In 1999, after a year of reading books, "harassing" local real estate investors and faxing typed letters from the floor of my apartment (Yes, with a typewriter. I didn't even own a computer.), I bought my first house for $36,000. It was a duplex located at 765 Bonnie Brae Avenue in Atlanta, Georgia. I bought the place with a no-credit-check, hard money loan at 10pts/18% interest, yikes. I had just quit my graveyard-shift job working in an archaic, digit and limb-risking envelope factory. I had two weeks before my rent and car payments were due, and I had no money.
I was able to pull some cash out of the repair escrow to stay afloat. While putting on a new roof and painting the house, a lady from across the street who managed a rooming house (or more accurately, a drug dealer who managed a crack house) had come over to me and said she wished I could do that to her house. I said give me the name and number of your landlord. Within two weeks, I had seven rooming houses (drug houses) under contract. These houses were beyond imagination, piled with filth, raw sewage and, in all reality, should have been bull-dozed.
I ended up buying and selling four other houses on that same street. The rehabilitation that was going on, in turn, had brought other investors into the area. Over the course of a couple years, the whole street had turned from a war zone into a neighborhood. Some homeowners complain about investors, citing more rentals and lowered property values, but this would be a debate for the suburbs. My business is lower-end, inner-city, and from my personal experience, what I do is good.
I had wholesaled properties independently for several years in Atlanta and managed to move 50 plus houses, but it was a tough gig to pull off without cash. I started out of the gates strong, but had eventually begun chasing my tail. With the influx of prime-time real estate shows, late-night infomercials and the hot Atlanta market, large, well capitalized cash buyers were coming out of the woodwork. The game of tying up contracts as a means to control and turn properties without cash had caught up with me. I ended up moving back to Ohio to stay with a relative in order to regroup.
I have the knowledge, expertise and tenacity; but what's missing is the cash infusion needed to take my business to the next level. The benefits a cash investor will provide are immeasurable. A cash-backed buyer in this niche is separated from the pack, granted greater access to more properties and strengthened by consistency in establishing and maintaining an on-going inventory.
Currently residing (stuck!) in Olmsted Township, Ohio, I have a unique funding request for a perpetual, wholesale real estate operation in San Antonio, Texas. (See housing forecast on my site for why San Antonio.) I am currently seeking a private investor/funding partner to back me in a full-time, low-end, multi-property real estate venture: investment $200K. I have published my proposal online as a creative way to introduce myself and provide a detailed approach to the presentation of my business plan. Please see my proposal in detail at:
www.EntrepreneurSeeksInvestor.com
The passive income opportunity my proposal presents when weighed against the relative startup cost promises to offer a lucrative and worthwhile endeavor. Outside of initial startup costs, which are included in the total investment and recouped by investor, all substantial funds are secured by the real estate we purchase. I'm not asking for a blank check; you maintain control of funds as all substantial funds are wired directly to licensed closing attorneys. This is essentially an asset-based proposal in which the homes we purchase, typically 40% to 50% of ARV (After Repair Value), will serve as collateral. I am projecting an 18-30% ($36,000 to $60,000) conservative return to investor in the first year on a $200K investment.
For the past year, I have researched the local San Antonio market, studied the neighborhoods, analyzed sales comparables, tuned in to all of the local real estate blogs and forums to gain insight, familiarized myself with who's who in the investor market, acquainted myself with the investor clubs, vendors and associated real estate professionals and identified lenders that will provide financing to our buyers.
More importantly, I have done all of the preparation necessary to make this a virtual plug-in operation. A fully functional website for property listings, business cards, flyers and company identity are all basically developed, just awaiting a San Antonio address and new phone numbers. Marketing avenues have been explored and identified. All documents, contracts, trust agreements, forms and letters are all ready to go.
"Sometimes you have to go out on a limb; that's where the fruit is." - unknown
John Lydic
440-454-4321
wholesaleproperties@cox.com
