All Forum Posts by: Mike Sumsky

Two ways this might work: Buy the property in an LLC, then just sell ownership in the LLC for your fee (I think you alluded to this in your post). Or, have your wholesale buyer fund your purchase, give them a note and mortgage, as well as a signed deed that can be held in escrow until the work is finished (for their security). When work is done, you can proceed to the 2nd closing. Just thinking out loud here.

New light fixtures, door knobs and trim package are relatively inexpensive and really sharpen up the property, especially if the house is older and prior owners/tenants have done a lot of messy painting without being too careful.

Chris had a great reply. I'll add that you can also send a letter to the property address and add "Address Service Requested" to the front of the envelope. That way, if the owner has a forwarding address, you will be notified. Also, knock on some of the neighbors doors to see what they know about the house and the owner. Good luck!!

Yep, I'm new here but loving what I see. Looking forward to networking and learning from you guys, and hopefully sharing a few things I've learned as well.

Hi Kevin,

The best advice that I can give is to find a successful local investor and offer to help them out in any way you can in exchange for learning. Nothing will help you learn this business like getting out there and taking action. Offer to send deals their way, or be willing to give them a cut of any deals that you put together as compensation for showing you the ropes. Don't get caught in the education trap or shiny object syndrome. Find an investing strategy that you like and focus on it. Oh yeah, and become an expert at marketing for motivated sellers. That's where the great deals will come.

Good luck!

Mike

As others have mentioned, hard money is a good tool to have, but I think it's always a good idea to have multiple exit strategies, and paying such a high interest rate makes it difficult to carry a property if you're unable to sell within 6 months or so. I don't think there has ever been a better time to start finding good private lenders at 5-8% interest, and long term loans. With CD rates near 1%, and the stock market as shaky as it is, there are a lot of folks who are looking for a better place to put their money.

Great question Jon, hopefully I can bring some insight as I was at the seminar. Also, I will add that I've been full-time in this business for nearly 8 years, so have attended countless trainings, free evenings, pitch fests, boot camps etc. etc. I know how the 'machine' can work, with free or low cost evenings to hook you, just giving you enough to get excited, but to be endlessly upsold with the goal of keeping one more shiny object just out of reach, accessible only by opening your wallet even more to get access.

On the other hand, there are others who take the course of providing tons of value right from the get-go. They make their money (and rightfully so) by giving away the entire business model from soup to nuts, allowing you to be successful and trusting that you'll come back for more as you work to take your business to the next level.

I put Joe McCall into this second category. While I've been flipping lease options for 3-4 years, it was only last year that I found Joe. Never knew someone taught this strategy that I kind of fell into by accident, and one quick suggestion from the free videos I found online (and his podcast) instantly doubled my average transaction wholesale fee. Score! It made my decision to join his WLO Academy a snap, and that gave me a much clearer picture of this entire business (and much better paperwork as well).

My next goal was to get my marketing on autopilot, Joe and his partner Gil Palencia helped with that, almost too well because now my challenge is that I have more leads than I can handle just by myself. I can't grow my business without outsourcing and automating, so THAT is specifically why I came to this event. Joe is a master at putting this business on autopilot, so I took good notes when they covered hiring and training VA's to take seller calls, and working with real estate agents to help sell your properties.

I will also add that learning from Todd Toback and Sean Terry was equally as inspiring. They, like Joe, have a servant heart (and excellent podcasts as well), are extremely creative and also successfully work this business, instead of just teach it. Great guys who I will continue to follow.

I know you were wondering what we've done since the seminar. Well, I've already started interviewing VA's after putting ads on oDesk, and I locked up a deal yesterday that will be worth about 6x the total cost of the trip (and it's a relatively small deal too). Hopefully I'll see you at the next one, and if you have any other questions, feel free to message me.