John S. Experienced Investor with The Investor's Edge

Speaker: John Saunders

John Saunders: Yes. Before working with the investor edge, I was in real estate, I was working with other lenders and, there were some challenges with those lenders. The, the scheduling, the, the time frame of disbursements, the, closing never seemed to happen on time. And once you start going with the journey of flipping homes, there were a lot of challenges with My, with the scope of work, finding good contractors and, trying to hit that target number that I projected at my initial purchase. And those was a lot of challenges to stay on track, but I think that was the most challenging, just having a number and then towards the end, when the deal closed, the numbers was not, matching up.

John Saunders: What, what made me decide to move forward with the investor edge? I think for the initial, phone call, they seemed very knowledgeable, but I think the most important was the software that they offered. It allowed me to be more efficient at finding properties, making sure that, that it's a good deal, making sure the numbers work. And I think that was something unique at the time. I've been working with Investor Edge for 6 years now. And when we initially had that first conversation, I went through the tour with them through the software, and I've seen that this would make my job a lot easier and it would allow me to like Before I close on the deal to make sure that this is really a deal. Cause sometimes you would think you have a deal, but the numbers, once you put them together, it's not a deal. But with the software, it made a very clear cut if they're still gonna work or not. And that closed the deal for me was the software.

John Saunders: What was my experience like using the tools, the training, and the support? To find and analyze deals, what stood out to me was that, Once I started using the software, and put the deal in, for me, it drastically reduced the time. I was able to plug in the numbers and Make sure that that was a profitable deal. And then I was also with the, with the software, it allows me to run comps. And I think comps is vital cause that's what's gonna determine once that home hit the market, the appraiser will use those comps. And sometimes you can, rely on a realtor and realtors, that's not their specialty, that's appraisal. And also with Investor Edge, they have the in-house. Appraisal, which also gonna reaffirm that, that this is a deal. And then you have the software, you're gonna get the comps and make sure it's a deal. And then you can put the plug in the, the accurate numbers. So for me, what stood out the most was the in-house appraisal, the software itself to, to run comps, real comps, and it just made the process a lot quicker cause prior to the software, I used to go through Zillow, call my realtors, say, hey, what do you think this is worth? They have these arbitrary numbers from the thin air. But once I was able to like to actually see the comps on the software and then get a report and a video report from the in-house appraiser, that this is a deal. And so far over the last 6 years, the numbers have been right. I've always been in the range that the in-house appraiser gave me and the comps that I've seen on the software always lined up, correctly. So I, I can't be more happier to have that tool.

John Saunders: How did the funding and support process impact my ability to move forward on the deals? The, the funding was, you know, was pretty, I mean, of all the hard money lenders I worked with, this was the most simplest process. It was, it was very transparent. It was quick. It allowed me to make sure that I don't lose deals cause there's a few times where I go in contract, the funding did not come through on time and I lose it, I lost the deal. And even if I'm on the, the deal is, a, a quicker closing, Investor's Edge to push through the support team would jump in and we got the deal closed. So over the last 6 and not not one deal I lost due, due, due to funding. I have no complaints there. I think this is one of the best in the market because over the last 10 years, I used multiple hard money lenders and I never had a problem with funding with Investor Edge, and that's why I'm still working with Investor Edge and partnering with them on all my deals.

