All Forum Posts by: James Heller

Hi @Osei K Boakye — Love this question. You’re in a great spot, it’s just you! No giant company, no faceless corporation. 99% of sellers would rather work with a solo entrepreneur who is hustling, than some mega firm who is making millions already. 

I always mention that I am small time, local and doing small and tasteful work. Many people don’t want to hear that their property is going to be scraped off the block once they decide to sell! 

I will say there have been a few sellers now who ask to see some sort of website or reviews to built some level of trust. I almost never meet people face to face, so in these few instances it makes sense that people want to know their deal is in good hands. However, this has never stopped us from getting a deal done and I would definitely push this to your mental back burner. Keep it small and simple for as long as you can!

@Alan Bostick nope, not at all! That’s a classic wholesale deal

Agreed with @Erik Checkur on the rough numbers. I find that a lot of people pick up in the mornings, but I find that afternoons/evenings (4-7pm) are the best time for follow ups! People tend to be more relaxed and can focus on the conversation. 

Also — Saturdays are always on fire. We find twice the leads compared to any other day! 

@Remington Lyman is correct. However, many agents have plenty of buyers that they are working with (especially in the current market) and may be able to bring you an off-market buyer for your property without closing on it yourself. You could figure out some split on the deal with that agent

Hi Kevin — There certainly are ways to close without disclosing your assignment fee. Double closing is one way, in that case you will need to actually close and then immediately turn around and sell the property. The trouble is having that cash available up front. There are other ways that your title company may recommend. 

However, it shouldn’t be a big concern unless you’re bringing home a huge payday. Your end buyer realizes that you need to make money on the deal, and shouldn’t have a big issue with your fee

Hi @Anos Lucifer — Always worth finding someone to partner up with! Eventually you will have buyers who you e built a relationship with, and trust to go on their own — until then it may be a wise move to partner with a young agent or somebody interested in real estate who is local, and give them some % of your deal to do the boots on the ground work!

Hi @Maria Nicole — No need to bring in a contractor. To be honest, you can roughly estimate repair costs fairly easily (not to the dime, but close enough to give buyers a reasonable idea what they’re getting into). See my rough estimator below based on square footage, and remember the numbers may change depending on your market.  

I do however recommend having a go-to boots on the ground person. Many sellers will want to meet someone face to face, you might need someone to let in potential buyers, take photos, etc. Consider reaching out to a young agent and come to some mutual agreement. It could be a small percentage on deals they are involved in, or you can pass along seller leads that aren’t within wholesale range. 

Hi @Ladinaka Samuels-- Totally agree with @Duncan Hayes. Doing a wholesale deal is rarely about whether or not you're offering enough. I tell my team to focus on the Motivation and Timeline of the seller before ever even bringing up price. For 98% of home owners, listing on the market is the right way to go. They have no urgent need for money and are happy to take pictures, do showings, get bids, etc. You are looking for that 2%

You can find deals that are attractive for wholesale on the MLS, however right now the market is red hot and it can be difficult to find something that has "room" on top of the listed price. Advice for going on-market

- Go to outlying towns or cities that are in less demand than the mainstream cities

- Approach properties that do not sell right away (something like 3 weeks to a month)

- Approach the agent directly with an offer. You can often 'feel them out' on what the seller might be willing to accept. Also, if they represent you in the deal, they will have the opportunity to earn higher commission and can be very helpful to making the transaction successful

All of that said -- You will have more luck going for off-market properties. The real value that wholesalers provide the market place is dealing with properties that are "unmarketable". Hopefully this helps -- I made a video recently that breaks down exactly how I did my first deal, and how long it took me. Ping me if you're interested

Hi Donyelle -- You are referring to the closing period. You can set it to be whenever you like, couple of thoughts on this.

- A lot of folks are looking to do a 1031 right now. What I will do in this case is write a contract with a 90 day closing period, and then let them know that I'm flexible to bring that date in if they find a property more quickly. That provides a huge benefit to people who are working with the tight 1031 deadlines

- In some situation, end-buyers may have less interest in a property with a long closing period. I've actually lost a buyer (walked away from $10k in earnest money!) because they found something else before our deal closed. Something to be aware of, this can of course be avoided by waiting to find an end buyer until you are within ~a month of closing

Let me know if there are other questions

Hey guys — I think everyone recognizes that the beginning can be the most difficult piece. Especially as you work on building momentum. I put together a short video on my first deal that may help to accelerate yours. Ping me and I’ll send you the link

Momentum really is an important property in real estate. It takes a long time (around 5 months for me) to close your first deal, and now we’re at a point of closing $200k+ in the last 3 months. 

If you like this vid and want others, let me know what topics you’re most curious about — Thanks!