All Forum Posts by: Ben Roberts

I'm a wholesaler from Memphis and lately I've been using an app, Expensify, to help track expenses and mileage.  It's fair but not very professional and it doesn't integrate with anything else.  

I drive a lot to look at property, market a lot, spend some money on a data plan, buy office supplies.  Occasionally I'll go out to eat with an investor. Things like that.  I'd like to be able to keep track of expenses and income, come up with P&L's, do a little analysis, generate expense reports, and generally manage my finances as a wholesaler so that taxes are easier to figure out next year.  

Most of what I do is by assignment.  I don't do sub2.  Maybe a double close. I'm working towards buy and hold rentals but I think I need to keep the two income/expense streams separate, right?

I'm considering Quickbooks Self Employed but is there anything else out there?  Anything better?  What do you use and why?

Thanks,

Ben

You'll need to figure out where to market first. Do a lot of research on strategy, contracts, rent rates, rehab costs, ARV, location, etc. but once you've got an idea of where you want to market, if you are bound and determined to get started in wholesaling with only $1,000 then this is what I would do...

BTW, this is basically what I did and I how I got started in Memphis

$10 domain name from GoDaddy. You DO NOT need a website, just the domain name so you can get a proper email address. Something like TomJ_at_webuyillinoishouses_dot_com

$10 business card from Vistaprint.  Simple "We Buy Houses Fast" with your name, phone number, and email address.

$500 for 1,000 stamps

$200 for 1,000 names/address from Listsource

$25 for 2 X 12 packs of yellow pads. 50 pages per pad from OfficeDepot

$30 for 1000 envelopes from OfficeDepot

$12 for Pilot G-2 pens from OfficeDepot

This is only $787, keep the remaining $223 in a bank account for right now.

Send out 25 yellow letters a day, everyday, for one month.  DO NOT send them all out at once.  You'll be overwhelmed with calls, then they'll dry up.  This way, they start trickling in.

Out of 1,000 letters, you'll likely get 100 phone calls.  Talk to 100 people and go look at 10 properties.  Make offers on all 10.  Get 1 accepted.  Assign the contract for $3K-$5K and you're off and running.  If for some reason it takes a little longer to find / close on the first deal, you've still got the remaining $223 to fund another week's worth of mailers.  Keep putting properties/leads in your pipeline. Don't wait for something to close before you start investing in marketing again.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Reduced 3/1 in Memphis  44,500  Currently rented for $725/mo

@George T. You may also want to ask PM if they know of someone looking for another rental property.  They may be able to help you with a quick and easy sale to another investor.  Just a thought.

@George T. What part of town is the property in? I would imagine that an investor is going to want to walk in to some equity as well as the cash flow. A retail buyer is just looking for a square deal. You'll likely have more costs / wait time to sell retail. Depending on the numbers, you may or may not come out ahead. What is the ARV? How much time is on lease? Does it need any repairs? What is the current rent?

3 bed, 1 bath, brick exterior, 1095 sq.ft., professionally managed

An excellent turn-key opportunity for strong cash flow in the heart of the city with nothing to do. This traditional 3BR, 1BA home has been updated with new carpet, paint, tile, smooth ceilings, ceiling fans, kitchen, bathroom, and light fixtures. Long term tenants - Professional Management and long term tenant already in place.  Cash flow from day 1!

Tenants have been in this house for 13 years! She loves the house and the neighborhood, said it feels like her own home now. Has done some cosmetic work on her own like paint and blinds. Said she's had no major issues with the house. Management has always been attentive.

Rent rolls and copies of the current lease available upon request.

Tenant re-newed lease in July 2016
Paint, floors, cabinets, counters all redone10 years ago as well. A/C unit installed 10 years ago.

Please do not disturb tenants.

More photos a a video walk through available here.

@Brian V., welcome to BP!  Your first step should be figuring out what you want to do in RE.  Buy and hold, fix and flip, wholesale, paper investments, commercial, etc.  Then you can start figuring out details by working backwards.  Lets say buy and hold sounds interesting.  Do you want the cash flow or hoping for appreciation?  If it's cash flow you want, are there deals in your area that would cash flow or should you consider another part of the country?  If it's equity and appreciation you're after, are there equity deals to be had in your home town?  How could you go about finding them? Who do you know that might be a resource?

There are seriously hundreds of questions that you need to consider. 

@Eric Doss Got it.   I've got a great contractor. If you ever come across something that needs work, I'd be happy to pass along his info.

@Michael Hicks, as a wholesaler who has been a similar situation, I want to thank you for your candor.  That sort of feedback will either make this guy a better wholesaler or help him figure out that this business isn't for him.  

I found myself in a similar spot last summer.  The investor that I ended up working with showed me some necessary repairs that I missed,  helped me better understand what he and other investors were looking for, and explained how to renegotiate with the seller.  Ultimately I didn't make nearly as much off of the deal as I was hoping but I learned a lot, the seller got rid of their property, and my investor got a deal.  It was an absolute win-win-win that could have been a disaster had it not been for an investor like you.