John Saunders: A typical deal for me, from the purchase to the, to, to the sale with do hard money is, I'll locate a deal, I'll run it through the software, make sure that there, that it's a profitable deal. Once it's a deal, I'll contact the team. Dick or Jeremy and let them know, hey, I got a deal up in the system. We get moving on it right away. We get the appraisal order, so it's really, really fast. And by that time, I'll have an in-house appraisal, and then by the time the hard appraisal come back, I know if this deal is legitimate or not. Once we get going, it's, it's, it's a really good deal. Me and, my project manager is Dick Weber. Awesome. We go through my scope of work, make sure I ain't missed nothing because there's so many moving parts, you, you need that second eye to make sure that you're not walking into something where you're thinking that it's only gonna cost me this amount to fix it. And then once you get Started, next thing you're over budget from Jump Street. So, having a project manager is vital in this industry because you have that second eyes on the scope of work, making sure that the numbers are realistic and making sure that there's nothing that was forgotten on that scope of work. Because at the end of the day, you gotta have a profit at the end and the purchase price, the rehab budget, and appraisal and all these fees. You don't want to be the last guy out without making a profit. So that scope of work is vital. The project manager is vital throughout this process. And then once we get the deal on the market, we close it, everybody gets paid, and I look forward to the next deal. That, that's been my process. It's very clear-cut. And the key is, as long as you follow the system that Investor Edge have in place. I, I don't think there's, I don't think you can lose a deal or lose money. It's only when you go outside of the, the process, it's where you can put yourself in a, in a position to lose money. But as long as you follow the project manager advice, make sure everything is done upfront correctly, yeah, you definitely be very profitable doing this. And for me, like I said, it's been 6 years I've been working with them. If it wasn't working, I would have been going somewhere else, but so far, it's been the best experience and a very profit profitable experience thus far.

John Saunders: Working with Investor Edge definitely changed the way I think about real estate investment. It, it changed my mind to the, it let me know how vital it is to have a system in place. I think from the beginning to the end, you have to have a system. And when the system is working, you could, you repeat that system and, and 9 times out of 10, you will get the same result, which is a sold property and a profit. So it really changed the way that I did things prior to coming to an Investor's Edge. It was really no system. It just was just going out there, buying the property, fixing it up, throwing it on the market, and seeing what was at the end, was there a profit or not. But working with Investor's Edge, it shows me how vital it is to have a system in place from the very beginning of the purchase contract all the way into a listing of property and everything in between. And if you follow the system, you would be profitable because the system works.

John Saunders: If I had someone on the fence. About getting started with Investor Edge, I would say you definitely should go with Investor Edge. The, reason I said that is because if you have a proven system that works, that you will be profitable at the end, cause at the end of the day, it's all about making money in this industry. And it's all about having a system in place that's, that worked and that's been proven that will allow you to make money. And from my experience, I, before I came to Investor Edge, I worked with a few other hard money lenders, some private investors, and my experience by far is Investor Edge has the best system. It gives you the best chance to make money. And if you're thinking about because you never flipped before, I will encourage you 100% to use Investor's Edge because it's gonna take the guesswork out of all what you think may happen. And if you're a seasoned investor, I say use Investor Edge because I thought that I was a seasoned investor prior to becoming to Investor Edge. There's so much you're gonna learn about the systems, about the project manager with, with their, with their vast knowledge. Things that I thought that I knew that I learned since I've been working with Investor Edge. And it's to 6 years later, and I am still learning different ways to do things that is beneficial. So if you're on the fence, give it a shot. I worked with other private money, hard money lenders, and by far, there's no comparison. I would definitely give it a shot, especially if you're on the fence. And if you're if you're a beginner, your first flip is almost not even an option. You need to work with investor edge.

John Saunders: If I would, if, if I would have took the leap of faith and went with Investor Edge, I think I would have still been losing on some deals, to be honest with you. There's no way to put it. I was winning on some deals, losing on some, some deals, but when you're flipping houses, you really don't have time to lose on deals. We're talking about 3 to 5 months, just wasted. So, if I didn't take a chance with Investor Edge, Whatever my thought process was at the time, I'm just so happy that the thought process was that take the chance. Because when I spoke with at my initial conversation with the Investor's Edge, with the software, with their knowledge, their vast experience, I said, what, I'm gonna go and attach myself to a winning team and see if I can replicate that on my flipping. And so far, it's been, I have not lost in the last 6 years. There has not been one deal that I have not made money on. There have been some deals that have been some tight margins cause some of this, sometimes it's unpredictable when you're flipping houses, but there have not been one deal that I lost some money on. And prior to Investor Edge, It was fifty-fifty. So, I encourage you, if you're thinking about it, you definitely got to go with the investor edge and for a number of reasons. But the most important one is, you'll be a profitable real estate investor.