All Forum Posts by: Barry Pekin

 Excellent!

Good luck!

Perfect.  I'm not in Texas, so I'm not familiar with it.

So you do have a contract to use, then?

@Mark Anthony Alvear Jr,

Don't get overly excited that you're suddenly involved in a deal that has multiple properties in it.  While you might be thinking that 4 properties means 4 times the fee, stop. 

Look at each of the properties.  A seller might be totally above board and just looking to get out of the game, or they might be looking to dump a piece of trash among other pretty good properties.  Check each one out, and if one looks like trash, tell them you want to take a pass on that one - or reduce the cost as appropriate.

I would really pursue each one independently.  Tell the seller that it's hard to find investor/partners who are willing to take multiple properties all at once.  Tell them you feel like you can get the best price for them if you're able to deal with each one independently.

@Henry Urey Rivas,

Contracts are critical in this business.  I use a four-page contract.  Unfortunately, I can't share it due to how I got it.  But you really need to make sure you cover your bases.  Your contract should take into consideration several things:

(1) Clearly identify the property and all parties involved. This should all be in legal terms. Are you acting as an individual or a company/entity? Who technically owns the property? How do you legally identify the property? (2) What is the price you're offering, what kind of EMD are you offering, and who is going to hold that? (3) What costs are involved, and how are they going to be handled? Are you going to pay past due taxes? Is the owner going to pay closing costs? There are several real and potential costs to be considered. (4) What happens if there is a sudden loss during closing, like a fire? (5) Do you have a Due Diligence period where you get to verify the status of ownership and the property itself, and if there's a problem, do you have the opportunity to withdraw from the deal? (6) What happens if you or the seller decide to withdraw from the contract for no reason that's allowed under the terms of the contract?

These are probably most of the issues you have to address, but I'm pretty sure it's not everything.  It also depends on where you're operating.  What is required for your state/locality?

I recommend connecting with local investors, realtors (yes, they are a good resource), title companies, etc. to find out what they use and what they're doing.

Don't go cheep and dirty.  Make sure your bases are covered.

Good luck!

@Bryson Cain,

Your situation is very unclear.  Communication in business is critical.

You say you found a good deal.  What makes it a good deal??

You say the house is in closing.  What does that mean??  It someone else buying it, or are you closing on buying it?  This one things is pretty critical to figure out what's going on.

What actions should you take?  At risk of sounding like a jerk, work on your communication.  This post is so full of questions that no one knows what you're dealing with. 

If you're going to try to put properties under contract, assign those contracts to investors, and make a profit off of that, you need to understand that communication is paramount.  If you don't communicate clearly, you'll never excel in your business.

Again, sorry if that's harsh, but it is the truth.

@Matt Graves,

PropStream is 100% worth it.  I use it for identifying prospective properties and doing my initial analysis on a property.  The amount of information the provide is pretty crazy.  In fact, I just noticed the other day (maybe this was in there for a while, who knows) that you can see a tab with other properties owned by the same person.

PropStream gathers information from many, many other sources and brings them all to you in a single place.  But, yes, there's the potential for some of the information to be inaccurate or out-dated.  I agree that when you're getting close to the wire, make sure you verify the details.  You can use the county records, get a title company involved, etc.  But until that point, you have so much useful information, it's nuts.  At around $100/month, it's a pretty easy expense.  Yes, I know some people are far more strapped for cash, but this is probably the one thing I simply wouldn't part with.

@Logan Mikes,

Network within the RE community.  You'll find lots of buyers that way.  Finding buyers is easy.  Drive around and look for rehab projects underway and introduce yourself.

@Robert Carroll,

My most successful strategy has been to follow the squirrels.  They tend to hang out in vacant, distressed houses.  :-D

But, what works best for one person isn't going to work best for everyone.

There are all kinds of ways to find deals, and you need to find out what works best for you - not for someone else.  Do you love calling strangers?  If so, do some cold calling.  Do you have a lot of money to send out a million mailers?  If so, do that.  If you like to drive around a lot and talk to people, do some D4D and door knocking.  Truly, look inward, not to others.  What will work for you?

@Donte Hurt,

Yes, but you need buyers who are willing and able to take on such a deal.  Some investors only want to do light rehab work.  Others are willing to gut a place and make something completely new.  Others are willing to level a place, or buy an empty lot, and do the whole build.  If you have the right buyers, then you can certainly wholesale the property.  Pay special attention to running the numbers while considering the options a builder might have.  Would they want to build a typical house for the area, or do they want to build something much better?

Good luck!

@Antoine King,

Decide, first, what you want to get out of a JV relationship. Are you willing to do the harder part of finding properties, or are you looking for someone else to do that and you'll do the disposition part? Are you looking for someone who can bring money to the table for marketing, or are you thinking you can do that? You would really need to find someone that compliments what you bring to the table.

I feel like people who want to JV feel like there are parts of the process that they can't do or don't want to do, or don't think they will do well. I suggest that you look at the whole process of wholesaling from start to end. Can you do the first part of finding properties? If not, why not? When you get that answer, find out what you can do so that you CAN make that happen. Once you have that piece comfortably in your mind, move on to step two and do the same thing.

Think about marketing.  Think about finding buyers.  Think about the technical aspects of the transaction.  Think about what you need to learn.  I think, if you do all that, you most likely won't need a partner.  And if you decide you do, you'll know what you're looking for in a partner.

Good luck!