Alfredo's journal

First of all, I will quickly summarize what I am going to speak about today. I will mention any changes I have made since last posts. I will also describe the strategy I had last time I was wholesaling and what I think were my mistakes. After that I will add how I will change it and what my new strategy will look like. Of course, if you have any suggestions or you spot any other things I could improve on, please don't hesitate to tell me! I greatly appreciate all respectful feedback.

As I mentioned in my first post, I have been waiting for my corporation to have a bank account in order to start wholesaling and later investing in real estate myself. However, due to more unexpected circumstances, that will again, take longer than expected. For this reason, I have decided to wholesale without my corporation and start doing it through it once it is ready.

Last time I wholesaled, my strategy was the following: Place a couple adds online (remember I didn't live in Indianapolis), as well as looking at for sale adds online. I would determine a potential opportunity by reading the add to try to determine the level of motivation of the seller, find the estimated price of the property and then, if it looked like something good, run a CMA. I spent many, waaay too many hours researching and not enough calling. After getting a house under contract I would look for buyers in a similar way I looked for sellers, which only worked once. However, the property was much more run-down than expected and I couldn't re-negotiate.

Anyways, I will make the following changes: 1) I will spend less time online, looking adds myself, and use more tools by which deals come to me. 2) I will make more phone calls, if in doubt, I will call the owner. 3) I will follow DG's book, which I hadn't read before. This I think will help me a lot 4) I will also do this where I live. Before I was 18, and it was illegal where I lived, but now that I am 19 that is not a problem anymore. 5) I want to partner-up with someone, because I can miss many calls while I am in college and I could have a hard time reaching other people. It will be easier if two people work together at this.

So, my strategy will be mainly what I mentioned, plus other suggestions coming from the book.

The city I have chosen in the US is Seattle.

This is all for now. I will post more once I start contacting real estate agents in both cities, Victoria and Seattle.

Please post if there is anything you think you can help me with!

Welcome to the DG family

With investing in general you will find you have to adjust your strategy to meet the market demands and as you get more experience that will lead you to adjusting. So, it is great that you adjusted to make things work.
Happy investing

I am writing because I know have officially, started. You might have notived that I said I owuld a couple weeks ago, but I didn't because I was sorting out some legal things about my corporation. Now that that is finished, I have started to pick up the phone.

I called around ten dkinifferent offices in Seattle, both from Keller Williams and Remax. I have found that Keller Williams agents are, overall, more polite and professional, but I haven't spoken with enough offices to make this argument strong. Unfortunately I had to leave a lot of voice-mails, and only got a chance to speak with two agents. One of them was unpolite and not very knwoledgable, so I don't really mind if he doesn't send me any listings. The other one forwarded me to a collegue, more experienced than her, however she already has some idea of what I would like, so I will ask her to send me anything she ,finds within that. In a way, I guess I got two agents from that call.

Now, with all of this have come some more challenges. First, one of the agents said he wanted to speak to me over the phone before sending the info I requested through a voice-mail, which I defenetely understand if he is a serious agent. However I know he will also be looking for my experience level and I don't want to be disqualified by him. I will look for advice as to what to say to sound appealing. Right now I know how to get transactional funding, and techincally speaking I do own a rental property, but out of the States, as well as having had experience in tax liens. I will use that to sound as knowledgeable as possible, without being false.

I am going to place a few more calls in the hopes of getting more agents on the line too. I will use a different script from Matt and will see which one is more effective in my case.

I want to also thank everyone that constantly checks the forum. Last time I wanted to wholesale a great downfall was lack of support, there was no one I could go to, not even the company to which I had paid money. This forum helps a lot, as it helps everyone get over hurdles much more quickly and feel more motivated.

and learn the market to see if the market you have chosen works for you.

Hello evereyone!

It has been some time since I last updated this, so I decided to do it today. However I probaly wont have enough time to finish writing all of what I wanted to say, but I will at least write the first half.

I kept calling the real estate offices. I also got a couple e-mails from the receptionists when the real estate agents weren't available. In the end, I received three responses from three real estate agents, which I think is quite good. I got many listings, and all the information that was requested.

I started reading the next part of the book, the second part of the blueprint, and decided that I would finish that section in three days. I had already done certain things like that beforehand, like going to my local real estate invvestment club. Before continuing with my journal, I would also like to make a note on this experience and I would like to get some feedback from other people.

