If you're looking to find wholesale properties in Chicago, well take out a pen and pad and get ready for the golden nuggets. It's obvious by now that wholesaling properties in Chicago is what my business is currently doing. Since we have learned the best ways to market deals to reach a wide audience, it's a sure thing that by giving you these tips, you will be able to find more than just a few properties that are ready for wholesale.
Tip one - Online Classified Sites: One of the quickest ways to get wholesale deals in Chicago is to go to Craigslist or MyHouseDeals-dot-com. Craigslist will have a section where people post properties under "real estate for sale - by owner". Any smart wholesaler will have a presence in this section of Craigslist. As far as MyHouseDeals.com goes, well it is specifically for Chicago wholesale properties. MHD does not serve the entire country but it is growing.
Tip Two - Bandit Signs: Typically you should not be able to find many signs out for long because many cities like to take them down immediately, not Chicago though. Take a drive around Chicago's South and West Sides and begin taking down the phone numbers from the ugly "we buy houses" signs. You will defiantly find a number of wholesalers who are actively putting property under contract in the city.
Tip Three - Craigslist: If you live in Chicago and are looking for a property, you should look under the Real Estate for Sale - by Owner tab on the site. This is because many wholesalers like myself post our properties there and use it to our SEO advantage. At any given time, you will find a deal or wholesaler on the classified site.
Tip Four - Social Media: This is very important, go online and start joining Facebook and LinkedIn groups that are strictly about real estate and in the city of Chicago. For example I have a group called, "Chicago REO's and Wholesale Deals", many of the people in this group are active investors and wholesalers looking to share deals. You want to begin socializing with them and begin to market deals to these people. This is a quick and cheap way to start building a buyers list also.
Tip Five - Me: If you are looking for a local wholesaler in Chicago that knows the city and has experience, look no further. I am a great source of information for anyone looking to wholesale real estate in Chicago, or find Chicago wholesale properties.
For more information about finding cheap Chicago Wholesale properties or real estate, sign up to my website, www.ChicagoCashFlowProperties.com
1. Be aware of who will be looking at the contract. In general there should be 2 parties, the seller and the attorney. If they want to involve another party such as a realtor who is a friend, make sure you get their contact information before hand so you can establish rapport and answer any questions they may have directly. If the attorney is not familiar with real estate transactions, or wholesaling, just explain that it is all standard and that you will close quickly. Also note that if the contract will be seen by a realtor, having a $10 dollar deposit might not be enough and they will try to kill the deal (and get the business for themselves), which is why you want to speak with them before they see anything. As a wholesaler, it is very important that all parties who influence the seller are on the same page.
2. Understand your states standard board of contracts and what it states. If your wholesaling real estate and don’t have a contract, just go to your local real estate office and ask for a standard contract. When negotiating with a seller, you want to know all the points and be able to confidently summarize if for them. If you are using a contract from a course or guru, do the same thing. Read the contract over until you can recite the contents within each point.
3. Know the closing procedure. This is a doozy. Many wholesalers lose money because they do not understand the standard closing procedure and the inexperience will show and cost you rapport with the seller. For example, in Chicago it is standard that the closing be done by attorneys at a title company. Both the seller and buyer will have an attorney handling their closing. It is standard for the buyer to pay for closing costs as well. Learn the closing procedure in your area by asking a local wholesaler and get as much information as you can.
4. Practice presenting an agreement. As a wholesaler in Chicago, I always want to explain each point on the contract in as little of few words as possible. This is because the seller will have a lawyer review the contract anyways and any corrections or changes will be made by that attorney. My goal is to just give them the overview so they understand nothing fishy is going on. Also, you don’t want to sound too pushy or too weak. The only way to handle the situation is to practice! My advice is to grab a partner and practice negotiating a few times a week. Compile a list of the most common objectives and rehearse giving the answer. As a wholesaler, you want to be confident in every aspect of your communications, from answering the phone up to presenting a contract.
