Make offers and get your buyer to pay your escrow

There is a way to lock in your Short Sales and REO flips with absolutely no money out of your pocket. By using your buyer's money for your escrow deposit you are securing his interest and using zero of your own money to secure the deal.

In order for this to work you must have active buyers on your list not just "Tire Kickers." What's a "Tire Kicker" you ask? Did you ever go to a car lot and the guy next to you is walking around kicking all the tires acting like he knows what he is looking at? He really knows nothing about cars but wants to make the car sales man think he does so he kicks the tires as if he is checking for something. The same goes for your buyer's list. You have your serious buyers who get in and start the car up, look under the hood and them make an offer and then you have the guy who calls you as if he is interested but never actually buys a property. However you still want to keep your "Tire Kickers" informed when you have a deal because they are more than likely wholesalers who know buyers. So if you send them a property they will most likely present the property to their buyer with the hope of getting a referral fee. So you want to keep the tire kickers around!

When you put in your offer on a property put $1,000 in the escrow section of the contract. It would usually state "due upon signing the contract".

As soon as you get an offer accepted on a property immediately begin calling your buyers letting them know about the property. I have my agent take my partners through the property before I sign the contracts with the bank. (this is why it is a good idea to have an agent on your team).

If one of your buyers is interested have them sign a purchase agreement with you and give you an escrow deposit of $1,000. Now this purchase agreement is between you and the buyer, not you and the bank. This agreement will have the total purchase price that the buyer is buying the property for from you not the price you are offering the bank.

You will then give the bank the $1,000 that you received from the buyer and sign the contracts.

The key to this process is your buyers list. I am a firm believer in calling my buyers as opposed to just sending an email or posting in classifieds. Calling your buyers builds your relationship with them.

Now this process will be difficult if you do not have an active buyers list. In this case I recommend giving an escrow of $500.00 ONLY if you think the property is a GREAT deal and you can move it in the time that you have until the closing date. The deposit is non refundable so make sure that you have run your numbers and calculated your costs and profit on the property before you commit to signing the contract. A good wholesale deal is at least %30 below the ARV (Average retail value) of the property after you have deducted repair costs, your fee and holding costs.

I recommend that you continue to build your buyers list daily. Here are some articles that I wrote that will help you build your buyers list.

Tips to build your buyers list

Find buyers in For Rent adds

Written by Carol Stinson. All rights reserved.

Networking is Crucial For Wholesalers

If you want to succeed in Wholesaling you have got to make some noise, rattle some cages and let the world know who you are. A Wholesaler that simply sits in his little neck of the woods holding his contracts in his hands excited as hell about the deals that he has locked up will never sell a single one if he don't network. Networking with investors and other wholesalers in your area is what is going to get your deals sold and money in your pocket. If you are not networking you are not wholesaling. It's that simple. Unless you are selling your deals and making money you are not actively wholesaling.

The first network that you want to tap into is the one right in your back yard. Find Investor Groups in your area and go to a meeting. Introduce yourself, give out business cards and even hand out info on your deals. Visit reiclub.com to locate an Investor group near you.

After you have established relationships with your local Investors you need to branch out into the rest of the world. The first thing I suggest is to join online networking groups. These groups will allow you to connect with people who share the same interest or even people from your immediate area.

facebook.com
Twitter.com
Linkedin.com

Now it is time to join the Investor Forums. These forums with both get you networking with Investors and build your knowledge of Wholesaling. Most of these groups have articles and online education available.

Biggerpockets
Realestate.com
realestateinvestor.com
realestatedealmakers.com
Thenaked-investor.com

There are hundreds more but these are the ones that I wanted to share. I would suggest that you create a profile and add your contact number in each forum. I have found many buyers in these forums and have found them to be a very valuable asset to my success as a Wholesaler and an Investor.

Go Network and make some money!!!!!

Written by Carol Stinson. All rights reserved.

Public Auctions Present Opportunity For Profitable Investments

Listing a property on the MLS is the traditional way to sell a property. Many motivated sellers such as banks or government agencies prefer to offer the property in an auction in an effort to quickly unload the property. By offering the property in an auction the seller can sometimes sell the property immediately or even get a higher asking price for the property.

Visit the following auction websites to find out when an auction will be held in your area.

• AuctionZip
• Hudson & Marshall
• RealityBid
• Real Estate Disposition Corporation
• Williams & Williams

Check Out Related Blog Posts
Where To Find The Best Properties To Wholesale
Find Motivated Sellers and Buyers In Today's Rental Market

Finding the market value of a property

Finding the Market Value or "ARV" of an investment property is the first step in determining if it is a deal. Whether you are a Real Estate Investor or a Home Buyer you want to know if you are getting a good deal. Below are some quick links to help you in your search.

When I present an Investment Property to one of my buyers the first things that they want to know is “What’s the Market Value”. This is the most important fact in determining if the property is a deal. No matter how motivated your seller is if the property is not at least %40 below market value it is not a deal.

Finding the market value or “ARV” of a property is the key factor in determining a deal. The MLS is the most accurate way to find the value of a property but not everyone has access to the MLS.
Fortunately there are many web sites that link directly to the MLS and they are free for anyone to use.