Around May of this year I decided to go to a local real este club meeting. While I was focused in the United States, I wanted to start working in my hometown sooner or later, so I decided to go there and meet some more people. Furthermore, the topic of the night seemed to be interesting and useful for wholesaling, so I decided to go.
The experience was not what I expected, in a negative way. I was the second person to arrive. The lady already there welcomed me very kindly. Soon after that another man arrived, carrying a projector in his hands. The lady said hi to him, and I tried to approach him as well, but he ignored both of us and kept walking. As he set u the projector, he kept telling the lady to stop talking to her and still didn't acknowledge my presence. I later found out that he was the investor with the most success in the club, who was also a real estate agent, but quite honestly he was very disrespecful with anyone that didn't share his views, as I would see later.

More people started to arrive and I spoke with some of them. I then took a seat and waited for the presentation to start. The speaker was from a different city, Edmonton I believe, and gave us pointers when approching sellers. Every once in a while, when there were group discussino, the lady at the beginning would speak of her past experiences and talk of her point of view. Every time she said anything, the man that came at the beginning would immediately interrupy her and contadict was she said, saying that was terrible and he would never do it and, with a palpable sense of anger and sometimes saying some innapropiate things. I honestly felt like standing up and telling him to shut up, as being rude to a woman in such a way was very innapropirate, but I didn't because I still wanted to remain the club.

At the end he stood up with a woman that had arrived later, who was the other main investor in the group. They were talking of some of their deals, and I got a very bad feeling from them. I understand that they wanted to make money for the lowest amount possible, as is the case with every other investor, but the things they spoke about seemed innapropiate. They talked of how, after having someone lower their price substantially into what they wanted it to be, they would lower it further, knowing the person needed the money. They didn't focus on the seller at all, just on their own benefit. I decided not to relate to them, feeling sure that other poepl in the club would be experienced as well and would have more ethical methods and better manners in public, but nobody had real expereince. Most people owned a rental, two, or nothing, and even those that did own something had little knowledge overall. I went back home unhappy. I had come to learn and meet people, but I didn't want to return anymore, because the only two people in t he group that seemed to really know, well, I didn't like them at all.

The book calls for me to go to another meeting, and I have been thinking that maybe I should go, however, I wanted to ask a question to the reader. Would it really matter if I didn't stay in the club? If I stood up for that lady and gor kicked out, as would most likely happen, would I really miss out of anything? I rather that than letting that happen just to get some knwoledge from those 2 selfish people.

I know I have moved away from the original topic, but I will continue talking about it tomorrow. I have to go to sleep noe since I have school tomorrow

congratulations on taking action! yes you have to be careful before investing $ in companies that promise things but have a bad track record. Dean's track record is stellar he has helped me & tons of other people-so great that you are here!

I have done 5 deals, 4 in kansas city & 1 in san diego ca where I live so you can also "remote" wholesale anywhere in the US too. I think that is a smart choice to choose Seattle since it is close to your home which is what Dean/Matt recommend & me too.

My 1st deal was in San Diego & now I am refocusing on san diego too so way to go, keep it up stay positive & one way you can get calls to you I think is Google Voice, although that might not wrk in Canada it doesn't in Mex. perhaps you can get magic jack or internet ph & forward your calls to your cell ph. God bless.

Hi everyone! Thank you CaliTony for your reply. They are the real estate club, but it is free to get in, however I dont know how well I want to know those people

Going back to phase one, I only got info from 2 of the agents that contacted me. The last one wanted to esnure we were a good fit by speaking over the phone, which hasnt been possible yet. However, I have been double thinking woring with that agent because she has told me she is an invesotor as well, who knows other investors, which makes me wonder if it makes sense for her for me to wholesale through her if she could do it and get a better commission. If Ididn't tell her, I think she owuld find out eventually, given her circles of investors, and feel angry. However, is ther a way I can work with a real estate agent/investor, so that it is benefitial for both of us? Maybe I cant double close through her, but I might be able to do other things.

In regards to the info, I got the cash sales list, but they took 3 days to find how (I guess they never did that before) However, Propstream, as I remembered, gave me cash sales lists as well, even showing the address of the buyer, so I got all the info for part one and 2 from there, because I dont have to find the owners address that way.

I read part 2 five days after starting with part 1. I found it litttle easier than the revious part becuase I was asking easier questions, ones with easier answers, so the conversatios were quicker. From the phone calls I got 4 buyers criteria, and I stil have a few I havent called yet, so I should have 6 at least by the end of the beginnig of next week. I also wrote 2 letters, to 14 csh buyers in total. I wrote w types of letter, 7 each, to see if one would get me more replies, but given that the numbers are very small, I think I will have to send many more to see any difference. However, do you think 14 people is good enough??

I will also order business cards, 100 form VistaPrint, since the first 100 is free. I don't know what to write on it however. If I put my corporatino name I can only use it in US, since it doesnt oerate in Canada, if I use my name, its the opposite. I think I will use my own name, since those will mostly come in handy when I deal in Victoria.

