A Wholesale Tale: My Journey Part I
- realestatebyashley
- Mar 17
- 3 min read
You know, it’s funny how many times I tried to write this blog post using fancy AI prompts and all that, and my work kept getting deleted before I could finish. It happened so many times that I finally decided, “fuck it—I’m just going to wing it and be myself.” I mean, isn’t that what a blog is supposed to be? A person’s real thoughts and personal views on the subjects and experiences in their life.
My next thought—watch me go full Carrie Bradshaw on this. I’m kidding… kind of. Someone tell God that His memo was officially received.
So anyway, I started real estate wholesaling back in September 2025. I was doomscrolling—my usual daily regimen for “undisputed success”—when I saw a YouTube ad about it. I looked it up and started reading. The next day, I read more, which is surprising given my attention span (equivalent to that of a literal goldfish). Then I read again the day after that. That’s when I decided: you know what, I really can do this.
Core Goals for Success
Learn how to talk to people in a natural, confident way, as if you’ve known them for years and are an expert in what you’re discussing.Obtaining that sense of casual confidence in what you’re pitching is key to successfully locking in deals with motivated sellers. Articulation, confidence, and personality must be mastered as part of your skill set.
Know the market you’re working in. Obviously, you won’t be an expert right away, but learning your market—whether slowly or quickly—needs to be a priority. You want to work in a seller’s market. In this type of market, due to the lower influx of offers and potential homebuyers, sellers are more motivated to accept a cash offer because they don’t know when the next one will come, if it will even come at all, or if it will be higher. This is basic supply and demand.
Have a CRM, a method for performing bulk skip tracing, and know where to find government lists—both within your CRM and through official websites from which you’ll be pulling information.
Be ready to do the work and commit to consistency. Show up every single day and understand that it will take time. If you don’t give up and continue showing up—even if the effort seems small—consistency will get you there.
My biggest challenges so far have been rooted in self-doubt. Once I start doubting myself and my convictions, my motivation drains at an alarmingly fast rate. Self-discipline is a difficult habit to build. I struggle with getting caught up in busy work to avoid doing the more difficult and often boring tasks, such as cold-calling disconnected lines for hours at a time.
These “busy work” tendencies include nitpicking MLS listings for fixer-uppers that seem priced low enough to qualify for a wholesale deal, or overanalyzing large lists of leads and underwriting each property before even picking up the phone. It’s a very easy trap to fall into.
So far, though, it didn’t take long for me to start seeing some action. Within the first few months, I was able to get my first property under contract—a fixer-upper duplex in Trona, California. The seller was incredibly laid-back and even renegotiated to a lower price than originally agreed upon—not once, but twice—with no issue.
The biggest misconception I had about wholesaling was how easy I thought it would be to find a cash buyer and complete the disposition to close the deal. I still have that contract pending—and that was two months ago.
This is why I say to know your market and choose a good one. That was the mistake I made on my first deal. The property was located in a town on the far outskirts of San Bernardino County with a population under ten thousand. It wasn’t even ideal for a fix-and-flip; it was better suited for someone looking to renovate and hold it as a rental property. In such a small market, finding a buyer is difficult.
I almost secured one until I discovered that installing electric meters required permits, making it a potentially costly and complicated process. The buyer walked away. That, however, was a valuable lesson.
I won’t let that make me quit—not even for a second. I take the knowledge and lessons I gain and add them to my approach so I can continue improving and evolving toward success. The deal will come, and the money will come in time. Patience is a virtue, no matter how difficult it is to practice.
For now, that’s all I have—but stay tuned as this journey continues.
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