These sites will give you the market value of a property along with a list of comparable houses that have sold in the area. Below are links to some of the web sites that I have found most useful.
Zillow.com
Homevaluehunt.com
Homes.com
Homevalues.com
Homegain.com
Cyberhomes.com
Realestate.yahoo.com/homevalues

Try to use the estimates from a few different sites when you are looking at the market value of your Real Estate Investment. Now find a motivated seller and you got a great deal!!! Good Luck!!

Written by Carol Stinson. All rights reserved.

Getting Paid to Find Investment Properties For Investors... BIRD DOGGIN!

Did you know that you could earn $1,000 to $4,000 a month just finding properties for Real Estate Investors? Locate properties for investors and get paid to do it.

Most Real Estate Investors will pay anywhere from $500 to $2,5000 for each property lead that they purchase. It's called a referral fee.

The first thing to do is find Real Estate Investors and build your buyers list. This can be done by looking in your local news paper under Real Estate for sale. Look for adds that say "I buy houses" or "properties wanted". Once you locate one of these adds call the phone number and ask the investor if he pays a referral fee if you find him a property. Ask him what kind of properties they are looking for ( how many bedrooms etc...) and in what area. Keep a record of what each buyer is looking for. I keep a separate file for each one of my buyers as well as keep a notebook journal on each one for easy reference.

Once you locate a Real Estate Investor that pays a referral fee you must look for properties. Drive through neighborhoods and look for vacant or distressed properties. Distressed properties are those where the grass is high, the windows are boarded up etc...

Once you locate a property write down the address and take some pictures. I write the address on a dry erase board and put it in front of the property for the picture. This helps me keep track of the properties that I find and photo.

Now you must research the property. The first thing to do is go to various home market sites to find out how much the property is worth. I have a list of websites in my blog entitled " Finding the market value of Real Estate".

I suggest going to your county tax record website or propertyshark.com and find out the owners name and current address.

Once you get a name you must try to find a current phone number. You can search yellowbook.com which will give you a phone number if it's listed. Sometimes the phone number is not always available and you will have to send a letter to the address listed for the owner in the tax records .

You can also try to get information on the owner by asking the neighbors. You will be surprised how much information you can get from the neighbor.

Before you turn the referral into the Real Estate Investor you should contact the owner to see if they want to sell the property. Ask them how much they would want if you were to offer them cash. You must get a good deal in order for the Investor to be interested in your lead. Remember Investors will only pay you if they purchase the property so you must get the owner to agree on a low price.

Now call the Real Estate Investor with your new deal.

Written by Carol Stinson. All rights reserved.


For more information visit Make Cash Now in Real Estate

How to identify a motivated seller

There is no better Real Estate Investment deal than that of a motivated seller. We all want to find those motivated sellers. Those property owners who simply need to make a deal with an investor in order to unload their burden of a problem property.

The first thing we must do as wholesalers or Real Estate Investors is understand what makes a seller motivated. What makes a seller so motivated that they are willing to make any deal possible in an effort to unload their problem property.

Here are some of the circumstances that make a motivated seller.
They desperately need to sell their property because of financial circumstances. The loss of a job, the death of a loved one etc… Something happened that changed their financial situation.
They are in an Adjustable Rate Mortgage and can no longer afford the payments.
They are in preforeclosure and need to sell their property to avoid an inevitable foreclosure.

Your success as a Real Estate Investor or Wholesaler depends on your ability to distinguish between a motivated seller and a non motivated seller. You will never convince a non-motivated seller to turn into a motivated seller. You will be wasting valuable time trying to transform a seller who does not have current circumstances to make them motivated enough to make a deal.

Evidence of a motivated seller depends on the answer to two basic questions.
Would you sell your house for what you owe on it?
Would you let me buy your house by taking over the payments?
If the seller answers yes to these questions they are truly motivated and you should be able to lock in a great deal with owner financing "subject to".
If the sellers answer is no to these questions then they are evidently not motivated and you will be wasting valuable time trying to negotiate. Move on until you find that motivated seller that is willing to negotiate a great investment deal.

There are Real Estate Investment deals and then there are GREAT Real Estate Investment deals. A motivated seller is the difference between the two!

Written by Carol Stinson. All rights reserved.

How to have a Real Estate Raffle

With homeowners not being able to sell their house in today's real estate market many are turning to house raffles to help. Here is how you can raffle off your house and make a generous donation to charity in the process.

First you must check your state raffle laws to Ensure you are following the state guidelines for your house raffle.Check with state and local laws regarding raffles.

You cannot legally have a raffle without a charity involved. Designate a charity that will receive any proceeds over that which you are asking for your house. Meet with a representative of that charity and explain what you are doing and how you will go about donating the proceeds.

Form a planning committee for your house raffle. Brainstorm together to get as many great ideas about marketing your raffle, various prizes for 2nd and 3rd place.
Meet weekly to stay posted as to the progress of your raffle.
Designate people to sell the house raffle tickets. Keep records of their progress.

Get house raffle tickets printed.
you can do it yourself by printing tickets right from your computer or you can have them professionally printed.

Get creative in selling tickets. You can set up a web site for your house raffle where people can go and purchase raffle tickets.

You can designate sellers to sell the raffle tickets.

Written by Carol Stinson. All rights reserved.