All Forum Posts by: Joe Cassandra

It's not the acquisition's manager's job to generate leads. 

Lead generation is an entire skill...and time suck in itself...not to mention costs money. 

What I'm guessing they'll have you doing: 

1) Calling FSBOs cold

2) Calling rental listings cold

3) Making low ball offers on MLS

--------

It's the company's job to provide leads for you to work. 

Have you ever gone on a seller's appt? 

It can take 2-4 hours depending on how far away the lead is from you. 

If you don't have $$$$ to pay for leads...generating leads manually ON TOP OF then going on appointments...

you'll be broke in 3 months. 

NO wholesaling company should be hiring an AM if they've only done 8 deals in 9 months. That's just them being lazy. 

---------

Best companies pay on a draw. 

You get a $X,XXX base as you get your feet wet. Say your first 10 deals you get a 10% or $500 flat fee. That then offsets your base until you pass it, then you get more. 

If after 6 months, you haven't surpassed your base...meaning, they are paying you more than what your cut balances out to, you're fired.

Companies requiring you to work on just commission and not generating leads for you is a WASTE.

$300 per month after expenses is pretty good cashflow...

Your first deal will always come with the jitters. 

1) Did you buy a deal with equity already built in? 

2) Did you estimate the rehab correctly (yes, your first deal, you'll likely be off by a good bit unless it's already perfect...this is okay)

Likely the thoughts in your head are: 

...what if I can't find a tenant? 

...what if I find a tenant and they destroy the place? 

...what if the house falls apart and becomes a money pit? 

...what if I calculated the numbers wrong and the house is worth less than i thought? 

All of these will likely happen at some point. 

#1. That's okay

#2. Holding real estate gives you a good buffer for errors

FLIPPING is a lot harder...and a much different animal as it's much easier to lose money. 

The worst thing that could happen is you lose a few months of cashflow for extra repairs...but yoru tenant paid down your mortgage, and you got a lot of juicy tax benefits. 

Bottom line...again...congrats on the deal. You have a great buffer with $300/cashflow. 

Worst case scenarios rarely happen...

Buying and holding real estate is VERY FORGIVING (vs other types of investing like flipping/wholesaling)

It's like a RE on-market transaction...they sign an agreement with you that any property they buy in the next 30 days you're involved in, you get paid. 

On the other hand, it's a matter of trust...

If they go behind your back, you don't work with them again. 

What's the loss? 

All you had to do was forward them an email from a wholesaler...

How much work did you do...lol. 

If they cut you out, then you've spent 5 minutes figuring out who NOT to work with.

1. Call, call, call as many local banks, regional banks and credit unions near you

2. Know the lingo...so bankers know you're serious and aren't some newb kicking tires and wasting their time (after all, they are buried up to their eyeballs in refinances at the moment)

3. Tell them directly you are a serious investor and you have multiple properties to bring them...and plan to introduce them to other investors you've met

4. Have all your paperwork ready Day 1...don't make them chase you around for tax returns and P&Ls

I don't know why people say they have trouble finding good contractors. Plenty are on Thumbtack and the people they know.

How to keep them?

1. I dont negotiate their fees. Never.

2. I pay them on time.

In return, I tell them if they try and screw me, they're fired asap.

Also. I simply expect honesty. Stick to our agreed schedule as best as possible. If something happens, give me a headsup about it asap...not the next day when I'm calling you wondering why you aren't at the site.

We agree on those conditions and work together :)

I'd agree with your initial post...

If you're finding the offmarket deals yourself (and not having fat trimmed by a wholesaler/agent), you could still make it happen depending on your location. 

Where I am, finding 100% brrrr deals in say nice areas of Marietta is almost extinct. 

But in nearby cities, bought a house that (surprisingly) appraised for 207k --- I thought it'd be near 190k --- and we bought for 122k and put 8k into it renting for 1500/month. That we will get all our money out. 

In a more popular area, we bought a deal from a wholesaler, but we likely will still have about 20% of cash in it by the end.

First one, we sourced the deal ourselves off market

Second, wholesaler had bought for 30k less than what we bought it for...

#1. People will tell you a sob story with every house...every time. (just had a guy message me about his family being kicked out but can't meet my income or credit score requirements...lazy people would just say 'ok')

#2. As I tell sellers who say "I want retail for my house' ... "Look, Mr. Jones, I get you want retail for your house, but no one in real estate is in this business for charity. Even real estate agents #1 goal is to get paid first. I have to make money on your house...that's just the long and short...I even have it in the contract." 

-------

You are not the government...you are here to turn a profit. 

We plan to open a non-profit in a couple years when kids are older...then we will be helping needy with their housing...

But we won't be able to do that if we lose money now.

-------

Plus, this isn't a moral issue. 

It's not your job to take care of people. 

A moral issue is if you found out they have enough income...but it's from something illegal...like they're a hitman or something.

If they are only replacing AC and not the furnace (as it's 2 years old), should be way less than 7500. Maybe more like 4k

 Like Jay says...

Because ATL is hot, I get a lot of DMs from out of state people basically saying "How are you finding deals, then funding them, and where should I invest?" 

:)

I try and reply to as many as I can, but never hear from them again...but I try and pay it forward as much as I can as more experienced have helped me before.

If the market is that hot...rising 14% in a few months, finding a deal on the MLS is probably near impossible.

connect with wholesalers, show them your proof of funds direct in your bank account and you'll have a few quickly bringing you a deal

or market yourself.

Don't play the appreciation game in a mega hot market as that won't last forever