All Forum Posts by: Jeff West

Just curious, how may of you who have to deal with cash for keys are able to get your occupants to fill out W-9s for deduction purposes? Has this been a deal breaker for anyone? Are there other ways to deduct cash for keys payments?

Good point John. I stand by my statement that there seem to be a lot of wholesalers that haven't mastered their craft, because it is the entry point to real estate pitched by the gurus who then flood the market. But like I said as well, the concept of wholesaling is sound and a good wholesaler who works hard and knows their market is worth their weight in gold to an investor. I personally haven't run across any for my area yet, but as a new investor I may be screened as much as I am screening. My intention is not to heap more coals on the fire of wholesaler hate, as much as it is to state that it's frustrating to spend so much time in due diligence on leads that won't turn a decent profit. I am still hopeful I will find one or two who I can build a great business relationship with.  

Welcome @Quan Carpenter ! Maybe I'll see you around the neighborhood.

Hey everyone. Here is another meetup that takes place in Calabasas if you are interested. They meet the 3rd Thursday of every month.

http://www.meetup.com/Investment-Buyers-Network/events/219626113/?gj=rcs.a&a=co2.a_grp&rv=rcs.a

If anyone here starts a group please include me.

Wholesaling seams to be the easiest and cheapest avenue to get into REI, and from what I've seen the most likely sector to be flooded with people who don't know what they are doing. The concept is sound, but I have found 1 decent and honest deal out of about 300 I have been sent in the last 6 months. Between inflated ARV's and clueless renovation estimates, I can't imagine any of these get actually picked up by investors, unless there are as many clueless investors as there are wholesalers. (I doubt it because when your money is at stake you tend to learn pretty quickly) I am sure there are some wholesalers who are good at their jobs that are just as annoyed because the unreliability of others gives the whole practice a bad rap.

Thank you @Jerry Robinson  and @Karen Margrave 

I connected with @Will Barnard early on to ask him a few questions and marvel at his work on a flip right down the road from me. I've got my work cut out for me to get to that level but it's great to have that motivation in my own back yard!

And hopefully when @Sean Hurwitz and I get together I can give him one or two things to help him become a rock star real estate investor and he can teach me how to be an actual rock star!

Thank you @Jeremy Tillotson and @Christine O'Meara !

Hey @Joshua McGinnis . I am very fortunate to have other investments that gave us the capital to start. We are cash investors currently. This is a family business partnership. After setting up relationships with agents, finders, wholesalers, etc we have looked at probably 200 properties both on MLS and through wholesale deals. Though there was some potential with a couple of properties we ended up buying all 3 at trustee sale auctions. We were just having a hard time finding good MLS buys with the right profit potential or wholesale deals that were honest in their ARV's. Auctions have there own set of headaches and dangers but we have been fortunate so far. We have one in Agoura Hills, Tarzana, and most recently in Santa Clarita.

Hi fellow BPers. I signed up to be a part of BiggerPockets in October when my company was first getting started and have been lurking and learning, but never actually introduced myself.

My name is Jeff and I am a flipper in Southern California. My company is currently in the middle of 3 flips and we are having a blast. I can attest to the statement I have heard over and over here that getting started with the first property is the hardest part.

This community has been such a great part of us getting the ball rolling and though I don't have much to give back I wanted to at least say hello and share whatever knowledge I have learned so far. May your 2015 be full of successful investing!