All Forum Posts by: Brian Truman

Hi Gino, Check out Peter Voogd, he wrote 6 Months to 6 Figures. I also like grant Cardone, good stuff came out of The 10 X Rule.

Hi BP community! I have been hearing about VA's in the podcasts and I am thinking about going that route, but have questions about how well they have worked for you all out there... Can anyone share their experiences with how well they wrote up offers, and other such duties? Thank you in advance!

Why don't you start with one flip, so you see how it feels/goes... Then work your way up to 2 or more once you put systems/people in place? I have found that buying too many at once can spread you too thin... If there were a sudden local or national downturn. Just my 2 cents, for what they are worth.

I agree with what Chris said. I would also go after the properties that seem to be sitting on the market for a long time, or the expired listings on the MLS. I can go on ours and find about 10 deals to throw offers at right now. Many times they are just happy that someone made an offer on their listing and will work pretty hard to get that commission. I've made more than a couple deals that way. Plus, you know at one point those folks did want to sell, and might be highly motivated and take less $$$.

Hi Matthew, IMHO, it depends on how you learn. I do well learning on my own. Both time I got my license, I did the online training course. If you learn better by being in a classroom devoted to what you are learning, I would go that route. Either way... I wish you the best. I LOVE this Industry!!

Hi Brent, 

I am a fellow wholesaler up in Seattle. I would talk with a RE Attorney and have them draft one up that is legal to use where you are located, and use that. Either that, or, if this is an MLS deal, I am sure there is an addendum that you can use to assign it to them.

If its off market... again, make sure you can do this, have the buyer sign the assignment contract outside of escrow, and collect your fee. This is highly controversial, though, since it is done with out the sellers knowledge. Especially if you are assigning it for a significantly higher price that they might have been able to get if they sold it another way. I like to disclose on the PSA what my commission will be, so the seller knows what I am getting paid for the deal. 

Does the seller know that you are going to be assigning this to another buyer for a quick profit? If they do not know that, anything on the PSA might show up on the HUD/closing statement and make them upset.

Best wishes to you, Brent!

Hi Sid, 

If you don't mind me asking...why the change in focus? I am curious, because I am in vacant land myself. Cheers!

Brian

Hi Rebecca, 

Nice to meet you! I am new to BP as well. I have been a wholesaler for the past two years. I specialize in vacant land, and some rehabs in the SW corner of King County (from West Seattle to Federal Way). I'd be happy to share with you my experiences in the short amount of time I have been doing this. 

By any chance, is there a link to that Tacoma Wholesalers Workshop? I would really like to check it out! Thanks, and best of luck!

Brian Truman - Kingston Realty

David, 

SO TRUE! I like it! Thanks for sharing!

Hi fellow BP members, 

When I was about to start this post, I was not sure what forum to post it in. It kind of fits into a few of them. I chalk this experience up to expanding my real estate knowledge. So here goes:

What I love about this business is that I am always learning. No situation is ever the same. Take for instance my latest spin deal...gone sideways. 

An investor I work with had this hot lead. He went to get it into contract, but the seller went nuts over an addendum that was in sales contract, and would not sign. He has a long drawn out conversation with the seller on the phone later on...and I can hear almost everything through my office wall. The seller was challenging to work with, and my associate had no deal, the seller would not sign. The seller was saying that my associate was not trustworthy and not a person of his word (not true by the way, he is a great guy, and very honest). 

After he is done with the call, he is furious. I go into his office, and he says that I should go after this lead, but warns me the seller is crazy. I was intrigued, so I called the seller, no answer. I write the deal up the next day, a Friday, and go over to the house. I brought my associate's assistant with me to introduce me. Needless to say, the seller opens the door. I talk with them for about half an hour. The seller won't sign today, they tell me, and I leave a copy of the contract to look over. So I ask if I can come over the next day to talk with them about it. 

I go over there, and get the deal signed around, and at the price I want it at. "This is awesome!!" I yell when I get into my truck. And it is. Because I assigned that deal to a great investor that I have worked with before, and he paid a handsome fee that I picked up from him right away. Also, of course, I am splitting the deal with my associate that gave me the lead, but its still great money!

This deal was on a time crunch. And luckily for me, the buyer was an all cash guy, and closes very quick. The seller needed a quick sale because they were about to move out of the country for good. 

Then the things started to go sideways. The seller has a phone that cannot receive calls, but can make calls. This is a problem. Every time I need to have a conversation with them, I have to drive to the house to see the seller in person. I go over about 3 times a week to talk with the seller. 

I brought the buyer in to take a look around... and to the seller, the buyer did not look enthusiastic enough about the house they were about to pay cash for. So the seller calls me and says they are concerned that the deal won't go through because they didn't look like they liked what they saw. I alleviate the sellers concern and let them know that the buyer very much wants to buy the place. Problem solved, right? No...

Then I get a voicemail that is from the seller yelling at me about the earnest money deposit. The EM receipt has a photocopy of the check in it.  The "void" watermark is all over the face of the check. Well, the seller thinks I am trying to swindle them with a fake check. You see, the seller is a retired bank teller...and had retired before such watermarks were industry standard.  Once I talked the seller down...again... we were back on track to close. 

Keep in mind, my buyer thinks things are going fine, and has no idea what is going on in the background. So, now its 4 days away from closing, and the seller calls me up and wants to talk. I get into my truck and go to the house. The seller tells me that they want to back out of the deal...and please don't sue me, but if you do, expect me to fight. I tell the seller I am not going to sue, and kill the contract. The following weekend, the seller leaves town to move out of the country. 

Then the hardest part came... giving that cash back to the buyer. Mind you, I had not spent a dime of this money yet, I never do, till the deal is closed. 

I wanted to share this with you as encouragement to never give up. Its OK to fail. Even the successful baseball batters that are over 300 are missing the ball 70% of the time. It's easy to look like a genius when you're on top, but what really matters is how you handle losing. 

So I got right back up on the horse and got another house into contract...but that is another story. 

Thank you, BP and community, I really appreciate the warm welcome as a new member. Just reading what I have so far, its really cool to see all the great like-minded folks out there, and the great examples of people working together. 

Cheers!

Brian Truman - Kingston Realty