How John Closed His 1st Wholesale Deal From The MLS!

In this interview, Ryan Zomorodi (Co-Founder & COO of Real Estate Skills) speaks with Pro Wholesaler VIP Student John on his journey since being in the Pro Wholesaler VIP Program!

John, a retired US Army Veteran, shares his journey of joining the program, learning the ropes of real estate wholesaling, and ultimately closing his very first wholesale deal using what he learned in the Pro Wholesaler VIP Program!

Discover how John transitioned from military life to real estate investing and how he overcame challenges and negotiations in order to assign his first wholesale contract. In this interview & Pro Wholesaler VIP Program Review, we cover these highlights:

✅ How John was able to close his first wholesale deal utilizing the MLS Offer System!

✅ How John leaned into the support of the Pro Wholesaler VIP bi-weekly coaching calls to answer his questions and expedite his learning curve.

✅ How John is able to take what he learned and apply it to Dallas, Texas, market virtually!

✅ How John plans to set his family up for generations to come through real estate!

John has taken his real estate wholesaling beyond his local market in Kansas City and ventured into virtual wholesaling, exploring markets like Texas. He's particularly intrigued by the booming market in Dallas.

He emphasizes that the strategies he's learned are applicable anywhere, and the critical factor is having a reliable local buyer who can assess properties.

John's drive for real estate success goes beyond money; it's about setting up his four children for a prosperous future. With a stable military retirement, he sees real estate as a way to provide his family with opportunities beyond the essentials.

By generating additional income streams through deals, he aims to offer his children financial flexibility, enabling them to pursue their passions and education. Through strategic real estate investments, John envisions achieving a level of financial freedom that empowers him to meet his family's needs and aspirations without limitations.

If you want to learn EXACTLY how to start wholesaling real estate virtually visit: Virtual Wholesaling Real Estate: A Step-By-Step Guide

*For in-depth training on real estate investing, Real Estate Skills offers extensive courses to get you ready to make your first investment! Attend our FREE Webinar Training and gain insider knowledge, expert strategies, and essential skills to make the most of every real estate opportunity that comes your way!

--- VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION ---

Ryan Zomorodi (00:06):
Good stuff. Well, yeah, we'll just hop right into it. Hey everybody, it's Ryan Zomorodi, co-founder and COO of RealEstateSkills.com. And today I'm here with John, who is a member of the Pro Wholesaler VIP program, and owner of Rescue Home Investments, LLC. He's also a retired US Army veteran and an investor who'd recently just closed his very first wholesale deal for a net profit of $8,000. Now this is all within two and a half months of joining the Pro Wholesaler, VIP program where we help investors wholesale and flip houses from the MLS without spending a dollar in marketing. Now, not only is he doing deals in his whole market of Kansas City, Missouri, but he's also now virtually wholesaling in markets like Texas, hundreds of miles from where he lives. So get John, I'm really excited to have you on today to share about your story in the Pro Wholesaler program and how you got to your first deal. So first off, how you doing today, John?

John (01:05):
I'm good. Thanks for having me here.

Ryan Zomorodi (01:07):
Absolutely. Yeah, thanks for taking the time. I know you're a busy guy and you got a lot going on these days. So love to just kind of hear about your journey as an investor even before joining the Pro Wholesaler program. If you wouldn't mind just sharing a little bit about your background and what you're doing before getting started in the program.

John (01:28):
Sure. Well, I just turned 47 and I was in January. I retired from the military about, I think it was 2016. So really nothing had been going on in my life. I've just been kind of just being and started wanting to do something, got bored with just sitting around doing nothing at home. So I saw the ad for real estate skills and it looked like something that I was interested in, and then fortunately I was able to refinance my house and came across, was able to basically pay off a lot of my debt and decided, well, you know what? No better time now. So I joined the company and really enjoyed the information that was brought. It was very detailed and I was very impressed with how much I was getting working with my buyer. Huge is a unique buyer, and he's been really helping me as far as the lingo, knowing what his likes are.

