All Forum Posts by: David Tower

Josh I know you're a podcast guy. Take a listen to episode #27 of REI Mastery with Joe Mccall if you have a few minutes.

*status update*

I've written down my most important task to work on. They are:

1. perfect and practice script and pitch to sellers
2. improve deal analysis skills
a. figuring ARVs
b. determining max offer price, and calculating repair estimates.
3. finalize plan to sell properties
4. seller's page website
5. biz cards

I'd bet my paycheck that there are more "useless" real estate agents out there than there are wholesalers.

Also, I think the title of this thread was disingenuous. You're obviously a pro and understand wholesaling just fine. It should have been titled "I'd like to prove my superiority by bashing on wholesalers for a bit"

Ok so here's my basic template for a phone script. In addition to this basic template I have a good "net sheet" and doomsday scenario to explain away listing with a realtor. I'm still working on how to work in talking about price and asking "is that the best you can do?" I'm basically going to follow Sean Terry's advice on that.

Most of the script is from things I learned from Claude Diamond (G.U.T.S. sales mentor). I'm going to buy his course. He has a great podcast episode with Joe Mccall and some stuff on youtube. If some of it sounds silly, he fully explains the psychology behind it that I won't get in to here.

1. Hi Dave Tower here is this Bob/555-1212?

2. I'm sorry I'm a little embarrassed I got a voicemail but all I got was the number. Why am I calling?

3. A. It's not about real estate is it? (if they don't tell you)
B. Oh you got one of our letters? Great! I'm sorry for my lousy handwriting.

How can I help?
It's probably sold already right? (no)
But you are ARE looking to sell? (If yes, continue)

4. Do you have the house listed with a real estate agent? (If no, continue)

5. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions to see if maybe we can do business today? It's ok to say no to me. I want you to feel comfortable so if something's not right with the deal, or whatever I propose it's ok to say no to me . You don't have to tell me you'll think about it or you'll get back to me you can just say no and we're still friends is that ok with you Bob? Great.

6. Is this your own home or an investment property?
a. They live there - Oh ok well what's the situation?
b. Absentee - where do you live now if you don't mind me asking? California? Wow! How's that working out for you being so far away?

7. The house isn't vacant though is it?
a. yes it is - Yikes! You must own it free and clear then right? No? Oh my gosh how long has it been vacant?
b. no - well i'll tell ya, I turned my house in Rhode Island in to a rental and it's been a nightmare. (true story)

8. Who's living in the house now? Are they good tenants? How long have they lived there? Are they month-to-month or on a lease? And the lease is up when? How much does it rent for? Do they pay on time? Is there an HOA fee?

9. Can you tell me about the house?

beds/baths how's the foundation?
year built HVAC?
how's the roof any repairs needed?
nice neighborhood?

10. It sounds like a nice house, why not just fix it up and keep it as a rental?

11. What about listing it with a realtor? If you can afford to wait 6-9 months that might be a better option for you.

12. Why are you looking to sell? (if I don't know yet) But you probably don't need to sell right away do you?
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what'ya think?

Just started mailing over the weekend. I'm excited to have calls coming in soon but I'm also ready to face roadblocks.

I'll paraphrase a great quote here "The best part about earning a million dollars is becoming the person you need to become to accomplish it" or something like that.

All I know is something is different inside me now. Action begets more action. I'm looking forward to my 7:30-4 workday ending so I can go to work on real estate.

I even went out and bought my dream car. I've always wanted a Volvo convertible and now I have it after using negotiation skills I didn't know I had to get a good deal on a used one. Not only do I love it, but it's also helping with my abundance mentality. "what, me worried? No way! I'll go buy a new car on a whim" ok...so there's a bit of exaggeration

Thanks for everyone's kind words of encouragement.

Jerry Puckett One thing I forgot to mention is that I LOVE Texas. The people are super nice and the weather is just a tad better than New England. DFW does seem saturated, and sometimes I worry about competition, but I do try to keep an abundance mentality. If Sean can do 20+ deals a month in a market like Phoenix, I think I can do 2.