With this I have finished all of part 2. I will start part 3 this afternoon, after I study for a biology laboratoy exam. Talking about exams, finals are in 2 weeks, so I will have less time, temporarily, and then much more, during the holidays.

I have some other questions, but I will post them in other sections of the forums at later times, but if you read this and think you might have the answer to the question I asked: Working with a Real Estate Agent that is also an investor.

PS: One of my agents send me a listing. I know I am not in that part of the book yet, I tried to place an offer on the good deal since I Know how the oudlb eclosing process works and I had spoken to some buyers with that critera. Someone made an offer first however, but at least the agent is more interested in working with me now.

Thank you for reading!

Alfredo Roberts

Also, I forgot this! For Victoria I wanted to do deals with someone, since I wont have time to do it all myself. However this friend will be travelling most of December and will be back in January. We decided to look at things then, but he likes the idea. Meanwhile, I will work in the US

Hello everyone!

It has been a week since I last posted and I really wanted to update the status. I kept making some phone calls to get more buyers on the list, but only got one more. I wanted to send e-mails but I was studying for finals and I didn't get to it. I didn't order the business cards in the end, since I was going to create a webpage for Victoria and I wont need them until next month anyways, which is when I will work here as well.

I also have gone back on some material from another course to find buyers and I will be looking up some more things in classifieds and some others at Real Estate Clubs in Seattle to find more buyers. In regards to part 3, I watched all the videos on the webpage that Dean gives us and then I did the CMA test. Some properties seemed good, some didn't, but in the end I didn't use MLS comps (I didn't want to call the agent for houses I wasn't gonna bid on yet). I then read part 4, and this is a little different for me. This part really stresses getti ng bandit signs but given that I dont live in Seattle this doesnt apply. I have a plan to fix this however. I need to find motivated buyers, and I will have to do it actively, instead of passively through the use of the bandit signs. I have researched many different ways to find possible motivated buyers. They are classifieds, wether online or on a newspapaer, MLS, code enforcement office, clean up and restoration services companies, flyers (eventually, once I reaaaaly know, well, which areas are best), probates and pre-foreclosures (both through the courthouse), evictions in public records (landlords might be tired and want to sell), absentee owners (through public records again), retirement homes (managers might know of residents selling their homes as they move in, maybe to be able to pay for the rent. Some elderly might want to get rid of a property quickly. Due to the delicate nature of this, I will do it over letters), bail bondsmen and garage sale adds (owners might be moving soon).

As you can see this is quite a bit of work, but time I will have in the holidays!! I am really close to the part where I make money so I am really excited.

Today I also finished a Microsoft Acces database of my buyers. This helped me a lot visualizing what they want and also made me realize I need many more buyers. I will e-mail the letters to cash buyers in the cash buyers records tomorrow to hel with this. I hadn't done it before because the US number I picked wasn't working, but know that everything is fixed I can l them. I will send some more e-mails as well.

Tomorrow will be a busy day, but a good one at the same time.

Thank you for reading! Please, if you can, check my post in the Title Research and Other research section. It is about requesting CMA's to a real estate agent.

Hello everyone again,

In the past week I started by receiving many houses from my real estate agents, reason for which I asked many questions about this a few days ago. I also tried to start implementing the seller finding methods I had described in the previous post. I first focused on finding some leads through classifieds and then by contacting clean up/ restoration companies. As this happened I posted question on this webpage asking: 1. How to use my agents to get CMA's without burning them 2. How to get deals through the MLS with a low earnest money deposit.

I got answers for both but, as part of the answers in the last one, it was mentioned that I should have ideally at least 20 buyers that would be willing to buiy that kind of house, according to their criteria, so that I can move the deal quickly. This made me think that maybe I should change my strategy considerably. I don't live in Seattle. I rather live north of Seattle, in Canada. The reasopn why I didn't want to do this here is because I had been taught all the US regulations, but not the Canadian ones, and it was easier to access US public records. The prbolem has been networking. As I read the book I have come to realize how much easier everything would have been if I could GO to the REI club, POST bandit sign, and talk to the owners of the restoration services. What happenned is that I found no leads on the webpages I searched, even though I searched for a while and I couldn't get any owners of restoration services interested enough, or couldnt get through the receptionist. If I could go in person, maybe even with my real estate agent, I could do it.

As the title of the post says, I need a new strategy. It will take much longer to do things from afar. Yes, it is not impossible, just more difficult and time consuming. If you have any input to help me with my new strategy, please comment after you read!