5. Be understanding of the person you are talking to.: In many cases, the seller is under some form of distress. They have invested time, energy and effort into the property and are not as passive as you may be. Always ask what they will be doing after the sell of the property and see if there is anything you can do to help them with that. For more information or the inside scoop on Chicago Wholesale Property and Investment deals, just go to my website, http://www.Chicagocashflowproperties.com
Hey everyone, if you are reading this, chances are you are into Chicago real estate investing. I myself have been building a buyers list in Chicago for quite sometime and I wanted to share with everyone what I do. Just for your information, in the last 3 weeks I have helped sell 4 wholesale deals. Not bad for not having a dime to my name and a credit score that resembles a MLB hitting average.
When I tell people that I am a real estate investor, I mean it! People look at me and tell me how much they want to do what I do, but then complain about not having money. These people DON'T want to do what you do or else they would have realized that they don't need money to begin. The fastest way to start is just building a list of Chicago buyers and then figuring out how to find them property. Let's take a quick look at some things I have done in order to find buyers.
Here are the four simplest ways to find investors for your deals
Networking - Go to your local REIA or investor club and begin asking people what they are looking to buy. If they say that they are not buying, take their business card and follow up in a week or so. You want to look for anyone that asks "where do you get your properties?", that way you can follow up by saying, "all over the place, where you looking to buy?" Simple enough, but the hard part is following up, scheduling a time to meet and go over their buying criteria. Use this criteria to then find wholesalers or flippers in the area and if you can team up the wholesaler with the buyer, you get a piece of the pie. Simple to do!
Social Media - Get on twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. On each you will want to build friends and contacts that are in the real estate profession throughout your city or area. Yahoo groups are another great source. Also, set up a blog on WordPress and start writing about real estate investment deals in the area, or why your area is great to buy in. You post this article in your twitter and Facebook and you will slowly yet surely get responses! This is more of a credibility builder than anything. Buyers will go online and read articles you posted about property and they will contact you, trust me, it works!
Bandit Signs - For as low as 50 bucks you order yellow bandit signs and stick them at the exits of highways and main cross sections. Please get a phone number that is NOT your cell phone. This works in case the local law gets mad and drops you a call, you can say you're an out of state investor and you paid a local guy to put them up. In any event, just create a map of the area you want to attack, and as you put up your signs, mark where you put them. In a week, just change the map and stick to the same area. On your sign have something that a buyer will recognize like, "Foreclosure for Sale. Asking: 36K, ARV, 110K", plus your phone #. Once the buyer calls, ask him/her what they are looking for and take their email down. Follow up ever other week or so. Chicago real estate buyers will be calling everyday so be prepared!
Real Estate Professionals - If you have business cards from realtors, mortgage brokers, title agents, and real estate attorneys, just call them or drop them an email and say that you are looking to help investors currently buying property. Once you are put in contact with them, be up-front. Say your experience level and that you want to help their business. Each professional should have access to a buyer or investor someway shape or form. Just keep asking and you will get pushed in the right direction.
Hope this helped, and if you have any other questions, my contact info is below!
RJ Cid
http://www.chicagocashflowproperties.com
twitter.com/chicagoinvestor
Marketing Your Investment Property Online Using Video: Pat 1
Did you know that 80% of potential buyers are going online before they ever walk to their car and view a property? That means all real estate investors that are not using the internet are fighting for 20% of buyers!Obviously this signifies the importance of how the web is changing the game.
Sites such as Youtube, Metacafe, Howto.com, Zillow, and others, are changing the way potential customers find out about your product. Today, people are online actively looking for products buy and researching how to maximize their purchase. The days of asking the Best Buy guy are behind us and Real Estate is no different. The internet is helping increase interest, activity, and sales of real estate property. So if you aren’t up to date, just keep reading.
