MattF

I was reading this thread yesterday when I got a call...It helped me a lot to go into that call with a confident mindset. I haven't done any LO variants yet...(all sub 2 flips to this point)but feel like it fit well into my callers situation. One thing...don't forget to ask for the sale. It was great when I said "this is how we do business, blah, blah, blah, does that sound like something that would work for you Mrs seller? and she said YES! (even though it turned into I need to talk to my husband.) Anyways, just wanted to say congrats on getting out there and doing some deals and pushing the positive energy! Aloha, Matt

A little confused here...I thought the buyer was coming up with 2 grand not the seller. If you are going to be involved why not take over sub2, lease option to buyer, that way you can calm the sellers worries and then you get a property?(You would have to make a business decision if it's financially viable for you) Quite honestly it sounds like you are trying to create a deal that has little upside for you other than just getting a deal done. Just my opinion though. This is a nice sub 2 deal! Get the deed and LO the place. Aloha, Matt

I agree. Kudos for repackaging your solution into a perception that everyone could work with. Great job! Aloha, Matt

Hi Eric, A couple of things I was taught from day one...Even in competitive markets, there is way more business then any one realtor or investor can handle. The difference is usually how fast you respond to your leads, and probably the biggest part is the rapport you build with that lead. The rapport to me has several parts. First is your posture and control. How do you talk to the lead? what image are you projecting? (I always tried to come off as the person that was not only going to solve their problem I was going to do it quickly and professionally so that they could get on with their life.) Most of our competitors are only looking at the numbers and aren't really concerned about their leads. I always felt like if I could get in front of a lead, and there was a deal there, it was mine. So, if you can get in front of that lead quickly(pitching them on your benefits) it gives you the advantage of(if you can't close it right then) letting them shop around a little if necessary and then when they have talked to the competitors you can find out what they are offering and beat it. It doesn't always work perfectly but, more times than not it does. We are not inventing the wheel here. This stuff has been done for years. (I am referring to LO's and real estate investing in general) Good ideas will be copied and used. Hell we are all doing it. The main thing is to get out there and start talking to people. I kind of use pissed off realtors as a gauge to how well my marketing is working. The more I hear from, the better I feel. Especially when I am cashing checks from "their" clients. But, as Michael and other have said, the easiest way to deal with realtor calls is to just say sorry I have a marketing company that's sending those out and I even got one. Listen, I know it can be scary, especially when you are new at this. You hear the horror stories about a realtor calling and you know what, in reality there isn't really much they can do is there? Are they going to call the marketing police? Get out there and talk to some leads, ignore the dream stealers, and get some deals! Matt

Eric, I will be glad to help in anyway I can also. I have been reviewing some old deals and I am so pumped up. Bandit signs going up tomorrow! Matt

I would be interested. I have always enjoyed the synergy that is produced by these kind of groups. Matt

I think he thought he was being paid by the word. I meant specifically do not tell anyone that the rent credits can or may be applied as down payment money. That's a promise you won't be able to keep. Instead, as you already know, they are a credit towards the purchase price. That's exactly right. As long as the homeowner is willing, (and they almost always are), you just rewrite the contract to reflect the new dates. Yes, I have run into one or three greedy sellers over the years who decided they wanted more money than the agreed to option price. Unfortunately for the seller, the option is the tenant's, not the homeowner's. Meaning, they must abide by the agreement and sell if the option is exercised. If they decide not to, they face whatever legal action the t/b cares to use against them. In a CA, that isn't your fight, however. Don't know about Atlanta, Monica. The next one is scheduled for Dallas at the end of this month, March 30th - April 2nd. Contact John through his website www.leaseoptionclasses.com, or you can PM him on our board. All good stuff Michael! Any chance the call was recorded and will be posted? Thanks, Matt

Good advice, Chris :-). I know that myself too... its just nice to dream sometimes....Right? Visualizing your goals as achieved is very powerful. Give yourself a reward (the iPad) for closing the deal, that can be a HUGE motivator to go out and get more deals, but also put money into the business! It'll make the next deals easier to get! Really good advice! Something I have done in the past was reward myself a little on each deal, but remember this is a business and the biggest part of this business IMHO is marketing. Especially when you are just starting it's very important to put as much as you can afford into marketing. Rinse and repeat and before you know it you can afford anything you want! Matt

Hey Gang, Was doing some research yesterday and stumbled on trulia.com. Looks like for my area quite a few listings(seems to be another listing site for properties on the mls ). Seems to have a lot of the info we typically look for...days listed(on trulia), price changes, history(sold dates from the courthouse), square footage, listed houses in area as well as sold houses in area. I was looking for information on possible farm areas(which seemed pretty good). Then when neighborhoods look like they are in my sweet spot, I can go and drive them. So anyways, was just wondering what experience or input anyone could give me. Thank you, Matt

I tried it in the services ads and worked fine...I did it to my note that explains what I do...just copied and pasted the web address...

Think and Grow Rich-Napolean Hill Virus of the Mind:The New Science of Meme-Richard Brodie Greatest Salesman in the World-Og Mandino Art of the Deal-Donald Trump Screw it, Just do it-Richard Branson

I always found agents to give me comps. This is a very important part of your business and you need the most reliable numbers you can find. I based them off of sold(esp. when buying) with taking into consideration what the market is doing. Look at dollar per square foot, condition, location and that's all stuff that is available from mls comps. Part of it is experience and skill that comes over time, but it really isn't that hard with right info and a little practice. I would say err on the side of too low a price when buying(or negotiating what it should be offered at in a C/A). I would not trust what the seller is telling you he heard from some agent. Who knows what that agents intentions were. Having solid numbers to take to a seller is hard to argue with. If the seller wants more than the market will bear it's time to move on. Hope this helps.

I never thought I would run into belibiers here! lol

Chris-First off I really like the idea of using skype. Back in 02 when I started that wasn't available. Next, I agree with you 100%. I guess I should have clarified that I thought that if someone was new and didn't have a whole lot going on it wouldn't be bad practice. But if you are in there and talking to a lot of people each day makes no sense talking to unmotivated sellers. How many calls you making a day on average? It's something I was never really big on, but times have changed and I need to get busy!

While I agree with the overall assesment of the situation. I think when you are still new and don't have a lot going on, it can be real good practice to deal with situations like this. It gives you part of the experiance necessary to determine what and what's not deals in the future. It also gives you live practice with out the worry of losing a deal that probably isn't there anyways. You get used to answering the tough questions and the more you do this the easier it gets. Then when you start working with clients that are actually deals they seem much easier(hopefully). When I first started, my mentor and I would litterally spend hours each night on the phone role playing both easy and tough situations. So when I actually started talking to clients it was very easy(easy being a relative term) I was still nervous but, I had gone over scenarios so many times it was almost second nature. I think what gets lost in the shuffle (esp. with the gurus)sometimes is that most deals aren't straight forward. There are some obstacles to overcome in almost every deal. The better we get at handling obstacles the more deals we have a chance of doing. All that said-I don't recommend continually working with non-deals because you can start to think this stuff doesn't work and then those dream stealers start getting the upper hand and we don't want that! Matt