Live Case Study: $40k First Wholesale Deal Success Story from Investor Thrive Member

Yo, we are live right now on the Painless Flipping Podcast. For everybody watching, if you— if this is your first time, The goal of this podcast, of doing these videos, is to talk about success stories, talk about what is working, what is not working, so you guys don't have to feel all the pain of trying to figure out how to get into real estate all by yourselves. I mean, that's why we have experts. That's why people like Nick on here today, so we can learn from their experience and do deals without having to figure out and stumble and go through again all that pain. So what's up, Nick? Good to have you on here, man. How you doing?

Good to be here, Nate. Excited.

Oh man, I'm so excited to talk, uh, with you and talk and kind of break down the deal you just did. You just did your first deal for $40,000, right?

Yeah, man.

Yep. Does it, does it feel real?

No, not at all.

That's nuts, man. And basically we want to dive into your experience as a real estate investor, how you got into this, how that deal— break down how that deal happened. And your goals and what you're trying to accomplish. And so everyone that's listening can learn from your experience and avoid the pitfalls maybe, uh, and learn how they can make $40K on their first deal too. I didn't make $40K on my first deal, but maybe they can, you know, everyone's listening.

Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, it started when I started hearing about wholesaling was, uh, in my senior year of college, um, at the start of it. Um, so I'm down here in South Carolina, went to Coastal Carolina. I was hearing all this wholesale stuff. I'm like, oh man, these guys are— there's guys getting in so young. I see 18, 19, 20-year-old guys doing it, you know, showing what they're making off of it and how successful they are with it. I'm like, oh, no kidding. So then I started, you know, watching some YouTube videos. Obviously Jerry Norton was a big one I started watching on, right? And following some basic stuff, you know, I would go out there and look on Zillow and Zillow was basically my best friend. I'd go out there and just look for for sale by owner properties, anything on market, and kind of just get used to, you know, going through deals and, you know, calling, talking to agents that I'd never talked to before.

Was it difficult to kind of start having those conversations, especially not knowing?

Yeah, no, it was. I mean, phone, phone, what is that, being scared of phone talk? It's real. I mean, yeah. It's definitely real. I've always had an outgoing personality. I've always been able to talk to people face to face, but over the phone, it's just, it's weird. You'd think it'd be the complete opposite. You'd think it'd be way easier. No, it's kind of a little bit more difficult in my opinion, how I experienced it.

Maybe because you can't see like their gestures or like how they're reacting. Maybe it's a little like you don't know how it's going.

Right. So I realized, you know, in this game, a lot of it's, you know, talking around connections, um, getting, you know, building, getting your name out there, telling people what you do, what your services are. And then, you know, you help out agents, they'll help out you, is what I was— what I look at it.

100%. Yeah, it's, it's all about getting your name out there and letting people know what you do, because there's a lot of people within your sphere of influence that you can work with. So let's talk— so that was how you got started, was college, And then, um, did you get started while you're last year of college or were you just starting to learn? And then when did you start taking action?

I was starting to learn. And then, um, I started taking action 2021, winter of 2021, I believe. Um, that's when I actually started going out, you know, I would do driving for dollars, do all that, um, do anything to get my first deal. Meanwhile, at this time, I had no clue how to exactly construct a deal at all. My whole thing was, I'm just going to go find a deal and see what happens and go to help on Facebook. Right. It's kind of what I was— that was my mindset.

And I think that's probably where we originally got connected was Facebook, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Then I got connected with you. I saw you actually messaged me from another group. I believe it was Wholesaling Houses Full Time. And you messaged me to come join your group. I'm like, oh, okay. I'll come join this group.

That's right, brother.

And join your mentorship program and learning a whole lot.

Yeah, that's amazing. Wow. It's crazy how things escalate or not escalate, but like happen like that, right?

Yeah. Yeah.

So tell me, um, let's talk about this deal. You're taking action. Um, I know you're, you're calling agents. You were, you're calling to find buyers like I was showing you. Tell me how this, this deal happened.

