Flip This Wholesaler

6/29/09

So, I got a call over the weekend from a wholesaler in Tampa who is just getting started wholesaling REOs. He saw one of the ten million signs I have plastered all over the place, and called me to see if I could help him out. Basically, he just went out and started making offers on REOs without really knowing what he's doing- kind of a "ready, fire, aim" approach. Well, he ended up getting a property under contract at a REALLY GREAT price, and after finding out that he couldn't assign the contract, he was ready to just back out of the deal because he didn't have the funds to close on it himself. So, he was calling me to tell me about the deal, and to see if he could just get a bird dog fee from me if I ended up contracting it and selling it.

My first question to him was- "Why don't you just do a simultaneous closing?" And his answer was- "There are no title companies in Tampa who will do them. I was told they are illegal."

He told me he called every title company he could find, and that not a single one of them would do a simultaneous closing.

As you guys know, I do all of my closings using a simultaneous close, and I know of four title companies in Tampa who will do them. Actually, make that five. I just thought of another one.

I know I've written about this before, but I just wanted to once again emphasize that the best way to find an investor friendly title company in your area is to ask the active wholesalers who they are using. If you whip out the Yellow Pages and start going down the list (that's what he did), you are most likely setting yourself up for a healthy dose of rejection!

Now, I know you are probably thinking to yourself, "That makes sense, Steph, but how in the hell do I find wholesalers in my area? I'm a newbie and I don't have any connections yet!"

My first suggestion would be to head on over to RealEstateInvestor.com, sign up for an account (it's free), and start NETWORKING! You can even do a search for wholesalers in your city. I just did a search for wholesalers in Tampa, and this is what I came up with. Do you think that one of those 37 people might be able to help you out if you sent them a message asking for a title company referral? It doesn't get much easier than that!

If you don't find what you are looking for on REI.com, you can also search Facebook for real estate groups in your area. I just did a search for "Tampa Real Estate" on Facebook, and got 500 different results...

You get the picture, I think...

OK, gotta run. Literally. :)

Happy Monday, Blogosphere!

P.S.
You can also search those sites for BUYERS!

12/8/2008

Well, what can I say? Phoenix was AWESOME. I can't even tell you how lucky I am to be a part of the mastermind group that I am in. There is an amazing cast of characters that belong to it, and I have learned so much from all of them already. We crammed so much into the 3 days we were there, and I left feeling more motivated and positive than I have in a really long time. I set some new goals for myself to achieve before our next get-together, and let me just tell you, the consequence for not achieving them is something that I can not let happen..... So, needless to say, I've got some work to do over the next few months..

I ended up getting another offer accepted while I was in Phoenix (right after I landed, actually). I already had a buyer lined up for this while I was countering with the bank, so that's good news.

I have another REO-title-company-disaster in the works right now. (Yaaay!) So that makes two. Both deals are supposed to close on the 19th of this month. One of them is the one that was supposed to close last month where they forgot to get the addendum signed. The other is one I got accepted about a month ago, and the bank's title company lost the file or something, and no one knows what the hell is going on, and no one really cares, either- well, except for me and my buyer. That's pretty much the status of the other one, too. I am SO, SO, SO, SO, SO, SO, SICK of dealing with these incompetent, effing, morons. Seriously, I am just FED. UP. It's like I have to do the job of 4 other people if I want to get a deal to close in a somewhat reasonable amount of time. It's so frustrating. I probably spent 3 hours on the phone today trying to get in contact with someone who knew what the heck was going on, and I still got nowhere.

The one that I got accepted in Phoenix is also supposed to close on the 19th, but I highly doubt they will be able to pull it off. It would be nice to close all 3 in one day, and then a few days later head home for Christmas. Is that too much to ask, I wonder?? Can I request a Christmas Miracle??? Please?

I have a few other offers out there that I might be getting accepted this week, and then I still have to sell the one that I got accepted the day before I left. I have an entire 30 days to sell that one, and I'm making at least 10k on it, come hell or high freaking water.

And now I'm off to bed.

Adios.

9/5/2008

Well, I closed the deal today that I was talking about in my last post. Apparently, offering a $250 bonus to the bank's closing agent for meeting the deadline, is quite effective. The best $250 I've ever spent. It might just be beginner's luck, though, but I've got another deal that's supposed to close on the 26th of this month, and this title company is notoriously S-L-O-W (same title company, and same lender as the infamous pink house deal), so we'll see if I can go 2 for 2. I'll keep you posted.

I think I got the deal that I was talking about yesterday (the one where there are 3 other offers on the table), but I'm not positive yet. The listing agent sent me an email at 4:45 asking for my proof of funds (which I already sent with my original offer), and that is usually a good sign. I left him a VM at 6 asking if I got the deal (I really wanted to have confirmation today so I can start marketing it this weekend), but I still haven't heard back. I imagine more offers came in today because this is a good deal at list price, so I will be pretty surprised if I actually get it.

I'm not sure if I have mentioned it yet, but I am flying back to Illinois next Thursday for my brother's wedding. I'll be staying for 5 days. If I get the deal I was just talking about under contract, I'd really, really like to have it sold by the time I leave, because the last thing I want to be doing while I'm in Illinois is stressing out about finding a buyer. I know it's a good deal though, so I should be OK....

Itte rasshai....

