All Forum Posts by: Ryan Wilkinson

If your signs are just regular cardboard then obviously water will destroy them. But, If your signs are corrugated plastic, like most professionally made signs, then put them up. Weather shouldn't hurt them. I've had signs last through a "Michigan winter." As long as they are on tight they will be fine. If they are up for months through rain & snow they may fade a bit but if they last that long you will certainly have sold something because of them, making it worthwhile to replace them with a bright new one!
Bandit signs are a great source of business...rain or shine.

Vikram you're right. New energy sources are not cheaper...yet. My comment was taking for granted that these newer technologies are the future and will become cheaper and cheaper. Assumption: The greater demand for them the greater the economy of scale will be, the more investment in production & efficiency will be made and prices drop.

And Brian, you can say, "middle finger the Middle East "

Man...good points all over the place but I think you all are missing the boat.
CLEAN RENEWABLE ENERGY IS THE FUTURE.
Oil isn't going to last, it soon wont be cost effective, it certainly isn't environmentally friendly and it won't be enough to support the global demand for energy. Even if there are these vast untapped oil supplies that could fuel the world for thousands of years, it's still not environmentally feasible to do so.

I'm no "tree hugger" but the damage humans have wreaked on the planet has to stop or soon we wont have one. At least not one capable of sustaining the ever increasing amount of life that exists on it.

The world is becoming more industrialized, more populated, more in demand of modern technology. That means there is a whole new market for new technologies. You thought oil was big business??? Wait till you see how big solar & wind energy markets become.

Why not invest in an infrastructure that generates energy that is cleaner, more efficient, cheaper and less damaging?

The transition is happening all around the world already. I just hope America & Americans wake up before its too late.

I don't think any seller would mind speaking direct to the decision maker and cutting out dealing through an agent.
Like you said, "investors go through agents quickly"...the reason is because there are a lot that aren't very good and don't fully understand what the investor is trying to accomplish. They just want to sell some property. If you get a good one stick with em...they are an asset

Ok. As far as financing goes you will likely run into seasoning issues until you have owned the home for at least 90 days unless you are doing a conventional loan or some form of seller financing.
Is it possible to get the equity line of credit and use that to purchase a property all cash instead of using it as a down payment and borrowing more money?
I understand leverage is key to expanding quicker but in today's market that can be risky unless you have multiple defined exit strategies. If you are planning on using financing just be sure its a good deal so you don't get trapped in it. By good deal I mean in a pinch you can sell it cash for at least what you have into it.

To get started maybe think about flipping some cheaper properties. That way you can do all cash deals lessening your downside exposure and increasing your liquidity. The thing about wholesaling is you can be in and out of multiple deals at the same time. You make your money in volume.

I'd use that 30k equity line to find one or two good deals you can flip quickly to raise additional cash.
Spend some time and effort building a buyers list within the area you want to buy & sell. Knowing who buyers are and what they are paying will help you identify the types of deals you can do with your given resources and enable you to form a strategy to stair step up to whatever level you want to be at. Wholesaling is a people business. The more people who know you and what you have to offer the better your chances of success. Hope that helps.

Tyler, are you planning on being in the real estate investment business or are you looking to just hold a few properties?
I invest in metro Detroit so my perspective is totally different than others around the country. In my opinion, relying on third party financing is dangerous. Cash is king!

A lot of the foreclosure market is comprised of investors who financed investment deals, paid too much then couldn't get out of them.
If you have some time to do some work I would advise you find some deals you can flip to raise cash then use the proceeds to buy something to hold. I suppose its more conservative to only buy with money you actually have but requires a much more aggressive investment approach because you have to generate more activity to raise the real money to keep buying.

If anything goes wrong on a financed deal like: financing guidelines change which prohibit you from attaining a loan, market prices move lower shutting you out of financing or pricing you out of a sale, there is some kind of damage done to property by a tenant or vandal lowering the value of the property...you could be in big trouble. You can eliminate these outside variables by doing cash deals.
....just something to consider.

I'd be interested to see what other wholesaler's advice to you is but to me its seems awfully dangerous to use a generic standard formula to value a property. Every deal is different, every market is different so how can you apply a "typical" standard to a variable situation?

In my market pricing fluctuates constantly. Buying at 70% of ARV may be fine one day (actually it wouldn't...need bigger discounts) and be a big loser next week because the market has moved & prices have fallen. Having a knowledge of what your buyers are paying is most important.

To a large degree wholesaling is based on the greater fool theory. Your goal is simply to find someone who will pay a little more than you did.

Do you have buyers in mind already? Do you know what they are paying for properties like this? Have you comped the area to see what other cash buyers are paying? Do you actually have the cash to close or do you need to use some kind of bridge financing? How much time will the seller give you to shop it to your buyers and is that enough time to reasonably sell it?

I would be more focused on questions like these than what math formula to use to value it. If you can answer these questions you will know what you can pay because you will know where you can sell it & how fast you can do so.

Wholesaling in its purest form is more an art form, than a science.

But that's just me...I'm all ears on this one...

If you aren't an agent then legally you wont have to worry about the other disclosures. Yes you can cross that section off and mark as-is sale.

I would ask the seller if they have a sellers disclosure alerting you to any problems with the house that they are aware of. You are the buyer so you are the one that needs to know about the house. If you ask, they must provide it, if you don't you are assuming the risk.

I think honesty is the best policy. Being new to the game is NOTHING to be ashamed of plus it will lower the expectation of the seller. Remember this is a buyers market. You might be the sellers last chance to make something happen. They need you more than you need them so they shouldn't be quick to toss you aside just because you aren't a millionaire real estate mogul. I really believe if you are confident with yourself and respectful of the buyer, you will be able to win them to your side and then whatever you do will be fine because then you are directing the action.

The other thing you may consider if you really think experience is key is bring someone who is experienced with you. You may have to give up some of the deal but you will have your experience. How valuable is experience to you?

Good luck finding a bank who will let you assign a contract. You have to either close on the house yourself, use trans-funding if you can find it OR find a title company that will let you double close...that is, allow you to sell to your buyer first then use buyer proceeds to fund your purchase. The title co. holds the funds in escrow and disperses funds to the appropriate parties. Its a grey area of the law so do your own research to determine if you can do it...it's certainly not traditional but its possible.

As far as why do it? Wholesaling allows you to be liquid. It takes money to hold onto deals, even good ones. And unless you have endless pockets eventually you hit a limit and limits mean limited profit. No matter how profitable one deal may be you can generate the same profits and then some in the same time with much less exposure if you are a good wholesaler.

By the time it takes to buy a house, renovate it or do whatever you are going to do with it you could be in and out of 5,10, 15 deals...however good your system is to let them flow through.

You dont have to deal with risk of theft, construction delays, cost overruns, unknown problems. You just put it all together and sell it...Its an amazing feeling to walk out of closing with cash in your hand having done nothing other than finding a deal and a buyer for it.

Some good ideas here. Scott has a great point, dont worry about the little details stay focused on getting a great deal. The beauty of this business is its ALL about people. The more people who know what you are doing the better your chances of finding a buyer. Blast out emails to all your contacts letting people know you have investment options for them, use facebook/myspace etc to get the word out that you are making moves. You could pass out flyers door to door advertising property for sale (once you have one), bandit signs always generate a lot of leads for me but aren't legal to post everywhere so take that into consideration. You could run an add in the newspaper about a great deal which will generate investor leads Spend your money on marketing...that's how you find buyers but focus on creative ways that only cost time instead of money.