Thomas Bartke’s Inner Circle Blog

Here is a good question that I received: How to best market to FSBO (For-Sale-By Owner) sellers 

Answer: One very good way to market to FSBO’s is to respond to their ads (online or paper) with a simple email (or voice message), asking if the property is still available.

The simpler your message the better. If you give them any “content” sellers tend to think they already know what
you have to offer and won’t call. So, I’d do something like: “Please call or email me if your home is still available.”

When they call or email you back you can send them a second email proposing a lease/option, or whatever it is that you’d like to offer.  Be descriptive when you introduce your solution, rather than throwing out a name for it that can easily be misunderstood or filled with pre-conceived notions.

In case you want to offer a lease/option or something similar, you could describe your solution like this: “Could I lease your home for a period of time before I buy it?”, or “could you wait to get your equity out for some time?”

I would plan on doing this yourself (”one-by-one” emails and phone calls) for a couple of weeks. Keep track of what emails work best, particularlty the 2nd emails (the onces you send when they first respond).

Once you see a pattern, you can set up an “autoresponder” email. That’s different from the 1shoppingcart autoresponder. I’m talking about a special email account that you configure so it sends out one message automatically.

So at that point you will send out a “teaser” email manually (and you can hand this over to your virtual assistant). When the seller responds by email they automatically get your second email response. (Yes, it will go out to sellers who respond by saying that their house is no longer available, but who cares…)

You can do the same with a 24-hr recorded message, rather than using your direct line for responses. - Always think “how can I automate this…”, even if it doesn’t seem worth it at first.

1. Can You Beat An Undefeated Team?

The Giants did. ”Every team is beatable, you never know,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. ”The right moment, the right time, every team is beatable.”

Like the Super Bowl, the game of real estate is war. It’s a game of mind, strategy and power. The team that’s on top of its game wins. Be like the Giants: Not just more listings - more SOLD listings. Not just more leads - more DEALS.

However, when one team looses focus because a sense of supremacy takes hold the game gets messed up.

What’s your goal in real estate? Get the highest price? Or sell as quickly as possible? Maybe both - sell as quickly as possible for the highest price? What’s your Super Bowl playbook? If you don’t know it you’re toast, that’s for sure. Is it for you to decide? Inexperienced real estate agents might blame bad strategy on the seller’s decision making power. Hey, coach, who is the expert here?

As you are reading every word of this article it is becoming clear to you: Buyer, seller, agent, investor alike - you are like the Giants in the Super Bowl. You can beat your opponent like the Giants. Even if they are yet undefeated.

2. The Giants Small Difference Between Winning and Loosing the Super Bowl

“We just hung in there on offense, kept executing,” said Giants Burress. “It came down to one play and we made it.”

Persistence is the nectar of every great Super Bowl victory and triumph. Super Bowl and Real Estate alike need persistent players who keep searching for the open pass, the complete play.

Persistence in real estate turns a lead into a deal. Keep meeting with sellers. Keep making offers. Keep looking for solutions and benefits you can bring to the play. And follow up like the Giants. That’s persistence.

The Giants upset the Patriots in the Super Bowl through persistence. Hang in there in your real estate deals. Keep executing, like the Super Bowl Giants, and make the one play when it comes down to it.

The difference between a real estate deal made and a real estate deal lost can be as small as one play in the Super Bowl. Let the Giants Super Bowl strategy motivate you to do whatever it takes, until you get your real estate deal.

3. The Loosing Perspective - It’s Not Just About Plays

“They played well,” Patriots Belichick said. “They made some plays. We made some plays. They just made a few more. We played as hard as we could. We just couldn’t make enough plays.”

Take for example closing a new real estate purchase loan. Tough lending environment is your oponent. What to do? Step one: Prepare. Be ruthless in qualifying your buyer. How often have I heard excuses and finger pointing at the oponents’ new strategy. That does not matter a bit! Take responsibility for your own actions.

“We played as hard as we could”, is ALWAYS a lame excuse when the looser says it. The real breakdown happened earlier - in the mind. Don’t take busy work for an excuse to not perform. Do the RIGHT things and with focus.

What does that mean in real estate? The buyer’s qualification has to be airtight. And that’s your responsibility if you’re looking to get a real estate transaction closed. A real estate transaction is like a Super Bowl play. If you complete enough plays you win. If you allow the Giants to complete the most plays don’t complain about tough real estate lending standards.

4. Team And Support Are Key To Get Your Mind Set

Giants Super Bowl star Eli Manning said: “I talked to Peyton and he said, ‘Go in there, have some fun, you can do it.’”

The Giants gave a perfect example in today’s Super Bowl. Direction, fun and encourragement are a powerful triple force. Light it up. Keep your fire burning. Like the Super Bowl Giants use it to do your real estate deals.

Get your mind set on success. How important is each of these steps in real estate. ‘Go in there’. Take action every day. Charge up on every lead. And: ‘Have some fun’. That makes all the difference. Beat the rut. The Super Bowl Giants beat the Patriots for their attitude, preparation and diligent execution.

‘You can do it’ - in real estate, too.

5. Like Celebrating Giants Super Bowl Victory

“It’s the greatest feeling in professional sports,” Burress said and burst into tears.

Appreciate your success like the Super Bowl Giants. Celebrate your victories. Celebrate each real estate sale. Party when the real estate loan has closed.

With all your busy work at hand it is easy to get distracted, even by the oponent. Keep score for the positive. Every Super Bowl play, every closed transaction is a small victory worth celebrating. Great inspiration comes from your own victories.

