Kriss (Pro Wholesaler Student) recently flipped her first wholesale real estate deal and made $5,000 while spending $0 on marketing!
See how Kriss got her start Wholesaling Houses!
What we also cover in the interview:
Watch the interview right here:
Here's the video transcription on how Kriss made $5k from her first wholesale real estate deal:
Alex: Hey guys, it's Alex Martinez today with realestateskills.com, and today we've got a cool interview with my Pro Wholesaler student, Kriss. She made $5,000 on her first wholesale real estate deal. She did this spending no money on marketing, and had zero real estate experience beforehand.
Alex: All right, so we're going to jump into this interview right now, but first off, I want to mention she made $5,000, put zero dollars in. She found her cash buyer using Facebook, so we'll get into that. And then also one of the most important things you'll see in this interview is that she took consistent action.
Alex: So we put consistency before action because anyone can take action for a week, a month, two months, but it's that consistent action over time that's going to keep getting you deals. It's the most important thing because the reality is anyone can wholesale real estate as long as you continually put in the work and you have the right system to follow. So hope you guys learn a lot from this interview. Check it out. And please hit subscribe if you like this. Leave a comment below if you have any questions whatsoever. All right? So I'll see you guys on the flip side. Take care.
Kriss: When I met you when we had our first phone call, I was in the ICU with my father. And just going through that and trying to work it alongside his bed there, and then things just... I got my first deal under contract. He was still alive at that time, and then he ended up passing away in the middle of trying to get my second one done. And I just want to tell people, you can work this business around your life and sitting in a hospital, sitting with hospice next to us, being able to contact these homeowners and things. And that's what I do love about this business, and it just fits my life so well. I'm hoping now that we can just get the ball rolling.
Kriss: My first one was completely different. It was an auction.com find. And the problem it was... the auction date was in about 30 days from the time I found it. And it looked like they only owed about $45,000. I did some research and found who owned it. They would not answer, and so I contacted a relative and they said, "You didn't hear this from me, but here's the best number. Here's when they're at the home," and that sort of thing.
Kriss: And so I found the woman finally out front of her house and I pulled over and I talked to her. They were on the news for hoarding 46 dogs in that house. And so they had gotten those all removed. And actually they had finally moved out into some family members' houses. And so they just decided to start cleaning it out. And they did not let me in the first day. And I talked to the relative and they said, "You do not want to go in that house without a mask and things.".
Kriss: And so I started building rapport with the woman that lived there. The husband wouldn't speak to me. He always went into a back room. He felt very ashamed. But it took me about a week to finally get into the house, and we signed an agreement after about I think our sixth time talking. And she felt like they needed it to be all clean and all done and everything before, and I told them, "You can stop everything you're doing right now and walk away, and I will handle it from here.".
Kriss: And so I started contacting, once I got that agreement to that release of information, I sent it to the bank and so started working directly with them and then no longer really with the owners that much. And so time was pressing the title company. It's very important to find a good one. This one was not. They're busy, but they weren't understanding how important it was to speed this along because now we were only 16 days from auction.
Kriss: I asked the bank if we could get it stopped and they said "No, not right now." So we had to just try to get everything done before the auction. And we closed two days before the auction date.
Alex: Way to make it happen.
Kriss: So it was really cool, but it was a lot of legwork. My assignment was originally $20,000, but there was a state tax lien on it, and so the finance partner and I decided to split that because we didn't have time to talk to the U.S. Department of Treasury to get that off of there.
Alex: Yeah. And so what was your-
Kriss: Because that would have delayed.
Alex: Yeah. Didn't she split it with your financing partner? Paying the lien off?
Kriss: Yeah. Yeah, so I got a $5,000 wholesale fee. So we each paid $15,000 because it was $30,000 for the tax lien. So for my first one, Alex, I did more than I might have just because I wanted that first one under my belt, and $5,000 is more than nothing. So that was really good. But it's really interesting because I didn't really have any secured cash buyers yet because I was just starting, and I found this one on Facebook classifieds. She says, "My husband and I are starting a house flipping business. Just wanted everybody to know in case you find any out there." And I messaged her and got a really good relationship going with her.
