All Forum Posts by: Shawn Holsapple

@Steve Cook - I use Sean Clapp in Indy. He is a member of CIREIA and a landlord himself. Just google Clapp Ferrucci and you will find his info.

Welcome @Shannon S. !

Don't forget that all the big fish started off as little fish!

Check out the BP local meetup's and CIREIA, INREIA & Wholesale Houses meetings.

I hope to see you around.

@Trevor Lohman it sounds like your'e on the right track!

@Adam Gerig pretty much summed it up. Yes, I'm Indiana biased too.

I would suggest focusing on getting a "safe" deal under your belt and then going after better deals. i.e. - 3/1 post war ranch on the East or West Side of Indianapolis for $55k-$60k [recent fresh rehab and rented for $775-$850]. Low taxes [$95 per month] and nearly no maintenance since it was just rehabbed. Most of these are brick or stone and are a slab [no wet basement or crawl space to deal with]. There are several good PM's in the area that love this kind of bread and butter home. PM me for some names of them.

Once you have one of these closed and cash flowing, then you can start looking at lower purchase prices and/or some that need light rehab to get a better ROI.

I hope that helps & good luck!

@Jason Eyerly , if a property is not listed and you do not have equitable interest in the property, as a licencee you can not be involved...

This is a gray area and can be touchy. Proceed with caution.

Remax - you need to call or visit the office you're interested in working at and ask if they have an investor specialists. If they do, talk with that person and see how they like working there. If not, speak with the principle broker and see if they are interested in working with you. Note: Most RE offices are NOT interested in working with investors! They think we are a bunch of low balling fools that waist everyone's time.

I would suggest talking to some local investors and find out who the investor freindly agents are and seek them out instead of going for a particular franchise. This is what I did. I found the two biggest REO brokers and pursued them until one agreed to let me join their team...

@Stephanie Medellin is correct.

In addition, starting this year, all Indiana agents are now going to be brokers. You can still be an "associate" broker under a principle broker and do the split and be treated like a current sales person.

Some board of Realtor members frown upon a licensee "assigning" contracts. I just got in the habit of closing on all of my "wholesale" deals from the beginning and owning them before reselling. Of course, this defeats the general purpose of "wholesaling" with no money...

Either way, with your new license, you can technically open your own shop. I wouldn't recommend this and would suggest you "hang" your license with an experienced broker in your area that is investor friendly. In addition to getting advice, the broker will also take care of the mountain of paper work and other office duties that, I think, is well worth the commission split.

As far as getting a commission from a wholesale seller, most seller don't [or can't] pay a fee to sell their home. That's why they are working with you to begin with.

I hope that helps a little...

@Jason Eyerly , it sounds like you're on your way!

Yes, an average Ranch home roof is $4k-$5k.

Don't forget that maintenance items here in the Midwest are low cost. I typically pay under $900 for a new furnace installed here in Indianapolis.

I would suggest using 10% as a reserve for maintenance. This is probably high since the subject property has had a recent thorough rehab.

Good point @Ali Boone , I have seen flood insurance kill at deal at the closing table because of ridiculous increases.

A $165k retail flip just fell apart at the table because the old insurance was $2650 per year and the new buyer found out the day of the closing that their insurance was going to be $7875 per year!

Welcome @Brian Prince !

It sounds like you're on the right path to success.