8/11/2008

I had a great weekend in St. Louis... Got to hang out with my nephew Trevor, who is the sweetest, most adorable little kid on the planet....









It was the perfect, lazy, weekend. We ate a lot, watched the Olympics (I love, love, love the Olympics), and played Ms. Pac Man for hours on end. I got my ass kicked.

I managed to get both of the houses I have under contract sold while I was away, even though I said I wasn't going to do any work while I was there. I also got another promising counter offer, and am waiting to hear back from the listing agent to see if they are going to take my counter. I doubt they will come down that far, but you never know.

The pink house deal will be officially closed tomorrow. It was ready to go today, but my buyer couldn't get to the bank in time to get cash, so he's going in tomorrow at 9:30 to sign. There were a few last minute "issues" that we had to deal with, but I don't feel like getting into details, as I just want this stupid pain in the ass deal to be over and done with....

My intent is for September to be my best month yet, and I've already got 2 deals lined up, so if I work my butt off for the next few weeks, I'm pretty sure I can accomplish that goal. To be honest, I have been doing some serious slacking off in between deals, and really only work hard when my funds are running low. That's a horrible habit to get into, but I will tell you, when you have pretty much lived month to month your entire adult life, it is harder than you might think to break yourself of that mentality. Old habits die hard, I guess. I'll get there, though. If I made it this far, I can do anything...

6/12/2008

We are still waiting to hear when/if we can close on the deal that was supposed to close Tuesday. No one will return a phone call, or respond to emails, faxes, etc. They are a bunch of idiots, and I hope they go out of business and end up on the streets. Really, I do. My buyer decided to wait to see if we could get this one closed, and in the meantime, the other deal I had lined up for him sold to another investor. HAHAHA. He is not going to wait around much longer, though, so if these assholes don't give us an answer soon (as in tomorrow), then he is probably going to walk from this deal (his contract was up on Tuesday), and look for something else. And then I am going to hop in my car and head down to Ft. Effing Lauderdale and set this stupid title company on fire. It would be one thing if they would acknowledge us in any way, and let us know what is going on and when we can close, but it is IMPOSSIBLE to get in touch with anyone who knows anything. VERY FRUSTRATING.

The other deal that is supposed to close tomorrow, I STILL do not have the HUD and title commitment for, even though the lady told me I would have it this morning, and then by noon, and then by 5, and now tomorrow. We are doing a simultaneous close on this, so I need to get the docs to my title company as soon as possible so they can get everything ready for the second half of the transaction. I can hardly wait to hear her excuse in the morning when I call bright and early to harass her.

To make myself feel better, I have been low balling the crap out of the banks all day.

4/23/2008

The closing for the other REO I had under contract closed yesterday without a hitch. This one was just about as much of a pain in the ass as the one that closed last week, but it's over, I got paid, and that's all I care about... I ended up making close to 2k more on this deal than I had anticipated because I WAY over estimated the closing costs. My buyer paid all of the closing costs on the second transaction, and the bank paid most of the closing costs on the first transaction, and then I got a credit for the taxes, so when all was said and done, I only had to pay about a hundred bucks in closing costs.

I've now closed 2 deals with this particular listing agent in the last two months. He's got a ton of listings right now, so I'm pretty happy to be in his good graces. These relationships are going to pay off big time in the long run.

The third deal I have under contract (the one w 4 wholesalers involved), is scheduled to close this Monday. This one is not bank owned, but was on the mls for sale by an investor. I don't foresee any problems with this one (famous last words. hehe). The buyer has bought several properties this year from one of the wholesalers involved, so that's always a good sign.

I've been without mls access today and yesterday, so, haven't been making any offers. Also, have some non-real estate related stuff going on that has taken a lot of my time up.

I've set some pretty lofty goals for myself to accomplish over the next year. It is going to take quite a bit of hard work, and more importantly, DISCIPLINE (which I lack, oftentimes), but I can do it if I set my mind to it.

I'm finding that anything is possible if you are willing to put forth the effort, pay the price, and refuse to give up. I know that probably sounds trite and cliché, but it's the damn truth.

4/20/2008

As I mentioned in my prior post, I was getting a little concerned about my buyer for the other REO deal that is supposed to close tomorrow. I called him twice Friday asking him if it was OK to close Tuesday instead (the bank's title co said they needed an extra day to get everything ready). I told myself I would give him until noon Saturday to call me back, and then I would just start blowing his phone up like I have learned to do when people involved in deals with me don't return calls in a timely manner.....it's really quite effective. Anyway, I went out to my new Starbucks yesterday morning and forgot my phone at home. When I got back, there was an email from him sent at 11:57, saying that he was fine with closing Tuesday. So, that's good news.

2 closings in less than a week- never thought I'd see the day...

Third deal I have under contract is supposed to close a week from tomorrow. There's 4 wholesalers involved in this deal (long story), so I'm only making $1250 on it. Although it isn't the biggest payday in the world, I'll still take it all day long and be happy with it. The little ones add up, ya know?

I'm pretty excited about my new $50 video camera. They should hijack Geico's slogan "So easy a caveman could do it." Seriously- I am the biggest moron when it comes to technical stuff, and I was able to figure out how to upload videos in less than 20 minutes. This thing will be great for getting videos of properties to send to my buyers. I think I may bring it to the closing on Tuesday, so you guys can witness my 2nd simultaneous close, and also meet my new buyer.

10-4, over and out...