Many would-be real estate investors find wholesaling to be a great entry point into the field of investing. With its process of finding under-valued properties and either selling them outright or assigning the contract to a buyer — without doing any repairs on the property — wholesaling is a great way to learn the craft of real estate investing while making money in the process.
But what does being a real estate wholesaler entail? What do you need to do (daily) to achieve your real estate wholesaling goals? And what does a typical day for a real estate wholesale investor look like?
Here’s a quick look at a typical eight-hour day for a full-time real estate wholesaler.
How Does Wholesaling Real Estate Work?
Wholesaling real estate is a process that consists of finding a property with potential, putting that property under contract, and “selling the rights” to that property — so to speak —to another investor for a finders fee. Often compared to day trading stocks, real estate wholesaling is a great way for beginners to get their businesses up and running if they have little liquid capital to start.
There are two ways to successfully close a wholesale real estate deal. Firstly, the double close, which is when buyer A purchases a property, closes on the deal, and then re-sells the property to buyer B. Secondly is the “assignment of contract,” which is when buyer A puts a property under contract but adds an “assignment clause” to the contract that allows them to pass the rights to another buyer (i.e., buyer B). Buyer A is then paid by buyer B a percentage of the cost of the property.
To learn more about the comprehensive process of wholesaling real estate, check out our beginner’s guide to wholesaling. If you think you have what it takes, keep reading for an action plan that will lead you to success.
Real Estate Wholesaling Example
An example can help better illustrate the real estate wholesaling process. Let’s say Sarah wants to wholesale properties in her area. She advertises in her market area that she wholesales houses.
Jim, a homeowner, has recently inherited a property from his parents that he is unable to fully take care of. The property goes without maintenance for several months while Jim decides what to do. This is where our wholesaler, Sarah, comes in.
Sarah offers to help Jim sell his property for $100,000, and places the home under contract. It is then her responsibility to assign that contract to an end buyer in her network. Using her connections with other real estate investors in the area, she is able to assign the final contract to a fix-and-flip investor for $108,000.
When the final contract is assigned, Jim is able to sell the property to the end buyer for $100,000. That buyer ultimately pays $108,000, leaving Sarah with a net profit of $8,000 for facilitating the transfer of the contract.
[ Thinking about investing in real estate? Register to attend a FREE online real estate class and learn how to get started investing in real estate. ]
3 Steps To Being A Real Estate Wholesaler
Most investors choose to become a real estate wholesaler before anything else. At the very least, wholesaling has become synonymous with the first step of investing in real estate; it can be the fastest, easiest, and most risk-averse exit strategy when executed flawlessly. That said, carrying out the perfect wholesale isn’t something that will happen overnight. A truly great real estate wholesaler isn’t born; they are created. More specifically, becoming a real estate wholesaler will require a lot of hard work, a mind for due diligence, and a good system to follow. Here’s a brief outline of the steps it will take to become a successful real estate wholesaler:
-
Find The Buyers: Traditionally, real estate investors will need to have a deal lined up before they can do anything, but wholesaling is the exception. Even before finding a deal, it’s good practice for wholesalers to have what the industry calls a buyers list. As its name suggests, a buyers list is a list of potential buyers for future deals. In a perfect world, wholesalers will already have buyers for the deals they will have in the future. That way, they can assign their contract and close the deal as soon as possible. That’s an important distinction to make: lining up buyers first will make wholesaling that much easier. This is where having a trustworthy network comes into play. Subsequent investors on a quality buyers list will be ready and willing to take the deals you send their way, all while providing you with a little extra money.
-
Find The Sellers: It should go without saying, but there is no wholesale deal without a seller. Therefore, the next thing investors should do after lining up buyers is finding a property worth wholesaling. There’s no difference between finding wholesale properties and rehabbing properties, only that wholesalers need to be fully transparent and clearly define their role in the transaction. After all, the property will probably be wholesaled to an end buyer who will end up rehabbing it.
-
Connect The Interested Parties: Once a real estate wholesaler has two interested parties, it’s time to execute one of two strategies: the double close or the assignment of contract (each of which we will go into detail about later).
How To Be A Successful Real Estate Wholesaler
Becoming a successful real estate wholesaler is the first step in mastering the real estate investing industry. As a result, it will require investors to retain a great deal of knowledge about the industry. After all, it’s most likely the first exit strategy they will implement.
