The Magic Happens at the Seller’s Kitchen Table – Part 1

For real estate investors, the magic happens at the seller’s kitchen table!  Three Big Questions: How do you get to the seller’s kitchen table?  Once there, what do you say?  Finally, how do you “convince” the seller to sell you his/her home?

Austin Boston Berry recently graduated from Georgia Tech.  There were two career paths from which he could choose: Either get a J-O-B with a big company working in a cubical and becoming a wage slave, or go to work for himself without the “security” (or constraints) of working for someone else.  Austin Boston chose the brave – and much harder, hungrier and riskier – path of going to work for himself.  He decided to become a real estate investor – in the worst real estate market this country has ever seen!

Before making his decision, Austin and I spent a good bit of time together.  It was critical that he understand what it takes to be a successful, full-time real estate investor…especially starting out.  Simply put: You gotta meet face-to-face with a minimum of 15 sellers each and every week.  There is no shortcut to this primary directive.  Meet with any less and you will fail.  Period.

There are a lot of ways to get face-to-face with a seller.  You can work with an experienced realtor, set up a website and FaceBook page, send out postcards, put magnetic “We Buy Houses” signs on your car, etc.  Today, let’s focus on one method – this is the method that’s most responsible for Kim’s and my success: Knocking on sellers’ doors.  (Yep…lions and tigers and bears, oh my!)

Think about it.  If your primary goal is to meet with 15 sellers face-to-face each week, is there any method faster, cheaper or more effective than seeing a “For Sale” sign in a seller’s yard, pulling into the driveway, getting out of your car, walking up to the door and then knocking on it?  Fun it’s not!  Scary it is!  But if you want to be a successful real estate investor, this is what it takes.  It’s OK to use the other methods too, but let knocking on sellers’ doors be your bedrock.

When I said “For Sale” signs, do I only mean “For Sale By Owner” signs?  No.  When I’m working my area, I look for any sign that indicates the property owner may have a real estate problem that he needs solved.  This could be a FSBO (For Sale By Owner), a realtor’s, or a “For Rent” sign in the yard.  Sometimes there’s no sign at all…maybe the yard is overgrown, or the house looks vacant, or there’s a tarp covering part of the roof, etc.  Heck, sometimes I knock on everyone’s door in the subdivision and ask, “Do you know anyone who’s thinking about selling their home?”

Next week, in our quest to get to the seller’s kitchen table, we’ll talk about what to say and do at a seller’s door.  Did you know that if I talk to 10 seller’s at the door, 8 will invite me in to see their home?  So next week, stay tuned to this same Bat time and same Bat channel!

The Magic Happens at the Seller’s Kitchen Table: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

Bill & Kim Cook are a husband and wife real estate investing team. They live in Adairsville, Georgia and have been investing in real estate since 1995. They specialize in buying single-family homes, mobile homes and mobile home parks. They also run North Georgia REIA and teach folks how to successfully invest in real estate.