So this deal actually happened just through word of the mouth. Um, I had friends at home who knew what I was doing. They knew kind of that I was investing in real estate and helping. A lot of people thought I was flipping at the start, but then they realized, you know, I'm doing this new thing called wholesaling. A lot of people don't know what that is. Believe it or not, a lot of professionals in real estate who've been in it for 20 years plus don't even know what it is. I mean, I usually have to explain it to someone new at least once a week, right? So this deal actually came across an old friend of mine. Um, he pretty much reached out to me, was like, hey Nick, um, listen, my mom, she has dementia now. Um, she's going to an assisted living facility and I need help with her at the house. Big house, it's what he grew up in. And I was like, okay, I'll see what I can do. And he's like, I don't have time. He's a police officer. He's very busy. And I said, okay, I can definitely help you out and get the ball rolling, and hopefully we can work together. So he didn't want to list. I told him to. I was like, listen, listing is going to be a lot more process. You're not going to sell as fast as you want to unless you maybe consider going down my path, about what I'm about to tell you. So he was all open for it.

Um, so then I told him, because a lot of people are like, whoa, you know, are you sure you want to— not, not other people are like, you know, should you tell them, should you not? I always tell them, yeah, list it because you're going to make the most. Yeah, you did the same thing, great job, right?

Yeah. And, and if it wasn't for the fact that he's, he's busy, he needs to, he needs to sell, he needs to help take care of his mom, then he probably would have ended up listing it. But circumstances, you know, wholesaling, we want to reach out to motivated people, people who need to sell fast and easy. That's the big thing. And he was one of them who were connected all the— I mean, matched all the points to it. And, excuse me, he needed to sell. So I told him, you know, listen, this is what I can do for you. And Hopefully we can get you out of this situation. So at that point, I went straight into analyzing the deal.

Okay.

Got pictures of the house. I actually, I actually, my parents live right down the street and I had my dad go take pictures of the house for me.

There you go. There you go.

Daddy-O came in clutch for that.

So would you call him Cat Daddy-O?

No, I just said Daddy-O came in clutch.

Oh, Daddy-O. Oh, cool.

Yeah. So then at that point, there was a— this is a fairly suburban neighborhood, very, very nice neighborhood. I mean, I grew up in it and people were starting to move out. So there were some pretty juicy comps in that area that were sold in the last 6 months. So I had, I had some good numbers to work with. It wasn't one of those things where I had to dive deep into finding a good comparable for it. I was in the back. Like, I didn't have to do really anything to calculate the ARV.

Okay.

So, then once I calculated that, it came out to close to— I was calculating around $650,000. And then I called an agent who actually sold two properties there this year in that same development. And I told him, I said, "Hey, I got this property. I'm getting ready to put it under contract. I was wondering if you could do your own due diligence on it, run by it, and we can work together, maybe." maybe whoever I assign it to will flip it with you. I'll recommend you to them. And then you're just connecting all the—

Great job. Networking skills on point right there.

Yeah. And then he's like, yeah, sure, no problem. So he did his due diligence and he came back to me and he's like, hey man, this property is worth, I mean, if it's fixed up, $740,000. Wow. $750,000. So my numbers are a little off, but in a good way. I mean, he told me Yeah, this is, this is how much it's, it's worth. And, and it was a good neighborhood. The house was taken care of. It probably only needed max $40,000 in repairs. Basic cosmetics, flooring, uh, maybe cabinets. Yep, just a basic update. See, if it were me and I was there, I would have tried to flip it myself.

Of course.

Yeah, maybe whole tail it or something like that. Um, But that's not, that's not the case. I'm in Myrtle Beach, so that's not happening. Yeah. Um, so then at that point, um, I use your lovely contract, had that filled out, sent it over to the seller.

Right? Easy. Yeah.

Simple. Yeah. We agreed on a price. Uh, we agreed he wanted to get around $500,000 for it. Um, negotiated down to $475,000. Um, so that was our, that was our price. That was our bullseye.

