All Forum Posts by: James Heller

Hey everyone -- I have a ~1000 sqft townhouse (on 2 levels) here in San Diego, and I'm looking to do some updates and modernize the place. The necessities are floors (LVP), windows and paint for the interior. Bonus would be refacing the cabinets if the pricing makes sense

I priced out part of the job with HD, windows were somewhat reasonable at $8500 but I was surprised by the cabinet refacing -- Just short of $20k. That struck me as high for this type of job, does anyone have experience there?

I would love to connect with a GC in San Diego with a wide skillset, any good contacts? Thanks in advance!

James

Hi Jeremy — There is a lot to learn, I would take small bites and try to get 1% better each day. I love this idea (from James Clear who wrote Atomic Habits) — at the end of the year you will be 37x better than day one. 

I put together a short video on how I closed my first ever wholesale deal, this may be helpful for you. Feel free to reach out directly and I’ll share the link

Hi @Kristi Wolfe! Couple of thoughts on this

1. You should never enter into a contract that you don’t believe can be executed. This is the sole responsibility of a good wholesaler, because many of these sellers really need the sale to go through! Hence they are willing to sell off market and sometimes at a substantial discount 

2. Just like any real estate transaction, there are contingencies that allow a buyer to back out with their earnest money returned. The most common is an inspection period which allows you some time (I’ll generally do 10 business days) to do your due diligence. Use this period to find an end buyer, bring in and inspector/contractor, etc. If there are issues with the sale, this would be your protection. 

3. Yes, absolutely have some buyers lined up first if possible. There are many creative ways to do this, reaching out here or on other social media platforms (although you will run into plenty of other wholesalers that might be happy to snake your deal — tread lightly), looking for homes that have recently sold in the area that look like flips and reaching out to the seller (they are probably looking for another deal!), or partnering up with an agent. 

I hope this helps, wholesaling is by no means a get rich quick scheme and involves a lot of strong relationships. Let me know if you have other questions

James

@Will Barnard Straightforward and clear. How do you recommend disbursing funds -- up front or in phases? (of after?). 

I'd love to see an example from somebody on what their contractor paperwork looks like

Hi everyone -- I am buying property remotely (in Denver, from San Diego) and beginning to partner with several contractors in the area. Really awesome folks I've gotten in touch with.

I'm curious what type of agreement the more seasoned fix'n flippers use between themselves and their contractors. Do you have a formalized contract, or just a verbal agreement? Do you add language that protects you in case work stalls (or the property is vacant) for several days? What other types of things are you mindful of?

Thanks in advance

James

Hey Jarrod -- I posted a video recently on how I got my first deal, which covered many of the questions you have about tools for the job. Feel free to PM me and I'll shoot you the link

James

Yeah that’s the way to go in my opinion. If you trust the person, I would bring them in as early as possible to get their opinion. This will avoid the “scrambling to find a buyer” part later on.

There are also large wholesale companies in many states (not sure about yours, I have New Western in mine) who have thousands of cash buyers and can help get your deal sold. They will tack another $5-10k on top of your deal and basically wholesale it to somebody else, this can be another nice option

Hi Jonathan -- I don't always reply in one minute, but the timing worked out well :)

Yes, absolutely you can have your end buyer cover your EMD. Generally I will set my EMD deadline 1-2 weeks out (most sellers don't even question this) and just have my end buyer submit the payment directly to title. In addition, make sure that your inspection contingencies give you plenty of time to figure out your plan. EMD is always refundable in case something goes haywire -- if you plan correctly.

Last thing -- generally EM is is about 1% of total purchase price. Just a good rule of thumb to be aware of

Hi BP -- I have a property under contract in Woodland Park, CO which is a smaller mountain town outside of Colorado Springs. It's close to a few lakes, some nice hiking and offroading, and is more of a 'summer getaway' as it is not positioned near ski resorts. 

I'd love some input on STRs like this as it would be my first. Is anyone familiar with that area specifically and can offer an opinion on the market?

Thanks in advance! -- James

Stirring up this topic again -- I've been testing Mojo skip tracing for the past month or so and find that I get about 60% of my properties back with numbers. Those numbers seem to be fairly accurate, and my contact rate is approximately the same as using BatchSkip. 

Super strange that I only get 60% of numbers. It finds owners for almost all of the properties. I am considering using Mojo as a "first pass" and then running the additional through BatchSkip, but this does create another layer and a bit of a headache. Any other thoughts or similar issues with Mojo?