In this video Nathan Payne discusses the challenges of wholesaling a property in a state he doesn’t live in and demonstrates how partnering with a knowledgeable local real‑estate agent can uncover critical deal‑breakers. Nathan shares a recorded phone call with Sarah, a local agent, who reveals that the subject property lacks year‑round water and would require a $100,000 water main—information not reflected in the MLS listing. The conversation highlights the discrepancy between MLS claims and on‑the‑ground reality, the potential liability for agents, and the need to renegotiate the price (down to $175‑$190 K, or roughly $20‑$25 K per unit) once the hidden cost is known. Nathan uses this example to advise out‑of‑state investors to network, trust but verify, and adopt an abundance mindset rather than a scarcity one. He emphasizes that agents want to help, that thorough due‑diligence is essential, and that leveraging local expertise can turn a seemingly bad deal into an informed decision.
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Have you ever come across a lead or a seller that wants to sell their property in a state that you've never been to, in a city you don't know anything about, but you know you have a good deal? I've been working with a real estate agent and a wholesaler that have a deal, and we're trying to find the buyer. What happened in this situation is this new wholesaler needed to sell his deal, so So I helped him find an agent that had buyers. The agent is really awesome. She went and went to the property and said, "Hey, I'm going to go check it out and see if any of my buyers are interested." And I just got off a phone call with her that we're going to listen to right now, and she let me know what's going on with the house. So look, if you are investing, you don't know about a city or a state or about real estate in the area, but you can find relationships and network with people, that's the best way to get deals done. Leverage the experts in the area. Leverage the agents. They want to help. Check out this conversation, see how awesome agents are to work with. Let's dive right in.
I was just touching these earlier. I just wanted to let you guys know, um, since there's no water on the street, that's primarily the reason why the numbers don't work. Of course, a water main. Otherwise it's only seasonal water.
Yeah, yeah.
Um, so it made sense, like, when, um, I had gotten like 6 of them and 4 of them— 1, 2, 3, 4 of them were on the same street.
Okay.
And the street needed a water main, but Water main costs $100,000.
Oh my gosh.
So it made sense when we were doing 4.
Yeah.
But in this situation, like, it doesn't— it just— it doesn't add up.
Yeah. So you're saying your buyers— it just would not be a good investment for them even to fix and flip?
So there's not year-round water over there.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. So they'd have to navigate doing— I don't even know how you deal with not having year-round water.
Yeah, so to tie in over there because the lot is so little and you can't really put a well since there's septic and the lot's so little, I mean, there's really no way to do that. So you need to tie in to year-round water. But the water corporation doesn't have a main, a water main on that street.
Okay.
So, and I noticed on MLS it says like that they— somebody's paid the $4,000 and there's only $1,000 left to— that's due in September to tie in. But there's nowhere to tie in. There's no water main on that road. So whoever buys that property is gonna have to figure out who's gonna pay for the water mean.
Dang. So, so you're saying it's pretty much just a, a bad deal then, just because you'd have to— you, you'd be coming into more issues and more problems? Yes.
So there's not year-round water. There's no year-round water. So as a seasonal property, those numbers don't make sense, if that makes sense.
Yeah, no, that makes sense. So they're trying to sell it not as a seasonal property when it really is.
It really is a seasonal property, yes. And I did So I have some people over at the Clark Shores Water Corporation, and they are the ones who organize the planning and the development of what streets are seasonal and which streets have water mains. And then if a street wants to, if they want to do a water main, somebody buy or pay for it on another street in that community where we have you know, 4 properties, but for just 1 property, I mean, I don't really know of anybody who's going to want to pay $100,000 for a water main for a street for 1 property.
So what do you think it would make sense— because we're obviously going to go back and negotiate with the agent— what do you think it would make sense for knowing that now we know this information?
So, well, Tyler, who I had spoken to, said that he just completed the paperwork for another buyer.
Oh, he did? Oh, okay, well that buyer must not know.
But you know. And that the money was paid, the earnest money was paid, so I just assumed he had another buyer.
