Background:
I connected with a guy on BP in Feb 2014 who was just getting started in wholesaling as a FT gig. We met up at a Starbucks, and he drew on a napkin his understanding of how the "flipping a contract" process worked. It was in line with my understanding. We left on terms of reconnecting in the near futures to see how we could work together.
We were in contact throughout the next seven months or so. He was landing deal after deal on his own, as he was doing this full time and really ramping things up. I was working ~25 hrs/week at my internship/job (which I loved btw), going to school full time as a finance major, and our first child was born in June. I didn't have much free time. I knew educating myself was all I could do at that point, and I was okay with that. I finally graduated in Aug 2014. I was ready to take action.
Around Sept/Oct 2014, we decided to start working together. At this point I was working full time (~50-55 hrs/week) at that job that I was previously interning at as a student. Although I was putting in a decent amount of hours, I still made time for my family and for RE. He had had success with bandit signs (his first deal came from one), so he financed and gave me 200 to place around our community. I placed all 200 of them. If you're ever wanting a good time, go out and experience the pleasure of placing bandit signs at night in frigid weather :-P We received a few calls, but no contracts were signed.
The New Year came around, and I had to start studying in my free time for a certification exam at work. I continued to network here and there on BP in the interim, but my partner and I put working together on hold until the end of Q1 of 2015, at which point I would be finished with my certification.
The First Deal:
The networking in the interim paid off, as one of these contacts reached out to me and mentioned how he knew someone that had inherited a small property. He asked if we could help this individual (Tom) out. I gave Tom a call. He and his two sisters had inherited the property about a year earlier. He explained how there may be some foundation issues and that the interior was covered in mold. He seemed motivated enough for my partner and I to drive up to his place.
This place was in terrible shape, and it was in a great location. Two beautiful things! A pipe had exploded, so the house had gotten water everywhere on the inside, which not only caused mold to grow EVERYWHERE, but there were literally mushrooms growing up out of the carpet! Additionally, there was potentially meth cooking happening in the basement from one of the father's tenants. Place was in rough shape. We locked it up on the spot. We made one phone call to a buyer that we knew who liked mold properties. He offered to purchase it at our asking price. We made $30K and each one of the siblings walked away with $40K each in their bank accounts.
The Second Deal:
Pumped up after this first deal, I wanted to try a new marketing technique that we hadn't tried before; i.e., placing door hangers in areas that were hot. I found a company (A'deas Printing) that would print and deliver 5,000 door hangers for $335. This company also has a patented rubber band that came with the hangers. I found another local company that would place the hangers for us, with GPS tracking, and insert each rubber band into the already perforated holes for a total of $875. So we were all in $1210.
I received a call from a RE agent one Saturday about two weeks after we had placed the door hangers. She told me that she had a client who was looking to sell a few of his properties, one of which was in terrible shape. The others were already on the MLS, and he wanted retail, so didn't make sense for us; however, it was on one of these that she found our door hanger. I gave the guy a call.
The property that was distressed was still over priced for us, but he mentioned how he had another property and was willing to let it go for less. We weren't given an inspection period with the seller, as he needed to sell STAT, so we locked it up hoping that repairs wouldn't be much more than we anticipated. I ran out there, took pictures/video, and we got it out to our buyers list. Unfortunately, the repairs were more than we had hoped. The house was built in the early 1900's, so it needed a complete remodel, at least that's what our buyers were saying. We made $3K. That's enough for us for proof of concept. We're going to reinvest our profits back into marketing. We'll diversify, slightly, this time, however.
As you can see, I am still learning. I am very eager and very grateful for having learned what I've learned through hands-on experience and putting to work what the forums, BP podcasts, and other books, etc. have taught me. Thank you, @Brandon Turner and @Joshua Dorkin and all of the BP community. You guys rock!
Much love, Jared.