Kriss: And so they are funded through a private lender, a relative down in California, and he was very excited about working in my area, my market. So yeah, they had the money there just like that. It was really smooth and I thought, "Okay, this is way too good to be true." And so I contacted them for my second one, and they almost bit on that one, but there were just some things with the house I was telling you about the roof being so low that they were really scared to take something like that on because they're still working in that hoarder house that they bought from me, or basically that I signed to them.
Kriss: So that was just going to be too much for them, so I contacted other finance partners that I finally got going on, just really started talking with a lot of them. And so I had six different finance partners walk through that house, and all of them were too afraid to take that on.
Kriss: But it sold somebody else, the next person in line in 10 days. So that's why I got very upset. But again, Alex, we're in such a small area, I've been teaching people what we do, and it's new in our area and that's good and bad. And so just a lot of education, and I am still working with that agent for other properties and she's okay. I'm really happy it still closed because she still got paid. If this would have caused such a delay or something or a reason for it to not sell, I would have been probably bothered by that. She might not call me next time like, "Oh, that didn't work out too well."
Alex: Yeah, yeah.
Kriss: So I think it went okay.
Alex: Yeah, you did everything in your best power to make it happen. And you did get that first deal, as well. Congrats on that. A lot of people talk about doing their first real estate deals, and they talk about it forever and ever and ever. And 20 years goes by and they never do it. And so you did that, and you're working on your next one right now. And it's just the beginning for you.
Kriss: Yeah, yeah. I'm really excited about it. I'm really, really good about... I'm not afraid, I guess, to pick up a phone or stop by when I see people outside and just visit with them. And I do a lot of studying about people that have passed away, and contacting family members, and in an inappropriate amount of time. And so I'm working on another one that is taking place right now. So the water's turned off.
Kriss: We kind of also have a little bit of a ninja trick in it... It's legal, but my husband works for the city, and so he knows everybody that gets their water turned on or off. But it's public information, but he gets the stack of them, and so I just call them.
Alex: That's awesome. That's perfect. That is super ninja.
Kriss: Yeah, so I was just delayed a little bit with the passing of my father and the funeral and everything. And so now we're back up and running quickly, and I'm really excited about it.
Alex: Excited for you as well. And when we spoke last time on the phone, too, I thought it was super cool how you've been going to the Real Estate Investors Association meetings too. And everyone knows now, you've educated them, people know what you do and they know who you are. You built a little reputation for yourself, and a great real estate network. People know to come to you because there's that one quote, "If you build it, they will come," in that movie Field of Dreams, but it's more like, "If you build it and you tell people, then they'll come." And you've been telling people, and that's going to help your real estate career a lot, and doing these deals, and building your authority and credibility in the area. So I love when you mentioned that to me last time on the phone, because it's gonna pay off big, big dividends.
Kriss: Yeah. So Facebook Marketplace, I was really scared to do that because my name's attached to that, and I'm starting to ask... They know what other business I do in town, and so I knew it would come to a surprise for people that I was getting into real estate investing, and I didn't know how people would take that. We're in a very small town, but it was great. And that is just something that I plan to do is just keep putting myself out there because if they know they can contact me and not deal with any realtors. I also put an ad in our local paper and local classifieds, a real paper instead of just Facebook. And so I just did that, and haven't received any calls yet, but I noticed the first week it was in there, my phone number was wrong. They typed it in there wrong, so that didn't help.
Alex: That does not help. That does not help the phone to ring at all.
Kriss: So then the second week, so this week, it's in there again and it's correct. However, if they called last week, they might think, "Oh, I already called that number. It's a bad number," kind of thing. So that was a major bummer, but I don't know, I just don't let things derail me too much. And there's so much to go out and get out there, and I just got to keep fighting for it. And I'm finding that there's like six or seven of us kind of doing similar work here, and most of them are flipping and some are holding, but I am the only sole wholesaler. So I try to snag them before them and then get them to them.
Alex: Awesome. That's perfect. And only having six to seven active real estate investors in the area, that's a big, big plus. Most areas have dozens or hundreds.