Um, and then you were negotiating it, did you already kind of have an idea of a buyer in place, or were you just—

Yeah, so before, you know, I was definitely doing your method. I was reaching out to, um, buyers I have in that area.

Okay.

Yeah, having them look at it and see if they'd be interested. And there was a ton of interest. I mean, I had about 5+ buyers that were very interested in it, and that wasn't even posted deal. I didn't even post it on Facebook or anything. I mean, I can't imagine how many more interests I would have got if I posted in some groups on Facebook and whatnot.

Right.

And so from that point, I had some buyers go walk through, you know, had 2 or 3 buyers walk through it. And they all, they all wanted it. I had 3 that wanted it. One of them, I had 2 of them were, they offered me around $585,000 for it. And then I had that one come in at $515, offer $515 for it. And pretty much he said he's going to live in it. He's going to end up living in the house.

Did you say $585 or $485?

Wait for—

you said two came in at $585, but you— do you mean $485?

Yeah, $485. Yeah.

Is that for $585?

No, not that big a spread. Yeah.

Wild, right? Okay, so, so you had someone— wow, you have 2 at $485 and then you had one at $515. So that, that— what is that, like 20, 30 weight more than the other people?

Yeah, yeah, just about. And I had a couple of people come in only offering $490— I'm sorry, $480. So I would have made $5K assignment, which is fine.

I mean, yeah, but 40 versus 5, come on. That's amazing.

Yeah. And then at that point I was like, okay, now I got something. So I ended up sending in the contract to a title company, got it under contract. We did 14-day due diligence, which was just fine, and we did closing right like 2 weeks after.

Dude, great job. And so how did you find that ultimate buyer that paid the, that you assigned it to?

I actually found him through a mutual friend who was also an agent in that area. Wow. Um, he's got a lot of connections in that area as well. Um, so he, he helped out with bringing that buyer in.

Did he get a commission as well, or did he just—

Yeah, I paid him a commission. Cool, cool. So such a good buyer, why not, right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, he, he did it. I mean, he, he handled bringing the buyer to the property, walking through with them. To go, you know, finding out what they want. And then it worked out. Um, it was supposed to be a cash purchase, so I actually— he, he wanted to finance a little bit of the deal. So, you know, I went, I used my ChatGPT, asked them what, you know, what I should do. And then based off your, uh, coaching and your training sessions, um, I had an addendum signed and then I had some terms, you know, purchase with the option to finance.

Okay.

So got that signed and sent in. So it all, it all went really smooth. I mean, it could have— there could have been a lot of hiccups in it.

Yeah. But did he end up getting a normal loan on it or did he do cash?

No, he, he put a majority of it cash down.

Okay.

And then he got funding for a small amount of it.

Hmm. Interesting.

So yeah, it was just— and then he's planning on living in it for now and flipping it.

Well, those are your best buyers, the ones that are willing to live in there while they fix it. They pay top dollar, as you can see with the other guys that came in lower. So I want to say something, let everyone know that's watching this or that will watch this, is it's about finding the best buyer, right? Because you just explained to us that majority of people came in at $490,000, $485,000. So you're making like a $10K, $15K. But then through your networking skills, through reaching out to people in your sphere, you're able to find someone that would— that paid instead of getting $10K or $15K wholesale fee, which is good. You made $40K because you were really resourceful. Amazing.

Right. Yeah. I swear it's all talking to people too. I mean, if you can just pick up that phone and dial and I mean, the amount of people I've I've met through just talking and, you know, meeting up with them. It's actually insane. And yeah, I know it's going to help me out in the long run.

Yeah, for sure. And the cool thing about this is like zero marketing spend, right, on this one. It was all through relationships. Yeah, a lot, a lot of people like on their first or couple deals, they have to spend like $20,000, $7,000, $10,000 to get their first deal. Obviously you've made some investments, but, uh, in yourself. But this is like, hey, this is pure profit in the sense is like it didn't— you didn't have to pay off any you know, marketing to get this deal.

