All Forum Posts by: David Bateman

Welcome and congrats on starting your journey. I love Anderson, in fact I have family that lives there still and friends in nearby Greenville and Clemson. 

In every market there are investors with dollars to invest in marketing but no expertise on what to target or how to process the leads that come in; if you've got the list other people have the dollars, I would find another investor who can help you get the entire mailing out - they pay for it and you guys split the leads that come in or you work them and split the fee on the back end or some other arrangement that you guys can agree to. Other than that I would break it down to what you can afford to send each week and mail those suckers every week, you'll eventually get thru the entire list. Once you do, keep going!

Welcome @Maxine Hough, good to have you here!  Austin is a great market with a lot of knowledgable investors participating and working with each other on deals.  Definitely look up some of the meet ups in the area and start getting to know the players.  If you are looking to start out wholesaling and are able to actually get a deal under contract you will have no problem getting an investor to help you monetize that transaction.  You will, however, need to work with someone that has actually wholesaled deals in the market and not simply assigned a deal or two.  There are a number of moving pieces in each transaction and if you are going to give up 50% of your fee, you want to make sure this person can help you manage all of those pieces and actually close the transaction.

I am sure you are doing marketing for sellers (whether you are door knocking, sending letters or looking on Craigslist, etc) but make sure you are looking for buyers of your own so that you can grow your own business and start keeping 100% of the fee after the first few deals that you do!  Always be learning!  My core business is still in Austin and I'd be happy to work with you and help you get up and running in short order.  Look forward to seeing you around the site...and in Austin!

I'll be there.

Keith Belzner don't let Negative Nancy's on the forum dissuade you from getting out there and mixing it up. Check out Sean Terry's podcast for all of the free info you'll need to get started. Also, there are great wholesaling groups on Facebook that will point you in the right direction regarding verbiage and agreements in your particular market.

Just ask where the broker expects the deal to trade. He should be able to give you an expected cap rate.

Congrats on your first lead.  It is very exciting, I know, but try to keep in mind that it is your first lead and you will need 20-30 leads to get an actual deal.  Don't try to force a deal with an unmotivated seller, it will not work out well the majority of the time.  With that said, you can do these things; 1) make an offer at where you need to be!  Give them your reasoning and justification for that offer and show them your data.  2) if they don't accept that offer, offer to help find a buyer for the deal at no cost to them (i.e. sign an option agreement for the property - then go find a buyer) 3) If they don't go for either and they have time to wait and the property is in good shape, offer to send over your favorite realtor that will help them get the most bang for the buck and arrange a referral fee or a marketing fee from the realtor and 4) put the seller on a follow up campaign and make sure you stay in front of them every 30-45 days for the next 12 months.  Good Luck.

Great thread everyone. Thanks Anna Watkins for getting it going.

This is a good question, I know melissadata.com has a service that will do this but there is a cost and I think it requires a PC and excel files. I would love to hear if anyone else knows of another solution.

Since this is a thread on Austin I thought I'd chime in; Austin is a great town with a lot going on for a particular demographic. The challenges that Lynn Currie brought up are right on and don't have an easy solution to them - the biggest two are traffic and water. Both require decade long infrastructure improvements and all the city can produce right now are band aids (the toll lane on MoPac is an example). Because of that I would not (and am not) look outside of the city and expect the appreciation that the area has seen to continue indefinitely. At some point the burden of traffic will weigh on those in the burbs and require them to move closer in, further pushing up vales there but normalizing values outside (where there is more land to develop). As far as cash flow goes, unless you are finding your own deals direct or via a wholesaler you are not going to find a cash flowing rental close to town very easily. The taxes are just ridiculous and the rent to value numbers are all out of whack. Summary - Austin is a fun city for active, young (or young at heart!) singles (or couples w/o multiple children) and as more of those pile in from all over the country the values of infill land will continue to rise. Further, those areas that are more dependent on the horrible infrastructure and that have less going on, will not see that same appreciation. PS - I am still active in Austin but moved to the Atlanta burbs because of the better quality of life here. I'd be happy to share insights I have on either market if anyone is interested.