All Forum Posts by: Riley Gilson

@John Thedford I don't think anyone has any doubts on how you feel about wholesaling. I am confused as to why you spend so much time on this particular forum category.

Anyways, I don't think your comment in any way helps or contributes to the question at hand from @Anthony Williams .

Anthony, to my knowledge the owner is still in charge. As long as he is receiving enough to pay the mortgage, there shouldn't be an issue. The checks will be managed at closing. Seems tight though.

I really don't understand why everyone is so offended by wholesalers. Working on the financing side of the industry, I don't know how many times I have met w/ a "Licensed Agent" who has absolutely no professional value. A VA from overseas could contribute more from an administrative side then they do.

It is so easy for anyone to get a Real License that we now have all these "Agents' who are fed leads by a broker and essentially just communicate basic information back and forth. (I realize there are some that aren't this useless, I'm just running with a more @John Thedford generalizing the industry argument). We then pay this person 3% of our sale price, for essentially doing MAYBE a couple hundred dollars worth of Virtual Assistant work. Because they took a class and got a fancy license. 

If wholesalers do anything unethical they do have something to lose, money and fines. Which if gone unpaid lead to other issues. And yes, as with many industries, 80% or more of wholesalers don't do a lot for investors. 

Honestly though, I see half of John's arguments against wholesalers also applying to realtors. Makes no sense to me why we really believe the agent representing the buyer has any interest in actually getting a price lowered. Their commission is based off a higher purchase price...

If anything, maybe the general negativity with wholesalers is associated with the fact that they represent buyers more than sellers. Then again though, its more of a market or situation choice for the seller who they want to work with.

Disclosure: I'm not a wholesaler, I just don't understand the argument or why people are so passionate about SOMEONE ELSE's business model.

I see the general consensus is to not use it for valuation purposes. But, has anyone tried or found deals on it by filtering its data? 

Or maybe even through their API?

Wholesaling can be just as automated, or more, than other forms of investing. A wholesaler is more of a marketer w/ strong high level analysis skills.

Anything can be a job, if you don't find a way to remove yourself from it. So unless you are a buy/hold who has a management company do 100% of the work, you are to some degree fulfilling a "job" role. (not trying to create a debate over the definition) This would include flipping, albeit to a greater extent.

Wholesaling also (unless you have a realtors license and a very idealistic view on your industry) decreases risk (in my opinion) when compared to flipping or even buy/hold. Yes the margin is lower, but moot point if you get hit w/ a lawsuit, major repair, or lack of a renter and your on the hook. (yes I realize you still have equity)

If you know your stuff, the process of a wholesaler should become more and more streamlined than other forms of investment. (Naturally a noobie will find it far from that, as with anything)

Note: This is also assuming a fairly liberal view on what the wholesaler participates in. But really, it is all about minimizing acquisition costs. Also, I feel like this role is better suited to a particular group of people who - in my humble opinion - don't fit the persona or maybe demographic as the typical investor I have personally met in the industry. Perhaps that is why there is a lot of negative feedback on the subject.

Do any hard money lenders on here invest outside of the scope of real estate? As in other startup companies or traditional businesses?

I wouldn't spend a ton of time on it, but I'd definitely set one up.  It can be a simple one pager with a contact form or something to that effect. The expense of this shouldn't be that burdensome and one deal will pay for several years worth. As far as URL, avoid the underscore, it isn't natural for people to type in.

Note that even if people won't necessarily source you through the site, they will research you through the site. It can provide a passive level of credibility. Moving forward you can "blog" or post about your recent flips to build SEO rank and additional credibility after you have done some deals. Pro Tip: don't start posting those updates until you have several done or built up in reserve to keep it consistent.

Long story short: If you are going to do the website, just be consistent with it. No website is better than a poorly maintained or out of date one. Aaaannd avoid "_"'s in your domain.

I'm completely new to investing and simply looking for some general feedback. I don't necessarily plan to start here.

Found that the Sheriff sale in my area has quite a few listings on it, many of which aren't anything note worthy. However, there are a few that could be great deals assuming the bidding doesn't get to high. The bidding is already set at about 60% of value on most to start.

Has anyone here on BP had success with attending these in person or online? (I know some are done electronically) I feel like the bidding could quickly negate a lot of the benefits when combined with the inherit risks of real estate lending.

From having worked at a bank, this is an oversight that will eventually be rectified. Once the bank realizes that they no longer have a lien position on the property, they will close the HELOC.

If you were to borrow money from it, once they realize their error they would ask that you pay it in full immediately. They would also probably be very quick to hit your credit bureau (since they lost recourse rights) as measure to give you incentive to pay it quickly.

This isn't a scenario that is supposed to happen.... but never-the-less still occurs. Generally speaking, the bank you refinanced with probably did a poor job at sending them the payoff. They are supposed to have you sign stating your intent to close it.

Also, while HELOCs are very useful from a flexibility standpoint (and lowering your monthly obligation when necessary), they are not good long term solutions as they are always a variable rate. If it is a property you intend to hold, you want to lock it in at a 30yr rate. The Fed was already talking about raising rates again next month, so MTG rates have already started moving upwards (and have been for some time).

If you are talking about basically just a process for yourself to follow or "flush out" in thought, I recommend some form of mind mapping software.

Mind Meister can do this fairly well, and it is more visual. https://www.mindmeister.com/

Although recently I've found a less pretty, but more effective way through using Trello. Trello allows me to define the process with the columns across the top, and actually create "cards" when I have something in process to move it along in stages. Regardless of how small, sometimes it just feels good to keep things moving through the visual. Would recommend making separate "Boards" for different scenarios.  https://trello.com/

@Christian Carson

So I literally just spent my entire day (in between other things) absorbing a lot and reading this thread in full.

If I'm reading your final post on this, are implying that simply putting the property in a land contract and then going about selling it would circumvent this whole topic? Or am I reading it incorrectly?