Flip This Wholesaler

I didn't go to Dennys, but can I be an asshole, anyway?

All kidding aside, Stephs right. 20% folks. If you've ever carried a plate from the kitchen, pulled a beer from the cooler, or even bussed behind a two year old, you know what she's talking about.

Yes, you can be an asshole, Jason.

They were interviewing some of the servers and managers on the radio this morning, and apparently some of them ended up in the negative yesterday after having to tip out at the end of their shift.

That would be my own personal version of hell- having to wait tables at Denny's during a promotion like that. For free.

Couple questions-

How can you cancel your contract with the bank and get your deposit back if you are not using any contingincies?

Is that Lee Kearney you are talking about?

I went to Denny's yesterday with the wife and left our waiter 5 bucks.

Steph,

How are you coming up with the number on your offers? Are you using a formula? 65-70%?

Brandon,

I just checked out the bank's addendum, and it looks like they have a built in 10 day extension, so, if they can't close by the 20th (10 days after the original closing date), then I can cancel the contrct and get my money back.

Yes, I'm talking about Lee Kearney.

Anonymous-

I don't use any sort of formula. I know the areas I'm working in really well, and I know what my investors are willing to pay for homes in each area. If I tried to use the 65-70% formula, I'd be screwed.

It may work in other markets that haven't tanked like ours has, but it doesn't work here.

You have to do some research to find out where you need to be price-wise in your particular market.

Hope that helps,
Steph

Steph,
What's a good way to do research on my market? Sorry, I'm a total newb

Do I have to tip if I totally forgot about the Denny's free breakfast and stayed home?

Tim- no, you are exempt.

Anonymous- You need to learn the values of the homes in each neighborhood that you will be working in. Find out what they are selling for retail (ARV), and then find out what price investors want to pick them up at. If you have access to the mls, you can do a search for recently sold homes in a particular neighborhood. Drive by each comp (comparable sale), so you can get a better feel for why one house sold for X amount, and another sold for Y. Do this over and over again until you start to really get a grasp of what the values are. Once you do this, it becomes much easier to spot a deal.

It takes a lot of time and effort to learn new neighborhoods, but you really have to put the leg work in, especially in the beginning.

Hope that helps,
Steph

So, Steph....was that an acknowledgement that I can be an asshole, or were you giving me permission to be an asshole?

Both.

Thats does help, thanks again!

Steph - Love your blog. I check it out every day although I don't always leave comments. Laughed my ass off this time. Funny because I have gone back in the restaurant business to make ends meet while RE gets going. I'm at a high-end restaurant, but still I get some horrible tippers. Grrr...

2 Restaurant Rules in life.
1. Overtip your breakfast waitress. Always. If I am eating alone and they even make conversation with me at all, I'm tipping 50%. Minimum 20%. I'm with Steph on this one, shame on you to all the Denny's deadbeats who ate for free and didn't tip. Shame.
2. Say thank you to your server. It's good karma. Might even get you free dessert one day...

Keep making offers!!
-Taylor

BTW, I did a couple of training videos on youtube for my staff. Check them out and let me know what you think... http://www.youtube.com/user/11daysale

Trulia, cyberhomes, zillow, etc. (in that order) are great sites to use if you don't have the MLS access.

You'll get a very good idea of what homes are selling for within that area of the subject home/size. And other sizes too.

Trulia's great for use/listing sold prices, Cyberhomes has a nice plus where you can check off the comps and it'll average it out for you, Zillow I'll use in a pinch/rarely...their valuations aren't always too great.

Hey Taylor,

I'll check out the videos. Hope you are doing well out there.

Matt-

Thanks for the info.

I'm appalled to hear that people weren't tipping on Tuesday. I went by myself and only had to pay $2 for coffee but I still left a couple of bucks. I don't go to Denny's often but those older waitresses they have there really do a great job. They never mess up my order!

I can't imagine coming up negative because usually you give a percentage, like 10% to the busboys, which they divide up and share. You don't give 10% to each one. They don't have a bartender at Denny's to tip out to. Maybe they also tip the host(ess) but certainly it's not going to add up to more than 100%. And managers don't make tips so I don't know what that would be about.

Something's wrong there.

I think what the interviewee meant was she got less than she has to claim on her taxes. They probably figure the servers' income based on a percentage of their receipts and report that to the IRS. But even if you have to pay tax on an amount higher than you actually made, you're not negative.

Example: Based on my check total, the restaurant reports I made $100 in tips, so I will have to pay 20% (let's say) of that in tax. But I actually made $85. I tip out 10% to busboys ($8.50) and 10% to the hostess ($8.50) and am left with $68, out of which I pay $20 in tax. No, I didn't make much money but I'm not negative. And from what I saw, tables were turning over like crazy, so even if let's say a third of your customers stiffed you, you couldn't lose money.

If you've worked in a restaurant, you know there are certain customers who shall remain nameless who simply don't tip more than a buck, if that, so it could be that the server interviewed worked in that type of neighborhood.

Now that I think of it, my check had the full amount of my meal, and the slam was deducted at the register, so there is a possibility they were basing earnings on the original check amounts, which definitely would skew the reporting. But usually there is some facility in place for servers to report their actual tips when they make less than what's reported. I believe that is only available if you always report your actual tips, which few servers do. You can't just report them when you feel like it.

The manager was the one who said some of the servers actually had to come out of pocket. Then there were servers being interviewed also, who were talking about getting stiffed all day.

They were probably WAY overstaffed, and if most people were not tipping, and they had to tip out a bus boy, I could see how it would be possible.

Either way, like I said in the post, the people who didn't tip are assholes.

Steph, my name is Taquila, I have several deals in Tampa, FL that I don't mind sharing some of the profit with you! Please get back with me at payne_realty@rocketmail.com and I will send you what I have!Looking forward to closing some deals with you soon!