Ask Matt Larson A Question

Build a buyers list first.

Put out bandit signs to find leads

DO research on the leads you get.

Determine who the motivated sellers are with the most equity

Make low offers

Match up buyers with accepted offers

Cash checks

To my knowledge it is legal to assign contracts in Philly. Who told you it wasn't legal?

If in doubt, ask an attorney. Thats what I do. Its FREE!

Due diligence is important. Use that form if you need it as a guideline. Not all questions will relate to every property you look at.

If you have a lot of cash and experiance apartment buildings are ok.

If you don't have a lot of cash or experiance the decision is easy. Start small with single family houses.

just keep talking to realtors. you will get the info you need.

Profit from real estate right now is the book where I teach assignments.

Hi Matt,
Always an honor to ask you a question.If my main focus is doing assignments until I build up capital to then be able to Buy , fix,and hold etc.Should I focus on FSBO's ,?? Are pre-foreclosure's good for an assignment?Or are pre-foreclosure's better to do lease options with?
These questions come from me(that has no money or very good credit).
Thanks for your time.Take care

Curtis Fillers
(Charlotte, NC)

Yes-FSBO's are the easiest thing to assign-by far. Pre-foreclosures would also fall in that category.

Matt,

So, just to be clear, when doing an assignment deal,
you're saying my realtor will act as the new assigned buyer's realtor?

I lock up a deal, have my realtor close with my new assigned buyer, I get my
finder's/assignment fee at closing, my realtor gets paid from the original seller, and my new buyer did not have to bring his own realtor because he's using mine instead to close?

Is that how it works?

Thanks.

-Vin

Matt,

First of all, thank you for making yourself available to answer questions. I live in California (Sacramento Area) and I am a newbie (no deals yet). I ordered the SFL System and have studied the Edge 2010 Program. I loved your insight on finding a RE Agent. I actually made a call yesterday (very 1st call)and talked to the receptionist (like you said) and was connected to an agent. The conversation was picture perfect like you had described. Like you had expressed at the Edge Event when I asked him about clearing $25k to $35K his immediate response very positive and when I asked him if he worked with other investors he immediately told me about other investors he works with who have made deals like that in the area I am looking to invest. I was so excited I had to stop myself from jumping out of my chair while talking to him. I plan on meeting face to face with him to discuss stratedgy next week.

My question is this: Even though it was a great phone call and he seems to be a great fit, should I continue to call other agents now or wait until we meet face to face and finalize whether or not he will be on my team?

Thank you again,

Greg Rowe
Elk Grove, CA

I want to say thank you Matt, and I will also keep you updated on the progress I make. Thanks for opening yourself up for questions.

Thank you for answering my question so promptly.

Best wishes,
Oran

The one with you and DEAN. Well I found a Realtor to work with me and I asked about pulling all the Cash Buyers that sold in the last 6 months that mention the word "Foreclosure" "Handyman" or They have been "rehabbed" or " have 0 to closed possession time. My Realtor wants to help me and I told him that I wanted to "BUY" FIX" and "SEll" in under 30 days and Make a profit of $20,000 - $25,000 AND HE HAS NO PROBLEM DOING THIS.

He says he has a lot fixer uppers for me and like I mentioned before I do have the Edge 2010 Videos and I have SFL. I told him that I have a system too. We meet Saturday so he can give me a listing. Thing is why can he not pull what I ask for him to pull off the MLS and He says unaware of any MLS Hotline to call?

I told him that I would have that number Saturday when we meet. If you know of a MLS hotline what is it because apparently some Agents on here on unaware of the Hotline Number. I am a little stuck and your the jedi. So what now?? I need a little help here please. I don't want to let this Realtor down. Thanks .

