All Forum Posts by: Brian Flack

@Matthew Allen 2) looks interesting...I would be interested in how much the foundation repairs would be. The seller is most likely motivated...3 months late on payments & property vacant...bleeding money. I would consider offering to buy the property subject to the existing loan (loan staying in owner's name). The rent amount vs value is cutting it close, but you might be able to squeeze some profit by flipping it. The foundation would need repair before it could be resold with conventional financing or you could flip it to another fix/flip investor. It all depends on the cost of repairs...

@Patrick Philip You have got the right spirit and I love that! In my opinion, there many wholesalers in the market right now. Finding properties at a discount is the tough part. Finding buyers is not. Get out there and find a deal yourself! Tell everyone you know that you are looking for properties, talk to strangers even..., I have a few friends wholesaling in Florida. I don't think they would be interested in having you help them find a buyer...but they sure would be happy if you found a property and brought it to them. Jump in buddy, having money for direct mail is great...but if you dont have it, you are going to have to work hard with some sweat marketing. Maybe start with a small list...divorce, probate, evictions...something. Good luck! 

@William F. 1000 cold calls that is awesome! Keep it up! I liked what @Brian Adams mentioned in his post concerning beginning a relationship. Remember the folks you did speak with with and follow up with them. Wouldn't that be great if they knew you by name after a few calls. You want to buy a property...they own a property...but what are the odds that they will want to sell exactly when you first contact them? They may want to sell in the future...find a way to keep a relationship going over several months or even years! Develop a relationship, ask about what got them into investing. How did they buy their properties? What are their goals? Put yourself in their shoes. I think the best case scenario is that you call an owner and your timing was absolutely perfect and they need to sell immediately. For everyone else, lets be friends or acquaintances and see if we can help each other out and do business in the future. 

Congratulations again on the cold calling. I want to see another post in success stories, when one of these relationships gets you a property!

@John Thedford your ideas are very interesting. I was confused about your post as it seems to be written for the benefit of a property seller. This is Wholesaling Q & A forum. As an agent, postings of this type may be of more interest to other real estate professionals, like yourself, in another forum. There is a separate forum for agents/broker here on Bigger Pockets. Good Luck and thanks for your input! 

@Bionca Huntley It is great to hear that you are getting started in real estate. Real estate agents/brokers are always a great resource. I recommend you contact many in your area. Most likely, you will be able to refer property sellers to them. Most sellers will want to sell with an agent, putting their properties up on the MLS for everyone to see. The sellers you may be targeting, may not want to list their property, for an number of reasons. Having a good agent you can refer sellers to can be a great asset. Referrals are a great way to provide value to agents/brokers. I agree with your idea of building relationships with agents. Dont just stop with agents... network with other investors, Contractors, Lenders. Tell your friends and family (strangers too) what you are doing.

You mentioned that many wholesalers fail due to an insufficient buyers list. In the current market, it seems like there are 10 buyers for every house. I find it is much more difficult to find a property at a discount than it is to find buyers. A few ideas to build a buyers list fast: use an online list source and search for recent cash buyers...Send me a message and I can help you figure this out...very simple. Also, if you get a property, post an ad on craigs list. Take a look now up on craigs list and chances are you will see other wholesalers with similar ads. "Cash Buyer" "Deep Discounted Property" "Handyman special" "fixer upper" All these keywords get attention from buyers. Look under houses for sale by owner on craigs list. I am curious how many buyers their are out there in your neck of the woods on the east coast. 

I wish you the best of luck!

Better late than never... An agent or one with access to the MLS will be a great resource in getting comparable sales for a property. I am going to go out on a limb here...but you may be giving wholesaling a shot. If this is the case, you may also be interested in off market sales. The MLS provides data for on the market, listed with an agent, properties. Public records will show many transactions that never went up on the MLS. Title companies often have software that allows one to see all property sale transactions, both on and off market. Agents often have access to this, but investors can also get access. Many properties listed on the MLS are in good condition...move in ready. Some properties, that need rehab or for various other reasons, sell off market. These may be just the types you need to get an accurate value for a similar condition property. If you are interested send me a PM and I can steer you in the right direction. @Valentin Gabianou

@Raj Pat How did you do on this Oakland property? How long did it take to sell etc. I am an active buyer/seller in Oakland. 

@Justin Bocchino great to have a local LG guy. Call or email me anytime. I usually cant stop talking real estate. I rent a house in Los Gatos with my family of 4 soon to 5 in November. House hacking is a bit tougher in this area, as far as making the numbers work to cover a jumbo loan. As I am sure you know, median prices in Los Gatos are over 1 million. We rent from a landlord that owns a dozen or so properties here in Los Gatos. Again, call or email anytime.

@Sean OToole Thanks for the input. I am a current Property Radar customer, but have relied on listsource for all my lists. I will explore what I can get through property radar.

I agree, the assessed value give way to many results because of length of ownership.

Has anyone used Listsource's "Current Home Value" with valuable results?

I am trying to target a specific price point for homes we are marketing to. I am using Listsource to generate a list. At first, I was trying to use "Assessed Value" to focus the results as it is free (or not charged anymore than standard price per lead).

Has anyone used the "Current Home Value" filter in Listsource with success? It adds almost 50 cents to each leads cost! However, when using "Assessed value" I get about twice as many leads. The same filter using "Current Home Value" seems to be more focused? I have no idea about Listsource's "Current Home Value". 

Do you have any insight or experience using this filter?