(03:04):
So he basically helped me along the way with this first deal and just explained how I put it, just the ins and outs. I mean, I was getting a lot of it raw as far as comps and what he really liked. So it took me just basically saying, Hey, can we just talk and tell me what you're actually looking for? Because whenever I would get his criteria, he wouldn't open up as much. But then once I finally got him on the phone, we talked for a few times and he knew that I was serious. He basically said, okay, this is something that I would do, but this is where you are at, and just went from there. So this last deal, it was kind of a hectic deal to be honest. The seller had tenants and the tenants did not want to have us come in the house at all. When I first got to the property, they basically were just yelling and screaming at each other from the parking lot. I walked up, introduced myself and tried to calm the situation down, finally got it calmed down and then went from there. They basically weren't going to do the deal with my buyer because he was kind of the arguing in of the situation, and I basically said, Hey, I'm the buyer. I'm the one that you're going to be working with, so let me see the house and we can go from there.

Ryan Zomorodi (05:02):
That's fantastic. I mean, that's just a reminder that we do deal with real estate. We do deal with houses in this business, but it really is a people business. And so when we're buying properties with tenants or with the seller who might not be as communicative as what we might be used to with industry professionals, we just have to sometimes diffuse situations and kind of allow things to smooth over like you did there. So that's really impressive, and to see the deal go from offer to closing within 20 days, that's a pretty quick timeline, so way to make that happen. I was curious, did you have any prior real estate experience before starting this process, before joining the program, or was this your first foray outside of your primary residence?

John (05:55):
Oh, no, I've never done anything like this. I've just had a lot of experience with customer service jobs and working with people. So it comes pretty easy as far as talking to people. No,

Ryan Zomorodi (06:14):
Yeah, no, that's wonderful. So just coming in here relatively green, at least in the investment space, but you're able to pick up the process pretty quickly. I know you've been asking a lot of very good questions in the community. We had some exchanges about putting large properties in your contract. What can you do with a house that has four acres of land on it? Can you build lots of apartments on it? We talked about checking the zoning, so there's a lot of nuances in real estate. So it was cool to see you really going all in and just figuring things out. And especially when it comes to your buyer, I think a lot of people think it's the smart way to do things just to get a thousand, 10,000 buyers on your list and then just spray out a deal and hopefully something sticks. But I love the approach that you've been really owning of getting very close with one particular buyer, understanding their criteria very well, and really just having that close communication with them so that you can bring them exactly what they're looking for. So I really commend you for doing that and owning that process. So it sounds like you were able to really go all in once you hit the ground running. I mean, what were some of the challenges that you faced upfront, the expectations you had before joining the program versus your experience actually getting the ball rolling? How does that compare from being on the outside to then once you were on the inside and eventually getting your first deal?

John (07:50):
I think the biggest, not really problem, but I would say difficulty is finding houses that are really able to do what we need to do in order to get 'em in our price.

Ryan Zomorodi (08:09):
Got it. Yeah, it sounds like finding properties that meet the criteria you're looking for has been something that you're continually working on and might take a lot of sifting through different types of properties, talking to those agents, making those offers, then finally finding something that actually clicks. So in this business, it is a volume game. You need to be looking at a lot of houses, especially as you get the ball rolling. I know you mentioned having some difficulties with appraising properties. Ultimately, investors do is appraise properties. We need to understand what is this thing going to be worth once it's upgraded, once it's fully improved, because at the end of the day, we need to either sell the property us or our investor partners, those who actually fix up and flip the properties. We're either going to resell it at a higher value or we're going to refinance it later and maybe hold onto it long term.

(09:00):
So on the front end, as we're wholesaling properties, we're acquiring deals, we have to learn that appraisal process, which does take some detail investigation. It takes looking at a lot of houses. So I think that just comes with time and getting to know your market like you're doing, and then even expanding to other markets, which I know you've more recently started to do looking at Dallas, right? You're in Kansas City area, but you're now looking in the Dallas market. So love to hear kind of how that's been as far as shifting gears and looking at a virtual wholesaling market like Dallas, where that's probably one of the hottest markets in the country right now for growth. How has that been compared to looking at a market in your backyard versus somewhere that's many hundreds of miles away?

