All Forum Posts by: Millie H.

Hi @Manish Sharma,

I know the offer process can be discouraging at times. The national average is 1 in 25 are accepted and that doesn't mean that it's necessarily a deal. 

We currently have an off market flip available and can refer a list of team members out. We also have turn keys properties come available quite often. Let me know if you are interested and I can get the details for you. 

I would NEVER recommend overpaying for a property just to get a deal done. If the numbers don't work it simply just isn't a deal.

Listening to Bruce Speak has been insightful. I bet his speech on the CA market is a great one! Looking forward to attending the event in April. Thanks @Christina Suter for the post. 

Thanks @Nathan Platter

Hi @Pavan Sandhu, 

I'll email you details now. 

Hi @Ricardo Cristobal, 

Yes, completely possible! We have a wholesale deal in Los Angeles right now that has some pretty good profit margins. We just like getting higher returns and diversifying our funds over several properties is really the main reason we invest in the midwest. Because we do volume and a combination of fix and flips and wholesales it ends up being very profitable for us. 

I think you are going to get different answers on what to do from each investor but it really comes down to what you want to do. Every investor prefers to operate in a different manner and it really comes down to tolerance level, skill set, and just place in life at that time. You can be successful in any market if you believe in yourself, have unwavering determination, and always be educating yourself. 

An example of one of our checks and balances would be that we pay our agents to take pictures during the rehab when we flip. Typically the agent gets paid a few times when they work with us because of our bonus. We want our list agent to be vested in the property. We have them check out the property on Monday and Fridays to take pictures and/or to Facetime us as we look at the property. We pay them 2-5k as a kicker to do this. They are one of our "reporters" if the contractor is doing the job correctly. The agent also wants the property to be in good shape for when they relist. 

Hi @Ricardo Cristobal,

My husband and I invest both in the Midwest and California. They are completely different markets and to be transparent we do almost all of our investing in the Midwest even though we live in California. Our model is mostly fix and flips along with wholesaling so this response really relates to those strategies. As far as buying and holding, we have done some but I can't foresee us doing any in California. Returns just simply aren't there, they aren't even close.

The California market is upside down and I have seen some very scandalous things done. Everyone is desperate to get a deal (agents, wholesalers, Investors, Contractors, Property Managers) and will do just about anything to make it happen. Business can most certainly be conducted here in California it's just at a different pace than the Midwest and you really need to know what you are doing and watch your back. It truly takes big pockets and the ability to move fast. With the right team in place this is possible. Returns are the next issue. We just picked up a property that will be a wholesale, (we aren't flipping CA right now) that has a whopping 15% - 18% return. That's big for California...and bad for the Midwest! Most California investors are happy with 8% - 10% returns.

The Midwest has much better returns and stable of a market. Take Indianapolis, Indiana for example, where 20% - 30% profit margins are the norm. Even when we wholesale the end buyer is meeting those returns.

I agree with @James Wise that you must cover all of your bases when investing in a property that you cannot physically see. We get third parties to check out our Midwest properties when we get them under contract. In the event that we have any question on them we wholesale them to a local investor that does have the ability to check the properties out themselves and complete their due diligence to an acceptable level. Sometimes we wholesale just because the timing isn't right for us but that is neither here or there. 

If you invest out of state and are doing anything other than a wholesale I can't stress enough how important it is to have checks and balances. We get a least three qualified people to verify everything. I would highly recommend going into out of state investing knowing that you are going to pay more for the solid system that will keep you safe. We pay a ton out in bonuses for our people to bring things to our attention and be invested in the success of our properties. We are told all of the time how we could cut cost here or there and they are right to a certain extent. We could do it a lot cheaper but our system would fall apart. Pay people well and trust but verify (multiple times) and you should be good.

We currently have a LA fixer available for wholesale. We just got this property under contract and have noticed good and bad. 

The good is that the property has some strong comps and is in a sought after area of Echo Park. Also, the property has a detached garage in the back of the house that could be a good ADU (Additional Dwelling Unit). It is also a strong asset if used as just a garage. The neighbors bought their property a little over a year ago in similar condition and put 80k into it and now it's appraised at 1.2 (they are thinking of listing). Of course if you go back into the hills the properties are being sold for much more but the comps are what they are.

Now for the bad, the street is up against the freeway. Thankfully, there is a very high brick wall and the freeway is not visible at all from the property. We have gotten some traction and feel pretty good about it as it has some huge potential and the ability to be about a 15% return which is acceptable by most investors we've encountered in LA. On street parking is also good for the area because there are not houses on the other side of the street because of the freeway. 

I would like to hear from investors out there that have dealt with a property like this before. We typically work in the midwest and would avoid properties like this but LA is definitely a different market. I have some buyers that don't seem to care about the property being close to the freeway that we will be showing the property to this weekend. 

I have video if anyone wants to see it. You can't tell there is a freeway but you can see the wall across the street. 

Hi @Alan Kahanu,

My husband and I flip and wholesale properties remotely in Indianapolis. We found the best way to find a contractor is to vet them on their experiences working with investors. I always ask if they are willing to sign a mechanics lien and make sure they "never get ahead" of me. 

If the contractor passes the initial vetting I will have him do a bid on a property I have under contract and compare his numbers and ideas to information I have already received on the property. 

For example, we currently have a property available for wholesale in Fountain Square. We just got it under contract and have opened it up for viewings. I have had several investors and my agent give me feedback and the next step is to get my contractor in there. I will be able to tell pretty quickly if things are lining up. 

Let me know if ever you need help finding a property. We have the Fountain Square one available now but will typically have 3 or more at any given time. We always strive to get our investors video, photos, bids etc..... we understand the challenges of being out of state. 

Hopefully that helps!

@Malik McQuaige

Welcome to the site!

Hi @Rick Pozos, @Andrew Johnson, @Russell Gronsky, @Steve Vaughan, @Fred Heller, & @Matt Shope, 

We make our offers both with agents and on our own. We have found it important to be very straight forward with agents when making a ton of offers that this is a numbers game and that having a solid system is everything. Our agents create templates so we can simply change the property address and offer amount for each. We know that our of X properties, X will be accepted. We don't want to work with an agent that is going to give up after the first couple of offers. 

We give our agents bonuses. For example, if the accepted contract turns into a fix and flip, the agents earns the buyers commission, a 2-5k kicker for taking pictures through the rehab, and has the relist. If the property turns out to be a wholesale, we pay a 10% kicker of the wholesale fee directly to the agent by check. We have agents that earn 6 figures a year just from the wholesale bonus. It has to be a win-win-win for everyone so as long as everyone is incentivized and on the same page it all works out. 

We work in several different markets and found it easier to recruit agents in markets like the Midwest rather than the West Coast. We currently have properties available in Indianapolis, Atlanta, and Fort Worth that agents are happy to work with us on. We will be wholesaling about 70% of the properties that we currently have available.