An Interview with Kevin Oliver

By Christina Suter on Nov 30, 2019 at 07:02 AM in Real Estate Issues
An Interview with Kevin Oliver

Kevin Oliver a real estate broker and investor in Bakersfield, California, who has been investing for 15+ years. He got his start in real estate in the wholesale field and spent his first 5 years acquiring and marketing properties to investors in California. While wholesaling properties he spent a portion of his career recruiting and training new investors in wholesaling and rehabbing businesses. He is the Owner of REI Group LLC and represents many local buyers and sellers finding or selling their new homes for their families. He also works feverishly renovating single and multi-family homes, mainly in his hometown of Bakersfield, CA. 

Kevin was working in corporate America pulling 90 hour work weeks and he knew something needed to change when he'd finally get home and found himself upset and angry with his family. The job was the cause of his stress and his family was paying for it. During one late night he saw an infomercial for Rich Dad Poor Dad and called and signed up and that's how he got his start in real estate. 

Kevin's philosophy on how to treat his investors is to be proactive and have integrity. As long as there is true transparency and the expectations are set ahead of time and maintained, people will enjoy working with you. Kevin protects his investors so people trusting them with their money know he will have their best interest, so even if a project is failing he's upfront with letting you know. 

As far as acquisitions in real estate Kevin says you make your money when you buy and you realize it when you sell. You have to have the capital and a really good team in place when you get into the game of acquisition. From trustee sales to wholesaling it takes a good team to make sure you minimize your risk. Kevin says one of his favorite things currently is networking at such groups as my FIBI Pasadena group. Work with other wholesalers and see what they have to bring in because you can't do it all on your own. 

Social media is also a big and important way to market but don't forget about traditional marketing through the phonebook, door hangers, and ads. A letter campaign to people who have up 50-80% equity in their homes is also an effective way to reach people who have money. Kevin makes the 2-hour drive from Bakersfield to Pasadena because he values networking and he says the best deals happen after networking events. In southern California alone there are over 50 clubs where you can find people who you can learn from and join forces with. 

Kevin has rehabilitated so many homes and he says his best deals are the ones that go smoothly but there are plenty that doesn't go well. He had a home where he had to redo the electrical panel and the contractor called him when he'd left and told him the house was on fire. When Kevin arrived they were ripping down the ceiling and there were embers ruining the floors. He also had a property where the backyard of the yard he'd just acquired had two huge pit bulls and 15 giant-sized marijuana plants in them where the tenant was living.

Kevin's top tips for rehabbers are to make sure they have a great team in place, (good coaches, contractors, title and escrow and to make sure you have good contractors). He also says understand you're not going to live in the house, don't over rehab. Bring the house up to what the market will bear in that neighborhood, not Beverly Hills. Make your house the nicest one in that neighborhood and move on to the next one, if you don't you'll overdo your budget.   

Kevin will be at our next FIBI Pasadena meeting and he can be contacted directly at 661.808.3444 or email him at [email protected]. His website is buybakohomes.com