Archive for May, 2009
May 29th, 2009 | 
Author: Deadly Mistake #5: Not Building Instant Rapport and Credibility
Joe is new to the real estate investment business. He hasn’t been around long enough to be a member of the Better Business Bureau. He has a nice business card, but, hey, anyone with a laser printer can have nice business cards, right?
Sellers are not going to automatically trust Joe, nice guy though he is.
Joe needs credibility. He needs something to show that he is someone they can trust. He needs to show sellers that he is not just some guy off the street buying houses.
Joe needs to show that he is a professional with ethical standards.
Luckily, there is an easy way to do this.
Joe can gain instant credibility by joining a professional real estate investors association like the Certified Real Estate Investors Association.
The CREIA has a professional brochure that spells out the reasons a seller can trust a CREIA member to always conduct a fair transaction.
Being a member of the CREIA shows sellers that you’re a reputable businessperson who is part of a well-established industry with professional standards.
Joining the CREIA will give also Joe the credibility he so desperately needs with sellers and show that he is someone who can be trusted.
Credibility is just one thing CREIA membership bestows upon you.
Here’s The Community Real Estate Investors Association Code of Ethics:
The CREIA was formed to provide consumers with important information about their home-selling choices and to ensure the highest level of ethical standards within the industry.
WE AGREE:
- Honor all commitments to homeowners.
- Disclose all transaction terms in plain language for homeowners.
- Ensure, whenever possible, that all agreements are written clearly and in easy-to-understand language that expresses the specific terms, conditions, obligations, and commitments of the parties.
- Supply copies of all agreements to each party upon their signing.
- Never exaggerate, misrepresent, or conceal any pertinet facts relating to the property or the transaction
- Treat our customers’ home and belongings with the utmost care at all times.
- Continue our education in order to stay up to date regarding changes and new business methods within industry.
- Always keep confidential any personal information made known to the real estate investor.
- Follow all applicable laws or regulations of state, federal, and other governmental bodies.
- Participate only in fair and honest advertising and full disclosure of all products and services.
Coming up in my next lesson: I’ll show Joe how to “sell” his creative offers.
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Deadly Mistake #4: Not Having A Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
All real estate investors advertise the same stuff. There’s no way for sellers to tell the difference between one investor versus another. Does any of this sound familiar?
- I Buy Houses
- Cash For Houses
- We Buy Houses - Any Area, Any Condition
Joe is learning a painful truth: Sellers shop investors’ offers. Sellers will call 10 other ads because they all look the same. Joe needs something to set himself apart from the crowd.
Joe needs a Unique Selling Proposition or a USP
I have some tips to help you create your USP. You’ll need to start with a few questions:
- Why should a seller consider your services over any other options they may have?
- What makes you stand apart from your competitors?
- What do you specialize in?
- How is your solution unique?
- What other value or proof can you provide?
Once you have answered those questions, you need to put a headline on your ads, flyers, and signs that will grab the sellers’ attention and make them want to do business with you.
Here is a list of proven headlines you can use:
“They All Laughed When I Said I Could Sell My House in 7 Days, But Then When We Closed On Our New Home…”
“How You Can Sell Your Home in the Next 7 Days”
“Immediate Relief From Mortgage Payments - You Can Have It!”
“Amazing FREE Report Reveals Secrets of Selling in 7 Days”
“By This Time Next Month You Could Have a Sold House. FREE REPORT Reveals How”
Coming up next: It’s all about trust. Do you have it?
Go Here To Get Motivated Seller Leads
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Deadly Mistake #3: Not Having A Continuous Stream Of Motivated Sellers Calling
Joe N. Vestor took my advice. He tried the 5 ways to get motivated sellers to call him.
And they worked.
Joe got several calls, and he even made some deals. But now the calls have slowed down.
Why?
Because Joe, like many real estate investors, thinks marketing is a one-time only investment. He ran a classified ad for a month. He did one mailing. He put out some flyers and a couple of “We buy houses” signs. He got some immediate results, but the calls didn’t last.
So now Joe is getting discouraged, and he’s thinking about quitting (again). He thinks his success was just a fluke.
But Joe is wrong. He can have continued success in real estate investing…
…and you can, too.
Joe doesn’t understand that marketing is a numbers game played over the long term. He can’t just run an ad and expect long-term success. He needs a six-month marketing plan with at least 3–preferably 5–types of marketing media.
Here are a few low-cost but highly effective marketing media you can use:
Direct Mail
1. Postcards
2. Letters
3. Newspaper Flyer Inserts
4. Door-to-door Flyers
Ads
1. Weekly Classified Ads
2. Daily Classified Ads
Signs
1. “We Buy Houses” Signs
2. Vehicle Signs
Referrals
1. Birddogs
2. Real Estate Agents
Here is a sample four-week marketing plan:
Week One
Monday - Run two classified ads: one in the weekly paper and one in the daily paper. If you can afford it, run them for six consecutive months
Tuesday - Put out flyers in targeted neighborhoods and look for vacant houses.
