All Forum Posts by: Van Blackman

Hi @Frank Serrano!

Welcome to BP!

How is your experience with CAREIA thus far? I'm always looking for people to network with in the Chicago area.

Please be sure to let me know if you have any questions regarding Chicago, rentals, etc. My company purchases close to 200 houses per month nationwide at this point. Would be very happy to assist you in any way possible.

Good luck to you in your future investment endeavors, and I hope to be seeing you more throughout the forum!

Take care,

Van

@Keith Fowler

Hello sir!

I agree 100% with @Mike H. on this one.

You NEED that house under contract BEFORE you do ANYTHING.

It's best to negotiate as long of an "option period" or "review period" (or whatever they may call it in Nebraska) possible that will give you the 100% absolute right to back out of the contract for whatever reason you want. In your case, the only reason you will be backing out is if you cannot find a buyer to assign to. If the house is not listed and you're dealing directly with the seller, negotiating a longer-than-normal option period shouldn't be too big an issue.

The very next thing you need to do is obvious: find a buyer. Here are a couple tips:

1. Throw bandit signs - "Fixer Upper for Sale. Champion Forest. Price $100k. Worth $200k". Be sure to add your number at the bottom. Throw 10-20 of these signs near your property and wait for the calls to pour in. Please check the laws on bandit signs in your area. I don't want you to get in trouble for this in case it is illegal to throw sings in your market so please be careful.

2. Visit your local REI groups - you will find plenty of real investors here.

3. Post info about your house on all forms of social media - be as VAGUE as possible. I say this for many reasons. You don't want anyone going around you, talking to your seller, telling them that you're wholesaling your deal. It happens. 

4. Vet your "investors" - You need to speak with and meet EVERY investor you come to contact with. What are they about? Where does there money come from? How much experience do they have? This is very important. You don't want to wholesale your deal to another wholesaler. Don't waste your time building a "buyers list" full of non-buyers.

Those four things should get you started on marketing your property. Honestly though, you need to be looking for houses to contract, and buyers to sell to ALL the time. Once you build your buyers' list up, you really won't have to worry about that too much anymore.

Hope this all helps! Feel free to contact me if you have anymore questions! I'm here to help.

Thanks,

Van

Lots of good stuff here @Demetrius Davis!

Definitely increase the volume on your direct marketing campaign if you can. Letters seem to be getting a response for us right now. Also, good 'ol fashioned traditional leg work like window-stickers and door-knocking always works. However, don't expect a TON of leads that way. Your lead volume may go down with these last two methods, but your conversion rate should be much higher.

MLS is very competitive right now as we all know, but we're picking up the ones that we track months down the road after our initial offer. Definitely be sure to track those!

Hope this helps! Feel free to contact me if you're looking for other methods that are working for us. We're here to help.

Thanks,

Van

@Noah Catallo

Hey bud!

Thanks for posting!

Couple questions for you:

1. What facet of real estate do you want to be in? (Example: are you looking to be an investor? If so, what type of investment? Buy and flip? Buy and hold? Single family? Multifamily? etc.)

2. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?

I met a very ambitious teen recently. Not only has he already figured out he wants to buy large multifamily buildings as soon as he can, but he's already started taking BIG steps into eventually achieving his goal, despite his age. He currently works (free of charge) for a large MFR investor/property manager just so he can discover the ins and outs of the business. On top of that, he works just one day per week for a large airline company so he can fly around the country FOR FREE and meet other investors that have already achieved his dream. He's educating himself, meeting people, making connections, etc., not even having spent ONE day in college (I think...)

Anyway, my point is, find out what it is you want exactly, educate yourself in that field, work (for free if necessary) for someone who already has what you want, and give it time...

If you're in Chicago, feel free to reach out to me. I'd be happy to help anytime.

Good luck young man!

-Van

Hi @Matt D.!

Probate leads are always great leads to chase after! I've been pretty successful by reaching out to probate attorney's, as you mentioned above. These guys will absolutely be able to bring you some leads as long as you're able to throw some business their way, too.

Are you looking at other leads, or just focusing on probate? There are several others that will be worth your time, too. Divorce leads, absentee-owner leads, senior-care, etc. There are probably hundreds of different types of leads and sources you can chase down.

Do you currently have a direct-mail marketing campaign set up? Are you knocking on doors and talking to neighbors? NEIGHBORS KNOW EVERYTHING about their neighborhood. They know who's passed away, they know who's in trouble with their finances, they know the ugliest house on every street, etc. It's incredible! 

Absolutely be sure to hunt down probate leads as much as you can, but don't forget that there are so many other leads to look for that might be somewhat simpler to find. 

TIP: Get your RE license, too. That will open up a lot of doors for you right out of the gate.

Hope this helped!

Thanks,

Van

Hi @Justin Wiesehan!

Have a few pointers for you. You're looking for the best way to find off-market flips. The best way to find great off-market opportunities is to do a combination of several things every single day until you start achieving the desired activity level you're looking for.

Here's a few strategies:

1. Bandit Signs - you've seen these everywhere, I'm sure. "I buy houses cash" signs, "handyman special" signs, etc. Don't expect for your phone to go crazy on these, but you may get 1-2 leads per week if you throw 20+ signs per day. FYI, I'm not sure what the laws are in North Carolina, so double check on those before you start throwing signs. You could get a ticket or two if you're not careful. 

2. Real estate license - get this if you don't have it already. This will give you access to the MLS and all the agents on the MLS. Offer on these houses to get you started

3. Offers - write as many as possible. You'll find that it could take up to 20 offers just to buy one! It's all a numbers game, remember that. Remember to track these offers, too. It's rare that an offer will be accepted immediately. Maybe the seller wanted 100k a month ago, but now will accept 80k because you held firm at your number? Track these, and you'll buy houses.

