How a Wholesaler Finds Deals in Competitive Markets (And Why Taking Action Matters)

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Show Summary

In this episode of the Real Estate Pros Podcast, host Michelle Kesil sits down with Christine Palm, a real estate wholesaler and licensed realtor operating in Central Kentucky and Little Rock, Arkansas. Christine shares her journey from discovering wholesaling through a Rich Dad Poor Dad conference to building a full-time business focused on helping distressed homeowners. She explains how wholesaling works, the types of properties she targets, and how adding a realtor license has allowed her to better serve sellers while maximizing opportunities. Christine also dives into marketing strategies, challenges in today’s competitive wholesaling landscape, and why taking action is the most important step for anyone looking to get started in real estate investing.

Resources and Links from this show:

• • • Investor Fuel Real Estate Mastermind
    • Investor Machine Real Estate Lead Generation
    • Mike on Facebook
    • Mike on Instagram
    • Mike on LinkedIn
    • Oasis House Buyers LLC’s Website
    • Sidewalk Property Solutions’ Website
    • Christine Palm on Instagram
    • Christine Palm on Facebook
    • Christine Palm’s Email: [email protected]

  Listen to the Audio Version of this Episode

  Investor Fuel Show Transcript:

  Christine Palm (00:00)
  Yeah, I think for the best advice I can give is to take action. We can research and go to YouTube University for the rest of our lives. I’m sure we can find some sort of education or course or whatever to teach us about it ⁓ forever. And we could just get caught in the I’m learning loop.

  when really like the best form of education is taking action, you’re going to learn so much more, even if you don’t get the deal or you have to cancel a contract. like that is the best kind of education you can get is from actually taking action.

  Michelle Kesil (02:19)
  Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil, and today I’m joined by someone I’m looking forward to chatting with, Christine Palm, who is a wholesaler and realtor. So, excited to have you here today, Christine.

  Christine Palm (02:34)
  Thank you. Thank you for having me.

  Michelle Kesil (02:35)
  Of course, I think the listeners are really going to take something away from how you’re approaching helping people buy and sell their right homes. So let’s dive in.

  Christine Palm (02:46)
  Sounds good.

  Michelle Kesil (02:48)
  First off, for those not yet familiar with you and your work, can you share what your main focus is?

  Christine Palm (02:53)
  Yeah, so I’m a real estate wholesaler, meaning I market for houses that need work or people who are in desperate situations who need to sell their houses. So a lot of times it’s houses that need a lot of work, that are falling down, that aren’t really fit to be on the market to sell to like a new family or a new homeowner.

  So yeah, so with wholesaling, we help people sell their houses that need work. Normally it’s a cash purchase and can be done pretty quickly.

  Michelle Kesil (03:28)
  Awesome. In what markets are you operating in?

  Christine Palm (03:31)
  I’m primarily in central Kentucky, the Lexington and surrounding areas. And then I have a second market in Little Rock, Arkansas.

  Michelle Kesil (03:41)
  Awesome. How did you get started in your real estate career?

  Christine Palm (03:46)
  well, it was a long time ago. I think it was around 2008, and I went to a Rich Dad Poor Dad conference. And they talked about so many different ways to make money, different businesses, and I learned about wholesaling. And it really sparked my interest and really wanted to get into that. I was living in Hawaii at the time, and the person helping us to sign up for the classes told us that wholesaling was not a good…

  thing for Kentucky. And I just trusted them, I didn’t know. But looking back, like almost every house that I lived in was like falling down. one room and one place I lived in, like my bed was at an angle because the foundation wasn’t very good. And so like my room was on a slope, but it was cheap and so I got to live there pretty cheap and…

  I wasn’t complaining, but in hindsight, I was like, there’s so many houses that are falling apart here. We need wholesalers. So I didn’t, I just trusted him. But now, you know, I, I later on, I moved to Kentucky and in 2013 I did my first couple deals and, I just started listening to podcasts and took action.

  and I put out Bandit signs and I got my first deal from that and then I bought a list of probates and I got my second deal from that. yeah, and then in 2013 I went full time, actually no, I’m sorry, 2018 I went full time wholesaling. And then a couple years ago I got my license as a realtor.

  Michelle Kesil (05:26)
  Awesome. What do you feel have been some of the main keys that have made the biggest difference in allowing your business to be able to grow and to run smoothly?

  Christine Palm (06:27)
  Well, at first I needed to learn how to talk to people and I started off, think in 2018, doing a lot of cold calls and at first it was so stressful. I didn’t know what I was doing. I was so afraid of making mistakes and saying the wrong thing and I had my little opening script and I was just so stressed about it and I remember this one call I had.

  started at the beginning and I like said my my script so perfect and the person was like hello and I was like hello and then like hello and I was like hello she’s like are you are you there and I was like yeah I’m here I’m like did you hear what I said and she was like yeah I just wasn’t sure if you were a robot and I was like

  Oh, well, I assure you, I am a real human. And we just laughed. But after that, I was like, I can’t be so rigid. I can’t be so exact all the time. I need to have a friendly tone of voice. I need to be real on the phone. And I did a lot of cold calling back then. And I think that really set me up for now. Because now I can talk to people really easily on the phone.

  help them feel comfortable and not feel like I’m a scam or trying to take advantage of them.

