All Forum Posts by: Ramsin Jacob

@Dave G. Yup exactly!

@Blair Poelman Yup!!

@Bob Floss II Exactly! Majority have no clue!

@Shane Boyd Most of them don’t have the knowledge nor experience with business/investments in general. Also a lot of them do not have the work ethic/mindset to tackle this aspect of RE and be successful. It’s not for everyone. I for one dove right into it, and have almost completely moved away from the traditional RE transactions. I just established an LLC in Nevada & California, beginning to do flips for myself now. I have a bunb of investors that I bring deals to. Currently have 4 properties in rehab which I purchased as a buyer’s agent and they will soon be ready for me to list on the market for top dollar. Each property is with a different client. Im getting ready to close my 6th deal in the last 10 months, in the Bay Area. Which is the tuffest market in the country. Most agents can’t even get 1 deal a year out here!

@Jay Hinrichs Thats a very low fee for that size of a deal. That wouldn’t fly in the Bay Area.

@Chris C. - Do not sell if you plan to return.  As many mentioned here, you will have difficulty coming back to the Bay Area market if your sold your only property.  Use it to your advantage and get some more doors.  Best of luck!   

@Matt A. - Sounds good!  Sent you a connect request.  Please send me your email address.  Thanks Matt. 

The wholesaling business has been around but thanks to social media, we have individuals who are selling “the dream”.A friend of mine down in LA went to one of those seminars with those pitches everyone on this thread speaks of.Believe it or not, people were paying $50k for their “training”! The same friend called me, I spent two hours talking most of the time and answering his questions.After that phone conversation, he said that everything I spoke about, is what those guys were teasing them with.  My mom attended one of those seminars here in San Jose and the people there were selling their own "dream" for a few thousand as well.  

None of those will make you successful. It's all about the time you put in to learn and the experiences you gain. I've learned so much from my experiences as a Realtor, working directly with my investing clients, grinding everyday to find them solid off-market deals for fix/flips & buy/holds. Now I am entering the business as an investor, I have my LLC in Nevada & California, with my first fix/flip property lined up.

Personally, I stay clear from wholesalers, why?  For one, their lack of knowledge, two, their lack of general business skills and lastly because most of them I do not trust.  Too many newbies are jumping in on this now, it is definitely a phase.  

Side note example: I have been running a clothing company for the past decade, and I can tell you that there was a few solid years between 2012-2016 where so many newbies came from no where thinking they can start a clothing company just by sticking some basic font on a T-shirt, without understanding any logistics of production, design, distribution, etc.  

Same thing is happening now to the wholesale business of Real Estate.  Newbies thinking the same way, that it is easy to do.  It'll pass soon, majority will realize how difficult the grind is to find good deals, especially when you are in an area like the Bay Area, CA, where I live and the inventory is low.  

@Matt A. @Jennifer Petrillo  Great advice overall.  Just wanted to comment regarding the thought about "Not listening to Realtors".  Yes, most of them have no clue about how investments work, I've spoken to many.  But not all.  Just wanted to back up the few like myself who understand how these flips/investments work.  I personally want to find my clients the best deal.  

Currently in contract on a property, which I was able to negotiate a counter offer of $105k below original contract offer, a fixer property in the booming downtown SJ.  

Down the street from that property, a few months ago, I closed on another in which a wholesaler was claiming to have the property under contract (my instincts told me he was lying and they were correct, he had nothing) He wanted $690k total for the assignment.  The property was going up for auction, his plan was to have the $690k assignment contract in his back pocket, hope to bid for a lower price at the auction and possibly try to do some sort of double close.  (Because technically, you cannot assign a contract from auction.  It has to be all cash and it cannot be purchased through an entity.) The property ARV is $1m conservatively.  It was his terrible luck that he came across me because I did my due diligence & was able to purchase the property from the bank, who owned the property, for my client, at $562k.  Saved my client just about $130k from what he would have paid that scammy wholesaler.  Im very proud of that sale.  

As I mentioned, there are a few of us who are very rare businessmen/women.  Just because we have a Realtor's license, doesn't automatically mean that individual is unknowledgeable about this business.  Need to have the conversation with people, everyone deserves a chance, you never know you might find a solid person to work with.  If they may not be knowledgeable, perhaps they are looking for that hands-on experience to improve.  I know for myself that is how I learned and am continuing to learn, through my real life experiences with my clients and spending time studying/reading as much as I can.  My goal is to find my investing clients great deals, so they make money, I make money, they are happy and we continue to have a successful, trustworthy relationship for many years.  Im working 24/7. 

Oh wow that is brutal!  Yes, as everyone mentioned here, it's costly to build on vacant land in more ways that just monetary.  Off-market deals are the way to go.  MLS sellers want top dollar even if their property is not up to par.  

Originally posted by @Jo-Ann Lapin:

Building is so expensive . If you can build enough units to cover the time trouble and cost that is key. Client of mine just spent 80,000 just in permits for a 2100 sf foot home in OC! Yikes.