All Forum Posts by: Scott Swanson

@Charlie MacPherson and @Jay Hinrichs. So Charlie, you responded to me....Nice rant? You said I posted "misinformation?"  I'm not going back and forth with you and this is the last thing I'll say. It's irresponsible to lump "everyone" into the same category and that's exactly what you did. I admitted that most wholesalers don't have a clue what they're doing. You can cast blame everywhere, if you so desire. The bad wholesalers give the good wholesalers a bad name and i think we all know that. So does that mean we're ALL scum? Of course not. But you're entitled to your opinion, as am I.

Jay, IMHO, your statement is correct. But I don't go into many of these bad areas. Even in middle class areas, I've sold houses where there was cat pee everywhere! I agree 100% that most realtors don't want to deal with some areas on the south side of Chicago. I don't blame them. But they shouldn't take the listing if they're not interested in selling/showing it.

My whole point is that the wholesaling business has a very bad reputation and I understand why. That doesn't mean that everyone in the business is a crook.

@Charlie MacPherson. Well, I see you think all wholesalers are the scum of the Earth. You're probably right about 90% of them. But there's 10% that provide a valuable service to sellers and help them out of their situation. You said that realtors can find thousand of buyers. Really? Then why does maybe 80% of my sellers tell me their realtor did NOTHING for them? I'll tell you why. Because if there isn't enough "cash" in it for them, they won't even bother trying to sell it. If the property is run down, you're lucky if they post 2 or 3 pictures. The vast majority of realtors don't want anything to do with "fixer uppers."  Yet you claim they have a "fiduciary" responsibility. Yeah...right. Tell the sellers I've worked with that, when their realtor won't even show interested buyers a beat up property.  You said there's "nothing" a wholesaler can do that a realtor can't." BULL. Many wholesalers work with investors that will buy the properties that others don't want. They can find buyers that realtors can't. I see VERY few realtors who as you said "Will bring the buyer who is looking for a fixer upper-to call their own." Where are these realtors?? Of course investors want low prices properties. Don't ALL buyers? When a deal is wholesaled, I would say that 85% of the sellers have no other option. Why? Because the realtors couldn't sell it! They barely market the property. Try to get a realtor to show you a "beat up" property on a timely basis. Good luck with that. Sellers turn to wholesalers many times, because the realtors did NOTHING to sell their property. So DON'T blame the wholesalers for everything. Like I said before, many wholesalers are crooks. They don't care about anything but making a buck. But there are honest wholesalers out there. Do you have any idea how many incompetent licensed realtors are out there? Trust me, they have PLENTY of them. I don't think it's fair to bash an entire group of people and say they're all crooks. That's NOT a responsible or accurate statement what so ever. 

One of the reasons we don't get licensed is because we don't want to spend 60 hours a week showing houses. We also want to work for ourselves. Plus, realtors can bust their butt and on a $10k commission, sometimes they're lucky if they see $2500 of that profit. Sorry, but if I'm going to work my butt off, I want the money to go into in MY pocket...NOT another realtors or a broker. So try to understand that there's always 2 sides to a story. Just my 2 cents. 

Coreyell,

Where in Indiana? It's a big state!

John,

Explaining how all of it works in a message would be tough. PM me.

Trent,

Illinois gives you 1 deal per year without a license. However, I know people that are doing more than one without a license, but I'll leave it at that. Indiana has no limit and you don't need to be licensed. I can't speak for Iowa. Best of luck to you.

@Pra Che,

That type of return will be extremely difficult to achieve in today's market. Here's an example of a property we're working on in Illinois for our investors. It's a 6 unit, completely rehabbed and very nice amenities. It's in an upper income area and would rent very quickly. The purchase price is $1.1MM and the rents total $11,600 per month. After pulling out ALL expenses and the buyer paying cash, we're looking at a return of $80k net profit per year. As far as the 1% rule goes, it's at 1.05%. So it's a decent deal and it doesn't come close to $150k a year. Just some food for thought. Best of luck.

