All Forum Posts by: Michael Carbonare

To add to what Nicholas wrote, wholesaling is hyper-competitive.  I have an investor friend who is a very successful wholesaler in a market, (south FL), that is crawling with wholesalers.  Over lunch, I asked him how he stands out in such a crowded field.  He casually told me he sends out 10,000 pieces of mail every month. . .ten thousand!  He has a staff of 3 or 4 assistants to handle the details, and his break even every month is $30K.  Wholesaling is not the walk in the park that the IG and TikTok billionaires claim.  Definitely not for the faint of heart.  There are easier strategies to start your new venture.

Hi, Paige.  Lease options, and there are a variety of types of lease options, can be a good starting strategy for many aspiring investors.  I'd be happy to answer your questions and offer some advice.  DM me with some details about what you are trying to do and we can talk.

@Joe S.  Protecting yourself in a sandwich lease isn't usually a problem.  Strong agreements that protect your position in the deal, and recording a Memorandum of Option with the county will go a long way to protecting your interest.  Does this guarantee that a seller wont give in to greed and try to get out of your agreement?  Nothing can guarantee that.
Looking back over 30 years and hundreds of deals I can recall only two occasions when a greedy homeowner tried to bail on our deal.  In both cases I settled with the homeowner to avoid aggravation, lost time, and expensive lawyers. I made a few thousand less than expected but I figure that's just the cost of doing business sometimes.
Based on my experience I wouldn't let the remote possibility that a homeowner might go into greed mode dissuade you from doing these deals.

@Shawn Ackerman  You're preaching to the choir.  I started with lease option assignments 30 years ago and still working these deals today.  Low risk, low cash requirement, great flexibility to offer sellers to get the deal done.  I'm a fan.  I'm surprised more aspiring investors don't turn to this strategy to begin their real estate careers.  Doesn't have the sex appeal of wholesaling, I guess. LOL

Most people think real estate investing requires huge capital, perfect credit, or bank loans—but that’s not always true. Creative strategies like lease options allow investors to control properties without owning them upfront.
Here’s why lease options are a game-changer:
🔹 Low Risk, High Leverage – Instead of buying a property outright, you lease it with the option to purchase later. This gives you control without needing a large down payment or a mortgage.
🔹 Profit Multiple Ways – You can rent the property for cash flow, sell the option at a profit, or buy it later at a pre-agreed price (often below market value).
🔹 Great for Sellers & Investors – Motivated sellers can turn a vacant or hard-to-sell property into income while investors secure future deals without a huge upfront commitment.
🔹 Ideal in Any Market – Whether home prices are rising or falling, lease options allow you to lock in today’s price while benefiting from future appreciation.

Other creative strategies—like seller financing, subject-to deals, and the BRRRR method—can also open doors, but lease options remain one of the most powerful, low-risk, minimal cash out-of-pocket ways to build a portfolio.

Is there a question?  What strategies were you considering?  What's your experience level at this time?  Where are you located?

1) If you continue waiting for the "right time ”, you’ll always be waiting.
2) Your current job doesn't care about you. You only get paid enough to continue.
3) You don't need a dozen self-help books, all you need is action and self-discipline.
4) YouTube University, podcasts, and the internet will only take you so far.
5) Book smarts make interesting conversation, street smarts make money.
6) Find someone who is successful doing what you want to be doing and ask questions.

Hi, Abigail.  Years ago I needed cash to get started.  Another investor told me about assignments, specifically cooperative assignments.  They proved to be a low risk, low cash requirement to get some traction.  The assignment fees then enabled me to roll into other strategies, buy and hold, fix and flip.  

In recent weeks I have received quite a few requests for information about how best to get started in real estate. And while the general consensus these days is wholesaling, I must disagree. Yeah, good luck buying houses for .35 on the dollar. Instead, I started 30 years ago learning and using lease options to get my first deals done. Far and away easier than wholesaling, lease options are the best strategy for the new investor. Done correctly, they are risk free, with minimal out-of-pocket cash required. With some specialized knowledge you can control real estate long term if you want, as well as flip and assign lease options, and you can even wholesale them! And if you're open to doing deals virtually, a must in today's real estate business, lease option assignments are the perfect strategy. This opens up the entire US housing market to you, regardless of your location.
I frequently post examples of deals on my LinkedIn page. Here are a few:
https://shorturl.at/6Hl10 https://shorturl.at/v0YVF https://shorturl.at/wwGOh https://shorturl.at/0vuBC https://shorturl.at/ABOyh
I offer one-on-one personalized lease options investment training which you can read about here. If you are serious, if you're ready to stop studying and start doing, I'm happy to help. Feel free to reply and we can schedule a call.
Book smarts make dinner conversation; street smarts make money.

Back when I first had the idea of real estate investing, creative financing was my only option, seeing as I had little capital on hand and even less of a chance that any lender would talk to me.  So I started with cooperative assignments, which enabled me to raise much needed cash and then branch into other strategies, buy and hold, fix and flip.  I'm still a big fan of this strategy and use it today.  Here's one deal: https://shorturl.at/6Hl10