Kriss: I know, I know. And so our inventory's not as high either because we're only 20,000 people, but 30 minutes from me is the State of Washington. And so all of Eastern Washington, that's where all my REIA meetings are because there are none over here. And sky's the limit over there. There's over 200,000 people over there in that area. But boy, it's in my backyard. I just feel like I know these people. I grew up here and after college I moved back here. And so I have kind of a hand up a little bit. And then with my husband being kind of aware of whose water is on and off, that utility thing is huge. And code enforcement is huge, too.
Kriss: So yeah, I have two kind of going right now just waiting for these older folks that own the home to call me and they, "I have everything to fix up the house. We're going to fix it first." She's in her seventies and her son, I caught her son at the property, he says, "I don't want to fix it, so it's going to just sit here." And it's owned free and clear. It would be sweet if she would just realize nobody's going to fix this up for me. And I just want to buy it as is, but they've got to call.
Alex: Yeah, yeah. And were you able to get the contact information of the son? Because maybe you could talk to the son, son could talk to the mom.
Kriss: I do. I do.
Alex: Yeah. That could be a great way to get in.
Kriss: Yeah. He says, "Well, I just want to let you know that she's not going to sell it at auction prices." But followup, followup, followup. Right, Alex?
Alex: Always be following up, yeah. And you don't need to sell at auction prices. You just need to sell at the price that she wants and whatever that is. So it might be higher than auction price, might be lower than auction price.
Kriss: Yeah. Yeah. I have about three voicemails into her and she hasn't yet called, but one of these days.
Alex: One of these days for sure.
Kriss: The son is ready to, "Yeah, we need to get rid of it. She's just paying taxes on it. We keep getting code violated. It's just a headache for me." Because she lives in another town, so the son's having to take care of it. So he's ready to just offload it, but I said, "Well, talk your mom into calling me."
Alex: Yeah, absolutely.
Kriss: Yeah, but it's pretty exciting. I think that competitiveness is really, that's in my blood. I played sports collegiately, so this is really fun for me. It's a rush.
Alex: Yeah, I love that you see it that way because it is like that. It is competitive, and unless you want to... What I'm trying to say is if you don't want to be great at what you're doing, if it's real estate, then you shouldn't do it because it takes wanting to be great. It takes wanting to be better than the next person. And if you just follow up a little bit more than the next person, and you're better than them, more competitive, you can get deals as opposed to people who just send one email and never follow up. So it pays to have that competitive nature. And if you don't have a competitive nature, definitely need to step it up, or probably just get a regular job.
Kriss: Yeah. Right, right. Yeah. So I just have to remind myself to go back and kind of review some of the content. I was so excited initially with that course and I blazed through it in seven days. And then the Facebook page, somebody said, "Oh, he posted something about that." So I needed to go back, and that case study was perfect for me.
Alex: Awesome.
Kriss: So I appreciate that too because I'm relying on our team, our group to help each other out.
Alex: Yeah, absolutely. And that's what it's there for, the Pro Wholesaler Community within the Program.
Kriss: That's really what we're relying on. We want to be Pro Wholesalers and we want to be able to respond quickly to these agents and lenders and the different people we're working with in a professional way. And sometimes if we don't know the answer, we just have to tell them, "I don't know that right now, but I'll get back to you." And we want a place to be able to go and find that real quick.
Alex: Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Everything's just a question away. One thing I've always found when I didn't know the answer to anything, I still do that today is I say exactly what you said, "I'll get you the answer. Let me get right back to you on that when I can. I'll give you a call back, shoot you an email back." Then I go find it out. Whether it's making phone calls, posting in the group, whatever it is need be.
Alex: And then I love that you were talking about probates and kind of that side of things because Stan Gendlin, who's a member in the group as well, he did 97 flips and wholesales last year. The majority of the way how he's getting those deals is through probate mailers. So yeah, it's a great strategy. He's over in South Carolina, but yeah, he's mailing them directly with postcards and having really good success.
Kriss: Yeah, he's the mobile home guy. Mobile home parks.
Alex: Yeah. Now, now he's bought about five mobile homes this year and also an apartment building.
Kriss: Okay. Very, very cool. Yeah, that's what's neat is just when you're... There's just so much more that you can do in this business. You know? If you're just kinda done with the single family, go to multifamily. If you're done with multifamily, go to mobile home parks. If you don't want that... It's just sky is the limit. It's awesome.