Mike,

Based on the picture of the house, your rehab costs could eat up any profit there might be. IMHO, analyzing a deal without having actual rehab costs is futile. Best of luck. 

Jay,

I totally agree with your statements. I'd be a fool to think they'd make more strictly wholesaling. After reading my post, I failed to mention a couple of things because I didn't want to write a book! The issue I have with most of these guys, is that their courses are not complete. There's so many things that are left out. Important things are left out. They're not state specific either. For what some of them charge, they should be ashamed of themselves. Basically I'm talking about ethics. They hype up people and it works. People fall pray to their antics. That's what bothers me. Heck, you give me $10k and I'll get you an sfr that cash flows at a minimum of 8%. Give them $10k and God only knows what will happen.

As far as the wholesaling "dream," you're right. Everyone thinks exactly what you stated. They'll buy a course, read it and think that in 5 years they'll be millionaires. We both know that isn't the case. BUT, these guru's make it sound like that's what will happen if you buy their course. That's what I don't like about them. Plus wholesaling is hyped up everywhere you look. People think it's easy money. That couldn't be further from the truth and we both know that. People don't realize the amount of work that's needed to be successful. Everywhere you look on the internet, people make wholesaling sound easy. There's way too many lies out there. If you're not willing to work your butt off for a long time, you won't succeed in wholesaling. The guru's "play" on people and make them think they'll have riches, if they just buy their course and that's what upsets me. The people who buy these courses think their problem's are over. It doesn't work that way. I get upset when I see them tell their "fairy tales" about how much people can/will make, if they buy their course. On the flip side, most people don't want to do the work it takes, to be successful. They think they can take a course and bam.....the big bucks start rolling in. They're kidding themselves. But the guru's play on that as well. That's what concerns me. Look how successful you are. I'm fairly certain if I asked you to tell all of us your "story," busting your rear end and never giving up would be on your list. Frustration and feeling lost would be on the list too. It takes far more work to succeed in wholesaling, than most people will ever know. Many of them need to wake up and smell the coffee.

I have a question for all of you who might be thinking about buying into these guru's programs. If these  "guru's" are so good at wholesaling, why do they spend so much time and effort selling their programs? I wholesale houses and there's not enough time in the day, let alone us trying to sell people a program. Plus, if they're THAT good, why aren't they raking in the big bucks from doing the business on their own? Why aren't they out there wholesaling??? I've seen many of these courses and they all seem to be very generic. They don't talk about things like how to specifically put no money down on a contrcat. They don't talk about state specific title companies and contracts. Most of the contracts they give people are a joke. They don't talk about the little "golden" nuggets that you need to know, when it comes to wholesaling. They want your money and that's ALL that matters. I use to mentor newbies at an extremely low fee. Why did I mentor? To give back. It took me a couple of years to get my business firing on all 4 cylinders and I felt I should give back to others. I didn't want people struggling the way I struggled. As far as payment, all I wanted was my time covered and I charged a lousy $100 a month. Not a week, a month. That was 4, 2 hour sessions a month and they could call me anytime with questions. I mentored people who had taken almost every course out there. Here's another question. If these courses are so great and teach you everything you need to know, WHY were these people coming to me, to learn the business? I think you get my point. Best of luck to all of you.

Brian, The market is hot right now and prices are up everywhere. All that matters, is if you can find a fair priced property and make a solid profit. Yes appreciation matters and other things, but finding properties at a good price is the key, no matter where you invest. Most likely, the best deals won't be listed on the market. You need to find people to network with, that have good deals available, such as wholesalers. HOWEVER, be careful who you deal with! There are way too many unscrupulous wholesalers out there. But the honest wholesalers can find you good deals. Then you need a solid team or boots on the ground. You need someone to find the properties for you, someone to honestly evaluate them, take pictures for you, give you an approximate rehab cost estimate, someone to do the rehab and solid property management. All of these are the key to a good purchase. Without solid boots on the ground, you're sunk! So try to network in maybe one or two areas and build a team or ask others for a referral. Once you have a solid team, it makes it so much easier to buy.