Wednesday - Take phone calls and follow up on previous calls.
Thursday - Take phone calls and follow up on previous calls.
Friday - Meet sellers to make offers and drive neighborhoods to find more vacant houses.
Saturday - Meet sellers to make offers and drive neighborhoods to find more vacant houses
Sunday - Take the day off. You deserve it!
Week Two
Monday - Send 1,000 letters to out-of-town sellers.
Tuesday - Take phone calls and follow up on previous calls.
Wednesday - Meet sellers to make offers and drive neighborhoods to find more vacant houses.
Thursday - Take phone calls and follow up on previous calls.
Friday - Meet sellers to make offers and drive neighborhoods to find more vacant houses.
Saturday - Meet sellers to make offers and drive neighborhoods to find more vacant houses.
Sunday - Take the day off. You deserve it!
Week Three
Monday - Send out 200 postcards to sellers of vacant houses.
Tuesday - Take phone calls and follow up on previous calls.
Wednesday - Meet sellers to make offers and drive neighborhoods to find more vacant houses.
Thursday - Take phone calls and follow up on previous calls.
Friday - Meet sellers to make offers and drive neighborhoods to find more vacant houses.
Saturday - Meet sellers to make offers and drive neighborhoods to find more vacant houses.
Sunday - Take the day off. You deserve it!
Week Four
Monday - Find the phone numbers for sellers of vacant houses, and call them.
Tuesday - Take phone calls and follow up on previous calls.
Wednesday - Meet sellers to make offers and drive neighborhoods to find more vacant houses.
Thursday - Take phone calls and follow up on previous calls.
Friday - Meet sellers to make offers and drive neighborhoods to find more vacant houses.
Saturday - Meet sellers to make offers and drive neighborhoods to find more vacant houses.
Sunday - Take the day off. You deserve it!
A sound marketing plan will have a continuous stream of motivated sellers calling you, begging you to offer them a deal…if you put in the time.
But there is a way to cut your learning curve in half and save valuable time. One of the benefits of signing up for DoDeals.com is that you don’t need to do any marketing.
Coming up next: Joe learns how to make himself stand out from the crowd.
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To get the most out of your Short Sales, all you need
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Deadly Mistake #2: Chasing After Non-motivated Sellers
Well, my friend Joe N. Vestor took my advice. He stopped thinking about doing something and got busy actually doing something. So now he is gaining experience and building his confidence by talking with sellers, working with Realtors, and pre-qualifying leads for experienced real estate investors.
But he is making the second deadly mistake: Now he is TOO busy.
He is running in circles, chasing after non-motivated sellers who really don’t need his services. Joe is getting frustrated, and he’s ready to give up. He thinks “this just doesn’t work in my area.”
But Joe is wrong. Real estate investing does work, and it will work anywhere.
Joe has had enough practice making offers. Now, he needs to find ways to get motivated sellers to call him.
Here are 5 ways to get motivated sellers to chase after you:
1. Door to door flyers, post-it notes, or door hangers.
2. Put out “We Buy Houses” signs.
3. Recruit “birddogs” to find vacant houses for you.
4. Run ads in the paper.
5. Direct mail to targeted lists, such as vacant houses, out of town owners, tax delinquent owners, etc.
Coming up: Joe learns why making Mistake #3 is a sure-fire recipe for failure in real estate investing. Marketing is more than a one-time shot. Stay tuned …
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Mistake #1: Not Getting Out There, Talking to Motivated Sellers, And Make Offers
Let me tell you about a friend of mine. You may know someone just like him … or you may be just like him.
Joe N. Vestor is new to the real estate investing. He was up late one night, clicking through the 100-plus channels on his cable TV, and saw an infomercial that grabbed his attention and got him excited about making lots of money. He saw people just like him making tons of cash in their spare time by buying and selling real estate. He could do that!
So, my friend Joe bought the books and tapes. He went to every real estate investment group meeting he could find. He attended classes. He participated in tele-seminars. He read everything he could find on the Internet about real estate investing. He even printed up business cards and started passing them out to friends and acquaintances.
But Joe is making his first deadly mistake.
He isn’t doing anything with what he has learned. He isn’t talking to motivated sellers, and he hasn’t made any offers.
Joe is suffering from information overload. He is paralyzed, feeling confused about all the different ways to do deals. He feels lost, and he doesn’t know where to start. He’s ready to give up because he thinks “this doesn’t work in my area.”
Well, Joe is wrong. Real estate investing does work, and it will work anywhere. So, I gave Joe this little piece of advice: Just do something!
Find ways to start talking to motivated sellers. Practice talking to 100 sellers. Go look at 10 houses and make 10 offers.
Here are 5 ways you can immediately start talking to motivated sellers.
1. Call for sale by owner listings in the newspaper.
2. Network with a Realtor to make offers on the MLS.
3. Network with experienced investors to pre-qualify their leads for them.
4. Get the public records on foreclosures and go knocking on those doors.
5. Put up some “We Buy Houses” signs.
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