All Forum Posts by: Walt Payne

@Brandon Turner 

I go with the total disclosure approach. Saying "I buy houses" would be totally true for me for the same reason as it is for you. But, as long as there is full disclosure of the process at some point I don't think there is any significant deception in any wholesaler using the phrase.  After all one could make the argument that they are buying the houses on behalf of the end buyer. 

Does a real estate agent sell houses? Or do they represent sellers? Yet they frequently phrase it as "I sell more houses than anyone else in the area" or "I sold an average of $1M in properties per week" , or "I can sell your house" etc ... yet they did not sell anything, they facilitated the sale(s). No big difference between the two, IMHO, just a different side of the same coin.

 Only to a certain extent. Doing something when you make sure it looks good is a positive step, being careless and just jumping in to muddy waters results in neck injuries or worse. ;)

Even when you make sure the numbers are good, way too many things can go wrong in a flip. It is not the reality show dream job that they portray. It is hard, risky work. Not saying don't do it, but go into it with at least enough knowledge to not be paying for your mistakes for years to come. 

@Account Closed  Be firm on your numbers, don't use "eraser math" and change the numbers to make it a deal. If it is a deal, the numbers will scream profit. If that doesn't happen, don't try to make a deal out of a pig. 

How do you know if a wholesaler is good? You don't, until you verify the numbers. Some are good, and some try to wholesale MLS listings with a $10k markup.

Not really. If I want to find an accountant in an area, that does not help me. It also does not tell me if they are interested in contacts from others. 

www.biggerpockets.com/forums/86/topics/149128-boot... has some good ideas.

A database where I could search for someone willing to provide a service, and see reviews, would be great. You could become the Angie's list of investors. :)

@Account Closed Congratulations. What was the issue?

@Bill Gulley Great suggestion. It should also have a way to give references or note complaints. 

@Loren Whitney  Hitting the $104K max would seem about as likely as a unicorn citing by a sober, sane person. But ... exceeding the $52K limit might be very possible among a significant number of people on BP who work a day job. I project (hope? dream?) that I will be among those who are still employed but making enough to benefit from this knowledge next year. After that, well I will be joining @Phil G. as one who is only self employed and not able to benefit.

Thank you for pointing out the answer, it was right above what you posted @Brandon Hall  I have read those pamphlets in their circular references so many times I missed this the first 100 times. I was looking for context of your quote, when I saw this. Note the example below, and the bold portion. I believe your quote is referring to all plans held with one employer. But read this and see ...

http://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/Plan-Participa... says the following

Overall limit on contributions

Total annual contributions (annual additions) to all of your accounts in plans maintained by one employer (and any related employer) are limited. The limit applies to the total of:

• elective deferrals
• employer matching contributions
• employer nonelective contributions
• allocations of forfeitures

The annual additions paid to a participant

yes, that is true of salary deferrals, as it states. But that pub does not mention the profit sharing portion. 

@Steve Babiak  has a lot of valid points, plus there is a certain amount of intuition that goes into proper screening. Sometimes you just sense that a person is lying, or a lowlife in general. Or maybe they sound aggressive or obnoxious. Voice communication is a first step to allowing intuition to work. 

Then comes the in-person meeting .... maybe they bring their wife or gf and you sense something about the way they act together. Maybe it is how nasty they keep their car. Maybe it is the fact that you have a no smoking policy but they smell of smoke. Just too many clues are missing without the human interaction. The combination of phone conversation and in person meetup is a big part of screening. Those are the first steps. Then if they pass that part they do the app and credit/background checks. 

As far as time wasting, set a few times for an open house. They show up then to see it if interested.