All Forum Posts by: Remy Balogun

@Corey Demuth, thanks for that insight, I can understand why a home owner would flip at being kept in the dark on certain aspect of the transaction.  I will definitely keep this at the back of my mind.  Great insight!. Thanks.

@Brandon Kargol,  to answer your specific questions:

Whats your reason for choosing real estate?

I am already a buy and hold investor, and have been managing my business for several years.  I recently stopped working now looking to learn about other areas of Real Estate to generate the extra income rather than dipping into my rental cash flow.  Wholesale appears to be the least complicated area by far.

What's your short and long term financial goals?

Short term : diversify into Wholesaling to help mitigate my lost income and also provide more flexibility with my time 

Long Term:  Continue building wealth and cash flow by gradually increasing our rentals properties with clear titles and using leverage where possible.

Are you looking to run a business (wholesaling) or are you looking for more a a risidual income from rentals?

I am already running a rental business; we buy foreclosures or distressed properties in class B or C areas, fix them up for rental and then re-finance to cash out and then do it all over again.  So far, I have re-invested 100% back into the business because I had my primary source of income.   Going foward however, depending on my successes with wholesale, it may well be another of focus for my company

I hope these answer your questions.

Thanks again for asking.

Congratulations Arary!  Great Job!

Thank you @ Sharad M. my questions were broad probably because I am still so green at this and don't even know where to begin.

My concept of wholesale at this point is that you find good deals, place them on contract and then flip them to other investors without actually taking ownership of the properties.  Of course their are some marketing activities in between.  I may be over-thinking this, but I just assumed that you have to have some type of base before you jumping out there looking for deals.  Again, just trying to learn from what others have done in the past and the how to's.

@Brand Kargol, thank you for the insights, this is the kind of information that I was looking for.  It will be helpful in determining if this is a viable niche for me. Thanks again!

I attended local networking event on Wholesale 101 last night. A very good networking event in my opinion, the presenters appear to be very knowledgeable and all on top of their games. They offered great ideas and tips on how to get started on Wholesaling, i.e. Where to find deals; buy cheap, focus on the buyers, the importance of marketing etc...  etc...... 

The event was very informative and the presenters made the Wholesaling process appear very easy, probably to get everyone motivated.

The problem for me however, is that while I do get the concept, there is still a disconnect between what I think I know and what it takes to do a deal.  Even after this “Anatomy of Wholesale” event, the process still feels like brain surgery, I am not just connecting the dots.   My gut tells me that we have not even began to scratch the surface in this two hour session let alone be ready for deals, yet that is how most of these guys presumably got started.  I suspect that some of the other attendees in the room felt the same way as I did but just wouldn't say because ta presenter mentioned a couple times in the presentation that one can actually start putting a deal together right away and was even willing to add people to his  list.

Of course, I am still going to do more research, however I’d like to start with the best brains in the business.

My questions to all of you veterans in the business are as follows::

Is wholesaling as easy as it seems?

What does it really takes to start?

How was your experience getting started? What would you have done differently and;

What are the critical success factors or pitfalls in wholesaling?

Thank you for sharing.

As a new investor, I would also want to lower my risk until I learn the ropes of the business.  The rental business has it own ups an downs.  Tenants are Tenants, regardless of what type of property you buy.  

You may still get your desired rent but If they do not take care of things, you will still have to do repairs.  New construction does not 100% mean that the house will be in great shape.  Also, when the tenant does not pay and you are heavily leveraged on the investment, it may put you in a bad situation.  

I would advise that you do a little more research  and do your calculations upfront, even then you should still expect some surprises along the way.

Wishing you much luck as you come to the right investment decision.

I do keep some small heaters and window fans for these these type of emergencies too.  and I also push to get the furnace or A/C replaced within 24 to 48 hours, even if means getting someone outside our regular contractors to do the work.

One thing that I have noticed is that when these things break on the coldest or hottest days, the tenants tend to be more understanding when  a landlord has promptly taken care of repairs in the past and if they know that the landlord is doing all they can to get their furnace or or AC working as soon as possible.

I just watched @Al Neal's video.  Thanks for sharing.  What a true eye opener. It is like driving though a ghost town.  I know about Detroit but have not followed it so closely.

Wow'!  This is symptomatic of a much bigger issue.  Where is the local government? What programs are there to stimulate the population growth?

 These houses may be cheap however without jobs and property economic infusion both by the government and other private entities, there will be no one buying or renting.  

For investors looking quickly turn profits on their investment, I would advise that they turn away.  

On the flip side, it is such a shame to see  a community with potential to thrive looking like that.

Refusing to have kids at showing.....you may be hovering around the gray area and someone may potentially accuse of your of discrimination and you definitely do not want to lend yourself to such exposure.

I prefer to have the kids as showings as it gives me the opportunity to watch the interaction between the parents and the kids.  For instance, if the children are running around, touching things and the parent did not do much to stop them, I will see that as a red flag.  

Also if the prospective tenant's child has a special need that your rental cannot accommodate, you will know upfront rather than signing a lease only to receive a call from a caseworker asking you to build a $1,500 ramp or the family cannot move in because your rental will not pass.  In the meantime, you may have lost your second best prospect.

In my opinion, there is a different mindset between the tenants renting SFH and those renting apartments. My leases mandate the tenants in SFHs do their yard work, I usually advise them upfront before renting to them that the property is residence, their homes and they are expected to take pride in them. Most of them do, however I have had a situation when one house was ticketed by city for tall grass. the tenant's excuse was that her lawnmower broke so I paid someone to do the yard work and paid the City's fine and then send her an invoice to pay me back within 10 days and she did. She also received a letter reminding her of that obligation relating to her lease agreement.

Landlords, if you can, drive by your properties as much as possible.  Whenever I am in a neighborhood where I have a rental, I make it a point to drive up that street just to see what is going on.

I agree with everyone, just stay the course.  Unfortunately, these things happen sometimes.  Just make sure you stay in contract with them at all times. 

 Don't be surprised if you find yourself pushing the closing date and the bank is not ready.  In that case,  ask your attorney to request that the bank submit an "Amendment to purchase and sale agreement - Change in closing date" for your signature. This agreement mutually allow you and the bank to agree to a change in closing date without recourse to you.   

Good luck!