Joshua S. I actually just listened to that episode yesterday. Check out Todd Toback's No Limits podcast. It's very good along with Joe Mccall/Alex Joungblood's REI Mastery.

Nancy Roth Sounds great, keep it up!

One thing I did to learn about wholesaling was to read every post of every thread in the wholesaling forum. I recommend anyone starting out to do the same. One thing that really annoyed me though, was the people who would suck me in with a story about a deal and then never post the final results! So, I promise not to do that.

I'm starting small. I have a targeted list of about 600 names and I'm mailing 150 per week. My letter is the basic yellow letter that I am hand writing myself. Tip: use a sharpie, not a fat marker it's easier to read. It's really not "that" bad writing them myself. I get up early on the weekends and bang out 50 at Starbucks, write them while watching a game on TV, etc. My total cost is about 60 cents each all in.

I put my google voice # on the letters and will call people back at lunch or after work. The number of calls/deals I get will dictate how soon I double my mailings. If I only get a few calls, I'll expand my list and if I get a deal I'll probably outsource the letters and do the same. I will continue to mail the same people each month.

I'm also setting up a website for buyers in the next few days and I'm looking in to placing some classified ads. I may also cold call fsbo's and for rents.

This weekend I worked on my phone scripts. I really like Claude Diamond's stuff. The REI Mastery episode with Claude was my inspiration. I watched a lot of his youtube clips and was able to get some other good tidbits. That, along with Sean's material from Flip2Freedom and suggestions from BP. I'll post it here for a critique tonight.

I've finally done it. My first batch of yellow letters went out yesterday. Whoever said that thinking doesn't cure fear but action does was spot on.

I know Greg Smith's thread is popular so I figure people might enjoy another. I'll never live up to Danny Johnson's weekly updates from his earlier days at Flipping Junkie of course.

I am 34 and I joined BP in March of 2011. I started reading and learning about wholesaling but never really gave it my all. I started attending a REIA back in RI where I lived and I knew I wanted to leave corporate America (been working at a mutual fund company for 12 years now) but I always had sub-conscious fears of the unknown,failure, etc. I also joined Sean Terry's Flip2Freedom academy because I love his podcasts. In my opinion, it's well worth it. He's a great guy and I was happy to shake his hand at his Dallas event.

In December of 2011 I moved to Texas as an optional move for work and I let that be a terrible excuse to not take action with real estate. I continued to learn and listen to podcasts and read books and I let that delude myself in to thinking I was doing something. I know now it's because reading another book was easier than getting out of my comfort zone.

noob tip #1 - Don't do that. You don't need to know everything about step #20 to start. You only need to know step #1. If you have a deal, there's plenty of smart people that will help you get it done for a slice.

noob tip #2 - Don't overcomplicate things. Wholesaling really is as simple as finding someone that needs to sell and someone else that wants to buy. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you'll take action.

noob tip #3 - There is NOTHING to be affraid of except perhaps the pain of regret of not ever getting started.

Now, about those books....reading Think and Grow Rich did probably set things in motion for me to really start taking action, but perhaps better than that is a 3 Disc audiobook by Brian Tracy called Goals: How to get everything you want faster than you ever thought possible. It was the best $10 I ever spent. I was also living in,getting out of, and getting over a tough relationship for the past year which was a real momentum killer.

I don't want to write a novel here so I'll end the first installment by thanking all the staff at BP and all the amazing people who give back by contributing and helping the little people. One of my goals is to do the same.

Thanks for the post. I'll throw in some opinions of a novice.

Sean Terry (flip2freedom) is the man! He really doesn't hold anything back and has a true abundance mentality. He's very motivating on his podcast and even more so in person (check out his Xtreme Freedom events). He may have red bull in his veins, not sure. His episodes cover a wide variety of topics from noobie to advanced. He also has the occasional special guest. He offers his website if you want more, but there's NO sales pitch or commercials. His main strategy is traditional wholesaling.