John (09:51):
Honestly, it's been pretty easy. The thing that I am kind of figuring out is that it doesn't really matter where you're at because basically you're doing the same types of things depending on where you're doing business because your buyer's the one that's pretty much going to the house to check on, what's the word, doing inspections and that kind of thing. So honestly, there's no difference. So I figured what the heck, might as well just go somewhere else where there's more business. Because technically really in Kansas City, there's really not a whole lot. It's not so much that there's not any, it's just the fact that there's a lot of places that buyers don't want to work just because the neighborhood's not quite as good or they've experienced theft in that area. You just don't want to beat it. So the only areas that are quality are outlying areas of the city, and it's limited. So I really wanted to just find other opportunities in Dallas, and I heard that Collin is there, so I asked him, Hey, would you mind letting me JV with you? And he's been great until I can actually find some quality buyers from the shelf.

Ryan Zomorodi (11:34):
Absolutely. That is one of the benefits of being in a community like the Pro Wholesaler community is that there's other wholesalers, there's fix and flippers, there's landlords who are looking for deals, and also our coaches like Collin who were able to wholesale with other members. I'm sure you've seen a lot of posts of different opportunities. People are looking to joint venture and do deals with each other. So I love seeing that you're able to work together with others in the community, even our coaches, to land some more deals and leverage each other, whether it's leveraging one of their deals or their cash buyers in order to scale your own business. So I love seeing that way to own that and a way to push that forward. So that's really great that you're doing that. Thank you. Yeah, totally. So love to hear more about the deal that you closed. I was really excited to see that you posted in the community a nice fat $8,000 check, so that just warm my heart and just got me so excited. So I didn't know there's a lot of great reactions in the community as well, so love to hear about that deal in particular. I know you said it was a little bit hectic, but maybe tell us about the numbers, just how you found it, just the timeline and then ultimately the result.

John (12:59):
Okay. Well, I basically found this one by myself, had put the offer in actually, or had talked to the agent first before I even met my buyer, at least this one. And then didn't really have a positive vibe, but I had to actually back out of it before I even signed any documents because I had made a mistake on my numbers. And then probably I'd say about two weeks later, she sent me an email or a text message to say, Hey, my seller is wanting to lower the price. So we got the deal under contract, and then after he actually got his partner into the house, he said that just by seeing it, there's a lot more work that needs to be done, and she wanted to lower the price, so we basically said, Hey, I'm going to have to stop this deal because it's not going to be where we need it to be.

(14:27):
And she was like, well, the seller's going to be really disappointed, and I said, we got to make what work. And she said, okay. So we ended up canceling that deal and then about an hour later, she texted me back and said, Hey, my seller is really disappointed. She just wants to know what the bottom line is of what you want. And I said, with these tenants and with the situation that it's in, we have to go at one 50, and that's basically what the buyer told me. This is where we need to be. So I was like, okay, that's what I'll tell her. And she's like, okay, done. And I was like, whoa, I did not expect to hear a yes.

Ryan Zomorodi (15:22):
Yeah, that's fantastic. I mean, that's a tale of negotiation right there from starting at 180, which is significantly higher than where you ended up at. And then even going so far as to cancel that contract, I think you played it really well. Sometimes you just have to know when to walk away and when we're investors, we're ultimately the buyers in these deals. I think a lot of, especially newer investors just get so caught up in that, Hey, I want to do a deal. And so they'll overpay, they'll overbid, and then it just doesn't really work out. So I love that you're able to know when to step down, and then you could play that to your advantage, and ultimately you could tell that the seller was motivated, that they came back to you a second time and asked for you to resubmit your bid, which was lower than initially, and then you were finally able to get it for a price that worked for all parties.

(16:17):
And I'd say that even if you have to lower your wholesale fee, you're still building that goodwill with your financial partner. They're getting a good deal that they can perform on. You're building that relationship and as we've seen with our own businesses and with a lot of our clients in the communities that most of the deals get purchased by one or a small handful of cash buyers. So it's great that you're building that goodwill, you're building that relationship and that's going to pay dividends down the road. We've just seen that time and time again. So again, congratulations on that first deal. It's very commendable. I know things can happen. It's a tenant occupied property and not the best tenants it sounds like. And so I'm just really excited for you, man. This is just the beginning, your very first deal, and it's the first of many, so that's fantastic, man. How does it feel now that you've closed your first deal?