I have thought of only using my C Corp, for now, for the tax lien business I had already wanted to start. I am thinking of doing all the wholesaling side where I live. This would allow my corp to remain working, get better liens since the ones in my area aren't very good and, more importantly, wholesale. I have already spoken with a real estate agent in my area (many months ago actually, before I found out I needed to be 19 to make contracts) who was willing to give me all CMA's and help me and then we could split my deal. She was VERY determinate, a referral from an investor, and a great one for sure. I will apply everything the book says in my city, where I can. I have noticed the real estate agents place their bandit signs too. They are tiny, compared to the ones I would like to get, but it does come to show that they can get away with it. I miiiiiight have to get tiny ones too, but I will use the big ones first and see if I get too many complaints.

What do I do with the agents in Seattle? I have thought of looking more closely at the lien system in Seattle, buying them there. Eventually I will get a property and I can use one of the 2 agents I spoke with. I don't want to tell them I just changed my mind about Seattle and leave them hanging, they did help me and used their time to do so after all. Again, if you have any suggestions for this, please mention them!

You might remember that a friend was interested in doing this in Canada with me. He will be back next month, but in the meantime, I will get the buyers, speak with that agent again and go to club meetings, as well as getting cards and buying bandit signs.

How does this strategy sound?

Hello,

It has been a while since I last posted anything. I haven't really done much, to be honest, I wasn't feeling well, but I did do some things.

As I said in the last post I have decided that it will be better to just focus on working where I live, since it willbe easier to get to know the investors. I did some research on the signs allowed in one of the municipalities, and as I expecteed they are not allowed and the fines are considerable. I, honestly, have never seen a bandit sign in my life here, except for political parties one month before the elections. Another thing is the signs must be fairly resistant, enought to resist winds of 65 kmph, or maybe it was miles. In any case, this would increase the cost of the bandit signs and if one of them happenned to get lose and hit someone, well, it wouldnt nd well. Winds of 100 kmph arent that uncommon. What I have been thinking I can do is posting smaller posters, A4 size, announcing that I buy houses. It needs to be posted in places where people congrgate of course. So hfar I have only thougt of bus stops, but Ill check if there are any other places with posterboards.

What I am most excited about is meeting with investors in my city. There is a small group of people that meet to talk about flipping. Honestly, I am a little afraid of going there and being met with close minded investors that wouldnt like the idea of this, since I am not going to flip myself. I dont know what I will say yet, but I will come up with something. I am thinking that there is a chance that a specific investor would like me to help him, I think those are called JV. In any case, I will be told by em everything they want. Something I will change in the blueprint is talking to the real estatae agent after talking to the investors. This is because I already spoke with one many months ago and she was very good and was willing to help me. I want to go back to her with a solidd plan, after speaking with th investors.

I will post a quesstion about meeting with the investors, to make sure everything goes well. This will all take place on the second week of next year so I will update the journal then

I read up to this point & will read the rest soon but I wanted to first say congrats on taking action & being so young! Really it is wonderful to see someone so young enter real estate I wish I had done it much younger I am 49 now. Well on the agent question I would yes work with an investor/agent-they get what you want to do!

Those agents are awesome & dont worry about the agent finding out you wholesale, it is none of their business what your exit strategy is. My agent now worked with another investor who wholesaled 50 homes with her in KC MO & she is in agreement with that so dont worry.

I wouldn't necessarily tell the agent upfront that you are wholesaling because you dont know they get wholesaling, most don't so you dont tell them that, you just say you want to buy, fix & flip homes & make a 20% profit & be in & out of deals quickly, that's what Dean/Matt taught us.

Don't worry about your age either(it doesn't sound like you go:) but something to thnk about-even tho you are young-the agents or anyone for that matter doesn't know how much $ you have in your bank acct, it could be 10 million! They don't know, you own property now too! You are an investor, yes you are just getting started so what, tell them the truth, you have bought property but now you want to fix n flip props, or tell them what Matt told people when they asked him how many deals he had made, he would say "you wouldn't believe me if I told you!" you can use that if you want LOL.

Anyways, also in closing I would before you make offer, add 20 buyers to your list just in case. Get their criteria of what they are looking for, so you know what to offer on, how much to offer, what types of homes they want, your buyers. I don't Canada but I imagine single fam residences is what they will want, like here, the easiest thing to wholesale are starter homes, 3 bed 2 bth homes that are in the price range that 1st time homebuyers would buy, i would concentrate on that, but ask your buyers what they want, make a database on Google doc's a spreadsheet & keep working at this ok & stay positive! Get insiders elite if you can, it's $30 a mo but sooo worth it! God bless.