Skip 70% ARV Deals

Ross Paller is telling property wholesalers to stop waiting for generic “70% of after-repair value” deals and spend more time finding sellers directly. (tiktok.com) In a recent video, Paller said wholesalers who find those discounted deals often “mark them up,” and he urged viewers to “build lists” and “mail leads” instead. Search results for the same clip identify him as Ross Paller, a house flipper and wholesaling educator. (tiktok.com) (youtube.com) After-repair value, usually shortened to ARV, is the estimated price a house could sell for after renovations. The “70% rule” is a common shortcut that says an investor should pay about 70% of that future value, then subtract repair costs. (youtube.com 1) (youtube.com 2) Paller has also taught that formula himself in recent videos, using a $300,000 after-repair value and $50,000 in rehab costs to reach a $160,000 maximum purchase price. In a longer breakdown, he called the rule a “useful starting point” but said investors should refine the math further. (youtube.com 1) (youtube.com 2) His newer advice shifts the focus from pricing shortcuts to lead generation. In a recent essay on his site, Paller wrote that he has wholesaled “over 300 houses” and described wholesalers as middlemen who spend heavily on marketing to find distressed sellers. (solohouseflipper.com) That emphasis on marketing lines up with long-running industry practice. BiggerPockets, a real estate investing publisher, says direct mail works best when investors choose targeted lists, mail consistently, and budget for multiple months instead of sending one large batch. (biggerpockets.com) The list-building part is the filtering step: investors sort for owners who may be more likely to sell, such as absentee owners, probate cases, tax defaults, or pre-foreclosure properties. Direct mail is the outreach step, usually postcards or letters sent repeatedly to those lists. (biggerpockets.com) Paller’s argument is that wholesalers who rely on online deal blasts are often buying someone else’s spread instead of creating their own. His closing line in the clip was simpler than the formulas: “Do the work.” (tiktok.com)