Alex: Absolutely. Good, Kriss. Well, super proud of you, with everything that you've been doing. And like I said, it's just the beginning. And we're all our own journeys, so the progress you've had has been awesome. I'm not sure if you attended last week's Q&A call with John, but-
Kriss: No, I wasn't able to. I need to go back and listen.
Alex: Yeah, he built... His business pays him about 50,000 a month. He's been able to retire his in-laws, and he's done that within six years while having another full time job, as well. So this isn't even his full time job. And it gets a lot of his deals from the MLS. So talked about a fix and flip, and buy and hold he did from the MLS. But one thing that I've heard, of course, and I think you may have heard before, is that a lot of us underestimate what we can do in five years, and overestimate what we can do in one year. And I'm so happy you've been sticking to it because have you been in Pro Wholesaler for over a year now? Almost a year?
Kriss: We joined in the summer, so yeah, a year.
Alex: Almost a year. Yeah. And I love that you stuck to it because most people... Anyone can make it happen as long as you stick to it and you're competitive like you are.
Kriss: Thank you.
Alex: Yeah. Yeah. I love that you stuck to it.
Kriss: Yeah. And it does. Looking back and seeing I should have more wholesale deals under my belt, but looking to see what else is going on in my world. I'm okay with it, but I know that if you work it, you will get where you want to be. It isn't something that you can sit back and wait to happen. You have to be out there working your real estate business at all times to give back to you in the way that you want it to. So now people know me and know what I'm doing. And that was a process, too. They didn't know. And so now the agents know that if they just want to offload a property and not bother with listing, that they know that I'm ready. I was one of the only ones also to provide a proof of funds letter. Like that whole silver platter is key.
Alex: Yeah, absolutely. So all members listening, do that. I even like to call it a platinum platter-
Kriss: Oh, the platinum patter, yeah.
Alex: ...because that's even better than silver platter.
Kriss: That's right.
Alex: And what deal was that that you were the only one to submit a proof of funds on? Which one was that?
Kriss: It was the one with the agent that the roof was too low. And that was another reason why I got accepted, basically. It didn't work out in my favor, but at least I was accepted and I learned a lot. And she also said I can put contingencies or something in the contract where if somebody does bid higher than me, it says put mine $5,000 above that one. Have you ever heard of that? What is that called?
Alex: So if anyone offers higher than you, you put a $5,000... Yeah, I've definitely heard of that. I'm not sure exactly what to call that. That's a great one to put in there. Another good one to have is if you're a backup offer for a property, you can put an addendum in there, if the seller signs it, and say that you're the second one in line. So even if another offer is accepted, you can have this addendum say hey, if this current offer falls out, even though your offer is at $195,000 and the other offer's at $200,000 and maybe that's the highest you can go. If they fall out, you're the next offer in line, $195,000. And so you can even put that in, it's called the backup offer.
Alex: And most Association of Realtors have a backup offer addendum or template that you can use. And so even if offers are coming in higher, try to get that signed and then you know you're second in line. So I've been able to get some deals from that, too.
Kriss: Okay, great. Yeah, every agent's been different that I've worked with, too. Some wait five days to take in all the offers, and some give them to the seller to review right away.
Alex: All real estate agents are created differently in their knowledge and how they operate and what they need from you. And that's why with the platinum platter, we include all the documentation we need, like the proof of funds. What we're doing is we're trying to give ourselves the best chance possible of closing this deal. Because if the other people don't submit a proof of funds, then they may just go with yours even though you just lower, or increases the confidence they have in you.
Alex: So from what I've seen of a hundred plus deals and sending thousands of offers that that's going to increase your likelihood of these deals going through. And so yeah, even there's some agents that will accept your offer even though if you don't have a proof of funds on it. But we just want to be that pro from day one so they don't have to ask any questions whatsoever. They don't have any second thoughts about us.
Alex: And so just like that happened, that other situation, they're like, "Oh, well why wouldn't Kriss close on this house? She's only one who provided me proof of funds. She's been responding to me, she's got people skills. She's not only asking you about the property, she's wondering how my day is doing. I feel confident in closing with her." Because people work with who they trust and who they like.