John (17:09):
I'm excited. I am just so now, I love that statement that he did. Every no is one step closer to a yes, I am proof of it. You just have to keep going and keep going until you get it.

Ryan Zomorodi (17:32):
Awesome, awesome. Yeah, I'm excited for you. And it's so true, right? Every time you get a no, it's just another step closer to that. Yes, every offer that you submit, there's a lot of effects that happen. There's a lot of ripple effects when you submit that offer, even if it gets that first time. A lot of our deals come from an agent reaching back out and saying, Hey, is your offer still stand? Are you still open to moving forward on this property? Our sellers a little bit more motivated than a couple of weeks ago. So I think there's a lot to be said about just playing the game and really working this process. Even if you don't get those immediate wins, there's still a lot of momentum that's being built. So really proud of you, John. I know you've been leveraging a lot of the resources in the community and just being very vocal about where we can help you with and really hope that you've been getting that support to ultimately just rinse and repeat this whole process so you can just continue to build your own business. Was there anything in particular in the program or in the community or the calls, any of the resources that particularly helped you more than the rest in order to close this first deal and something that maybe you weren't able to find anywhere else?

John (18:47):
Oh, well, I haven't done this anywhere else, but I can tell you with watching the calls every once, twice a week of Collin and Mike, those are invaluable. They just really go into such detail of how they actually apply the training. So I think that's great. The biggest thing that I think is the communication within the Skool network has really helped me give me confidence to be able to do this and not be alone. That was the biggest thing that I was worried about was coming into this was I didn't want to do this all by myself. And when I saw that the community continues to answer questions and doesn't just, oh, well, I got your money. Thanks for money, and here's your training and be on your way. It wasn't anything like that. It was very detailed. So much information, so many different avenues.

(20:08):
The CRM is absolutely great as far as helping me because I am not the most organized person at all, and this, it just makes a world of difference to have that capability. But yeah, I think the biggest thing is the Skool network is just so many people that are willing to help each other. That's why I'm constantly in there trying to give other people that boost because if we can't be a team and we can't help each other out to help attain their goals, then the community is worthless. So that's what I'm about. I like to give, I like to receive, but I guess what's my love language is gift giving because I enjoy helping.

Ryan Zomorodi (21:05):
Well, don't think it doesn't go unnoticed. I see you in the community. You are helping people. I see your answers. I just love seeing you getting better and better as an investor. And really that is the power of the community. It's the power of the people. It's the knowledge that we can all share with each other. So it's very special place that is really, I feel very grateful to be a part of, and just to see everyone in there, I love giving back. We're all investors. We're all serious about our businesses. This entire program was made for investors by investors, and so it's really catered to working an exact process to ultimately get those results. And then it's just that continued support. It's like imagine going to a class and then not being able to talk to anyone in the classroom. So it's kind of just that concept of communal learning.

(21:58):
We have members in all sorts of different parts of the country, so we all learned from each other, the unique opportunities, the challenges, and so really just grateful for your engagement and your contributions and really just showing others what's possible. On that note, a lot of times we get questions about how many offers does it take to get that first deal? So I'm just kind of curious, from your experience of being in the month for two and a half months, being in the program for under a quarter of the year, roughly how many offers do you feel like it took you to land that

John (22:34):
It was 18 on my 18th.

Ryan Zomorodi (22:38):
There we go. I love that. That precisely. Yeah. Well, it's you to put in the work, right? So that's ultimately what matters. There's a difference between calling an agent saying, Hey, I'm interested in your property, and just giving a verbal offer and actually writing up an offer and submitting that to the agent. It's a difference between showing that you're very serious and then you're committed to the property and just being kind of a window shopper. So that's really why we add so much in the program and love that you're really taking that to heart and following the process, because a lot of people, they'll hear things, whether it's online or from somewhere else, and then they just kind of convolute the whole process and take it into their own court. But we have things laid out for a particular reason, and it's great to see you following that and ultimately being able to get those results. Again, hats off to you, John. Also curious on that deal, if you have it top of mind, what was the projected profit that your investor was looking to make on that deal?

