All Forum Posts by: Andrew Davis

@Brandon Sturgill firstly, sounds like you really can't go wrong.  Have you thought about doing a light fix up and a lease option.  If it's a desirable rental neighborhood that might be the best of both worlds for you.  You could get the equivalent of an assignment fee up front with the option fee, collect rent for a few years and then get even more cash out of it with less expense when you sell it.  Since all your cash is tied up elsewhere, you may be able to get the owner to defer the payment for a year, get a tenant in there and refinance to pay him off.  Since he's been sitting on it for so long, he may be open to it.  Just my 2 cents... I love stuff like this, so keep me updated on your progress!

@Joshua Dorkin @Brandon Turner 

Congratulations on getting this out!  You put out really fantastic content and I'm sure this is no exception (it's on the reading list for next month).  No need to give away a pro membership in my opinion, these books are worth their weight in gold, literally!

@Marvin Dean Congratulations on moving past your fear and getting started!  That is the hardest part.  You've stumbled upon a great community and can learn as much as you want about any aspect of the business.

A great place to start is the podcasts, there have been some great ones specifically about wholesaling, and I would definitely start there.  

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/10/09...

The Ultimate Beginners Guide is also a great resource and has really helped me to get started and clarify my goals and niche.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing

Once again, welcome and please reach out if you need any help.

@Shanon Oge 

When you say owned by the bank, do you mean REO/Foreclosure? If so, there's not an easy answer to that one, once a property has been foreclosed it's hard to get a hold of until the bank releases it for sale. Then priority goes to owner-occupants and then after a period (I believe it's 30 days) it's open to investors. There is generally a lot of competition at that point, but still good deals to be had.

If you mean when the seller still has a mortgage on the property?

If a seller has equity in the property (owing less than it's worth) and they are willing to sell it at or below their equity, then you've got a deal!  However, you want to make sure there's enough margin that both you and the investor make money.

Hope that helps!

@Joshua Carr great advice from @Greg Carr , side note, are you guys related?!

I would suggest joining your local REIA (Real Estate Investors Association). You'll certainly encounter plenty of wholesalers there. You can learn a TON working for one, even for a short period of time. No need to re-invent the wheel, find out what's working and make it your own.

Best of luck!

@Vanessa Burgess congratulations on getting started!  You asked some great questions and @Mark Redmann gave some great insights.

Driving for dollars and large direct mailing lists are really two different animals.  When driving for dollars, you are targeting a specific geographic area that you want to invest in or that you know will be appealing to other investors.  

You'll most likely have a better response rate with out of state absentee owners, or at least people that live a few hours away from their properties.  I don't have a ton of experience with direct mail, so I'll defer to the experts on what is a good number for years past due on taxes, but I think you're on the right track!

Getting started can be very exciting but also overwhelming.  Take Mark's advice and pick one avenue and really try to master it.  You'll learn a ton and have a much better idea of how effective your campaign is (response rate, quality of leads, quality of deals).

I noticed you would like to move into buy and hold rentals but maybe feel that you need to wholesale in order to generate enough cash to do this.  

@Brandon Turner just did a great podcast on investing with no and low money down.  

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/10/16...

Hope that's helpful, please reach out if I can be of any help!

@Zach H. 

Welcome to BP!  People have already given some great suggestions.  In addition to the forum posts and blogs, the podcasts are also extremely informative.  There are several that come to mind that deal with wholesaling and lead generation, here are a few links:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/10/09...

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/07/31...

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/07/03...

I share the links because in addition to the actual audio, there are great links and content on the pages.

@Michael Quarles is a master on this topic, and he has a company that can help you get started generating leads, I would definitely reach out to him.

@Larmon Cummings Jr mentioned driving for dollars.  This is a great way to get to know your local market.  Your wholesale deals will be a lot more attractive to investors if you know your market, comps, dollars per square foot, etc...  Finding vacant or properties that aren't well cared for, looking up the info on your county property appraisers website and sending them a handwritten note offering to buy their property would be a great first step.

Good luck!

@Jordan Archer 

Great question.  After chatting with my lender here, I have a slightly better grasp on subject to.  When there is at least 6 months worth of income documentation on a property, whether it be rent payments, or you making payments on a sellers debt, most banks will effectively "wash" that debt and not bring it into the debt to income ratio calculations that they use to qualify a loan.  @Jesse Waters brought up an excellent point as well.  Putting a 5 year term in the contract that guarantees the mortgage will be paid via refinance or sale is also a great way to handle that objection.  If it's a great deal, you may be able to get a tenant in there right away and refinance in 6 months to a year, which is usually the "seasoning" period that banks require.

Hope that's helpful, keep me updated on deals you do and how they go!

@Erin Wysocki 

I heard it was fantastic, sorry I missed it.  I will be attending the flipping focus group tonight, you all should try to make it!

@Nathan E. 

If you're open to it, something to consider to maintain tenants longer term is a lease option.   You can get a non-refundable option fee up front which definitely incentivizes tenants to stay longer.