I must admit, I’m struggling right now. We haven’t had a deal in just about a year and I have no idea why. Seems like everyone around us, who are doing the same things we are, are finding deals and we aren’t. Our call volume is pretty good, but it seems that nobody is motivated enough to sell at anything less then market value. That can’t be true! What am I missing?
I’m thinking I have to make some sort of drastic change, I have a few ideas. None of these ideas will come with out risk though and for sure won’t be easy. My frustration level has been growing and my excitement for real estate investing is falling like a rock!
I’ve got to do some thinking…
Scott is a part time wholesaler, but full time real estate investing addict! As his family grows and his free time shrinks,He has been slowing building his wholesaling business over the past 7 years in between life events.Drive, dedication and never giving up are his strengths.
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Comments 13
Maybe Not enough lead sources? Maybe you’re getting enough call volume but not the right lead types. Or, I guess technically if you’re not getting deals then your lead volume also isn’t enough…
Author
I agree that if I increase my leads then I’d have better chances of getting more deals, but when you have a budget that won’t work. The only chance I have is to get better leads. From all the people I’ve asked, probate has been working best for them. Although I just spoke with a big time rehabber in my area and his volume has gone way down since last July. He used to be handling 6 rehabs at once, now he is struggling to get 1. We were trying to figure out what has changed..
The Market! The economy! As it improves, deals will be scarce, just like REO’s have decreased, so will motivated sellers.
Author
I was talking with someone else about exactly what you just said. He was shocked at what some “investors” where willing to pay for a house these days. 70k more then his best offer. People have hope that they can sell there house now for more so they aren’t taking our offers.
It’s definitely a market change. I haven’t been able to get a deal since August. Ever since about January ever seller I have talked to wants retail price and nothing less. It’s pretty frustrating, I think that when the market changes the strategy needs to change as well, Motivated sellers will always be around, but right now they are not the majority. What are you thinking about doing differently?. My last mailing resulted in less than 10 calls and that was from a yellow letter campaign.
Author
The million dollar question I guess is, what strategy should you take in a market like this one? How did investors by houses before the bubble burst?
perhaps you might want to focus more time working “on” your business than “in” your business. from one coder to another, it’s easy to get infatuated with building the perfect product. i no longer build web sites etc. i’ve let the (i’ve coded this all myself) torch go along time ago. now i just do some coding/designing for fun or to tweak some things real fast.
i’m not sure how much time you spend on building the application but i know small changes can be very time consuming. reigalaxy took countless hours (you know this), but now i outsource the projects and try to free up my time.
as a side note, if you need inventory take a look at the wholesale deals i have available. i’m sure you have a large buyers list by now. i’ll split the wholesale fees if you have buyers. heck if you find a buyer for the luxury home you’re looking at 100k.
Author
I created lead manager out of necessity to help keep me organized and streamline my marketing efforts. I also didn’t have any money to put towards buying into a pre-existing system. My marketing budget was (and is) tight already. I will say that SILM has definitely accomplished what I’ve created it for. It has easily saved me 3 to 4 hours per week (which is huge considering I only have a max of 10 hours to spend per week).
Even if I look back now, I don’t see an alternate way I could have handled the situation, given my money and time limitations. Maybe I’m a bit short sighted?
I appreciate you saying what most people would have a hard time saying to someone else. And trust me when I say that I’m going to give it some real thought.
With your side note, you have actually given me an idea I may start to pursue more. Thanks for the great comment Ryan, the next time you are in the Morristown area shoot me a message.
reigalaxy was exactly that. it was the foundation of my foreclosure business. i’m happy i built it and it’s something i’m proud of. that said, if i just outsourced it months earlier, i could have done more deals with that time. outsourcing is cheap and many of those coders have more knowledge than i do. i still program/design from time to time, but the time spent is just too costly to the business. i wish i realized this earlier.
in response to the other posts who aren’t getting results. how much volume are you guys doing?
I’ve been wondering the same thing out here in so cal where the market has been getting crazier ea month! it seems for me n prolly u too that the best option in an up trending market is to be the enabler of the transaction, since you’re already marketing actively, why not just get ur re license? that can only enhance ur offer to ur prospects right? if the numbers don’t work for a flip or wholesale, np! just list it at retail and get ur 2.5%. don’t wanna do open houses? np, neither do I, so how bout partnering w an agent that doesn’t have half ur marketing know how n analysis to get the right deals.
so of course this is all theory til I try it out after I get my license. if the nbrs don’t work for me, I’ll just retail it and bank it to the top… when the bubble bursts, I’ll b ready to ride it down.
Author
It’s a strategy I’ve heard before but I haven’t heard people being successful at making a living off of flipping listings to agents. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it won’t work, I just haven’t heard anyone say they have done it.
Can anyone confirm they do this with success?
This is definitely an issue a lot of folks are facing, Scott. Seems like many are struggling to find deals nowadays.
Though, I do remember some of our blogging pals (Shae and Steph come to mind) discuss joint venturing with other wholesalers via their buyers’ lists when deals are more difficult to find. I find the concept very interesting to focus on the buyers’ list by teaming up with other wholesalers to help them with their deals. In any case, just a thought.
Hope that helps!