But even then, you know, in the past, I mean, you remember, Nate, when I was in the program consistently, I had about 5 to 10 deals I had under contract all fall through. Right. And it was just, you know, minor things like either my numbers were wrong or I didn't find the right buyer. I didn't reach out. I didn't have a long enough time to find and dispo the deal.

Right.

So, um, and then this one, you know, it just worked. I mean, it, it couldn't have been more smooth. I say that like I barely had to do anything.

Well, the cool thing about it too is you're transparent the whole way through with your, your, your buyer. You're just like, hey man, you should list this. And he's like, nah, I really need to get it done quick. And you're like, okay. So then you call your buddy and you're like, hey, this is what's going on, I can get you a commission, send them through. So, you know, it's not, it's not shady, it's not feeling— you're not feeling weird, you're just It was smooth and it was easy. And about the deals that, you know, you've done in the past, I think a lot of people when they first get started, you know, it is not knowing like what the numbers should be, right? Or it is not knowing what buyers, you know, you should work with. But now you just explain how you got this deal. You did a great job at running the comps. You leveraged an agent to kind of tell you what he thought it was worth. Great job. And then you leverage your relationships to find a buyer. So you— it looks like all through that trial and error, it got you to a point where this was smooth because maybe if you would have gotten this when you first started, it probably wouldn't have been that smooth for you.

Oh no, no, definitely. If I mean, if this fell on my hands when I first started, I can almost guarantee you I would not have been able to close. I would have messed something up. I would have done something wrong. And I can almost guarantee I would not have been able to close.

And how cool is that now through the experience that you've had since you've gotten started? Now it's like, dude, it was smooth because It's not that it was smooth for everybody. Like you just said, it was smooth because of the things you went through and what you learned, which is amazing. It's a great feeling.

Oh yeah.

And that's, that's kind of how a lot of the deals that I work with, because I've been doing this for a while, like I know what, you know, what can happen. So I make sure, you know, to answer, ask the right questions, get the buyer to be on the same page with me. So it does go smooth. So just so everyone that's watching this, so you can have that hope that these deals can go smooth. It's not that they can't. Obviously, things can always happen, but it just takes experience. It takes time, right?

And I swear, it's every— I feel like every wholesaler or everyone who gets into this industry is going to go through that, the analysis paralysis. I mean, it— that, that, um, that, you know, saying, I swear it. I think I was in analysis paralysis for a solid 6 months of learning about wholesaling before even taking action. I just wasn't sure, you know, I wasn't sure if it was going to work. I was like, oh, you know, am I going to waste my time? It's like, oh, you got to put time into anything that you want to achieve, you know? Exactly, dude.

Yeah, it's kind of crazy how I'm just stoked from what you just said. Like, if you would have just started, you would have messed some up, but now it was so smooth. And that makes me happy, bro, because it's like, it's true. It's true. Like, you learn— you've learned a ton where you were able to have this be a smooth transaction where you're like, dude, that was easy. I didn't feel like I even did anything. It's like, well, not a lot of people get to say they made $40K and didn't really feel like they did anything, right?

Right, right.

So that's a pretty good feeling.

Exactly.

So let's talk about next steps. Like, what's the goal here? Do you want to do— continue to do wholesale deals? You want to flip? You want to—

yeah. Oh, so I definitely— so I'm not sure if I said, but right now I'm currently a full-time fireman down here. So I'm doing that as my full-time job. And this— and in the fire service, we have a schedule where it allows us to have another full-time job. You know, I work 24 hours on and I'm off for 2 days, and it's just a continuous cycle of 24 hours on, off for 2. So essentially I work 10 days a month. Wow. If you, if you put it, if that's the way you look at it. So that gives me the opportunity to go ahead and, you know, pursue real estate on the side and potentially, you know, make it into a full-time job and career. Um, so yeah, obviously I would love to, you know, just continue doing wholesaling and then get into, you know, some rental properties, doing flips, you know, going through the whole metronome of, of real estate. You know, going all the way up to commercial real estate, that'd be even awesome, you know, for sure.

