In this blog, we'll delve into Shane Belfield's journey in the world of real estate investing. With a notable portfolio of over 300 successful deals, we'll explore his path from the initial steps in real estate, his first $3,000 deal, to his current achievement of consistently generating over $30,000 a month by wholesaling real estate from Arizona to St. Louis.
How Shane Got Started Wholesaling Houses Virtually
Shane was working a full-time job in Arizona while trying to buy rental properties and flip houses virtually in St. Louis on the side. He had heard about wholesaling real estate but never got around to trying it.
That changed when Shane got fired from his job and was losing money on a rehab project in St. Louis. With a baby on the way, Shane decided to take a 2-week wholesaling challenge and ended up making $8,500! He hasn’t looked back since.
What is Wholesaling Real Estate?
“I guess the best way I can describe it is like flipping houses without the risk. Essentially, you're just flipping the contract.”
Wholesaling involves finding discounted properties, putting them under contract, and then passing the deal off to a real estate investor for a finder's fee. It's a way to make money in real estate without taking on the risk and hassle of fixing up and selling the property yourself.
Shane explains that wholesaling is more of a numbers and sales game. You don't need money, construction skills, or design experience. The key is reaching sellers, negotiating deals, and finding buyers.
How Shane Made His First $3,000 Wholesale Deal
Shane pulled a list of landlords in St. Louis and started cold-calling them from Arizona. One landlord named a price to sell his property that sounded like a good deal. Shane put it under contract then hustled to find a buyer during the inspection period.
He ended up wholesaling it to an investor for a $3,000 fee!
Even though he was doing deals virtually, Shane had a friend go check out the property in person for him initially. Once he built relationships with buyers, they would just go look at deals for him. This allowed Shane to focus on finding more sellers and getting more deals done.
Going From $58k A Year To Over $30k A Month Wholesaling
After wholesaling part-time between Phoenix and St. Louis, Shane went all in on St. Louis virtually when he got fired.
In his first full month virtual wholesaling, Shane made over $30,000 - more than half his $58,000 salary at his old sales job!
“I mean I had been working for years trying to crack six figures and in 2021, that first year, I did that in like two and a half months. Wow. Yeah. Crazy.”
Wholesaling allowed Shane to 16x his income in one year and pursue a lifestyle with more freedom. He can now get great seats at sports games, drive a nicer car, and not stress about minor purchases.
Key Takeaways
- Wholesaling real estate allows you to make money flipping houses without taking on rehab risk
- You can wholesale virtually using local eyes to view properties
- It’s a numbers and sales game that anyone willing to learn and hustle can succeed at
- Wholesaling is scalable and can turn a side income into over $30k a month quickly
We hope this post showed how wholesaling can provide the freedom and income you desire! What did you think of Shane's story? Let us know in the comments.
About Benjy Nichols
Benjy has been a media specialist at DealMachine for the last 2.5 years. He produces, writes, shoots, and edits our media content for our member's DealMachine and Real Estate education.