The first thing investors will need to do is develop an intimate familiarity with the industry. That means getting to know the terms, the processes, systems, and the ins-and-outs of everything. Perhaps even more importantly, however, real estate wholesalers will need to build a trustworthy network. Remember the buyers list we talked about earlier? It’ll play a vital role when assigning contracts and conducting double closings. Remember, real estate is a people business; the people you align yourself with can make or break your success as a wholesaler. One of the most important skills that you will learn over time is how to make the right offer. You want to avoid going too low and losing or offending potential sellers, and going too high will make it difficult to find a buyer. For a more detailed idea of the traits successful wholesalers possess, let’s take a look at what a day in the life of a wholesaler looks like.
Daily Habits Of A Successful Real Estate Wholesaler
-
Step 1: Partake in a curated morning routine.
-
Step 2: Research the happenings of your local market.
-
Step 3: Work on your brand.
-
Step 4: Evaluate your current deals.
-
Step 5: Attend a networking event.
-
Step 6: Make an offer.
-
Step 7: Turn to your buyers list.
-
Step 8: Close a deal.
While it may not be possible to work on every aspect of your business every single day, doing so can be a good goal to keep in the back of your mind. Regardless of your experience, starting the day off with an effective morning routine is crucial for those who want to be a successful real estate wholesaler. Follow the action plan below for a day that encompasses what it takes to wholesale real estate effectively.
7am – 9am (Pre-Work Morning Routine)
Successful entrepreneurs know the importance of having a productive (and consistent) morning routine that primes them for success throughout the day. Even something as simple as making the bed, according to a survey by Hunch.com, can make you happier and more effective in your workday.
You want to tailor your morning routine around actions that empower you and get you energized and ready for the rest of your working day. These include daily actions like:
-
Exercise
-
Writing in a journal
-
Planning your monthly, quarterly and yearly goals
-
Eating a healthy breakfast
-
Meditation and/or visualization
-
Any activity that helps you feel focused, confident and ready to do your best
9am-10am (Local Market Research)
There’s no substitute for knowing your local market inside and out. Not only will it help you better judge the profit potential of future deals but will help you find innovative ways to acquire leads. Local market research includes:
-
Knowing the price points of specific neighborhoods
-
Studying the competition
-
Tracking market inventory (number of houses officially listed for sale)
-
Understanding zoning laws
-
Building a Rolodex of key real estate professionals (Realtors, lenders, brokers, contractors, etc.)
[ Learning how to invest in real estate doesn’t have to be hard! Our online real estate investing class has everything you need to shorten the learning curve and start investing in real estate in your area. ]
10am – 11am (Branding and Marketing)
It’s nearly impossible to be a successful real estate wholesaler without also being a successful marketer. And this means taking a two-pronged approach. One is creating branding assets that give your wholesaling real estate business credibility. This includes things like:
-
Business cards
-
Seller credibility packet
-
Buyer credibility packet
-
Investor credibility packet
-
A website and/or blog
-
Active social media platforms (such as a Facebook page and a LinkedIn profile)
-
Business name and logo
Though these assets don’t bring in a huge amount of leads on their own, they do give your business much-needed authority in a crowded real estate marketplace.
As for the marketing side, you’ll want to have numerous lead-generation strategies going, at once, to see which one works best for you. Popular wholesale marketing options include:
-
Direct mail campaigns
-
Craigslist
-
Bandit signs
-
Driving for dollars
-
Online advertising
-
The MLS (Yes, you can find leads here)
11am – 12pm (Deal Evaluation)
Once you’ve got leads coming in, it’s time to sift through your options and narrow down which properties you’ll make offers on. (And which you’ll avoid like the plague.)
Though this process can be frustrating — especially when you rule out properties that don’t meet your criteria — proper deal evaluation can save you a whole lot of money in the end.
