It all begins with the seller's issue. There are seemingly infinite reasons why distressed sellers want to rid themselves of property. One example that comes to mind is probate. When a family member passes away, there is a house left behind to deal with.
Well, let's say the children of the deceased are already grown up with kids of their own and live out-of-state. Now they've got this property to deal with, it's all beat up, it's been vandalized in its vacancy, they don't have time, money, energy, knowledge, skills, ability, whatever to deal with this house. This property is definitely not fit for the retail market.
To the layman who doesn't deal with too many real estate transactions in their lifetime a wholesaler is a convenience. Remember your ma and pa shop analogy? You're willing to pay more to ma and pa because they offer convenience. The convenience you provide as a wholesaler is ridding someone of their problem property really fast.
Even the informed people are willing to take a lower price if their situation warrants it. They are willing to pay for this convenience because it's a stressful, emotional, whatever situation they don't want to deal with anymore. Wholesalers know people who have the means to put cash in the seller's hand and rid them of a problem property.
Why didn't they just list list it FSBO (For Sale By Owner)? Why didn't the seller just contact someone to buy the property themselves? If they are informed, they will. They'll still receive 70% - Repairs offers because their situation must warrant such an offer.
Personally, I want to buy all these properties for cash myself just like anyone else. If I can't close every deal myself I'm willing to pass it off to my buyer for a fee. Buyers understand the property is a great deal and are willing to pay for the convenience of not having to find the deal themselves.
In conclusion, the convenience a wholesaler provides to a seller in a tight spot is of tremendous value. We know people who are ready to buy the property fast if that person is not ourselves. Sellers pay for this convenience all the time for an infinitely wide variety of reasons. The situation has to warrant the offer. Making a low ball offer for the sake of making a low ball offer won't fly. Every wholesaler should explain to the seller why they offered the price they did and back it up with data.