First: GET A YOUTUBE SPECIFIC CAMERA! What camera should you get? Get a Flip Cam by Pure Digital. Go to Ebay, and buy any version you’d like. Although there are many styles, like the mini, and HD, I prefer the original 30 minute Flip because it is only about $80 and does the job. All you have to do is push a record button and the plug it in your USB port. The Flip come with it’s own editing software the opens up whenever its plugged into the computer. If you have never taken a film class don’t worry, there are some basic rules that you can follow when shooting a video
1. Never film and walk, never. You will get people dizzy.
2. Each shot should be a minimum of 5 seconds and last up to 12, anything more will bore your audience.
3. Play with panning and zoom. If you zoom into the kitchen, and slowing zoom out while you pan over to the bathroom, you keep the shot clean and up beat. When you edit, it will give a nice flow feeling.
4. Make it 3 minutes or less. You know, for us ADD folk = )
For an example of a recent property video I took: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TH4iNeGOrY
Side Note: Being on camera is not for everyone. When I started doing wholesale videos, I was a terrible speaker and I did not sound like I knew much of anything, even though I did, which was embarrassing. So if you are not comfortable, or don’t want to jeopardize your credibility, don’t talk, just shoot. Edit the shots and add music. The flip cam comes with some tracks you can easily ad for the background. Simple eh?
Second: Upload the Video! Once you have a camera, go to TubeMogul.com, setup a account in order to blast it all over the web. In order to make a long story short, go to Tubemogul, and sign up to all the video accounts possible. This will take a while because there are many video share sites that will require you to fill out tons of info. Once this is done, there are 3 main sites you need to make sure have detailed information: Myspace, Yahoo, and Youtube. The biggest file you can upload is 300MB, hence keeping the video short.
Third: KEYWORDS! When your video is done uploading, make sure the title has specific keywords to the location and propose o your product. For example: Chicago Wholesale Deal in Bucktown. Load the description and keyword box with specific terms and words regarding your property. Ready? Good, now LAUNCH IT.
Five Things Investors Should Consider For Their Rentals
Location to Public Transportation
Many people who live in Chicago are not immune the financial mess going on throughout the country. As such, people are looking to save and gas is one of the first places tenants look at. Chicago residents of Logan Square, Lincoln Park, and Wicker Park use the EL to get to work and back, so having this close must always be promoted. Many tenants have a 4 block threshold for walking when it comes to the L, if that!
Stuff Included
In a down economy, it is all about adding value to your product and apartments are no exception. Does your building offer laundry? How about free laundry? By placing a washer/dryer even a dishwasher in a unit, more people will reply to your ads because of it. Also, think about incentives such as Cubs tickets, one month free, and gift cards. This will not only get your apartments noticed more, tenants will have a positive experience and tell others. People love free, so find something you can provide and try it out!
Hardwood Floors
If your apartment is advertised as having hardwood floors, please shine them! By keeping the floors up to date and shining during a showing, renters will take notice! If the floor has miss-matched patterns or significant evidence of wear and tear, it is no longer a selling point.
A Sense of Community
Is there constant communication with the tenants who live in your building? Is there a monthly newsletter welcoming the new tenants and showcasing their talents? Imagine if you could help tenants connect to one another and promote a sense of community? Nobody, I mean nobody does this! As an investor, you not only invest in the building but also the people in it because without them, there’s no point.
Along with the sense of community, tapping local pubs, gyms, and stores for discounts and incentives will encourage the owners of those locals to cross promote your units as well. If you can offer a gym discount to your tenants for example,
No Security-Deposit
Yep, that’s right! No security deposit. The alternative to this is to have a non-refundable move-in fee, paid when the tenant picks up their keys before moving in. This small detail can bring your ads online much more attention if you promote this as an incentive. If you have a $700 move-in fee for a three bedroom apartment that is renting for $2,300 your tenants will feel as if you’ve saved them $1,600.
Visit My Wholesale Deals site: www.ChicagoCashFlowProperties.com
For more information, follow me on twitter: twitter/ChicagoInvestor
Facebook Me: Roberto Jorda-Cid
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