Got Questions? Carol Stinson's Wholesaling Q&A.

How do you figure out repairs if you are in a different state?

Actually yes and no...

I only get paid outside of closing on Short Sales that I assign to end cash buyers. I am not actually assigning them though. I put the offer in with the bank as the buyer, my team negotiates the short sale and gets the approval and then I offer the buyer the short sale at the approval price plus my fee. Only I get paid my fee before the buyer goes to closing. Then the buyer closes and pays the bank the approval amount.

As far as assignments on properties that are not short sales I do go to closing ( actually my partner goes to closing). The Title company pays us at closing on the assignment contract.

Make sense?

I connect with someone here on DG that is in the area of the property and have them go and look at, list the repairs they see and send me pictures. I then estimate the repairs off of their evaluation. I pay the person from DG $500.00 - $1,000 for their time if I close on the property. This was the purpose of my National Team.

Hope this answers your question.

When you say your team negotiates your short sale who does that include. Can you negotiate yourself or do you have to have a team.
Thanks For your help

Since Short sales take allot of time to negotiate ( and I do mean allot) I have a team in place that includes an Attorney ( My negotiator), Realtor ( To list the properties), assistant ( make calls to the bank, gathers paperwork) and me

You can do Short Sales yourself but it takes allot of time on the phone with the bank, gathering paperwork etc... Since I do so many of them it just made sense to put a team in place.

Thanks Carol For your help
God Bless

Carol,

It is a pleasure to correspond with you on the DG Community! --Jason

A. When it comes to "wholesaling", what is your thought on some of the property price guideline sites such as zillow, trulia etc. More so, how they may or may not have a tendency to fuel the fire of Inflating or Deflating a properties value.

B. I have personally witnessed the disadvantage from a "sellers" standpoint. Some of these being: Perhaps getting beat up on sales price. False Comparisons, Outdated info being taken into considerations. So then, What are some of the advantages from a "buyers" perspective, in your opinion.

the cash buyer or iee. Also do you do all your assignments through a title company or have you gone through an attorney as well? Have you ever done a back to back closing? Matt had said when he does a back to back closing, he just writes out a check to the seller/escrow and gets his check from the escrow/end buyer because everything gets recorded at the end of the day, but I was wondering how long does it actually take to get the money from the escrow so the check you write will be good? I am working on a couple of assignments right now, and i am trying to figure out which way I want to go. Thanks for your help.

Hi Carol,
Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions it has been a blessing. I have a questions
1. We have been building our buyers list and we are ready to start our first deal, we wanted to know what did you do to find out if your investors had the cash they said they did to buy your wholesale deals. Is there a letter you wrote to them that asked them, for example can you show proof that you do have this 350k you said you have. So we won't be working hard looking for deals and they don't have the cash they said they did. If there is a letter that you sent them can you give us an example of one.

You can ask them for a Proof of Funds letter from their bank. Make sure their name is on it and they don't give you one that belongs to someone else.

I just wanted to say God bless you Carol and you truly are blessed. Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.

The generous will be generously blessed.

Do you ask them for proof of funds, when you ask them to be on your buyers list? Or when you start looking for properties.

How many deals did you do before you got a llc? Do you have to have a llc?
When you find a property and you need to fiqure out what needs to be repaired, how do you get an estimate with out paying money. Is there a way you can look see what need s be fixed and go to home depot and estimate it all out.

Thanks

Carol -
*LOL* the flood gates have been opened with the offer for questions and you are so graciously answering them!

I liked what you said about your focusing on wholesaling for now and the success that you have had in that area - that is EXACTLY what I am planning to do as I get started. Yes, I know that $$ is to made by hanging onto a property and cashing in when the market goes back up but, for me right now, it fits me better
"to get "CASH NOW" and eventually move into investing in Real Estate for "CASH LATER" ---- as you stated.

So anyway, I'm about to post on my journal my experiences for today as I made my first real move in a while in this area.

Again - thanks for your example and your willingness to share!

Mike

I ask them for proof of funds when they want to purchase when of my properties. I tell them to email me their offer with their proof of funds. Asking them before they make an offer will deter them from working with you. It's like an insult since you are assuming they don't have the money for you to work with them. Doing it when they make an offer is expected.

I use Dean's site http://www.totalviewrealestate.com/ It is an awesome tool when searching for property info.

I have never actually gotten an LLC since my partner already had one. We just use his.

Fortunatly my husband is a contractor so it works out pretty well. But if you do not know a contractor I suggest that you build a relationship with one in your area. They are great to have on your side.

You can also take notes of repairs you see and go to home depot to price it out. I would ask them how much they charge to install as well since this will give you a good estimate of labor costs.

Do you recommend getting one if you don't have one? we don't have money to get one right now.

I am just recommending that you get to know one. Tell them you will give them a certain % of your profit if the property sells. This usually gets them motivated to work with you.

Carol,
I have to thank you for all this information!! As always you are wonderful. I will get this done with all your help. And I am a member of your National Team in Virginia. I hope your vacation was relaxing!

Hi Carol - great forum. I have a few questions.

1. You mention that you send a letter to expired listings. Have you ever used a simple postcard that says we buy houses in any condition cash or terms?

2. Jason mentioned he has a difficult time finding properties. I have the opposite problem. I'm not finding enough "real" buyers. I attend the reias and meet other investors who say they have a significant list and just send it to them. It's all about networking which I think is great, but even then, I'm not getting hits. Any ideas?

Thanks

Dave

@rbailey1962 thanks for the information.

Carol, how do you determine your offer if you don't see the property and you're doing all by phone and fax? Do you have a percentage that you use? I am trying to do a lot at home too. I have talked to several homeowners but I don't know how to determine what a good offer is.

Thank you,
Jean Gilchrest

I do not use the "I buy houses" terminology. I think it is worn out and over used. In my area there are signs on every pole and intersection that says " I buy houses". I think homeowners are getting immune to it. I like sending a personalized letter. Keep it personal and to the point. I send the letter in a greeting card envelope so there is a better chance they will open it ( ok it's a bit sneaky but they open it)

Also you will have a better chance at finding serious buyers once you get a great deal to market. Great deals bring buyers! It's like fishing, you need great bait to catch great buyers! Once you get a great deal advertise in your local paper etc... you will get calls from serious buyers.

Thank you Karen! My vacation was wonderful!

To your success!

Carol,

Thank You SO, SO, SO much for pointing me to www.totalviewrealestate.com

I've used some of the others and came up with some out of wack figures.

I actually plugged in the address for the listing I have going on right now

and it was so much more realistic and On the Money!

Your Fan,
JJD

Hi Carol

At the Edge you talked of property locater. You pay them once the deal closes.
Do you have the Title Co write a check to them? Do you have a written contract with them? I assume it is a 1099 situation so are you issuing end of the year statements or is it their responsibility to keep their own records for the IRS? Also, what specific info should they summit to save me the time? Thanks for sharing what you learned!

Theresa

Oh by the way glad the shore was so fun!

Carol

Do you use the buyers Title Company?

Hi Carol,

Although I joined the DG family in 10/09, I still consider myself new.

I have been following some of your posts and have recieved great info from you. Thank you for your time and willingness to help others.

The question I have for you has to do with my buyers list. I took your advice and ran an ad on CL and received four replies immediately, all of the respondents asked what I have under contract. I was not prepared to get responses so quickly and as a result I do not have any properties under contract (I am still working on that). What do I say or tell these prospective buyers? I know you had posted on this earlier but I am unable to find it. Could you please refresh me on this situation?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Steve