Alex: And so I'm excited for you to watch the Q&A call as well because John's sending about 40 offers a month, and for him in Connecticut, it brings him about two deals a month. And so he's either wholesaling them, fixing and flipping, or buying and holding houses using the BRRRR Method. But he's got the offer goal of about 10 offers a week no matter what. And so from doing that, from getting those offers out, he's not only getting deals on the front end and having these conversations with the agents, but a lot of the times one of those offers is going to be a backup offer that gets accepted too. And that's a really cool thing about submitting as many offers as you can on the MLS. You're kind of creating your own luck and creating more opportunities for yourself to make money.
Kriss: Well, and it just happened, we made an offer on a house personally to purchase for our home to live in. And she says, "Oh, there's one pending." And she did not want to write up another offer. And I said, "I'd really appreciate if you did, and we'd like to see the property." "Oh, the seller's just really tired. She's not going to show it anymore, or they're pretty confident." Well, guess what? That fell through. And so I was that first phone call, and so we were ready to move. But it's silly that they don't take up those backup offers sometimes. But again, it's just every agent is different.
Alex: Every agent's different. And it's unethical for them to not get another offer as well.
Kriss: I agree.
Alex: Because you're hurting the-
Kriss: Seller.
Alex: Yeah, you're hurting the seller because now if you weren't persistent, you just went onto another property, maybe they would have never sold that property. And that's not really helping the seller out. It's not in the seller's best interest.
Kriss: Yeah. So it's interesting. You're finding which ones to work with and which ones to not work with. And title companies, same way. You have to work with the ones that are understanding what you're trying to do and get the job done.
Alex: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Absolutely. You've learned so much. I'm so happy. And you've been implementing so much and yeah, you're right there. You're doing everything right. And it sounds like you got a couple more in the pipeline, and maybe does it feel like you're starting to get some momentum a little bit?
Kriss: Yeah. So I feel like that train just starting, and I keep telling my husband, "It's just going to start rolling here." Just because he says, "Why didn't you start this earlier? This is perfect for you." And it is. And it's just because I'm one of those that want to learn enough, not everything, but enough. And you were the first person that could lay it out in such a way that it's just manageable and doable and it makes sense. Yeah, the Pro Wholesaler Program is just quality real estate investing education, so I thank you for that.
Alex: Yeah, yeah, of course. I'm happy and I only want to keep improving it and making it better. And there's so many little nuances as you know, and so just keep putting those in and keep bringing other real estate pros in that can tell us what's working, not only across the US, but their specific market. All those different things.
Alex: So one thing I've learned, I've just been doing this eight years. I know people have been doing this 40 years, and you're always learning. Pretty much every single deal is going to be a little bit different. The minute you think you know it all is the minute you start going down. And so that's also why I love real estate. There's so much to learn and yeah, so love helping you out. Nothing fires me up more or makes me happier than you go through the course or you ask a question. We talk about it and then you implement it. You make it happen. Just like you're doing. So I applaud you for that. I commend you for that.
Kriss: Thank you. Yeah, yeah. It's not easy work. It's just you need to be persistent and get out there and be brave. Really, there's some people that won't pick up a phone, and that's okay.
Alex: I'm looking at my bookcase. I have hundreds of books.
Kriss: I love to read and I'm ready for something new.
Alex: What kind of topic? So probably something about getting out of your own way a little bit. Something about just... I don't know, mainly I asked for my husband, I want something to give him in that belief system that, you know, get out of your comfort zone, get out of your way, just take risks, that sort of thing. I'm always looking for new books like that.
Alex: I think I have the perfect book. Have you heard of The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday?
Kriss: No.
Alex: All right. I recommend that one for you and your husband. It's pretty phenomenal. It's really about turning any obstacle, any issue into a benefit, and how to look at it. And it's really, a lot of the issues that come up in our life are psychological or we make them up ourselves. And so it's really how to reverse all those issues. Goes through, talks about stoicism, which is a type of philosophy, and goes back thousands of years and gives examples from thousands of years ago to today.
Kriss: Awesome.
Alex: And that a really good one. So I've shared that book. I bought that book for a lot of people. And that's one I want to say I read every year, but usually read about every two years because once you read it... Yeah, it's a really good one.
Kriss: Very cool. Well yeah, I'm excited to keep going and give you, the groups some good news here soon, and hope the short-sale comes out on the good side for me.