Evaluating properties to see how they align with your wholesale exit strategy includes actions like:
-
Gathering information about the seller (their motivation, current debt, bottom-line price)
-
Gathering information about the property (condition, listing status, square footage)
-
Determining MLS market comps for the property
-
Determining Off-market comps for the property
-
Coming up with an estimated resale price
12pm – 1pm (Lunch: Building Your Network)
Everybody’s gotta eat, right? So, why not transform your daily calorie upload into an opportunity to broaden your real estate network? You could sample some local cuisine with:
-
Private investors
-
Hard money lenders
-
Fellow wholesalers
-
Real estate agents
-
Title agents
-
Mortgage brokers
-
Probate attorneys
-
Anyone you can think of that will help boost your real estate network
1pm – 2pm (Making Offers)
If there’s one thing holding back the novice real estate wholesaler, it’s that they simply don’t make enough offers. You’ll never know (in advance) which offers will be accepted, and which won’t, so it’s imperative you spend a good portion of your time, making more/better offers than you are currently. This means:
-
Learning how to assess what a seller really wants (emotionally and financially)
-
Researching the seller and/or agent you might be working with
-
Constantly developing your skills as a negotiator
-
Setting up your financing (if needed)
-
Knowing what to look for when you “walk through a property”
-
Crunching your numbers so you know what to offer (when the time comes)
2pm – 3pm (Creating a Buyers List)
Too often many dabbling into real estate wholesaling for the first time will wait until a deal on a property has closed before they create a wholesale buyers list. This is not the right approach. Instead, try to create a buyers list as early as possible so you’re ready to move swiftly to sell a property upon closing of a deal. This includes looking for buyers with sources such as:
-
Craigslist
-
Facebook real estate groups
-
Auctions
-
Local REIA meetings
-
Networking events
-
Trade shows
-
Referrals from your real estate network (See, that networking lunch does pay off)
3pm-4pm (Closing Deals)
Here’s the fun part; where you get to close deals and (hopefully) start to see profits. No matter what kind of wholesale closing you do — whether assigning the contract over to a cash buyer or buying outright and doing a “double close” — here are some strategies to help you reach closing faster than you thought possible:
-
Create a detailed, accurate cost of repairs on the property
-
Instill urgency in potential buyers with a deadline
-
Confirm financing by examining a proof-of-funds letter
-
Signing or (assigning) all proper sales agreements and legal documents
-
Have an escrow team ready to get into closing as soon as possible
4pm- 5pm (Building Your Team)
Once you’ve got your real estate wholesale strategy down, it’s time to build out your team — and take time-consuming tasks off your real estate wholesaler to-do list. This usually means performing a task yourself first and then document your process. (So you can eventually hand it off to someone else.)
Time-consuming, though valuable tasks, include business functions like:
-
Putting up bandit signs
-
Implementing direct mail campaigns
-
Craigslist posting
-
Inbound and outbound phone calls
-
All things social media
-
General office duties (reports, email, etc.)
The last thing you want to outsource is negotiations. This is where your biggest profits lie and the foundation of your long-term business lives.
Wholesaling vs. Flipping
It may have occurred to you that wholesaling and house flipping share some similarities. For starters, they both use real estate as an investment modality to create profit. Second, both investment methods require contracting and selling a home.
However, there are also differences between wholesaling vs. flipping. Wholesalers are often drawn to house flipping because one transaction can be completed within a matter of days. In addition, they technically do not have to get out of their office chair to complete a deal. In contrast, a house flipper will spend months on a single project. They’ll purchase the house, make necessary repairs, renovate it, manage contractors, and then finally sell the property with the hope that it will turn a profit.
Because wholesalers never have to purchase the property in question, and because the transaction can be completed quickly, they are exposed to less risk and capital investment.
Do You Need A License To Wholesale?
The need for a wholesale license varies state to state. Make sure to check the laws of the states that you are going to be wholesaling in, both for license information and other state laws that may apply to you. Each state may have different laws, so make sure to cover your bases before starting with real estate wholesaling. A real estate attorney would be a good resource if you don’t know where to start.
Summary
Not every day is going to go according to plan. Not every item on your real estate wholesaler to-do list will be checked off in the course of a 24-hour period.
So does wholesaling real estate work? Yes, and the more you can strategically plan your days around high-impact activities that directly move your real estate wholesaling career forward. You’ll find not just your investing career improves — so does your ability to be productive. No matter what the day throws your way.
Ready to start taking advantage of the current opportunities in the real estate market?
Click the banner below to take a 90-minute online training class and get started learning how to invest in today’s real estate market!