  Michelle Kesil (07:59)
  Yeah, that’s so important, especially now with like AI.

  Christine Palm (08:03)
  Yeah.

  Michelle Kesil (08:05)
  Awesome. So what are maybe some obstacles that you have gone through in your career as a wholesaler that now looking back you can see the lesson? ⁓

  Christine Palm (08:07)
  Ahem.

  Yeah, well, you know, there’s times when, like, maybe I didn’t have a buyer to buy the property or ⁓ I didn’t get the contract because some of my competition got there first or was more convincing and I just, now I look back and I think, you know, I just need to keep trying to find buyers and

  I just need to be personable and just explain to sellers the process and just be open and honest and helpful any way that I can.

  Michelle Kesil (09:00)
  Yeah, absolutely, that’s important. What type of houses are you looking for? You mentioned you’re working with more distressed people. that something that’s common for you?

  Christine Palm (09:47)
  Yes, yes. So I do marketing for those types of properties. So a lot of times it might be someone inherited their parents’ house and it’s just really, really dated. Like you walk in and it’s like a house from the seventies and nothing has been done for the past 30, 40 years. and the

  the people who inherited the house, the children, they’re adults now and they might live somewhere else or aren’t able to fix up the house, to be able to sell it on the market at a good price or they’re not physically able. I’ve been in some houses that were just seriously falling apart. One house I walked in and the…

  the owner, lived in Seattle, Washington. I’m in Kentucky and I got the key from the neighbor across the street and it was in the middle of the summer, so it was hot and humid and I opened the door. I got the key, I unlocked the door and I just let the door open and the smell comes out at me and this was the only time that I like shot up a prayer to God and I was like, please God, I do not want to find a dead body. That’s how bad it smelled in there.

  whether it was an animal or a human, had no clue, but I was just like, okay, and I’m like, let’s just do it. So I took one step in and all of a sudden, big cloud, gray cloud came up from the ground and it was all these little bugs. Like I had stepped in and they just were like, whoa, what happened? And I was just like, ⁓ gross. And so just quickly walked through the house, took pictures, took note of any damage. Like doors were falling halfway.

  ⁓ There was holes in the walls and ⁓ it just needed updating everywhere. There was like animal feces all over the place and like roaches and it was was awful. But ⁓ yeah, so you know those are the types of houses that I look for because you know realtors need inventory and you know this is

  One way to get them is finding the houses that need work that not only like helps the house and the owners but also helps the neighborhood. It helps bring up the value of the home. It brings more housing for people. So I just feel like it’s a win-win-win for everybody involved.

  Michelle Kesil (12:29)
  Yeah, absolutely. And what are you most focused on solving or scaling to next in your business?

  Christine Palm (12:37)
  Yeah, well, I definitely would like to help more people. And now that I’m a realtor as well, sometimes the people that I reach out to, their houses are in great shape. So I’m able to also now offer them like, hey, this isn’t really a good ⁓ like cash purchase. There’s not really much that we can do to improve the property, but I can list it for you on the market and find like a new homeowner.

  And so I’ve been able to do that as well now that I’m a realtor. So some previously dead properties, know, or dead leads, I guess not properties, dead leads, ⁓ are now, and now I can capitalize on those. And, ⁓ I just also would like to do more marketing, try to be the first person to reach out. so that way, you know, it’s not like everybody.

  town has sent them a letter or they’ve received 20 calls like I want to be the first one and be able to ⁓ Get more deals that way

  Michelle Kesil (13:47)
  Yeah, absolutely. Sounds like a good game plan. Are you interested or looking to expand into other forms of investing or just wholesaling up this time?

  Christine Palm (14:01)
  Yeah, I definitely would like to build my portfolio. I do have a couple rentals currently, but would like to scale that up as well. ⁓ Maybe some multifamily properties, because eventually I would like to retire. And I think having positive cash flow from rentals is a good way to do that. Especially if I want to retire before I’m like 65, you know, so. ⁓

  Michelle Kesil (15:13)
  Yeah.

  Christine Palm (15:13)
  and also

  commercial. I’d like to get into some commercial real estate as well.

  Michelle Kesil (15:17)
  Yeah, amazing. That’s exciting. What would you give as advice to maybe someone that’s looking to become a wholesaler?

  Christine Palm (15:26)
  Yeah, I think for the best advice I can give is to take action. We can research and go to YouTube University for the rest of our lives. I’m sure we can find some sort of education or course or whatever to teach us about it forever. And we could just get caught in the I’m learning loop.

  when really like the best form of education is taking action, you’re going to learn so much more, even if you don’t get the deal or you have to cancel a contract. like that is the best kind of education you can get is from actually taking action.