Inspiration also comes from watching the Giants Super Bowl upset. Are you ready to play your Super Bowl in real estate like the Giants? Let your inspiration start you today. “Go in there, have some fun, you can do it.”

Wholesaling Real Estate can lead to a certain amount of “marketing incest”. Building a “buyers list” that consists of other wholesalers can be a good start, but someone, at some point, is going to have to find an “end-buyer” who will actually use the wholesale property for its designed purpose: To LIVE in it.

Granted, that could be a renter or an owner occupied buyer. So in case it’s a renter, the end buyer we’re looking for would be a landlord or “buy-and-hold” type real estate investor.

Here is an astonishing concept:

“The ideal home buyer now — in a reverse of what was true for years — is a renter who is not burdened with a house. Such a buyer will need a down payment from somewhere, and he or she will need enough income to meet the monthly payments for the foreseeable future, including any increase in adjustable rates that seems probable.

“But not owning a home, which may be hard to sell, is a big plus.

“A year ago, having a home that had appreciated in value meant that an owner could trade up to a more expensive home. Now it means that the homeowner cannot move until the old home is sold, and that is getting more difficult.

“First, the seller has to find a buyer who can get a mortgage. Second, the price has to be high enough to pay off the old mortgage and leave enough cash for the down payment on a new home. Both were taken for granted a year ago. In many markets, neither is a sure thing now.”

- Floyd Norris (NY Times, 1/18/2008)

Makes sense to me. So the next step in our buyers list building effort has to be getting some landlord/buy-and-hold investors, and some renters with a down payment on…

Stay tuned and have a great weekend!

OK, now that you got started and built your investor list, let me show you two more great ways to get REAL buyers on your list:

1. Go to Trustee Sales in Your Area

The people that show up there are REAL buyers. Why? Because at trustee sales you have to pay cash (or cash equivalent) for the ENTIRE PURCHASE PRICE!

So anyone who shows up at a trustee sale with the intention to actually buy a property that goes to auction is a REAL buyer. They are motivated to buy the right kind of deal.

And you know what? Most of the time they get disappointed, because either the properties that they have targeted are taken off the list for any number of reasons, or the bidding process turns a juicy equity spread into a marginal deal for them.

What a great way to build a list of HUNGRY BUYERS that would jump on any of the great wholesale deals that you’re going to bring them.

So what do you do? Bring business cards or postcard-size business billboards with your phone number and hand them out. Talk PERSONALLY to as many people as possible, and ask for their buying criteria and for their business card.

2. REI Clubs (Online and Offline)

Your local REI clubs are another good source for building your list. Look online to see if they have web sites. Some clubs even run message boards where members can post and share deals and other information. Sign up, participate by leaving helpful comments, and use a two-line “signature” after your name in each comment you post. The signature could look like this:

Thomas Bartke
I Do Wholesale Deals! 626-355-6942
http://CaWholesaleDeals.com

It helps to have a web site, but you can just go for an email address and phone number, too, like:

Thomas Bartke
I Have Wholesale Deals! 626-355-6942
homeofferguy@gmail.com

Then go to REI club meetings. Bring your business card or postcard size business “bilboard” and hand it out. Talk to as many people as possible, and collect their business cards as well. Your business card or business billboard should always have an “offer” and call to action on the back! Such as “Who would like to know the most reliable sources for funding your deals and rehabs? Go to my web site and download your free report ‘The Truth About Hard Money’ at …”

Here is a special tip for making yourself stand out even more:

Let’s say you’ve visited the REI meeting at your local club and gathered 30 business cards. The next day, send out 30 postcards to these folks! You could thank them for talking to you at the meeting, and give your web site and phone number with an “ethical bribe” to sign up to your email list.

OK, make it a point to grow your list by a certain amount of subscribers in the next 2-4 weeks. WRITE DOWN that goal and put into action the suggestions that I’ve given you. - Call me after that time frame is over and let me know about your success!

So many times I get the question “How do I get started wholesaleing properties?”

 OK, here is the answer (Part 1).

I will give you the very first step. And the best thing about it is that you can start implementing it RIGHT NOW! No preparing stuff, no setup steps, no excuses - YOU ARE READY NOW!

It’s up to you to start NOW!

So, are you ready for this?

Here we go:

Spy on the “competition” and build your investor list at the same time.

1. Get the latest edition of your local or regional paper (weekend edition works best). Find the Real Estate Wanted section and Call every ad that’s in there. Here’s what you say: “Hello, this is <blank> [say your name]. I’m calling to find out what type of properties you are most interested in buying right now. - [Let them answer… then continue:] I’m a property finder and I come across good wholesale deals in this area. Would you mind if I called or emailed you if I have something that fits your criteria? - [They say: No, not at all.] Ok, great can you give me an idea which areas and criteria you are looking for right now?”Then get the following criteria:- what area/location
   - size of home (bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage)
   - price range
   - amount/level of repairs
   - how do they close (cash/hard money/conventional loan/creative financing) If they say “cash” say this verbatim: “do you mean hard money or private money when you say cash or do you have the actual cash available?”, and LISTEN carefully! Your goal is to find out who is a true buyer who can perform and close.
   - what LTV (”loan-to-value ratio”; this is a common misnomer for “what percentage of the fair market value are you willing to pay for the property?”
   - what is your exit strategy (”Are you looking to rehab, or buy and hold, or for deals to assign to someone else?”)
   - contact info (phone, fax, email)
2. Keep the information in an excel spread sheet for now.
3. Do the same with your weekly Pennysaver or Thrifty Nickel, and any “we Buy Houses” signs that you see.

Go to http://CaWholesaleDeals.com and sign up for my wholesale buyers list!

Subscribe to blog updates here so you get the next parts…