All Forum Posts by: Andy M.

@Douglas Larson You're a rock star lucky!! BTW - Next time lunch is on you, I know you can afford it. ;)

Lol. I read this and I knew I had to chime in. I don't go to my rehab projects very often, but I stopped by one of them this week. Marc, one of my project managers likes to think he is an outdoorsman, so he set some traps (actually to catch crackhead thieves) but ended up with a different catch.

Hilarious 2 minutes: http://youtu.be/hl1wp5vvORU

Oh, and to answer your question, my humane solution to you would be do the OPPOSITE of what you see in the video. 

Austin, I've wholesaled mobile homes before. It is definitely a different beast than normal houses or property (unless you are talking about a mobile home on land). Bottom line is, you can wholesale anything, get it cheap, mark it up a little (or a lot if you got a great deal), leave some meat on the bone for your end buyer, rinse repeat. 

IMO you should find a buyer who will buy your mobile homes, then find your motivated sellers and get a quote from your buyer so you know how much the market is actually paying for that product. In my area mobile homes go CHEAP. I think the last one I sold wholesale I bought it for like 3k and sold it for like 6k. 

Hope that helps.

Dan, Jedd is right, wholesaling in an area that you are not from, or currently living in can be tough. Here is the rub:

1. Wholesaling is probably the toughest job in real estate (Sorry, but I'm not going to sugar coat it). Many experienced wholesalers END up there after years of RE experience, most don't start there.

2. Almost all successful wholesalers are good at solving people problems. This is a PEOPLE business. If you are not on the ground in a market to meet with people and build rapport you might have a hard time. I have a very experienced sales lady who works with me and who is EXTREMELY good at building rapport, and she has a hard time doing deals over the phone is other states we wholesale in.

3. Real estate is local. Getting to know pockets of neighborhoods and nuances of certain markets takes time, even if you already have a good base knowledge about how to do deals. I'm an experienced wholesaler (done it for years) and I recently started wholesaling in other states and I can tell you that there is still a learning curve. 

Now, all of that said, don't let me discourage you, it is possible, but it definitely isn't easy money IMO. 

Just my .02

@David Ward What I meant was, if you have a LEGITIMATE deal, finding the funding for that deal is easy. If you just let the world know about the deal someone will step forward and say, "I'll buy that from you" or "I'll loan you the money for that" or "let's partner up on that". And if no one steps forward for your legitimate deal.. I have news for you, it's not a deal. :)

Backstory: My SD IRA custodian (American Pension Services) went into receivership earlier this year. They have been sorting through the whole mess and apparently the owner made some bad choices and 25 million is missing. The courts have decided to allocate the loss across every account holder by taking 10% of their funds to cover the loss.

Yep, it sucks, but here we are.

Here is the advice I need from you seasoned SD IRA pros.

1. I need a new custodian, who do you recommend? I want someone simple to work with, and speed of transactions is important.

2. Should I move towards an LLC with checkbook control? I didn't set up my current accounts that way. But it seems to favor speed, but also takes away a layer of separation.

Thanks!

Here is my .02. I think two inexperienced people have no business partnering up at all. Neither one of you sound like your adding a whole lot of value to the other person. Not sure how you want to handle this current project because it sounds like you are both involved, but I'd encourage you to step out on your own and find some private money. The rehab game is actually pretty simple. 1. Find a deal (this is actually the MOST difficult part) 2. Find the money (if you have done #1 right then money will follow, even hard money is cheaper than a 50/50 split) 3. Rehab the property (like J Scott said, the GC doesn't deserve much more than 10-14% for doing this). 

Basically let me boil it down to this... if you can control #1, then #2 and #3 are the easy part. There is lots of money that wants to partner with deals, there are lots of people who can fix up properties. 

Get good at finding deals. :)

@David C. Thanks David! I appreciate the kind words about the video and the flip. My hope with all of my videos is that they inspire people. If I can help show someone what is possible then I can make a difference in their life, even if it is in a small way. 

@Joel Owens I totally agree. I am primarily a wholesaler for that very reason. I hope that people take to heart the first key "take away" I share in the video; not all flips are profitable. There is definitely a level of risk that comes with the thrill of going retail. :)

That said, retailers generally make more than the wholesaler does on a deal (unless he REALLY rips it). A lot of my retail deals come from other wholesalers, most of the time they make 5-10k and I end up making 20k ish on a normal starter home deal. This house was definitely the exception. My friend the wholesaler RIPPED that house, so he deserved every bit of that 45k he made on the wholesale fee. In fact, if you watch part 1 (http://youtu.be/RoX9Cxqjc0c?list=UUbeGfP8EfyHeVF6W...) you will see and hear how I bought that house from him and was happy for him. 

The reasons I lost money were not his fault. Murphy's law (had to replace a whole sewer main), and delegating to the wrong people which ended up costing me A LOT more money.

Hey Mary, welcome to BP. Lots of Utah people on here to connect with, both on and offline. There are two really good investor clubs close to you. One is UVREIA, and the other is SLREIA. If you haven't been to either of those you should definitely google them and check them out. 

Keep reading on BP, lots of good info here, and you can make some good connections. :)