  And a lot of times people are like, I haven’t got my LLC yet, or I don’t have my website yet. So I can’t do anything. And I’m like, well, what if you don’t like this business?

  Like I’ve been a serial entrepreneur since I was seven and there’s so many businesses that I tried to start where I was like, okay, I got my LLC and then I got my first job and I was like, this sucks. I don’t want to do this job. And then all that time I spent getting the LLC and a website was all for nothing. Like I spent money and I spent time when really if I had just gone out and gotten a client, I would have realized, I don’t really like this business.

  And ⁓ like if you can go out and find a distressed house or a motivated seller and get a house under contract, especially if you’re in the Lexington, Kentucky area, I can help you find a buyer. But you know, if you actually take action and get a deal, then you might have the money to be able to make a website or get an LLC. But also if you

  get into working the business and you realize you don’t like it, then you haven’t wasted your time or money doing all those things. But I’m not a legal professional, so that’s not any legal advice. But yeah, I definitely think taking action and actually trying to get a deal is the best education for sure.

  Michelle Kesil (17:43)
  Yeah, definitely nothing replaces just doing it. And what’s like your strategy for finding deals? Like how do you come up with these houses?

  Christine Palm (17:46)
  Yeah. ⁓

  Yeah, so I do some direct mail and cold calling and driving for dollars. Although lately the driving for dollars is mostly just when I’m doing my regular everyday life. But driving for dollars where you’re driving around and you find a house that looks pretty bad from the outside and it could be vacant or the grass is really tall or the gutters are falling off.

  And then you just take down the address and you find the owner and you reach out to them and see if you can help by taking the property off their hands. Also, I pull some probate lists and some lists from the city, just trying to find the people who might not be able to take care of the property and see if they would like to sell it.

  I also have a website. I also have a website so people can fill out the form on my website to let me know that they want to sell their house.

  Michelle Kesil (18:56)
  Yeah, amazing. And what would you say are like the biggest challenges that you find in wholesaling?

  Christine Palm (19:06)
  The biggest challenge in wholesaling, sometimes…

  sometimes like the sellers might try to hold their own little auctions and call all the wholesalers in town and have us all show up. And sometimes, sometimes that backfires for them because we’re like, hey, hi, long, long time no see or nice to see you so recently, you know, and, ⁓ and we all know each other and they’re like, ⁓ they all know each other, you know? So, but, but you know, sometimes, sometimes

  the sellers have talked to a lot of people or like when I cold call now, I first, when I first cold called people, ⁓ like in 2018, nobody was cold calling at the time and people who I called were like, wow, nobody’s ever called me about my house before. I have all these letters and postcards, but nobody’s ever called me. And now when I cold call people are like, my gosh, you’re the seventh person today to call me.

  I get like 20 calls a week, just stop calling me. You know, so sometimes you have to like shift your marketing strategies because everybody’s doing it. so trying to stand out from everybody else is a little bit difficult because a lot of people try to be wholesalers. So, but showing up is a good way to, to beat, to beat the odds.

  Michelle Kesil (20:38)
  Absolutely. ⁓ And you mentioned like in your own portfolio, what does that kind of look like? Like what are some keys of investing that you’ve kind of geared up?

  Christine Palm (20:50)
  Yeah, so I know for me, I want to be able to buy a property and be able to fix it up and then get a 30 year mortgage on the property after I fix it up. So it’s a BRRRR method, BRRRR buy, renovate, rent, refinance, repeat. and so… ⁓

  For me, the numbers have to make sense after I fix it up and refinance it. And once I am able to rent it out, is the rent going to be able to pay the mortgage, all the expenses, and then keep me and have me have some extra money after that? So you just have to buy right. And yeah, also I want it to be in an area that it should…

  hopefully go up in value and I mean pretty much everywhere does that but ⁓ you know just something that I can that I can keep for a long long time and then maybe as I’m aging I could sell one off here and there for a little extra cash but yeah but definitely for sure the cash flow is important to me don’t want to have money out of pocket to have a property but be able to make money from the properties.

  Michelle Kesil (22:07)
  Definitely, that’s important. Awesome, so before we wrap up here, if somebody wants to reach out, connect, learn more, where can people find you and connect with you?

  Christine Palm (22:15)
  Yeah, well I’m on Facebook. My name is Christine Palm, P-A-L-M, like the tree or part of your hand. And on Instagram, I’m Christine.Palm.Realtor. And um those are the best two ways to get me. Or you can go to my website, sidewalkpropertiesolutions.com, or my email, [email protected]

  Michelle Kesil (22:40)
  Perfect, well, appreciate your time and your story. Thank you for being here.

  Christine Palm (22:43)
  Thank

  you. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

  Michelle Kesil (22:47)
  Sure And for the listeners tuning in, if you got value, make sure that you have subscribed. We’ve got more conversations with operators like Christine who are building real businesses and we will see you on our next episode.