All Forum Posts by: Christy Barton

For those making jokes about divorce court and searching for a new wife, don't listen to them.  It's pretty tacky to crack jokes about divorce when you're already feeling some pressure.  

I'm  a skeptic by nature and honestly, it's good she cares enough about your the future you both have not to let you blow it on an expensive hobby.  If I didn't already love RE, I would most likely be suspicious, too.  

I believe in time, when she sees what a rockstar you are at this, she will come around.  Just do your homework so you don't make us all look bad!  Haha

The bit about wholesaling being like a job:  for us it is but that's because we choose to do it full time.  Our end goal to own rental properties so we are building our capital, learning the marketing, and learning about flipping and land lording all along the way (by reading, talking to others, and listening to a ton of podcasts).  We feel confident enough now (after a year) to start doing small flip projects and are looking into one now. 

We love wholesaling because the risk is minimal.  We send out about 200 letters a week, get a handful of calls, and land on average 1-2 deals a month.  Could we be doing more deals?  Yes.  But honestly, the amount of work we have now is perfect for us.  The number of leads and deals you get is all based on the numbers.  You can typically expect a response rate of about 2-3% for every batch of letters you send out.  Some of the deals give us small profits (3-5k) while others end up being much larger.  If you happen to find a flip among the calls you get, you're in business. 

If letters doesn't appeal to you, there's always the website route.  Hire a good website guy, have him set up your SEO, and let the site generate the leads for you. We've recently started putting more into our site and are hopeful this will bring a few more leads our way.

Our first deal was actually the best potential for a big profit, but we were too new to take on the flip ourselves so we wholesaled it.  We got the lead from...  Craigslist.  It was a free ad.  Now that's a return on your investment!  If nothing else, maybe you could show your wife that you can make a profit in this business with zero down!  haha  To this day, we still post Craigslist ads 1-2 times a week and still get calls from it.  We even have gotten calls from fliers we posted in laundry mats.  

Hi Jon,

My husband and I got started in wholesaling with a few thousand dollars.  Has it taken time to build capital?  Sure.  But we have been in this business just over a year and are steadily building our capital.  It can be done but like others have mentioned, don't let the 10k burn a hole in your pocket.  Take some time to go to REIAs, learn your market, and go from there. Most importantly, find a mentor in your area who will take you under your wing and show you the ropes.  

Wholesaling sounds easier than it is.  It takes a lot of time to market, answer calls, analyze properties, etc.  My husband has been running our business while I work full time.  We are very grateful for such an opportunity as many others are trying to juggle real estate while working a full time job.  I know that some people use a virtual assistant to take calls during the day, so maybe that would be a possibility for you, if wholesaling is the path you choose.

If you are passionate about real-estate, know that inevitably this will affect things at home because you will be spending a lot of time at REIAs, a lot of time talking to other investors, a lot of time driving neighborhoods and learning your market, and hopefully a lot more time on BP.  I am hoping that in time, your wife will change her mind and see what a great opportunity real estate has to offer for both of you.  If you only have six months to generate a return, then don't start the clock for a few months, until you've had some time to learn and grow. 

I'd love to hear your story of success in six months. 

Hi Gavin,

Welcome to BP!  If you do a keyword search for your area, you should be able to find other investors in your area.  Honestly though, wholesaling as a process is pretty much the same regardless of where you live, with the exception of the spreads.  

Are you marketing?  Are you getting calls?  Do you know how to analyze deals?

There are some great podcasts about wholesaling that you can check out.  In short, wholesaling is like being a marketing person so you will need to send out lots of letters (or have a kick butt website) to get leads.  Most importantly, you will need to learn how to spot a good deal.  

Are you going to REIA meetings and networking with other investors?

Hi Shana! My husband and I started wholesaling about a year ago and like others have said, REIA meetings are a great way to meet buyers. If given the chance to introduce yourself or say anything at the end of the "speaker" portion of the REIA, take the opportunity to introduce yourself and tell the group that you are looking for buyers. During the networking portion, you should have a few cash buyers that approach you. If you don't get the opportunity to speak up during the meeting, then make sure you do some networking afterward and start asking what others do. More than likely, even if the people you talk to aren't cash buyers themselves, they will know of at least 1-2. Be sure to just talk to others, get their business cards (and of course, give them yours) and then when you find that great deal, send it out to the investors you know. Word spreads quickly when a great deal surfaces.

If you continue to send out letters, cash buyers will start to contact you to see what you have.  

I wouldn't stress over finding the buyers as much.  Focus on getting the deals.  

How many letters are you sending each week?  

Whatever you do, don't give up!

Hi Kat!  What is your criteria?  I know you are interested in buy and holds but what kind of cap rate are you looking for?  Purchase price?  My husband and I are also looking to get a rental or two sometime in the near future but we've been too skeptical about the properties we've found to pull the trigger.  Like others have suggested, I'd stay away from houses near the fairgrounds.  There are plenty of other good pockets around Indy that you could own and feel safe about going to visit.  I think the best advice is to just drive the neighborhoods and talk to the neighbors.  Don't be in such a hurry that you are willing to buy just anything.  Ask yourself if you would live in the area you are considering buying in? Would you feel safe going to the neighborhood alone?

Best of luck in your search!

Welcome to BP, Rasheed!  It's great to hear you are finding a lot of useful information in the webinars.  I bet you are learning a lot!  My husband is much better about keeping up on the podcasts than I am but we both really get a lot out of those. 

What got you interested in real estate?  For us, it was watching all those episodes of Flip This House.  haha

I hope whatever path you choose in real estate,  you give it your best shot and don't give up!  I'd recommend hitting up the local REIAs and meeting other like minded individuals.  Also, finding a mentor is key to your success so don't be shy and when you find someone local in your area that you admire, ask them to take you under their wing.  People in this business love helping others and you'll be amazed and how much wisdom people will give you if you just ask.

Best of luck!

Christy

Being able to view/send messages would be fantastic, as others have already mentioned. It would be nice to see entire profiles, edit personal profiles, and have access to the podcasts. I would also love, love, love to be able to reply to a post without being forced to scroll to the very end of hundreds of posts that sometimes exists (I believe this is a general enhancement request though, which isn't specific to the app).

Welcome to BP! You will find this is a great place to learn and grow! It will seem overwhelming at times but the reward will be worth it. The Beginners Guide, as others have suggested, is a great place to start. I also found listening to a podcast on BP while driving is another great way to learn. There are also some great books that will change the way you think about money: Rich Dad Poor Dad, Millionaire Next Door, etc. Congratulations to you for deciding to take this path. It takes a lot of courage to step into the unknown! Whatever you do, just don't give up!!! :)

I won't be able to make it, David.  We have some properties to look at tomorrow.  I hope you all have a great time, though!  Thank you for leading this!