All Forum Posts by: E. Jacobs

Thanks for the informative responses. When you form your buyer's list, are hard money investors fine? I know cash is king, but a week or so to close doesn't sound bad at all either.

Just wanted to say thank you so much to Josh for setting this site up. For the past few weeks I've been spending as much spare time as possible on here and I have already gained TONS of valuable knowledge without even going into my first deal yet. There's so much information available that I feel like I haven't even made a dent on all that there is to learn. I know this will be a great resource and that I will have all the support I need going into my first deal. The people I met have been very helpful and I hope new features continue to be added and that the community continues to grow. I'm sure there's been plenty of posts like this before but I felt obligated to at least formally thank you for creating this amazing network of people who are truly passionate about REI. The information on this site would have cost me thousands of thousands of dollars in the form of books, seminars, and training programs. Hell, if it weren't for BP I would probably never pursue my interest in REI, and I know now that it will pay BIG dividends once I'm out of school and start doing deals. Thanks a lot and happy posting!
:beer:

Congrats! Money is money and don't be embarrassed about the size of the check, especially on your first deal. What's more important is that you gained confidence and the experience of closing a deal. Out of curiosity, how did you come across the seller? And how did you line up a buyer?

I just saw a bandit sign on my way home from school in Indiana that said:

Sell Your House in 48 Hours!
[Phone Number]
WE BUY HOUSES.

I was just wondering how long it usually takes from the time you find a serious cash buyer to the time you close the deal. How realistic is 48 hours? How fast should I tell potential sellers that I can sell their house?

One of my close family friends is the principal broker at a local realty firm. He has about 80-100 agents working under him I believe and I was wondering what are some questions that I could ask him that might be able to benefit my wholesaling business? Should I ask if any of his agents specialize in wholesale properties? Or if I could get the contact info of any cash buyers they've dealt with? I'm sure he is a great source of knowledge and knows TONS of people, but I was just wondering what are some things that you all recommend doing when networking with a realtor. Thanks!

Sorry I've been away for a few days-

Tim, you definitely brought up some good points. The company is Real Property Advisors in Burr Ridge. It would help with one of the two skills a wholesaler needs as far as estimating value. However, I think estimating repairs might be the harder part since the ARV can be drawn from looking at comps.

J Scott, would I expect to pay the full $95 or so since, even though I may be looking to or actually have the property under contract, I know that I am going to be assigning that contract to somebody else who likely has their own contractors or does the rehabbing themselves?

I'm still really looking for more advice on how to learn how to make estimates myself because having to pay for a contractor's estimate on a house will kill me unless I know for sure that I will be able to turn that house into a deal. Are there any good books or checklists that might help me at least be able to throw out ballpark figures until I gain enough experience to become more accurate? I know you learn with experience, but I can't gain experience unless I get started and I can't really get started if I don't know how to analyze the associated repair costs.

Thanks for all the advice. An interesting opportunity just came up- I received an email from one of my professors saying there's an appraisal firm near my home looking for an appraisal intern for this summer. The intern would do inspections with senior appraisers, research comps and photographs, and other field work to help the appraisers. The intern will also be exposed to a wide variety of residential and commercial property types.

Would this be of something of interest for me if I'm trying to learn how to estimate repair costs and ARV? It seems like I would be getting free lessons while also potentially opening up a full-time job which I could use to fund my wholesaling business and buy investments. Any opinions on this?

Thanks, Larry! I think I like your strategy as well with setting a minimum fee you want to make and then selling once you get offered that. But say for example that a buyer made an offer that will net you 5k and the next day you get a call that will net you 7k, would you call the first buyer back and say that you received a higher offer? Or tell the second buyer that you already found a buyer?

Ty Brian, how many bandit signs could you get for $500-$1000? What sites do you set up pay per click with? And what makes a neighborhood "bad"? Do you find more leads coming from nicer vs. worse neighborhoods, mostly SFH neighborhoods, older neighborhoods? I'm trying to decide where I should start off my advertising campaign but I don't know what makes one area better than another in terms of generating leads.

Thanks guys. Until I'm experienced enough to do estimates in my head, how much do you think a contractor should be paid to come give an estimate on a house for me?