All Forum Posts by: Aaron Foster

My name is Aaron Foster. I live in Stafford, Texas which is a suburb of Houston. I have been a waiter by profession for about 8 years. Just a young single guy working and living with my roommate. I am not formally educated, but I have a strong passion for learning nonetheless. When a subject interests me, I just read up on it as much as I can until I can put it into action. I love learning new things.

I have been interested in real estate investing for about ten years. My first introduction to real estate investing was taking Russ Whitney's REI course. From there, I read various books as well, but I never got to a place where I felt confident enough to put what I had learned into action.

I have recently been reading about the subject of wholesaling, especially on biggerpockets.com. It appeals to me because it is a way to get started in real estate investing that doesn't require a large amount of money. My profession affords me a limited amount of disposable income.

At this point, I have joined my local real estate investing club (RICH Club Houston). I have been able to take a couple of wholesaling classes and do a lot of networking there. I have also started a direct mail campaign, which has gotten me on the phone with several sellers. My budget is small, so I can only afford to send out so much mail consistently without landing a deal. Therefore, I am currently seeking to mail to a market rich with motivation to sell quickly and below market value.

My first mailing went out to out-of-state absentee owners with property near my zip code and equity at 91-100%. The sellers I have spoken to so far do not seem to have an urgent need to sell, but I have gotten some good practice using my phone scripts. However, I am thinking of adjusting my target market to get a little more bang for my buck. Perhaps a different percentage in equity or maybe target probates or mortgage lates. I'm sure I'll find my answer once I ask the right question.

Even though I am still seeking my first deal, I would have never gotten to this point without the articles that I've read and the people I have come in contact with on this site. The thing that blows me away is how willing the more seasoned investors are to share what they know. I am trying something completely new, but I can move forward with confidence because whenever I have a question, I can just post it here and get almost immediate responses. I am grateful to have found this site, and I hope to be more of a contributor in the future. Anywhoo, I read something that said I should introduce myself here, so there we have it. I wish everyone bigger pockets.

Thanks everyone for your amazing responses. I have already taken action on some of the things Mr. Michael Quarles mentioned. @Mr. Jerry Puckett, I used to work for a market research company, and i have spent hours upon hours driving for dollars. i know what it means to make call after call to get a prospect, and i am willing to put in the footwork when necessary. I just need help tweaking my marketing strategy to attract more sellers. I work as a server at a restaurant, so i don't make a lot of money, so my marketing budget thus far has been close to zero. However, I am willing to spend money on marketing as long as it gets me on the phone with potential sellers.

I am looking to complete my first wholesale deal. I am confident that I know what to say once I get in contact with a truly motivated seller, and I have built a pretty good buyers list so far. Most of my methods of marketing are pretty good at getting buyers calling, but it is harder for me to find sellers. Driving for dollars has brought me the few leads i have thus far, and i was considering consulting a paid list to get on the phone with more sellers. Are there any good ones out there or is it even worth it?

I am having a hard time finding a purchase agreement that is both assignable and contingent on financing. this is my first attempt at a wholesale deal. any insight regarding the process of negotiating and presenting the contract is much appreciated.

I do apologize for the difficulty in reading my post. I wrote it hurredly on the way to work (I am a server at a restaurant). But thank you to whoever still took the time to read it. I've started talking to buyers, and I've found some interested parties that have even offered to do their own assessment of the property, but everyone is asking me for the address of the property. I feel like I shouldn't do that without ensuring that I don't get skipped in the deal. Should I work some type of master fee agreement into my strategy?

Here's where I'm at right now. A partner of mine bird dogged a bunch of properties that looked to be vacant and recorded the addresses. There is one property in particular that we have spoken with the owner about. The guy and his brother (who are not on speaking terms) inherited the home from their parents. The house hasn't been lived in for about 18 months. The yard is overgrown, the tree in the front yard completely blocks the front view of the house. I attempted to contact a contractor to assist me in viewing the home, but did not have much luck. When we finally gained access to the house, I just took pictures and video, so that i could possibly show it to a contractor later on. The home was actually more well kept than I had hoped. Most of their parents' belongings, including clothes, furniture, appliances, and junk, were still in the house, but from what i could see, the house looked like it would be just about ready to live in once everything was removed. There was actually so much funiture that i gave a serious moment of consideration towards making a bid on the lot of furniture and finding a buyer, similarly to what I am attempting to do with his home, but i digress. There were all kinds of bugs inside and out like wasps, bees, roaches, and spiders. The kitchen has some old school wood paneling, but still looks to be in great shape. The place could probably also use some new carpet in the carpeted areas, as there was quite a pungeant smell throughout the dwelling. Maybe could use a couple brush strokes here and there. The guy said the roof was in good shape the last time he had it checked less than 2 years ago. Of course, I barely know what I'm looking at, and i could still desperately use the opinion of someone who does. Also, the code enforcement officer had recently put a notice to abate on the front door. i didn't get a chance to check the date on it before the owner ripped it off the door. The home's ARV is about 112,750. I couldn't get the owner to give me a number as far as what he was looking for. I figure that with a modest amount of repairs needed, an investor would be willing to pay around 80 for it. I don't have a repair estimate to work with so that i can crunch numbers, but i'm thinking that i'd start my negotiating around 50. I'll state again that those numbers are largely arbitrary. I have a contract ready that i downloaded from some real estate wholesaling site. It seems to have everything that it needs as far as being assignable, but i want it to have a financing contingency as well. i am not sure how to insert this into my contract. i have also contacted an investor-friendly title company, but i have yet to speak with any potential buyers. there are "we buy houses" flyers everywhere around here though, and i have been building a list of people i could call, should the seller accept my offer. my main thoughts and concerns right now are coming up with an offer that i can feel comfortable with, getting in contact with a contractor who is friendly to my cause, getting my contract ready, preparing to approach the title company, and of course closing the deal with a buyer. i'll be posting more progress when i make it. any advice feedback or experience is appreciated! -Aaron

It was kinda funny tho lol

Once again, I appreciate anyone who takes the time to type a few words that may help or teach me. @J, I was pretty much thinking of doing that, because I wanted to build a relationship with a contractor for future business, i didn't want to appear to be misleading, and I just figured it was fair to compensate someone for their time. Just seemed like most ppl weren't paying for it. I have told most of the contractors that I've contacted that I just need an estimate, and would be willing to pay them for their expertise. One guy quoted me about 100 an hour. That seemed reasonable, provided the estimate doesnt take over an hour lol. @Ann, Thanks for the advice! I plan to be as observant as I can because i obviously have an interest in learning repair estimates for myself. I wanted to be proactive and not let my fear of failure stop me from moving forward in this process, but I am VERY much learning as I go along. This seems to be a great place to ask questions though. Once again, I appreciate all of your input.

Thank you both for your replies. I am attempting to put together my first wholesale deal. I have several distressed properties that I am looking at, one in particular which I have contacted the owner and scheduled to meet at the property. Once I have an accurate repair estimate, I plan to make an offer of about 60% of the arv minus repairs. I Plan to talyor my contract to be assignable and contingent upon financing. There are also a lot of buyers advertising in my area. I attended the Russ Whitney 3 day workshop some years back, so I have a bit of education on the subject, but this is my first time making a real attempt at any sort of deal. Any help towards the success of my first deal is greatly appreciated. Thanks again!

what is the best way to obtain an accurate repair estimate on a house using the least amount of cash?