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Coach -

If they don't have the answers to all of these questions, do you leave it up to them to research and get back to you, or do you take initiative and do the work yourself? Some of the questions, like "how much do homes in the neighborhood go for" could be found out by you. Do you find that figuring out that stuff yourself is a waste of time or do you go ahead and trust the seller on points like that? Also, what about questions that have to do with repair costs and that sort of thing. Do you figure that out yourself or ask the seller? I hear a couple different methods from people here on the forums, some like to go to the house themselves and gauge repair costs, some take the sellers estemate and pad it up in case they are wrong.

Hello all -

I am planning to join the Real Estate Investors Association of Columbus here soon, and I was wondering what the best way to introduce myself as a potential investor/wholesaler is? Business cards, a firm handshake and friendliness are a no-brainer, but what things would YOU guys like to hear from someone you just met that would make you want to do business with them? I consider myself a well-spoken and easy to get along with guy, but I am pretty nervous about just walking up to some people and shoving a card in their face. Any suggestions?

Cheers -
Alex

After doing more and more research about REI, I have decided a good starting point for someone in my situation is wholesaling. I have been reading this site, and articles for a few days now, but there are some things that remain cloudy to me.

1) The base concept of wholesaling is simple - find a good deal for another investor to fix up, and mark up the price to make a small profit. My problem is how this actually gets done without any money I have to spend involved in the transaction for me, the wholesaler. Assuming I have a list of prospective buyers lined up, when I manage to find a good deal, how do I tell the seller that I am willing to purchase their property even though I plan on simply handing a contract over to someone else? Am I taking over the sellers mortgage, only to hand it over further to another? Or am I taking out my own loan only to pay it off in full as soon as I give the contract to the investor? OR am I not taking any financial responsibilities at all and only acting as a middleman for a transaction between the seller and buyer? Haha I need help :)

2) The contract itself: How does this work? Is there a default contract that everyone has to sign when transferring ownership of a house, or is this a specific contract designed for wholesaling by me? Obviously I have no experience in the buying or selling of property, and this is a topic that not many people explaining wholesaling go over because they assume that I have knowledge of how a transaction works. Maybe I just need to read about the process of a normal property being sold, but I would like to know how this differs from a wholesale.

3) Are the main targets for a wholesaler Forclosures or HUDs? How do you beat a realtor to a "normal" property? It seems to me the wholesaler is basically an unliscenced realtor who is focused on selling to an investor rather than a potential homeowner. Is this a fair assessment?

I'm sure I have millions of other questions, but I want to start with these 3 basic ones first.

Hello -

I was wondering what the chances are of a bank or other lending institution letting me borrow with a co-signer. I am 24 with a 750 credit rating, but I really don't have any assets to speak of other than a car. I have read that many banks are very cautious when giving out loans for things like REI. There is a lot of talk here about hard money loans, but once again I have read that these require a lot of assets to be considered for. I have a family member who is retired and flips houses in his free time that may be willing to co-sign a loan with me. Is this within the realm of possibility? Finding funding is going to be my toughest hurdle throughout this process I think.

Cheers -
Alex

Well, I really don't like the fact that people are essentially turned into machines. At least in the IT world, anything you create while working for the company is company property. This means that any cleaver or creative idea you have, you cannot claim as your own. While I interned at a major insurance company during the summers of my undergraduate, I saw some of the most brilliant people chained to things completely below their ability. I don't like cages, and a cublicle is just a fancy word for cage :D . I've also been more apt to work for myself recently after discussion with my roomate, who is now obsessed with reading financial books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

Hello everyone -

My name is Alex. I am 24, and have a Bachlors degree in computer science from Wittenberg University. I am a token example of why you should think hard about what you want to do with life before settling for a "career path" just because it is what is expected of you :D . I have tasted the corporate life and decided it is not for me. This begs the question, what do I do with myself?

After much thought on what I can do to work for myself, I have decided that real estate is where I should start. When I started to research this, what I had in mind was simple, I wanted to "flip" a house. Simple enough, all I have to do is get a loan, find a place, fix it up and BOOM I make profit. I have been browsing a few websites, reading articles and lurking on forums for a few weeks now and I couldn't have been more wrong about the simplicity of this process. There is a lot more going on in the background that scares a lot of people off from the beginning. I feel that this is both good and bad; it's going to be tough to get all of this information together, but on the other hand, seeing that this isn't just a get rich quick scheme makes it more real and obtainable to me.

My biggest desire at the moment is to learn, and I have always felt the best people to learn from are those who have real world experience both succeeding and failing at whatever it is they do. I have no real experience to speak of, just a desire and determination. I guess what I would request of those of you willing to help would be rescources. Books, articles and whatever else helped or continues to help you. I am motivated by all of the realistic exchange of information I read here that seems to be lacking at a lot of other sites. I don't want to hear how easy it is, I want to know how to do it.

Thanks for bearing with my novel of an introduction, and for any help
Cheers -
Alex