All Forum Posts by: Chris Stroup

@Alex Griffith what @Caleb Brown said is great.  Build your credit as much as you can.  Also, build your capital as much as you can. 

Another important thing to keep in mind is DTI. Debt to income ratio. The less debt you have the better your chances of getting a loan are. So if you get an expensive car and other debts it will be much harder to get lenders to work with you.

Fayetteville is a cashflow market.  This area appreciates slowly.  

Some wholesalers are just trying to make money any way they can. I'll give you an example. I went and looked at a property that was listed on the MLS with a contractor. The contractor said the foundation was going to need at least 30k of work due to termite damage. A wholesaler listed the same property on Facebook marketplace. I sent him a message about what I knew and he told me I was wrong and he continued to market the property stating that it was in good condition. This was on a house listed for about 60k with an ARV around 70k.

A good wholesaler provides value. They provide an accurate rent rate, a reno quote from a trusted contractor, an ARV that is reasonable, a property that isn't about to fall apart. The wholesalers that I like to work with are honest and upfront about anything that is important to the deal.

@Devon Suits I am a Realtor and I have helped people house hack.  Small multi-family properties where the other units will cover your mortgage.  I also work with many wholesalers to be able to bring good deals to my clients.  Some wholesalers are good and others are not.  There are many different ways to do it you just need to figure out what works for you.  Just remember you are looking to add value to the seller and your buyer.  

There are a lot of tools that you can use to help make wholesaling easier but they all cost money.  

@Al-Qumar Atkins I'm also an introvert, big time. It takes practice. When I first talk to someone I feel like I am terrible awkward but as soon as I get past the beginning I am fine. At REI meet-ups I walk up to someone new and just ask them what they do in real estate or why they are at the meet-up. That normally starts an easy conversation. Then I always find an out that I can use if I decide I don't want to talk to that person or group anymore. Even something easy like leave your water bottle on a table across the room and leave the group to get it and then don't come back.

Also, you have to decide what is important to you.  How important is it to you to be successful in real estate?  For me, I am not going to fail so if I need to talk to all the people then that's what's going to happen.   That's the other part, know that you are probably going to be overwhelmed and need to recharge as soon as you can to continue to be able to crush it.  

You will find that it isn't that bad and most people at these meet-ups and in real estate investing all want to help each other.  

@Carl LaPiedra Education is always the first step.  Then start analyzing deals and building contacts in your desired market.  I agree that NYC might be a tough place to start.  I don't know the market but I would guess it is pretty expensive.  

I live in Fayetteville, NC and this is a great market to start in.  You can be all on a property for 70k - 80k.  This is a great area for rental properties.  I'm sure if you dig around some on the forums there are other markets that are similar.  

Once you identify your budget and start building a team you need to get pre-approved.  No one is going to take you seriously without a way to close on a deal.  A good real estate agent in your target market will be able to point you in the direction of a few good lenders to start talking to.  

Why not do both?  Start building your wholesale pipeline and while doing so find a nice property to house hack.  Then use your knowledge of that process to help others do the same.  If you are going to get into wholesaling, learn everything you can about the process.  Find someone that you can bounce ideas off of and make sure you are on the right path.  

@Olajuwon Morgan I am always looking for referrals, that would be awesome.  

Do you think it was best piecing them together or do you think using a general contractor would have worked out better?  

@Olajuwon Morgan Nice!  What contractor did you use for the flip?

@Robert Shortsleeves  me too Sleeves!  Soon it'll work out.   

@Derek Madden From my experience, many of the properties they will offer you aren't going to be what you are looking for.  It's good to have as many wholesalers as you can sending you properties.  Just ask every one of them to add you to their distro.