Start your real estate wholesaling business in your spare time with these five tips

Real estate wholesaling is often touted as an easy business to start in addition to your regular line of work, but without proper planning and thought, it can be a daunting field. If you’ve decided to undertake a wholesaling venture, prepare ahead and formulate a solid plan – before any of the actual legwork begins – with these tips.

Educate yourself

Real estate itself is a huge market and there are countless paths to take when beginning a wholesaling business. Make it your goal to read and educate yourself on the nuances of the market and various strategies daily. Your town may even be home to real estate clubs where you can gain additional insight and begin to build your network of allies.

Network

Building a solid, large network is a key strategy to wholesaling success. To make any real advances in the field, you must have a team of people to work with who can help you track down possible properties and secure any capital needed. It’s also a smart idea to build a network of others involved in the wholesaling business; you’ll be able to turn to more seasoned investors for advice, tips and strategies to help you continue learning everything you need to know.

Choose a specialty

Start by deciding where you want your focus to lie, be it commercial, industrial or residential, and continue to narrow it down from there. If you decide to focus on residential real estate, for example, choose a specific area in which to start, like apartment buildings or with flipping single-family homes. Beginning with too broad a focus can easily overwhelm the beginning wholesaler, but once you have one area down pat, you can begin to branch out to other markets that interest you as well.

Start with one neighborhood

Once you’ve chosen an area to devote your business on, apply the same strategy to deciding which areas of your town you’d like to start in. Choose somewhere closer to your home, where you can routinely visit to scour the neighborhood for new opportunities and contacts. Again, branching out is an option, but one best taken once you firmly have your business settled and you have a better idea of what you’re doing.

Set limits

Wholesaling can become a full-time job, but if you’d like to keep it as something done in your spare time, it’s important to set limits regarding how much of your time you’re willing to allocate to it. This is especially important if you’re also juggling a busy work and home life. Talk with your partner about goals and expectations, and set some ground rules regarding how much time you plan to devote to your real estate endeavors each week. The key to success is to not burn out too quickly, as it can take time to build your network and turn leads into reality.
By educating yourself, setting goals and keeping realistic expectations, you can set yourself up for success in real estate wholesaling.