Let me ask this one question that should be basic to every real estate investor: What is the key to being successful in real estate investing every month and every year? The answer lies in one simple but very powerful word:

  If you have a sizeable real estate business that is not generating positive cash flow each month then you'll soon be learning what Chapter 7 & Chapter 13 mean, or you can do something quick to fix it. By fixing it I am talking about having enough reserve capital and then some to weather the bad times, (or deals) and to make you significant cash RIGHT NOW while you build on your equities and the "home-run" deals being either rehabs or getting tenant/buyers qualified for loans on your subject-to deals for the big kahuna paydays.

  Now how exactly do you accomplish having a system you can put on auto-pilot that makes deposits into your bank account so you can spend from it month-in-month out... the answer is:

  Hopefully you can understand by the few paragraphs above exactly what I'm talking about but if you can't see it clearly then let me spell it out: wholesaling houses = cashflow! Just my personal opinion so take it for what it's worth, but if you're out there doing deals whether a novice or a pro you just need to have some wholesaling techniques in your arsenal. Let me give you some reasons why I back this up form my personal real estate business.

  A large part of my business focuses on finding properties with existing financing taking over payments…in other words Subject-To's. To accomplish this you have two key components being deals available and qualified buyers. I spend considerable monies on marketing for both and I ALWAYS either have more deals than buyers or more buyers than deals. In my world of wholesaling I profit from every venture opportunity that comes along. If I'm out of qualified buyers and have quality deals then I wholesale them to other investors and conversely if I have qualified buyers then I'm networked with other investors having deals and I get paid for bringing qualified buyers their way.

  Some of the comments in the above listed paragraph may confuse or quite frankly blow away other previously conceived concepts of what exactly is wholesaling. If you think you're just going to call up a Realtor to bring you no-brainer can't-miss deals from an MLS listing that hundreds of other investors are looking at and you to wholesale it making thousands while they make a few hundred...... then GET REAL! Sure you can find wholesale deals in MLS, and I do, but what about gaining access to the property to let your wholesale buyers see it? What about that earnest money of $500 or more that a Realtor is going to require? What if you are going to be able to close on the deal in the time frame of contract? What are you going to do if your wholesale buyer needs help with financing?

  My point listed above with Realtors is they are a great source for wholesale deals, but my friend that is just the "tip of the iceberg"! There are more opportunities out there with independent sellers than with MLS properties where hundreds of other investors are snatching up the deals the minute they hit the system. Unless you're a Realtor tied to the pulse of the MLS system and realistically have an "inside" line to deals coming across then your ability to consistently wholesale deals is by no means impossible but rather limited.

  Now that I've hopefully steered you into a mentality thinking of finding those deals we need to revisit the "why" of wholesaling houses and that is CASH! With cash deposited in your bank account you can pay your bills and expenses just like the next person. So many times I will come into and counsel investors that drop their corporate job like a hot potato just knowing in their heart they have found their niche in real estate investing. While that may be so true, they will focus on rehabs taking months to complete for the big payday or gather some subject-to deals making a monthly spread but it is still a ways down the road before their buyer qualifies for that loan payoff making a five-figure payday.

  I am sure there are investors contrary to what I have stated above that right from the start they do what I call "hit the home-run deals" on those big paydays. For the other 99% of investors in the "real world" you first must solve your cash flow personal needs before progressing. Shall we say walk before you can run?

  Why I think wholesaling will get you as an investor quicker there than any other means in real estate is in this example. With a wholesaling deal you should make on the AVERAGE anywhere from $3,000-$5,000. That will equate to what would be upwards of needing 20-30 rent-income producing properties possibly on a monthly basis to cashflow to that amount and you just now made it off just one wholesale deal----and that is if all paid their rent on time! What if you can (yes, you can!) multiply that to 5-8 deals or more a month? Now you have significant disposable income to take care of your personal needs, weather deals that may not be cashflowing, and let you focus on your real estate business without panic on deals such as rehabs that take a while to come to fruition.

  If there were only one all-encompassing manual on how to become a truly successfully real estate investor, then after the table of contents you would find the first chapter on CASHFLOW! Cashflow literally is the keys to the kingdom in successful real estate investing. I hope you will use wholesaling houses to get you there cutting as much of the learning curve off as possible. Good hunting as luck has absolutely nothing to do with it.

  Take a quick check of your marketing program and tune it up if needed so you too can, "Find All The Motivated Sellers You Can Handle!".

Visit Scott Rister's Wholesaling and Marketing Forum

Scott Rister is an author and "real world" investor just like yourself. Scott started investing in real estate over seven years ago for the sole reason so many do which is to supplement income and eventually replace the corporate job. After learning first hand what "down-sizing" in the corporate world means, Scott focused more intently on shifting from emphasis from buying techniques to finding truly motivated sellers. In less than a year Scott has been involved with over 60 real estate transactions that ended up with a check with his name on it. You can learn more about his program at www.findmotivatedsellers.com