All Forum Posts by: Andy Sabisch

Quote from @Diane Chapman:

WoW! Thanks for sharing! Debbie & her group reached out to me last night via Facebook. I am currently sitting through her free webinar right now listening to all of this talk about doing "The Thing".  After 30 minutes of listening to Debbie, she still has not even mentioned "The Thing"!

Son I got curious & decided to do a Google search on her reviews...... Not Good! I'm glad that other women are skeptical about her. Again, thanks for sharing. WoW! What a scam!!

Diane,

There is a wealth of information out there at little to no cost.  The guru's that promise to teach you the secrets are often packaging generic information and selling it at phenomenal markup to people that want to get started but often do not have the resources to start and the fee they are charged simply puts them further behind.  Look for a local REIG, focus on your local market, start slow and find local investors that are willing to help you get started.  Bigger Pockets has a wealth of information and the forums get you even more information that can save you from making a mistake.  Good luck in your journey . . . remember slow and steady wins the race and the ones making teh money with many of the courses being hawked are the ones selling the courses (we can attest to that as we made that mistake initially ourselves).

Postcards and letters work . . . for some.  I receive a number of them for properties we own and some we have sold over a year ago which shows how current some of the lists people are paying for are.  They get tossed and rarely even read.  I have talked to sellers that want to sell their property and they receive them as well and tend to toss them opting for someone they can call and talk to when they want.  Some techniques that worked a decade ago no longer have the impact they did due to the number of people that are buying mass marketed lists and blasting out cards and letters that are machine written.  

If you are working your local market, there are other methods of finding leads that are more effective than cards or letters . . . see what is working in your area from REIG members.

Check with Steadily Insurance . . . . I would not discuss the roof unless it comes up or needs it . . . they can shop multiple insurers.  Have done well by us on our properties.

No they are not needed when you get a property from a wholesaler or one you find off market.  In fact, an agent can get you into on market properties and when you write an offer, the rest can easily be handled by a title company / real estate attorney (depending on your area) all the way to closing.  In fact many of our properties are done that way - we get a signed contract and then turn the package over to the closing attorney and move on to the next one until closing day.

Your local REIG can recommend some good closing attorneys / title companies and they will usually be happy to walk you through the process and even provide you with the forms you need to get the deal locked up and closed.

Be wary of any of the courses that profess to teach you the secrets of getting rich in real estate and in fact, the only ones getting rich are the ones selling the courses.  I may get flack for saying this but there is a wealth of information available at little or no cost and local REIGs that can teach you about your local market.  We have found - from personal experience - that these courses offer general knowledge that often do not apply to your state or local area.  Take the money you would be forced to pay for the course and use it to buy your first property and take off from there. 

Bigger Pockets has proven to be a resource that has been worth far more than what we paid for one of those courses and has gotten us to where we are in the real estate investment arena.

As Matthew said, anyone that buys from a wholesaler without verifying the reno costs and the ARV is asking to be taken . . . . as the saying goes "Trust but verify". I do think that a wholesaler that will do well has to have a feel for both numbers otherwise they are wasting everyone's time tying up the property.

Not sure where you are in terms of getting into the game but while paying a contractor to look at a property is an option, unless you have it locked up it will cost you for him / her to come by and "teach" you what they see and the costs.  It would be better to try to connect with someone in the REIG that can walk you through some of their properties . . . even if it costs you a nice dinner it will be a cheap lesson.

Mitch is spot on in terms of getting a realistic repair estimate (and don't forget to add a contingency because no matter how much experience you have there will always be something that comes up unexpected and adds time and cost) is key. 

Contractors are stretched nowadays especially the good ones.  Very few will walk a property down with you before you have it under contract.  You can write the contract that it is contingent on an inspection with a contractor and use his input to make or break the deal but you need to be in the ballpark when you start.  I am not talking about a home inspection which usually says "get a professional opinion" which is what you should have gotten to start with.

The other option is to join a local REIG and see if you can walk a few properties with members that are doing them and compare notes.  They can show you how to come up with a repair estimate for your area (which can vary from other areas)

Good luck in your journey

Scripts can be a double-edged sword.  Read, they come across as a telemarketer.  Use them as a guide and let the conversation flow naturally and you stand a better chance of striking up a conversation that can at least lead to a more in-depth discussion.  If you are going to wholesale the property, try not to blow smoke and say you need to have your partner come look at the property before closing - you are wasting the seller's time and many have been burned that way.  We get calls all the time from people that claim to be investors wanting to buy one of our properties (including some we sold more than a year ago - shows how accurate some of the pay lists actually are) and when pressed, it is clear they are fishing for deals to wholesale without having buyers lined up.  In several cases I have spent time educating them on lists, calls and the need to have buyers ready. 

Your script or simply guidelines for starting a call should be geared to solving a problem the seller may have . . . needs to sell, may want to sell but had not considered the options, etc.

Best advice is to be honest with yourself as to what you are looking for - a flip, a buy-&-hold, a wholesale - and approach the seller with a sincere opening explaining who you are what you are bringing to the table.  I would be happy to share our script but we tailor the call to the opportunity.

It sounds like you have a contractor that either is in over his head (skill wise or help wise) if money is not the issue.  Have you discussed the reason he is planning on exiting stage left?  There may be a valid reason that both of you can work around.

If not, legal action is often the route that costs you more and gets you nothing.  What are you going to take him to court over?  He has not taken your money so there is no loss there.  He may have an explanation that you did not explore (see above) that the judge agrees with and tosses your case.  More than likely, you will be out the time, the court costs, any lawyer expense and come away with at best a judgement that will costs you more money to collect.

The best route is to talk to the GC and if you cant find common ground, part ways and find one that will in fact finish the work.  And yes, most GCs will charge more to finish half done jobs as they will be responsible for the final product and do not know how what you have was done.

Quote from @Travis Andres:

Quote from @Andy Sabisch:

We have been happy with Steadily Insurance Company - they deal nationally with investor properties . .  www.Steadily.com

Thanks for this Andy, yeah I tried them and actually they were about $1000 more expensive than Obie Insurance. 

Interesting - might be market dependent.  I just ran a quote on of our properties it was about $1,000 more with Obie.