Daniel In New Mexico

Hi Daniel,

My husband is a realtor/attorney so I have access to the MLS. I called a number I found on MLS site, spoke with someone at the helpdesk and they walked me through the process. It was very easy. I am in AZ so we don't have same MLS support number, but the process might be the same. Tell your agent to do a "quick search", on status select only "closed" , there will be a calendar next to status where you can select close of escrow dates, put in dates for last 90 days or more. Click finish, at bottom left of MLS search click on green plus button(add another field search). Type in "cash" or I think "new financing" will bring "cash" up too. Select view results, will give u your list of "cash sold" properties. I had great success doing this. If u have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Cheers, Tracy

What would you recommend as a good strategy to start with for people with very good/excellent credit? We keep reading about no money down deals and bad credit etc. We are focusing on deals to buy, fix and flip. Dan is a general contractor/carpenter by trade and this seems to be a no brainer for us. We have a realtor we are working with and she works with investors. We have been looking at properties single and multi families homes. We have been told by so many that this is what we should be focusing on. The best past is listening to advice and not hearing negative naysayers talking. We also joined our local REI club in our state. Just saw Alan Cowgill on 9/20 for a lecture on private lenders at our meeting and we are attending an all day seminar 10/2 to see him again. Would love to know your thoughts on this. Thanks so much.

Hi Tracy,

Thanx much for you advice much needed

Hey Matt,
I hope you can help me. I submitted a short sale package on behalf of my seller it was a FSBO property. The seller has written several letters explaining to the short sale department that she is representing herself in the transaction. The mortgage adjustor keep assisting that we submit a listing agreement..
I live in Conn can anybody give me some advise on how I should handle this situation without losing the deal.
Help!!!

Hi Matt!

I am just starting out in this great biz and I think there is already an opportunity, literally, right in front of me but I'm not sure where to go with it. The house across the street is a short sale at $240k with an FMV of about $265k. It's been with 3 realtors since March of '09 with no movement. Now it's been shortsaled. Without a buyers list at this point in my career, what would be some good ways to go about this?

Thanks,

Andrea

what are some ways to find serious wholesale buyers and retail buyers fast to build up your buyers list?

I didn't forge ahead to see if you got a resposne, but if I may,

1) I think Matt most likley looks for the properties that have stacked motivators. He talks about this in his presentation on the Edge10 set. So not just a a seller who has a property on the market for a long time, but someone who is moving to another state, and someone who has already lowered the price, etc. Each of these three things are motivators for sellers, but stack them in one property, and you have a high chance of getting that deal at 40%, 50% or even 60% below FMV.

2) I dont' know much about LLCs (even though I have one...sad!) but when I had a company set it up two years ago, there were more tax breaks (or maybe it was smaller startup costs to have it based in Nevada, so that is where mine has it's office. Coe to think of it...I think that means that is the addy I should use on certain correspondence. Hmmm...

Hope this helps!

If I may, I think one of the best things you can do is re-read and then re-re-read PFRE Now. I'm sure there are details that are not in there, but I believe that most of what we need is in there. Matt said it well; Act with urgency, but be patient. You have to set small, specific goals, and work toward them every single day. Carve out time every day. In order to do this, you will have to sacrifice time from other things; even things you love doing (like sleeping! J/k...that's my problem...). Dean calls it creative destruction. You have to destroy (sacrifice) some things in your life, but you're doing it for a greater good in your future!

Good luck!

Seriously, right? But can we blame him? Look at the torrent he has unleashed on himself!

I'm sure Matt would have much more useful advice, but you are one of many who have been running into this issue with assignments, so you are not alone. I think one thing we have to try (by the way, I am going to try to start with assignments too) is simply calling a lot of agents. And i mean a lot. Find the ones who have done this before and we will be able to do them. With the techinques we are taught from all the resources of Dean G and this site, we FIND people who DO want to sell. I am setting a lot of things up for myself, but I still have not gotten out there just yet, so I can't imagine the frustration that may await, but I BELIEVE this will work. We just need to dig in.

Kevin you are a very good student. It is nice to see someone learning and studying as much as you are.

I have one question for you.

How many actual attorneys have you called to find out if they have done an assignment of contract?

I'm guessing none. Your asking the wrong people.

Keep trying.

Your answer is in the last conference call I did.

Contact an agent to help you. They get paid to do the work and get the listing. You will have a agent that will be glad to help you after that.

Thanks for explanation on the MLS helpline and how to work the MLS to find cash buyers. You figured out what 95% of realtors can't even figure out.

Your first priority is a buyers list. Get that started before looking for properties.

Even though you have excellent credit I still recommend you start with wholsaling. Once you get good at wholesaling then flipping will be a breeze.

I would just start with that agent. If he works out then you are set. If he doesn't then now you know how easy it is to find another agent.