Accountability for the New Investor

How many of you have wholesaled at least one property before?
How many of you are brand new to real estate and do not own any property?
How many of you own your primary residence?
How many of you own your primary residence, and 1-3 rental properties?
How many of you own your primary residence, and at least one commercial property?
Who owns more than four properties, commercial or residential?
Is anyone doing land development?

For many investors, simply deciding WHAT they want to do is a big hurdle; for some, it is the idea of buying their first primary residence, or finding more affordable housing, or generating quick cash. Some want to know about getting or using their real estate license.
For others who know what to do, the key to success is simply taking action. Some fear or belief is holding many investors back from taking that first step. Plus, real estate investing IS NOT EASY, and investors need to focus on the realities of perseverance through frustration and rejection.

REAPS is offering its 30-day challenge to investors of all abilities and experience during the month of May at each of its four satellite meetings in Fife, Everett, Bremerton and Bellingham. These meetings would also target REAPS membership tools designed to help investors move forward in their real estate investment efforts, and would identify other investors who might be able to partner or participate on a new investor's real estate team.

These sessions would give each participant an opportunity to identify their own next steps in the next 30 days, and identify an accountability partner to help. These challenges have been offered the past two years, and have been exceptionally well-received. Sign up to attend one of these meetings at www.reapsweb.com

Happy Investing!

Wholesaling 101

Congratulations to those investors who have signed up to do the 30-day Challenges sponsored by the Real Estate Association of Puget Sound. I have been meeting with a number of these novice real estate investors and coaching them on how to get started.

Many of them are interested in wholesaling real estate. "Wholesaling" simply means to buy low and sell low. Wholesalers typically find distressed or otherwise undervalued properties, and sell them to another investor who will fix up the property or add value before offering it for sale to an end-buyer at market price. In order for this to work, the investor who is doing work on the property must be able to purchase the property at a low enough price to make a profit after they have completed their work.

Wholesalers make a modest amount of money by finding properties, and getting them under contract for the rehab investor.

Many new wholesalers are still confused about how and where to start, and many, without a solid background in real estate, are nervous about talking to Sellers.

I do not recommend that they start with Sellers. Instead, I recommend that they talk to buyers - the investors that will pay cash quickly to purchase a good wholesale deal. These buyers are easy to find - they are members of your local real estate investment association.

How easy is it to identify these buyers? Simple. Just go through your association's membership directory and start calling. You are now taking orders for the types of properties for which you should be searching.

Here are a list of questions for your buyer prospects:

• Do you buy properties from wholesalers? What types of properties do you buy? What is your criteria for these properties? Where? What price range?
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• If I found a property that meets your criteria, should I contact you?
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• Are you a cash buyer? How much money would you have to put down on a property? How many deals can you handle a month/year?
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• How quickly could you come up with the funds?

Now, armed with your buyer information, doesn't this make it much easier and safer to speak with sellers?
Hello, Mr and Ms Seller. I have several buyers who are interested in purchasing properties like yours - would you consider selling? 

And for those of you doing the 30-day Challenge, be sure to identify a challenge that you can control. You may or may not be able to get a property under contract in 30-days for example, as that requires a willing seller. But you certainly can control how many phone calls you will make every day to sellers, for example. You have total control there.

Do the behaviors that lead to success in real estate investing, and you will eventually be successful.

Happy Investing!