How to Wholesale Houses From On-Market Leads

TL;DR

Start by filtering active listings for signs of seller motivation, then estimate after-repair value and renovation costs before calling the listing agent with a defensible cash offer. The group demonstrates this process using PropWire, Flipster, and Redfin, including a Michigan bank property listed at $217,000 that received a $75,000 cash offer after the estimated value and repairs were reviewed.

Transcript

okay guys welcome if you're watching this live this is coming straight from Puerto Rico we're in the Gazebo office right outside my house you can see the kind of pool in the background and uh excited to be doing this live stream you might be watching this after the live stream and and watching the recording so participate with us whether it's live ... Read More

Key Insights

• On-market wholesaling is a process of finding listed properties with potential distress, analyzing their financial viability, contacting listing agents, and submitting offers. The live group prioritizes listed properties because agents are more immediately reachable than owners selected from an unqualified cold-calling list.
• A listing price is not necessarily a reliable measure of a wholesale property's current value. The Michigan bank property was listed at $217,000, yet the group concluded that the price was close to its estimated after-repair value and reduced its offer substantially after reviewing repairs.
• The Michigan property's estimated after-repair value is approximately $250,000, while its estimated renovation requirement is around $75,000. Based on those figures, the group believed that securing the contract at $75,000 could leave enough room for a flipper to complete the project.
• A cash offer can compete on terms even when another offer has a higher price. The group submitted a $75,000 highest-and-best offer and described it as the highest cash offer, although a conventional offer was significantly higher and another competing offer was slightly lower.
• PropWire's motivated-seller filter works by searching listing descriptions for keywords associated with property or seller distress. Examples mentioned include “must sell,” “motivated seller,” and “cash offer only,” allowing users to narrow active MLS listings before performing deeper property analysis.
• Property labels can provide useful context before an investor opens a complete record. PropWire displays indicators such as absentee owner, free and clear, auction, empty nester, and pending, alongside the listing price and price per square foot for rapid initial screening.
• Multiple property-search platforms can support continuous deal monitoring. The teenagers maintain searches using PropWire, Flipster, and Redfin, watch selected counties for new distressed listings, and respond when a relevant property appears by reviewing it and contacting the listing agent.
• Warm leads can make an off-market working session more productive than unrestricted cold calling. The proposed approach is to create a list, skip trace it, have virtual assistants call first, and then use a later live session to contact the interested property owners identified through that preparation.

Questions & Answers

Q: How do you find on-market houses to wholesale?

Start with active listings in a selected county and narrow them by property type and language indicating motivation or distress. The group searches PropWire, Flipster, and Redfin continuously, then reviews properties flagged as distressed. In PropWire, the motivated-seller filter searches listing descriptions for phrases such as “must sell,” “motivated seller,” and “cash offer only.” Promising listings can then be analyzed and discussed directly with their listing agents.

Q: Why focus on on-market properties during live wholesaling?

On-market properties make a live working session more productive because every property is actively listed and has an agent who can be called. With an off-market list, the group might spend the entire afternoon cold calling without reaching anyone. Listed properties allow participants to source opportunities, estimate values and repairs, contact agents, and potentially make offers within the same session, although unanswered calls may still require follow-up.

Q: How was the offer calculated for the Michigan bank property?

The property was listed for $217,000, and an initial offer of $160,000 was discussed with the agent. After reviewing the deal, the group decided the list price was close to the property's estimated after-repair value. They estimated an after-repair value near $250,000 and renovations around $75,000, then submitted an official highest-and-best cash offer of $75,000 to preserve room for a flipper.

Q: Can a cash offer beat a higher conventional offer?

A cash offer can remain competitive even when a conventional offer is higher, although the transcript does not confirm which offer the bank ultimately selected. For the Michigan property, there were two other price references in the competition: one offer was slightly lower, while a conventional offer was much higher. The group's $75,000 submission was described as the highest cash offer, and they were waiting for the bank's response.

Q: What information does PropWire show for active listings?

PropWire shows active property records on a map and in listing cards. The cards can include the list price, price per square foot, and whether a property is pending. They may also display indicators such as absentee owner, free and clear, auction, and empty nester. Opening a record provides photographs, the listing description, and access to listing-agent information for additional investigation and outreach.

Q: What does the motivated-seller filter in PropWire do?

The motivated-seller filter examines listing descriptions for keywords suggesting that a property or seller may be distressed. The examples given include “must sell,” “motivated seller,” and “cash offer only,” and the system uses hundreds of identified keywords. In the demonstrated Macomb County search, selecting active MLS listings and the motivated-seller filter produced about 105 results before the group examined individual property cards.

Q: Which property types can be included in the search?

The demonstrated Macomb County search includes single-family houses, condominiums, and townhouses. The users first select active MLS listings, choose the county, add the desired property types, and then apply advanced MLS keyword filters. They do not need to restrict the search by whether the recorded owner is an individual or a business, although PropWire provides those owner-category choices when needed.

Q: How can investors prepare off-market leads for a live calling session?

The suggested off-market workflow begins by creating a property list and skip tracing it to obtain contact information. Virtual assistants can call that list before the live session and identify warm leads. The investors can then spend the live session speaking with owners who have already shown some interest, instead of using most of the available time making unanswered cold calls to an unqualified list.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The group spends several hours sourcing wholesale opportunities, evaluating properties, contacting agents, and making offers. They focus primarily on active on-market listings because agents can be contacted immediately, making a live working session more productive than calling an unqualified off-market list where many property owners might never answer the phone.

• A Michigan bank-owned property illustrates the evaluation process. Although it was listed for $217,000 and an initial $160,000 offer appeared acceptable, further analysis suggested an approximately $250,000 after-repair value and about $75,000 in renovations. The group consequently submitted a highest-and-best cash offer of $75,000 while competing against another cash offer and a higher conventional offer.

• PropWire is used to search active listings in Macomb County, Michigan, including single-family houses, condominiums, and townhouses. Motivated-seller keyword filters identify descriptions containing distress-related language. Additional labels reveal characteristics such as absentee ownership, free-and-clear ownership, auction status, empty-nester status, pending status, list price, and price per square foot.