4. Relationships - talk to everyone! Call agents every day and tell them your business plan. If you're good enough they will bring you their beat up listings BEFORE they list it. Go to REI meetings like you mentioned above. Build your sellers and yours buyers list daily

5. Door knock - found an ugly house? Knock on their door. Knock on their neighbors door. If they're not looking to sell, ask, "Do you know anyone that IS looking to sell?" You need to get uncomfortable every day.

6. Send letters - start a letter campaign and stick to it. Persistence is the key here. Don't stop because you're phone doesn't ring like crazy initially. Locate a few subdivisions that you're buyers like and zone in on those.

7. Talk to neighbors - I covered this above a little bit, but you sincerely need to talk to everyone! Talk to other people at the gas station when you're filling up. Talk to the people in line when you're at the post office, etc. Can't stress this enough.

8. Persistence is key - anything worth doing is worth doing everyday. You can't turn this on and off. Wholesaling is much harder than people think. It's the ones who stick it out and do it for 4+ months with no deals under their belt that finally start to get some serious traction.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have other questions, I'd be happy to help! Also, my company has a location in Charlotte. If you start to get a few deals, we will buy them ALL form you! 

Good luck!

Best,

Van

Hi @Darrius Singleton!

Great question!

My definition of a "bad" wholesaler is a wholesaler who provides deals or services to real estate investors that are on a below-average level. I believe that the reason a lot of people assume that wholesalers are bad is because a lot of the wholesalers out there are. You cannot really say that wholesalers are dishonest because that's not fair. There are honest and dishonest people in all professions. I would say, that most wholesalers that I've come into contact with are "bad" because they are not educated. The good news is, if you're looking to become a wholesaler yourself, with some self-educating, guidance, and your natural good-natured spirit, you can set yourself apart from the majority of the wholesalers in your given market, IF you can prove your value to an investor.

What makes a good wholesaler? 

1. A GOOD wholesaler brings off-market deals with plenty of upside to the table. There's enough for the wholesaler to make money, and there's enough for the investor to make money. 

2. A good wholesaler is trained in real estate. They know the difference between a comp from a non-comp. Their resale values are accurate, and their rehab estimates are accurate (this one is HUGE!!!). A wholesaler should be educated in real estate, real estate appraisals, BPO's, etc. He or she will have to get a value to base the rest of their numbers off of. 

3. Conversely, the wholesaler NEEDS to be educated in repair costs. I can't tell you how many times a wholesaler has told me that the house needs $15,000 in work. NO WAY!!! How can you accurately depict a good deal from a bad one if you think new cabinets cost $500? 

4. A good wholesaler is also ethical. A good wholesaler does not hide any material defects or information known that could potentially dissuade someone from making a purchase. Your reputation is on the line here, why would you lie for a small profit that would risk much more down the road?

To restate, a GOOD wholesaler is an educated individual, who legitimately has the investors' back, because at the end of the day, the investor is taking all the risk, so the deal HAS to make sense for him/her first and foremost. Most people think wholesalers are bad because the truth is, most of them are not educated enough in real estate and/or repair estimates to offer TRUE value to an investor. Neither of those matter if your dishonest, however, so make sure that is priority #1 if you're thinking about becoming one!

Hope this helps. Contact me anytime if you have other questions, I'd be happy to assist!

Thanks,

Van

Hi @Matthew Izarek!

Are you planning on moving back to NC when you get back into the states? 

It may be a challenge to buy and wholesale your first deal within a month of returning (don't mean to discourage you, but FYI wholesaling is not always as easy as some people might lead you to believe). It may take you a little time to build the necessary relationships, but once you get the ball rolling, wholesaling can be quite lucrative and fun!

Hi @Brandon McLean!

This one is easy!

When you get the property under contract with the seller, make sure that the the contract is contingent upon them furnishing a clear and marketable title to you. Typically that cost falls on the sellers' shoulders, so you and your ultimate buyer are not coming out of pocket for it.

Once it's under contract, send the contract to the title co and they will handle everything. If issues arise, that's fine, most of them can be fixed. If they can't, opt to terminate the contract which is within your right to do so for failing to provide clear title.

Hope that answers your question! Feel free to message me if you have anymore. I'm here to help!

Best,

Van

Hi @Ismael Carrera!

If you get any kind of software at all, I would recommend getting some programs in at least 3 areas: 

1. CRM - If you're wholesaling correctly, you're only going to be buying 1 house of every 15-20 that you look at. AND, the only way to improve those numbers is to track EVERYTHING that you offer on. Track your offers, follow up with your contacts, etc.. I can't tell you how many houses I DIDN'T buy the first day that I looked at it. I can't tell you how many times I spoke to a RE agent about being first on their "call list" for investor homes, only to finally get a lead from them 12 months later. It's no one's fault but yours. Follow up is SOO very important in real estate, as are contacts/connections. You should invest in a very good CRM system to track everything that you do.

2. Rehab costs - this one isn't necessarily a "program", but more of an internal, electric database of some sorts that you can refer to. Microsoft Excel will do fine. Put your rehab costs down for each property and save it somewhere for future reference. If you're tracking correctly, as discussed above, you're going to have way too many rehabs to remember at one time. This will be very helpful when referring back to why you offered "$X" on any particular house.

3. Tracking your activity - I buy 1 house for every 17 houses that I look at. I meet with 1 investor for every 12 bandit signs I throw (proud of that one!). For every 14 realtor calls I make, I'll get 1 off-market lead. For every 8,000 letters I send, I'll contract 1 house (NOT proud of that one!). Do you know your numbers? Do you know where your time and effort should be focused? Track your activity and you'll know what works and what doesn't. Excel is sufficient for this too.

Thanks,

Van