Joe Mccall and Alex Joungblood (REI Mastery). These guys are great. They don't have the motivation factor (other than making fat stacks as Alex says) that Sean has, but they more than make up for it in their content and guests. They are the perfect compliment to Sean's podcast I feel. They almost always have a rock star guest and the information is second to none. They also play off each other well and can be quite amusing at times. Alex does more wholesaling and Joe does more lease options and wholesaling. Their guests are typically doing one or both of those strategies and provide expert information. Really good stuff. They also briefly mention their websites but there's no pitch or commercials.

Jason Hartman (creating wealth). He seems like a super smart guy. I've listened to a couple dozen cherry picked episodes. If buy and hold was my strategy I'm sure I'd be a regular and he also covers broader economic info. If I had more than 86,400 seconds a day I'm sure I'd listen to them all.

Matt Theriault (epic rei). I first heard him as a guest on Joe/Alex's podcast and liked what he had to say so I subscribed to his own podcast. Good stuff and good guests.

Real Estate Guys - fun, but not a lot of usable content. if you want to sign up for a real estate cruise, you'll have ample opportunities to hear about it. There's one episode from I think around New Year's 2010 that I listen to on occasion about goal setting.

Todd Toback - I just heard him as a guest on Joe/Alex's podcast and he was really good. I'm definitely going to subscribe.

Peter Conti/Jerry Norton - oh boy. literally an hour ago I was on their webinar about the quick flip money machine. what a flipping joke (badum bum). The basic premise is you pay them $1000 for the priveledge of bringing them deals and if the deal meets criteria that before you pay them is unknown to you, they pay you a 10k finder's fee. I'm pretty sure people get 10k assignment fees all day long without a 1k surcharge. Guruism at it's worst. They even went so far as to get top ranked spots in google with "Peter Conti Scam" or "Quick Flip Money Machine Scam" which brings you to their own page with someone telling you that they don't think it's a scam. Guru's take note, that was actually pretty smart.

Lifestyles unlimited - a commercial for lifestyles unlimited disguised as a podcast.

Justin Silverio - thanks for the link. I guess it does make sense that non owner occupied doesn't matter. Also, I'm deeply saddened that MQ is not posting anymore. He's definitely earned a break though if anyone has. It is people like him that make me want to pay it forward when I become successful in this business.

Barry Hammond - Thanks for the response. This will be my first mailing (finally). I've heard and or read other people's (pros) results with a targeted list for hand-written yellow letters to be in the 10-15% response rate, sometimes higher. I'm hoping mine will be more in line with that.

I do plan on mailing the same list multiple times while also growing it as success permits. Probably 2 or 3 yellow letters then postcards. I hope to be able to mail them until I get the deal or they tell me to stop. The reason I asked about the phone # is because every person I make a soft pass offer to is getting a written offer by e-mail or fax. Even the tire kickers. I will follow up with them in some form.

1. Is it too soon after Thanksgiving to send out yellow letters a couple days after the Holiday? If yes, how long should I wait?

2. Once you have someone's phone or fax number that is on your yellow letter list, do you continue to mail them a letter or do you just call/fax them instead to save money.

3. I have my first list of 644 names (absentee,SFR,equity, 3/2+,non-trust,10-150k) but I haven't filtered it for last sale date. When I tested last sale date 1900-2005 the list shrunk to 250 names or so. These are all out of state owners. I could either start to include in-state owners or leave the sale date filter off and I'm conflicted.

I assume that inherited out of state owners will be included in this list and wouldn't want to exlude them by filtering 2005 or older, but I can understand that a new investor isn't looking to sell either. I don't know if out of state outweighs the pre 2005 sale date.

Any thoughts or experience on this? I'm hoping Michael "Quarters" Quarles (hehe, I noticed someone called you that in another thread) will chime in.

Thank you

Hello Michael,

I was looking forward to meeting you at Sean Terry's event in Dallas. Perhaps next time. I'm about to place an order for yellow letters also. I'm wondering (and anyone with experience can answer) How long is the wait time for say, 1000 letters?

Thanks much.