is the more likely it is that hundreds of other people already have that information.  Seek distressed sellers that take a little digging to find.  So many people claim to be and want to be wholesalers but fall off as soon as they reach an obstacle or as soon as a little work needs to be done.  (This is not easy money like it's promised by the gurus.)  You reduce your competition drastically by putting in the effort that most would balk at!

Welcome @Anthony Thomas!  You've certainly come to the right place for connections and education!

Thanks for all the advice guys!

I do put a return address.  I've gotten a few back that were not deliverable.  I interpret that to mean that person is hard to find, which means it's unlikely anyone else has approached them so if they're interested in selling I can [hopefully] be the one to get the lead.  I will be skip tracing to find them.

I also had a lead actually write back!

I don't see any reason not to put a return address.

Yeah good point, Samantha. Even if it turns out not to be a good idea, what is there to lose...

I guess I just thought it was weird I never heard anyone mention it as a possible marketing strategy.

As for wholesaling with no money... That's a false promise. Nothing in life is free.

I went the cheapest route possible. I found my own lists, hand wrote my own letters, bought my own paper/pens/envelopes/postage, etc. Even without paying for the easy way out, I still put in hundreds of dollars for books, supplies, gas, legal counsel, then for an EMD on my first deal, before I made any money. And it was a lot of work on my part.

Many spend thousands of dollars buying lists and automating the process.

You have to put something in to get something out.

I usually put down $50-$100 EMD. $1000+ is normal for retail, but the idea is that the house is on the market and you're compensating them for taking it off the market for you.

Considering I work with off market properties that isn't part of it, my EMD is just to show the seller I'm serious and committed to helping them and that if something drastic comes up and causes me to back out it wouldn't be a complete loss for them.

That said, unless it really is something *drastic* I wouldn't back out. I'll close myself if I don't find a buyer during my inspection period. If you don't have enough confidence in your deal to close yourself, you have no business trying to push it off onto anyone else.