As I have alluded to, I have made more mistakes in the past compared to my successes, but I always make it a point to learn from them. During that time, one of the most effective methods I’ve found when conducting real estate deals is the direct-to-seller approach. Using this method, you will have the highest chance to close a deal with the best terms for you and the seller.
What is Direct-to-Seller?
Direct-to-Seller real estate deals are exactly what they sound like: You pitch directly to the seller. This means bypassing all the usual red tape and competition that come with trying to purchase a property, especially one that is either in a prime location or is valued for another reason. As you might imagine, though, this is not as easy as it sounds.
In most cases, sellers rely on other real estate firms to put their properties on the market precisely because they don’t want to deal with the hassle of engaging with potential buyers. It’s just easier to just let the professionals handle it but this poses a problem for you as the buyer. Dealing with agents comes with a ton of paperwork, money, and trying to beat other buyers.
In contrast, going directly to the seller will allow you to save on costs, get a potentially more favorable deal, and build a better relationship with the property’s owner. Before you get any of that, though, you will need to get in touch with the seller and that can prove challenging.
Why Direct-to-Seller?
As I already pointed out, there are a lot of benefits to doing direct-to-seller real estate deals. For one thing, you won’t have to deal with agents, which can be quite a hassle. You get a much more human interaction when you are dealing with a seller rather than a real estate agent and you will also be able to get more details about the property.
Owners will always know their buildings best, both the good and the bad. By engaging sellers directly, you will get more information about potential problems with the building compared to when you are doing tours or when talking to agents. More than that, there is also the human element to consider.
Talking with the seller face to face allows you to give them a more favorable impression of you, which means that you can influence their choices during the negotiations. If they like you enough, they will be more willing to make concessions regarding terms and even the price. Direct-to-seller real estate deals basically give you more cards to play on the table.
How to Do Direct-to-Seller Real Estate Deals
Of course, just because direct-to-seller deals come with their advantages, this doesn’t mean that they are easy to do. In fact, this method involves quite a bit of skill, information, and most of all, guts. If you need help I will go into more detail in my free training. After all, you will be doing a lot of cold calls and that is going to be one of the most challenging aspects of direct-to-seller real estate transactions.
I know, I know. I can already feel the cringe through the screen as you read about having to cold call someone and I get it. Suddenly ringing up sellers out of nowhere to propose the sale of their property is not exactly anyone’s idea of a good way to start negotiations. Normally, there would be proper channels to go through.
However, if you do it right and with enough persistence, you can get great results through this approach. You just need to know how to do it.
First, you need to be as informed as you can be about all aspects of real estate transactions because you won’t be relying on brokers for this one. You need to know both state and federal laws, as well as the various procedures that are involved in acquiring the property you are aiming for. This includes loans and assistance programs, as well.
From there, you can move on to finding properties that you might be interested in by looking at the buildings that are around the area that you want. The goal is to get in touch with the owners themselves and build a rapport with them. You can do this by either looking up who the property belongs to or finding numbers that could belong to the seller.
Once you find their contact information that will put you in touch with the sellers, you will need to call them so that you can make your first pitch. You basically just need to ring them up, introduce yourself, and then ask about their property if they are willing to sell or not. If they say no – which tends to happen when you cold-call someone – that’s just fine.
You can always try again later when you do a follow-up call, which is important whether they agree to a sale or not. How long you have to wait between calls depends on the situation and your judgment. For example, if the owner said no outright, you might need to wait months before calling again. If they are interested, it might be a few weeks and if they say yes, then just call them whenever you need to.
Creativity Matters
For the most unmovable sellers, you might need to be more creative when you are doing follow-up calls. For example, instead of ringing them up in your third or fourth attempt, you could send them a letter in the mail with a puzzle. Along with it is a message that reads “Let’s figure this out” or something like that.
The point is not to keep repeating the same message over and over again since this could annoy the seller and make their impression of you unfavorable. You need to make them interested enough to engage you in a conversation so that you can continue with the negotiations. If you need help with setting up your system join my challenge.
P.S.
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