Okay, well that's probably best case scenario. I mean, that's unfortunate. So are you like 100% sure about that? Because obviously that buyer probably would want to know that he doesn't want to buy a property that's not worth what he thinks it is, right?
Right, right. I mean, it's a little deceiving to be honest, and I know it's not your fault at all whatsoever.
Yeah.
The agent who put in MLS that there is water at the street and the buyer just needs to be responsible for connecting the water at the street to the house.
And it's not.
That is incorrect because there is no water at this. There's no main—
there's no water at all.
So I'm not sure where that information came from.
What happens if the buyer buys it with that expectation, then finds out later? Is the agent liable? Like, What's like, is that because I would hate to buy something like that and then, you know, have this happen where it's like, dude, I just bought a house that's not even worth what I, you know, what they told me it was because of this issue.
Right. I mean, well, and that's the thing. I mean, I would imagine it's kind of on the agent if she puts in MLS that the water is tied in.
Right.
However, It is an ongoing thing in Clark Shores that they're doing very slowly. They plan to convert more streets over to year-round and have more water mains installed or put in. But the thing is, who's going to pay for them?
Yeah. So it has to be the people that own the homes. Is that what you're saying? Yeah.
I mean, I suppose.
Yeah.
And some people might not want to pay for it. That's the other thing. Some people on the street may not. Yeah, uh, or need year-round water.
Very interesting.
Properties do have private wells if the lots are a little bit bigger, right?
Right.
But, you know, I don't know, I just wanted to make sure that you guys were aware.
Yeah, I really appreciate you doing that for us because, you know, you did a lot of work. I will call them and let them know. And, you know, obviously we want to be transparent, you know, and the, the buyer can make the decision that they want. But thanks for taking your time to go out there. I really appreciate it. And obviously if we have anything else, you're going to be the first one we call.
Okay, awesome. Thank you so much. And if for any reason, like, this buyer doesn't work out, it's not something like completely off the table. It's just off the table at $190,000 or even $175,000.
Of course. What would you have an idea of where it would make sense if, you know, this buyer backs out?
Maybe Buck 20, maybe a buck 25 max.
Yeah, so it drops it down quite a bit.
Okay, right. Yeah, just because of the water main thing.
Okay. No, no, that makes sense.
I don't mean to, you know, be the bearer of bad news, but I did want to just let you know.
No, I really appreciate you saying that, especially like if I was buying it and I didn't know that. So I'll let Tyler know and then he can let him know, and you know, we'll have to go with that information they have.
Now, is Tyler the owner?
No, so he's the one that has the contract with the agent, and he's just wholesaling his contract for, you know, to the buyer that he has.
Got it, got it, got it. Okay, awesome.
Well, thank you, Sarah. I appreciate it. So right there was a conversation with an agent that went above and beyond to help us wholesale a deal. She originally thought that the house was going to be worth a lot more, but after she dug deeper, she found that it wasn't. And, you know, I was helping another wholesaler. It was one of his first deals. And he said he found a buyer, but I'm sure they don't know about this situation. So we're going to definitely let them know. You know, not everything, unfortunately, is disclosed on the MLS. I don't know 100%. I believe everybody. But, you know, you obviously got to trust and you got to verify, right? You can't just always trust. So we're going to find out if that's true. But working with real estate agents is huge, everybody, especially if you don't live in the area. This is in Maine and I don't live there, so— or Massachusetts, I can't even remember.. But yeah, if you don't live in an area, definitely leverage the agents in the area and experts so you don't have to worry about, you know, trying to be the expert and figure everything out yourself. So work with agents, and if you haven't, you learned how to work with agents, just make some phone calls, start networking. Everybody wants to help you out. Life is full of abundance, okay? I'm telling you, stop having a scarcity mentality like I used to have. I used to do like think everybody was my competition, but that's not true. I'm in front of a house right now that's not even mine. I met— I networked with this guy as I was knocking doors, and now I'm shooting this film. It's pretty sick. So talk to everybody. You're going to be able to find deals, guaranteed. And follow me for more content like this.
