All Forum Posts by: Barry Pekin

@Zac Lindquist,

Ok, so you're just now considering taking the plunge.  As you can see, not everyone thinks highly of wholesalers.  They see us as predatory, dishonest, and all kinds of things like that.  And to be honest, for good reason.  There are definitely wholesalers out there that fit that description.

If that's you, do everyone a favor and find something else to do.  If it's not, the get ready for some hard, honest work.

First, you need to learn how to wholesale from the start of the process to the end. I recommend the book, "If you can't wholesale after this... I've got nothing for you." It's an easy read that does a pretty good job of explaining the process. Once you've read that, continue to learn as much as you can. Listen to the podcasts, watch the YouTube videos, read audio-books (my fav), and become active in your local REI community.

Since you asked about money, you should know that (in the words of my late father, who I'm sure stole this from a more reputable source), "There ain't no free lunch."  If you want to make money, you need to pay for it.  You will pay some combination of time, money, and effort.  But you get to choose what combination.  For example, marketing (the biggest part of the job by far) will take a lot of this.  You can send letters and postcards.  That will cost money.  You can start making cold calls.  That will cost you time.

Start first with learning.  Understand that this is a long-term, significant commitment.  If you decide then that it's worth it, then go for it.

Good luck!

@Armando Noel Rojas

@Stephen J Davis has good advice. You can find investors in your local REI groups, online, and even cold calling. Find those people and form a relationship with them. Get to know what they're looking for. Some people will say that investors won't want to talk to you until you have deals ready for them. I found exactly the opposite. It's a numbers game for everyone. As an investor looking for properties, they want to be on as many wholesalers lists as possible so opportunities will be presented to them. And then when you do bring opportunities to them, make sure they work as a solid deal. If you're trying to sell a deal where you make a bucket of cash and there's little to no profit for your buyer, they're going to stop paying attention to you and group you in with the all-to-many wholesalers who are out for themselves and not their buyers.

Good luck!

@Joshua Long

I think different people face different hurdles.  Not only that, but you're going to face multiple hurdles you will need to learn to overcome.

That brings me to hurdle number one.  That's choosing to be serious about it and stick to it.  This isn't a get-rich-quick scheme in any sense.  You're going to have to work hard, and you're going to have to keep at it.  If you're the kind of person who runs into an obstacle, get discouraged, and quit with some sort of statement like, "I couldn't because...", then don't even start.

Hurdle number two is learning the process.  You need to understand the business from start to finish.  How do you find motivated sellers?  How do you find serious buyers?  How do you negotiate?  How do you do contracts?  How do you execute the deal?  And, so on.  I recommend a good education, and there are various ways to get that education.  I recommend the book, "If you can't wholesale after this... I've got nothing for you."  It's an easy read and a pretty good explanation of the whole process.  Of course, once you've read that, keep learning.  All of the books, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc., provide a constant stream of tips and techniques.  Absorb all that you can.

And then there are the rest of the hurdles.  I say you need to just get started.  Find out what step one is and start doing it.  When you do that, you're pretty certainly going to find yourself saying something like, "if I get someone interested in selling, how do I..."  Look at yourself.  What is that next thing that has you worried you can't do it or that it's going to be really hard to do it.  Then address that concern.  You don't think you have enough buyers?  Find them.  You don't have a good title company?  Find one - or two.  You don't know how the contracts work?  Figure it out.  Each time you identify a hurdle, resolve that and move on to the next.  When you find a seller and get a house under contract, you need to know what the steps are after that and execute them.

Then focus on marketing and finding opportunities.  This is the hard part that you need to keep doing and doing and doing.

Good luck!

You want proof?

I have so much, in fact, that I keep looking for more creative ways to stack it!

@Lee Bailey,

If this guy is representing himself as an agent, and he's not an agent, he can face a lot of trouble over that.  Depending on the contract, that alone could be a way out of it.  If you want to see if the contract can be cancelled, gather all of the pertinent facts, a copy of the contract, and talk to a lawyer.

Otherwise, update us in February.

@Ricky Johnson

I also recommend, "If you can't wholesale after this... I've got nothing for you."  I like this book because it's very straightforward, it's an easy read, and it covers almost everything.  I recall there were one or two things that I thought differently about, but that would probably be true of any book.

@Brian Stripling,

Your question is confusing.  What do you mean by the sites not giving you much time on the phone with anyone?

Are you not getting quality numbers so you're not reaching people?  Or are you talking to people and they're cutting you short because they're not interested?

If it's the first, there are more ways to search for phone numbers, as well as other ways to contact the owners.  There's door knocking, asking neighbors (for situations like abandoned properties), county records, sending mail, etc.  If you're going to be calling people, recognize that getting quality leads and numbers takes real effort.

If it's the latter, and people aren't spending much time on the phone with you, that's ok.  It's good, in fact.  The more people you talk to, the more No's you get, the closer you're getting to a yes.  You also need to consider follow-up.  It can take several "touches" before you get to really start a good relationship with someone.  Those might be phone calls, texts, emails, letters, etc.  Come up with a marketing campaign to continue contacting prospects.  It's funny.  I've received a few random calls, texts, and postcards, and when I've told them I'm not currently interested in selling, I NEVER get contacted a second time.  I even asked a question to one of the texters.  I said no, but added a question.  He never answered.  Now imagine if I suddenly had a real need to sell, and I wanted to do that through a wholesaler.  None of these guys would get a call from me.  In fact, I wouldn't know how to contact them.  If one of them had communicated with me a few times, that would be the first person I would talk to.

@David Messam,

No.  This is going to make them uncomfortable.  Their thoughts may cover things like... Who the heck is this?  How does he know I'm facing a foreclosure?  Who else knows?  I want to bury my head in the sand.  etc...  It also isn't going to help them to decide if they want to sell to you.

Have a nice, friendly conversation with them.  let them know you're looking for investment properties and you came across theirs, and you were wondering if they might be interested in selling.  Open the door.  Be friendly AND honest, and as helpful as you can be.

When they do bring it up, you can tell them how you can help.

@Bryan Rodas,

I really don't understand when wholesalers pursue listed properties.  I've heard of it happening every now and again, but it just doesn't make sense.  The agent is going to get their 6% fee.  It's on the market where many, many people have access to it.  The agent isn't likely going to accept an assignable contract, and then there's that whole proof-of-funds thing.

I think if you're going to be a successful wholesaler, you need to learn a couple of things. 

First, be comfortable with what you're doing.  You need to be completely honest with the seller and everyone else involved.  You do not want to come across as a buyer if you're not actually buying.  Now if you might, legitimately, then that's another story.  I know investors who get properties under contract then decide later if they want to wholesale it or keep it.

Second, it's hard finding properties for a discount.  Something that's on the market isn't currently selling at enough of a discount to cover the agent's fee and whatever you might be hoping to make.  You need to find properties where the seller is very motivated to sell, they want to sell quickly, and they know they're selling at a significant discount.  It happens.  Just far less than the amount of people who sell their house on the open market.

If you can't be honest with everyone involved, including the agent, it will come back to bite you.  You really don't want that.

@Jarin Bryant,

Sorry, but I don't know anyone.  Given the potential profit here, I really recommend hitting the pavement.  Start some serious networking.  Seek out anyone who might have insights to who might want to purchase the property.  Commercial Realtors, perhaps.  Commercial RE attorneys.

Make sure you do this legally, too.  Wholesaling is assigning a contract, not anything that can be considered acting as an agent.

Good luck!