All Forum Posts by: Manuel Mata

I found a property whose owner passed away without a will and left the property to her children. The person I have been dealing with has finally agreed to a price that his siblings have agreed and are willing to go ahead and sell the house. My question is do all the children have to sign the TREC(Texas) contract?

After doing some research I am leaning towards getting my real estate license. I do however have some questions concerning commissions. Is 6% the maximum I can charge when selling a house? For example, If I find a seller willing to sell at 40K, but I find a buyer at 50K. Is 6%(3K) all I can make on that particular deal? Can I charge the seller a higher fee?
I understand that I could make more in that particular deal if I would wholesale and then assign the contract. But I am weighing my options before I begin the courses for the RE license.

I am new to the real estate investing world. For the past month I have "driven for dollars" one day out of the week and have had some success finding abandoned properties and their owners. My approach with them is simple, I tell them I passed by their house and ask if they are interested in doing something with their house.
I also have come across a list of owners who are behind on their property taxes. My question is, how do you guys approach these owners? Do call them and be straightforward and say you saw that they are behind on property taxes and are they interested in selling? Do I send a mailing before making a phone call? What is the best way to open a conversation with these owners?
Thanks,

@Ben, thanks for the advice. Sure it cost a little gas. I suspect I spent about $30 of gas gathering the 60 or so addresses. I went out this past weekend and gathered another 25 addresses spending $20 of gas. I am not sure how long gas I can get these results, but I will keep an eye out on mileage/gas costs. At this point I am spending less than a dollar a lead(give or take the wear and tear on my car). However, I found that my county's website has a list available of people who owe back taxes for free. I can do a search for a particular zip code and bring back a list of everyone who behind taxes from a few dollars to thousands of dollars. It does take time to sort through all the names and addresses, but it is free.
Jeff, thanks for the suggestions. But I have a full time job, and wholesaling is supposed to be the "second full-time job". At this point the only other option of a second job would be working retail at $8 an hour. I just don't see that as the best use of my time. I am not opposed to work as a realtor. The more I delve into real estate, the more I lean into become licensed with in a few months.
I call on FSBO/For Lease to get an idea of what they think their house is worth, perhaps get an idea of values in that area. Also it might be an opportunity to find a buyer.
Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks Corey! I have worked in sales before and I am used to the "no's." I eventually would like to build up my skill set to be able to overcome rebuttals. But in due time.
My goal is to collect 35-40 addresses every week by driving for dollars. With a total monthly goal of at least gathering 150 addresses per month. Is this a manageable number for a rookie?

I am extremely fortunate to have found this site. I have been reading different topics and blogs on BP since last week, and there is great deal of information that will be extremely helpful as I begin investing/wholesaling.
Like most beginners, I want to begin with wholesaling real estate. I have a goal of buying another rental property or property to re-sale by mid-year. I began "driving for dollars" last week and collected about 60+ addresses of FSBO/For Lease, vacant/abandoned properties in specific Houston neighborhoods. I hope to contact them this weekend by phone and possibly send a simple post card. I also began building a buyers list the ideas I found here in BP.
I plan on posting my results on how I am progressing to have some feedback/critique. I also hope to network with with BP members from the Houston area(or work the Houston area). I look forward to learning more from the BP community,
M.M.