Alex: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Hope for the best. But also we're comfortable and understand the worst that can happen, as well. And when you go into that situation, nothing's going to get you off your rocker and you're going to be fine.
Kriss: Yeah. The second one, I would say I handled super well. I was really surprised at myself, except that I learned so much. I learned so much. And how can you be disappointed in that?
Alex: Yeah, because you learned a priceless lesson. Some people don't know about wholesaling houses. They would have bought that and say, "Oh, the roof's a little lower or the ceilings a little lower." And now they're tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, who take on those deals. So you learning all of those things on I think you said five or six different buyers that didn't want the property, and now you're starting to think like, "Oh maybe that ceiling really is an issue if five or six buyers aren't going to take it. Maybe this isn't as we have a deals I thought." And yeah, it allows you to become a better wholesaler. And now when the time comes for you to learn how to flip houses, it that's something you want to do, you probably know, hey, if there's a super low ceiling, I'm probably going to have to adjust that, raise that up, do something to it.
Alex: And unless that's built into my budget, I'm not going to take on this property because I know last time was an issue, a big, big issue.
Kriss: Yes, absolutely.
Alex: And so even though you didn't make money, it was still an extremely valuable lesson and that's one of the benefits of wholesaling, too. By not just jumping into fixing and flipping because someone saw a house flipping TV show and thinking that they can do it.
Kriss: Right. That's right.
Alex: I've just seen people get in and out of real estate really quickly. And the people that say, "Hey, that doesn't work," are usually people that didn't educate themselves the right way, take on way too much risk. But you're doing everything the right way, doing everything the right way.
Kriss: Well thank you. I have a good mentor.
Alex: I just try my best. Try my best. And I know you try your best too, so nothing makes me happier.
Kriss: Yeah, cool.
Alex: Well awesome, Kriss. Anything else? Anything else you wanted to talk about?
Kriss: I don't think so. I think we covered everything. And then I'll go back and listen to the Q&A. I try to catch those as much as I can. And I know those are valuable, too, because it's new information what other people are going through. So I'll definitely do that and just see what else I can learn. Sometimes there's just so much information that we are getting, and that gal came on the Facebook page and says, "Oh, we already talked about that." I forget it. Like where did I see that? And so we do need each other and I appreciate just continually keeping the education fresh with the Q&A's. That's helped a lot.
Alex: Awesome. That's what they're there for.
Kriss: Yeah. Appreciate it.
Alex: Well good, Kriss.
Kriss: Well thank you.
Alex: Yeah. Yeah. I do want to ask this question. Would you recommend the Pro Wholesaler Program to someone who wants to learn how to wholesale real estate?
Kriss: Of course. Yeah. And I have kind of looked around at others and truly chose you and Pro Wholesaler for several different reasons. It just checked off so many boxes. And so what I think is amazing is that you are all... You make yourself available through the group or through email or whatever. And I know you want everything to go through Facebook so everybody can learn, but sometimes I get antsy and I just throw out an email real quick because I need an answer. Somebody's hounding me for this answer. But you're very available. Everybody's very friendly and kind, and truly it's information that is valuable and that we can use right now to make money right now, not three years down the road. Right now. So I would definitely recommend it.
Alex: Awesome, Kriss. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. Once again, proud of you. Yeah, let's wrap it up. As a reminder, if people are hopping on right now or didn't see in the beginning, Kriss did her first wholesale deal and made $5,000 on it, and she's working on another one right now and some other ones. So great job Kriss, and I can't wait to keep seeing your progress and keep seeing you in the Facebook group, keep helping you out. And I'm excited to hear any updates and all updates on the short sale because it's probably just the beginning with this one.
Kriss: Yeah, fingers crossed.
Alex: Awesome, Kriss. Well awesome. Thanks for hopping on the call & doing a review of Pro Wholesaler today. Thanks for making time.
Kriss: Yep. Thank you, Alex.
Alex: All right, of course.
Kriss: Take care.
Alex: I'll see you later!
Kriss: Okay. Bye-bye.
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.
Don't worry, your information will not be shared.
50% Complete
Just enter in your name & email below for Real Estate Investing Golden Nuggets!