Navy Seals have a tool they use called an AAR, or After Action Review. Known in civilian circles as a post mortem, unlike a group bitch session, it focuses on what can be learned instead of assigning blame. I find this helpful in reviewing each deal, be they dud or stud. Basically, you ask 3-5 questions: 1. What was supposed to happen? 2. What actually happened? 3. What caused the gap, if any? 4. What have we learned? 5. What will we do next time? For instance, in a deal I recently terminated, it was supposed to provide about $10k in revenues. We ended up investing about 12 hours researching, reaching out to prospective buyers and negotiating with the seller's agent. About $51 was invested in a contracting app we were thinking of investing in anyway. Causing the gap was a willingness to test the market, and further develop the flip process, and therefore not underwriting the ARV or cost of repairs accurately for the market. What we learned, besides a few logistical things, like how to submit an offer with CTM eContracts, favored by quite a few agents in the Denver market, and this particular listing agent, was to think through the time investment required to dispo a property under contract. Also, that we need to have a stronger cash buyer bench hungry and ready for real deals than we currently have. What will we do next time? - Underwrite conservatively, or at least in accord with the current market conditions. - Have a strong buyer's bench ready. - Be mindful that even aside from not losing money, there's a cost in researching and promoting every deal. What experiences have you had where a process like this could be helpful?

Remember the "red hot rock" deal I dropped the other day? Well, I may have been targeting the wrong pool of buyers. So today I switched gears and will see if there's some life in this deal yet. Here's how the convo with the listing agent went down: Me: 𝘏𝘦𝘺 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘺, 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬-𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 (𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘴), 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘵 (𝘯𝘰 𝘋𝘞), 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺. 𝘈𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘐'𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 $260–270𝘬 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. LA: 𝘛𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘵 $305. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵. Me: 𝘏𝘦𝘺 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘛𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 12 𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸. LA: 𝘖𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 Me, after discussing it with my coach: 𝘏𝘦𝘺 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘺, 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺! 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳/𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭, 𝘐’𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. LA: 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 Next steps: I'm shifting my target buyer market from flipper to long-term buy and hold investor, most likely with a W-2, and thinking long term wealth and tax savings. Tomorrow I'll be at an all-day meetup, so might make some connections there. Took an hour or two this morning and put together the attached flyer. If you know any buyers this could be a fit for, let's do a JV! 😊

When it comes to zero cost real estate leads, sometimes you get what you pay for. Example: Got a deal under contract recently for $305k that was listed at $440k. Screaming deal, right? Well, not exactly. A visit to the property uncovered a few little “quirks” like: - asbestos covered ducting - no place for a dishwasher in the tiny cramped kitchen - a non-conforming third bedroom only accessible through another bedroom - generally not well presented or packaged, with debris around the front and back doors, dingy dark basement, mismatched fixtures etc. Perhaps more to the point, my top cash buyers said basically, thanks but no thanks. The beauty of the positioning though is I had nine days to decide before my earnest money “went hard”. Fortunately, I let it go plenty early, hopefully building good will with the listing agent, and freeing up time to go after better deals. Have you ever found a smokin' hot deal from a distance but upon closer examination turned out to be more like a steaming pile of er, shall we say... horse pucky?

Most wholesalers try to be everything to everyone. The ones who win? They become known for one thing. When people in your network can clearly say, “Talk to Mike, he’s the guy for X…” Deals start finding you. 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 One of the fastest ways to grow your wholesaling business is to specialize. Not forever. But long enough to become the go-to person for something specific. Because here’s what happens when you don’t: You’re just another investor. Easy to forget. Easy to overlook. Easy to replace. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲… You become memorable. Example: A wholesaler I was just introduced to has done over 20k short sale deals. Who do you think I'll think next time a short sale situation comes along? Yup. The guy who knows short sales. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 Specialization creates: - Clarity (people know when to bring you deals) - Trust (you’re not guessing, you’re focused) - Referrals (others send deals your way)• Efficiency (you get better, faster) Instead of chasing every deal… You attract the right deals. 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 If someone in your market had to describe you in one sentence… What would they say you specialize in? If the answer isn’t clear yet… That might be opportunity knocking.

A wholesaler in a community I'm in posted this question to the group: "𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 - 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 $200 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 ??" To which I responded... 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗱 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲? Here are a few of the questions I ask when talking directly to sellers: - Why are you considering a sale at this time?  - What’s your timeline — any urgent dates coming up? - What’s kept you from selling before now? - What have you tried so far to sell the property? - Is the property listed? - Why not list with a realtor? - Has it been surveyed? - Who maintains the road? (city, county, private, etc.) - Is there water available to the property? If so, is it city, county or private? - Is there a sewer line available to the property? If so, is it city, county or private? - If not, has the soil been perc tested? - Is there electricity available to the property? If so, how close? - How sloped is the property? What percentage is buildable (less than 15 degree slope) - How much, if any, of the property is in a flood zone? - How much, if any, of the property is covered by wetlands? - Are there any known easements or encroachments through the property? If so, describe. - Is it part of an HOA? If so, annual or monthly dues? - Current on taxes? - Any title issues? - Any buildings, vehicles or materials on the property? The great thing about land is, you get this limited set of questions answered, and you can pretty much tell if there's a deal there or not. If you get all green flags, you might have a deal, if the seller is willing and able to sell at the price you need to flip for a profit. Just watch for the red flags — sometimes the best deal you can do is no deal at all.