All Forum Posts by: Alison M.

Does anyone keep track of their average time from 1st conversation with a seller to settlement? I don't keep close track of elapsed time but I'd guess it's 4-5 months for me, by the time you build rapport, the seller decides to actually do it, tenants are dealt with, etc. My shortest deal was 4 days and longest was 1.5 years, but 4-5 months seems typical.

Anyone else? Let's compare notes! Alison

Hi Olia, welcome to BP. I live in Falls Church and have been working in the DC area for about 5 years. There are a lot of investors here, and you can connect with them through the MeetUp boards, REIA groups, and right here on BP.

This is a great place to get started and there are a number of forum posts on how to build a wholesaling business. Dive in and start posting questions!

Alexander, the free way is to figure out which newspapers publish the legal notices for probates in your area of interest and then mine that data on a regular basis. Otherwise you can go to your local courthouses or tap their on-line systems and create a list from the probate case filings. If you're not familiar with the life cycle of a probate case it may be worthwhile to go to your local probate court anyway just to observe and look at a few case files. It's all public information waiting for you to dig in!

Hi Ryan and welcome to the DC real estate investment community. I completely agree with what @Mike Nelson said.

The one thing I'll add to his good advice is that each of us finds his or her own "groove" in building rapport and closing deals where you go from following the script to having it completely internalized so it's second nature. This only happens through practice, practice, practice. You may be more comfortable dealing with people in person, while someone else may be a whiz at closing deals on the phone. Neither one is better than the other as long as both work.

If you know someone you trust who can go along with you on appointments, listen objectively, and then give you feedback on what he/she heard afterward that can help as well. I take my husband along from time to time and then ask him afterward how he thought I did. I know he'll give me the straight scoop ;-). JM.02W.

I use Google Voice for my postcard number. It's free, you can get a local number, and you can set it up to ring your personal phone or just take messages. Really hard to beat that.

I have had 800 numbers in the past and much prefer having a local number.

@Javon Dixon , doesn't MRIS have a phone app? I don't use it but my agent does.

Will, what months are taxes paid in your jurisdiction? Perhaps you could use that in your copy along the lines of "tax bills are due again in October . . . . ." Taxes are due twice a year in most jurisdictions.

An alternative idea would be to get the app for your local multiple listing service so you can do a first cut at comps from your phone. We have one here in the DMV, I imagine most larger city MLS services have one by now.

@Account Closed

contract at any price point they can hoping for a bite."

I see a lot of that going on all the time in all markets around the DMV. Best to develop a nose for it and accept it as part of the business. It's not a solvent long-term business model, imo.

Hi Alex, I see you are in Richmond so we are in the same general area. Are people e-mailing these leads to you, or are you finding them on some of the REIA club mailing lists? Here in the DMV I see deals like the ones you describe go out every day. I used to wonder the same thing.

To find out more about what happens to these mystery "deals" I followed up with the wholesaler, made offers with numbers that worked for me on a couple of them, and then stayed in touch to see what happened to the deal. What I usually saw was that if the wholesaler was lucky someone overpaid, or else the deal died due to lack of interest.

When dealing interstate it's also easy to scam someone who isn't familiar with the local laws and who doesn't have access to that area's multiple listing service.