All Forum Posts by: Ryan Blackstone

I would believe so, but it is always good to check the local laws. The big thing is always focus on protecting the public, disclose, and take care of people.

@Brandon Stiles You don't always need to make cash offers. It really depends on what problem you are solving for buyers. If they are getting foreclosed on, then you probably need cash. If the seller has more time like a month, then you don't need cash. FYI Hard money lenders can get you the cash fast if it is a good enough deal. 

Hey @Brandon Stiles. Running comps is more of an art form than it is a science. This is what my team does really well, and many investors rely on the accuracy of numbers to help them make decisions when looking to purchase. Below are some of our "rules of thumb" when running comps, but the crazier the deal the harder it is to comp. For example, my brother and I are flipping a log cabin in Tontitown right now. All the comps around it are very nice fancy homes. I wanted to see the desirability of a log cabin in NWA, so I just looked for log cabins in a 10 mile radius to see what they were selling for, and purchased the property off of that number instead of traditional built homes that were in the surrounding area. 

Rules of thumb.
1. Location is most important. Try to stay in the neighborhood. If not a neighborhood then don't go further than 3 miles out.

2. Size/bed and bath: make sure you are no more than 20% different in size or bed and bath being the same count.

3. Age: my different cut offs are 1978, 1999, 2007, 2018

@Brandon Stiles We should talk, but I would say take action now. You will figure it out and there are plenty of investors in our market making deals now. Honestly, I am loving VA, FHA, and RD loans because they are fully assumable. Which means you can get rates as low as 2.7% with a VA loan even though you aren't a veteran. That's pretty crazy right?!?! My buddy Just closed on one this month in Gentry just like that! My second piece of advise is get with an agent or broker that really knows the numbers and can think creatively to be able to help guide you on the numbers. Rent rates in this area will and have to continue to go up.

Hey @Brandon Stiles. The answer to your question is that you cant. You can't make retail prices make sense with the going rent rates in Northwest Arkansas. Which you already know this. The answer to finding deals that do cashflow are as follows. I pulled this from Henry Washington who flips in NWA. 

First base deal: You find on market but you have to get creatively financially or physically with the property. Lots of value add. 

Second base deal: You buy a deal that is off market that an agent/broker brought you.

Third base deal: You buy a deal off a of wholesaler

Home run deal: you buy a deal from your own efforts of finding a deal off market. 

The less people involved between you and the seller, the better the deal. Likewise, the better the deal typically means the more effort on the front end you have to put in to make it work. This list isn't a hard fast rule, but just typically what you will see. 

Overall, we have a little "bp meetup" tonight and you should come. 6-8pm at Mexico Viejo in Fayetteville. I will be there and I am pretty sure Henry Washington will be as well. 

Join us for our monthly investors meeting on December 13, 2023!

Go ahead and mark your calendars for this event, and remember that we will continue to meet on the 2nd Wednesday of each month moving forward. Come learn, share, and network with other local investors in a fun and relaxed environment!

Also there is a new thing called "novation" and I am not an expert on this and can't comment on it. I have seen this, and unfortunately it was done poorly. It is interesting, but I can't comment on this strategy. For me, being an agent makes it so much easier, because all we can do is disclose disclose disclose. 

Hey, there is a lot of confusion around this, and first off I am not an attorney. Seek legal advice, however, what I understand is that there are really two way to wholesale that is legal in the state of Arkansas. However, as an agent in all of this you need to disclose on the front end that you are an agent. 

1. Double close: You do actually purchase a property and then sell it the same day to another buyer. In order to do this, you need to have cash or cash equivalent for that one day that you close. In this scenario it is very tricky depending on the end buyers finances if you are looking to sell it to an "end buyer" and not an investor. 

2. Assign a contract: This is where you get a property under contract and you "fee" that you collect at closing is for giving the end buyer the rights to execute on the contract. You must must disclose to the seller everything including that you are selling it to someone else and how much money you are selling it to that end buyer. This is good because you don't have to come up with the money, but you do have to tell all. In my opinion disclosure is always the best policy in both scenarios. 

Warning: Where you get in trouble is in two things: 1. Do you really have the ability to purchase this deal. 2. Was it your intent to really close on this deal, or were you only going to close on it if you had an end buyer. 

AS AN AGENT, you can do this in a way easier way. Our whole job is to broker deals between buyers and sellers. So, my teams two ways of "wholesaling" is: 

1. Permission to show: Say you have a seller is willing to sell a property but they don't want it listed and don't want to be represented. Well, you can get them to sign a "Permission to Show" that will have the price they are willing to sell, and what your "wholesale" fee would be. This could be a dollar amount or a percentage. In this scenario we represent our buyers with a Buyers agreement and send them the deal and get it wrapped up. Now, you can not "market" this deal to the public, but you can to your buyers list in which you have representation with. 

2. Pocket listing: Say the seller does want to sell, but they just don't want to list it on the open market. Here you can get them to sign a listing agreement. Here you would have to put it in the MLS if your are with NAR, but it wouldn't syndicate out to all of the public sights, and you can send it to any potential buyer that you may know. Again the seller knows how much you are going to get paid and how much they are selling for.

The biggest thing is don't defraud the public, and disclose all. There is way more things that can be covered and any attorney can correct me on here, but these are the ways we understand how to make it work. Wholesaling is risky, because there are a ton of bad players out there, and so most brokerages don't even allow it because there is so much risk, and the principle broker is risking their livelyhood. 

@Carlos Handler I would back up and ask, what is your goal? For example, one of our clients wanted out of the west coast and sold all of her property and bought here in Northwest Arkansas. She did this because she didn't want the headaches that come from the tenant friendly laws. In that case, I would sell and buy here. 

Another investor of ours wanted to grow their portfolio and their goal was to diversify out of the west cost. On one of their apartment buildings that they owned in cash, they pulled a loan out on a cash-out refinance and bought property here in cash. 

So, I guess what is your goal?

Join us for our monthly investors meeting on November 8, 2023!

Go ahead and mark your calendars for this event, and remember that we will continue to meet on the 2nd Wednesday of each month moving forward. Come learn, share, and network with other local investors in a fun and relaxed environment!