John (23:40):
His ROI was 34,000.

Ryan Zomorodi (23:44):
Yeah, that's great. On $168,000 purchase, a nice $35,000 profit's, very healthy. So yeah, a way to source that opportunity right on the MLS and they would to lock that up close in 20 days. Yeah, I mean, an $8,000 profit in 20-ish days is very respectable. Yes, most money I've made in 20 days.

(24:10):
Yeah, that's the beauty of this process. Of course, it's going to take a while to absorb the education, absorb the material, get acquainted with the business, and then just putting it into practice. But once you get it going, then you can see the potential of the dollar per hour that you can earn in wholesaling. And then of course, we don't just want to end with wholesaling. Ultimately taking down some of the best deals for yourself as a fix and flip, as a full on rehab, and then ultimately buying an holding properties if that's something that you want to do for yourself. So love to transition into, Hey, what do you see yourself doing now, John, you close your first deal. You've got this great momentum looking at other markets to wholesale in. Where do you see yourself taking your business?

John (25:00):
My plan is I want to at least have, excuse me. I want to have at least probably a hundred K in the bank before I move into buy and hold for flips, just because I want to have more leverage as far as being able to have more buying. I see that a lot of these people are doing the hard money, and I don't see a problem with the hard money, but to me, if you have the money already on hand, you can make a lot better profit in my not to say that the hard money is a negative way to go spending a lot less in the long run to still achieve the same amount or if not more sometimes. But I really haven't really given it much thought because see, I'm really not doing this to get rich. It's not my goal. My main focus was I can survive with my full kids and myself on pay that I live with from my retirement. This basically is just gravy, but I wanted to do something that I just didn't. If my kids needed something or if I needed something, I didn't have to save up. I wanted to be in a place where if I wanted to buy something, I key, and that's kind of where I'm looking at this business.

Ryan Zomorodi (26:41):
Yeah, I love that. It's a greater mission, right? It's not just about the money. It's about being able to provide for your family and setting a great example for your kids. Having a strong work ethic. I mean, it's something that many people will take for granted, maybe especially with the younger generation, everyone's attracted to that get rich quick type of mentality, but being able to show them that, hey, even though you already got your bases covered, even though you could be retired and hanging out on the beach all day, now you're looking to do something where you're challenging yourself, you're learning a new skillset, and you're able to make your own money, which is, in my experience, it's more rewarding when you're able to create your own income from your skills that you saw yourself. You've gone out there and self-educated through various resources, and now you're able to create your own income through your own business. Well, just to wrap things up, John, again, appreciate your time. Really just so excited for you, man. Would you have any advice for anyone else who's looking to get involved with real estate and even join the Pro Wholesaler VIP program? Any words of advice?

John (27:47):
I would say just go for it. We get hung up with the amount that we're going to put into our business, but I think that if you really want something and you're really dedicated to something, a little bit of money is not going to hold you back in this business. You're going to make this money back. I mean, I've already made the amount that I spent and it's within a month of what I needed. So my recommendation is listen to the program, work with the program, talk to people in the Skool and let us help you. We want you to succeed, and we're here for it.

Ryan Zomorodi (28:38):
Alright, John, thank you so much again, we really appreciate your time today. I love your story and I know our audience will too. Thank you for showing what's possible and really being a leader in our communities. Now, for anyone else who's interested in launching your very own real estate investing business and landing your first wholesale or flip deal, just go to RealEstateSkills.com to learn more. And if you like this interview with John, just feel free to like, subscribe, and hit that notification bell and you'll see our next interviews and educational content right here on Real Estate Skills. We'll see you there.

Ready to take your real estate investing to the next level? This Pro Wholesaler Review is just the beginning. Join our FREE Real Estate Investing Webinar to learn how our Ultimate Investor Program can unlock even more opportunities and strategies in the market. Don't miss out—take the next step toward maximizing your investment potential today!