Do you— how do you like your job? Do you like it where you would keep it if you could do it and, uh, like be—

yeah, so, yeah, so, you know, I'd be a fireman. I want to be a fireman since I was a little itty-bitty baby, you know. Um, that's it. And like, it's not even about the money, it's more of those things, just being able to help people. Yeah, I think I'll always just, I'll just always have that inner child in me to where I always want to do it. Because in the fire department, we're all like big kids, you know, playing on very expensive equipment. Yeah, that's the way I look at it. And, uh, I think that's it. That just will never get out of me. I think I'll always love it. So it's like, you know, I can still do that. That's, you know, I got that stream of, uh, income. Yeah, I got real estate. So if It works out quite well, actually.

Yeah, that's really cool because I know, like, if you like the job and it's not so much a job, but you— something you do and you enjoy, then obviously through the strategies that, you know, you've been taught and then you continue to progress, you can do both, right? Like, it doesn't need to be that you're cranking on the phones or, you know, doing real estate all the time. You can do both.

Well, it's like most people in real estate, or most people getting into real estate, their goal is to escape the 9 to 5. That's what you hear nowadays. It's like, in my perspective, I'm like, you know, I'm not really working a 9 to 5 and I don't want to escape it. So how can I make this— how can I, you know, how can I juggle these, these two things and, you know, make it work? And so far it's been going well.

Yeah, yeah, agreed. I think, you know, I was watching a video by Alex Hormozi earlier about like people, they want to retire, that's like their goal, right? And they want to escape work. And it's usually like, well, why? Like, you know, it gives you purpose. It gives you something to do. So if you enjoy what you do and you want to add some income on the side, whether you do this full-time or part-time, real estate's a great, great way to do it. So I'm happy for you, man. What, what information or what, what advice could you give Investor Thrive Nation that's, you know, to the newbies or the people who are getting started or maybe haven't even done a deal but have been trying? What advice could you give them?

I would say the best advice is to just take action. Take advantage of your free resources for real estate wholesaling if you are limited on money. If you're in a situation where you can't put money aside for wholesaling, then take advantage of your free— of Nate's free masterminds that he does. Take advantage of all those free resources and then Take action. That's the biggest part, you know. That's where I— that's where I failed in the past, was I was just too scared to take action in any of it. Then as soon as I started taking action, I just started getting that experience, experience, and learning more as I go.

Man, I love it. And that— everything you described on getting that deal, dude, it sounded smooth as butter. From getting the lead, from just letting people know who you are, from the process of like being open and honest with your The guy from being, you know, finding the comps, running the deal, leveraging agents to find the buyer and to tell you what it was worth. Like it's smooth. And that's exactly what you do to get a deal done quickly. So excellent job.

Yeah.

Freaking, you could teach a class on that, bro.

Oh, in the future. Not now.

Cool, man. Well, Nick, always a pleasure to have you on, man. Always a pleasure to chat with you and obviously know I'm here if you need anything from me. And anybody, do you want to give out a social or let people reach out to you if they have a deal in your market or they want to connect with you?

Yeah, I mean, if you want to, you can friend me on Facebook. If you want to put my name, I mean, I'm not sure.

I think I see it right there. They can just probably type in Nick Forte.

Yeah, type my name up on Facebook and then reach out to me and we can work together. We can help, you know. Go through it together, you know? Yeah. Yeah.

So guys, if you want to JV or if you have a deal, it's specifically Myrtle Beach, right? That's where you're working. If you have a deal out there, um, you know, hit up Nick, he can help you dispo it. And if, uh, you know, if you just want to connect with him because you like his style, then, uh, hit him up. It's all about networking. So Nick, awesome, awesome to have you on here. Uh, always a pleasure. And we'll catch you on the next one, dude. We're going to next deal. We'll bring you back on. I'd love to see your journey and see you progress, bro.

Absolutely. Thanks, brother.

Of course.

All right. Later, everybody.