If you are looking to find a great deal on your first home or you are searching for a property to invest in, working with a property wholesaler is a great place to start. They often have an inventory of houses that will fit anything you are looking for. Small flips. Gutted houses. Houses that are ready to move into. It’s a property wholesaler’s job to have inventory or leads on properties that will fit your needs as a real estate investor. When you develop a relationship with a property wholesaler, you can also give them a list of what you are looking for and they can find you a property to fit your needs.
So what’s step one when looking for a property wholesaler in the Baton Rouge market?
Step One: Study The Market
Before working with a property wholesaler in your area, you’ll need to do some research on your own about the market you are looking into. Zillow, Trulia, and Redfin are good places to start. I wouldn’t trust them 100% but they do give a good ballpark range on what you will be looking at when purchasing a house. These are good tools to use when researching because you can compare how much houses are selling for in different areas and zip codes you are looking to invest in. Also a benefit to using these sites is most of the time you get to look at the outside and inside of the house. This will help you compare prices based on the curbside appeal of the houses and how much homes are selling for with or without updates. Don’t skip looking at the pictures especially if you are looking to invest in a small or large flip.
Looking at the updates or lack thereof will give you an idea of how much work your potential flip or rental property will need to be competitive in the market you are choosing. These are the kind of details you will need to have in mind when finding your wholesaler.
Step Two: Find The Right One
According to a BiggerPockets article, there are two types of wholesalers: Career wholesalers and Ladder Climbing Wholesalers. Both are good to work with but for different reasons. Career wholesalers can typically find you the best deals but their prices will higher and they most likely won’t come off the price. They’ve been doing this a long time and they have a list of buyers who will pay exactly what they are asking for. Ladder Climbing wholesalers are typically new real estate investors who are wholesaling to fund their own real estate deals. Both are good to work with but the ladder climbing property wholesaler will most likely work with you a little bit more and may come off the price some. Their list of buyers may not be as long as the career wholesaler. However this could also work to your benefit as well. Getting on the list of new wholesalers will create less competition for you and if you are someone who can fund deals quickly then you will be at the top of their list when they find new deals.
Things to remember when working with wholesalers:
Make sure they are listening to your needs and goals as a buyer.
Ask for references to back up their claims.
Step Three: Do Homework, Again
Once your wholesaler sends you a property, you’ll need to do more homework. Here’s another quick step-by-step breakdown on what you will need to do:
1) Have an experienced firm do a title search. This ensures the title is clear and there are no other claims, tax liens, etc. on the property.
2) Run comps. Comps are where you search for houses that are in a similar area of town, square-footage, and have a similar number of bedrooms and bathrooms to the house you are looking to buy. This is a really important step. Here is an article we found called How to Find Comps For Your House: A Quick Crash Course . It goes more in depth, but basically you will want to find two types of comps. The Before Repair Value and the After Repair Value. The before repairs comp will ensure your property wholesaler is giving you a good deal. The After Repair comp helps you figure out if it is an investment you can actually afford. You may be able to afford the deal the property wholesaler is offering but if you can’t afford the repairs the house needs to compete with the rest of the market then you may want to pass.
3) If you don’t pass, contact local contractors in your area to get quotes for the property. These quotes often end up being more expensive as the project progresses. You’ll want to keep that in mind while you budget the project.
Once all of that is done…
Step Four: Be Able To Close Quickly
You will want to close the deal as soon as possible. Once the title is cleared, you’ve ran your comps, inspections scheduled, done then you will want to move fast. Property wholesalers typically don’t like to drag their feet on deals. They are buying and selling properties quickly. Some within 30-days of acquiring the property. If you can’t close fast, chances are someone else can. Also if you don’t grab the deal fast enough, don’t worry.
The great part about working with a property wholesaler in Baton Rouge and developing a relationship with them is they know what your goals are and what you are wanting to buy. The moment they find something that fits your needs, you are on their list and they will be contacting you again very soon.
Why Work With A Property Wholesaler In Baton Rouge?
You may think you can find properties and deals on your own and you would be right! However it takes a lot of marketing, searching, viewing properties, and negotiating with sellers. In other words, it takes a tremendous amount of time and if you let us at WeBuyHousesBR help you then we can make the process simple, fast, and convenient while selling you a property at 70% market value. This saves you time and money!