What is Whole Sailing Real Estate?
Believe it or not, I have seen more people than I care to admit spell it “whole sailing real estate”. Enough that I figured it was worth writing a blog post about whole sailing real estate to make sure anyone searching for this gets their question answered. For the record, whole sailing real estate has nothing to do with sailing. Cool picture though, huh?
Wholesaling (or whole sailing) real estate is the act of selling your purchase contract to another cash buyer for a fee. Some whole sailers earn more than $10,000 per whole sail deal. It’s a very lucrative side hustle or if you have an entrepreneurial mindset like I do, you can build a million dollar business rather quickly whole sailing real estate.
Finding a Whole Sail Deal
It all starts with finding a good deal on a house. This is where most newbies fail. They meet with a seller, agree on a price but they didn’t leave enough meat on the bone for the house flipper to make a profit.
Some wholesailers find deals listed by real estate agents on the MLS. While this can work, I don’t recommend it because there is so much competition. If there is a good deal on the MLS, there is a good chance another buyer will scoop it up quickly. Plus, the seller still needs to pay the listing agent a commission.
Instead, I recommend sourcing off-market deals. Most successful wholesail businesses pay thousands of dollars in marketing everything month to get off-market leads. However, if you are new to the game, you probably don’t have that kind of money. Luckily, there are several methods of finding off-market leads without spending money.
Once you find an off-market lead and agree on a good price, you will need to sign a purchase agreement with a seller. Make sure you purchase agreement gives you the option to assign it to another buyer. Once the purchase agreement is signed, you will send the purchase agreement to a whole sail friendly title company. They will run title work and let you know if there are any liens on the property. If there is a mortgage payoff, you will need to have the seller complete a payoff authorization form.
Finding a Cash Buyer for Your Wholesail Deal
When whole sailing real estate, if you have a great deal, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a cash buyer. There are many ways to find a cash buyer for your wholesail deal. Simply search the internet for “We Buy Houses in [City], [State]” and dozens of results will show up. Call these companies and tell them about your deal. Some of them will be other wholesailers with established buyers. They can help you find a buyer and you can JV the deal together.
Another easy way to generate interest on your deal is by posting in Facebook groups. There are local real estate investor groups in almost every market on FB. Simply search “Real Estate Investors” or “Off-Market Real Estate” or “wholesale real estate deals” in Facebook and join these groups. Most groups allow you to post your off-market deal on the group page.
Building a Wholesailing Real Estate Business
Like any business, it takes hard work. There are no shortcuts to becoming a successful whole sailer. If you don’t have any money so spend on marketing, you will need to drive for dollars or make bandit signs to find off-market leads.
Once you have done your first couple of whole sail deals and you have set aside some money for marketing, you can invest in direct mail, pay per lead or Google PPC. Paid marketing will allow you to scale your wholesaling business to 20k, 30k and 50k per month in deals.
But you have to get that first deal. Once you do, it’s a domino effect.
The good news is, you don’t need any prior experience, a 4-year degree or any special training. Anyone can do this. I can show you, step-by-step, how to get your first wholesale deal in 30 days or less.
Related: How to Start Wholesaling Houses
