Real Estate Investment Articles

Wouldn’t it be great if you could “cherry
pick” properties for sale in your town? You really can
if you have a system to capture information allowing
you to quickly handicap the property AND retrieve it
again in the near future for good effective follow up.

Capturing great deals seems to be the most
common desire of investors. But where are they?
How do you find those great deals?

What sets the super successful investor apart
from the slow mediocre investor? Are they luckier?
Odds are they use a very powerful tool. This tool
called KNOWLEDGE allows them to identify deals
others can’t see and gives them the confidence to
pounce on a deal when it surfaces.

“You can’t steal in slow motion” applies in
capturing deals. If you have to go back and study
some more before making your offer, a sharp investor
will capture it while you’re still cipherin’.

Almost every great deal involves a
MOTIVATED SELLER. Without a motivated seller,
it’s very difficult to create a great deal in real estate.
They need you to make their problem(s) go away.

Sharp Investors Create Deals

They’re not limited to price alone to identify
motivated sellers and great deals. Let’s use a house
with a market value of 100K. Good investors will
buy this house all day long for 60k, but would you
pay 105K for this 100K house? My answer would be
maybe. To exaggerate the educational point here, you
could give them 150K for a 100K house if you could
pay $1.00 per month until it was paid off.

Sharp investors create great deals from
marginal opportunities. Some factors to consider
include cash flow, appreciation, and equity.

There are a few critical pieces of information
to allow you to quickly identify a motivated seller.
This “pre-screening” can be done using your phone.
You shouldn’t have to drive all over town and view
dozens of houses for sale. There’s just not enough
hours in a day to operate this way.

You must have a system in place to capture
this critical information in a routine manner and the
ability to retrieve it again in the future for follow up.
Many of my great deals were the result of referring
back to opportunities previously passed over.

INDEX CARDS make a great system

In the beginning while working a full time
job, index cards gripped together with an “acco” clip
became my database on wheels. Do you scribble
notes about a FSBO in your day planner? How do
you quickly find it when a seller calls you back or
your real estate agent phones you about it?

Graduates of “Make Your 1st Million With
Your Job” 3 Day Boot Camp use the Index Card
System with great success in their office on wheels
and they use Mike’s Property Information Sheet if
they sit behind a desk most of their work day. The
same information is captured with both systems.

Picture yourself driving and your cell phone
rings from a seller who got your business card
announcing “I Buy Houses.” First of all, stop driving.
Pull over or stop in the emergency lane, but don’t
drive and talk. Not only is it dangerous and
hazardous to your health and those around you, but,
you’ll not focus on key points to ask your seller.

Here Are Your Questions. It’s important to ask
them in this order because you’re gonna ask

Membership is sold with the understanding the publisher and author are not engaged in rendering legal and accounting services or advice. A competent professional should be sought if legal or

professional assistance is required. All information contained in this publication is intended to provide valuable assistance to real estate investors.
questions many folks would label private and
confidential. There’s a method to my madness here in
developing rapport with your seller. It allows them to
feel comfortable with answering sensitive private
questions:

1.) Name and Phone Numbers. Make this your
number one question because cell phones seem to
drop calls at the most inopportune time, like right
now. Get the phone number they’re calling from
first and blame it on the cell phone, they’ll
understand. Later during this same conversation,
get as many phone numbers as they can think of
or remember. Get their home phone, cell phone,
work phone, pager, etc.

2.) Source: Ask how they found you. Most investors
ignore this question. Not only will this help you
track your marketing or advertising, but it will
also immediately identify any existing
relationship from someone who recommended
you. This could put you in the driver’s seat
setting the stage for immediate loyalty. Perhaps
you bought their neighbor’s house or their uncle’s
and they were happy with your results.

3.) Address and Cross Street. Ask for the address
and the nearest cross streets. Keep asking the
cross streets until YOU can identify the
neighborhood or part of town that rings a bell
with your noggin. Don’t confuse this with
specific driving directions. You’re simply trying
to locate the area quickly on your local mental
map. It doesn’t matter if you use landmarks,
grocery stores on major streets, just something to
give you a quick idea what end of town this
property is located.

4.) “ASKING Price”: Ask for the sale price of the
property along with how they got their sale price.
They may use a tax assessment, a recent appraisal
from some kind of recent refinancing, or a
relative or friend who’s a real estate agent.

5.) Vacant: Is the property vacant or occupied? If
occupied, who’s living there? This will also be
helpful in identifying a motivated seller.

6.) “Tell Me About Your House” This is one of
your most powerful statements. Keep in mind,
you’re in the people business. It’s so much easier
to create deals when you have a motivated seller
who likes you. Folks love to yap. This is how
counselors make a living. People who have
problems go to a shrink to “vent” and verbalize
their problems. They get to talk about it, get it off
their chest, and they feel better. Amazing. Do the
same for your seller. If they really are a motivated
seller, they’ll bump their gums a lot on this one.
Don’t cut your seller off and force them to answer
“Yes, No, 3, 4, etc.” Let them talk and they’ll like
you better. Remember, you have two ears and one
mouth for a reason. Use it. When you say “Tell
Me About Your House” the seller will ramble on
and on and on….

Here’s the information you should be able to
capture while they’re responding. (This prevents you
from asking them a bunch of Yes/No questions):

• Number of Bedrooms
• Number of Bathrooms
• Square Footage
• Year Built
• Style – Ranch, 1 story, Cape Cod, etc.
• Construction – Brick, Siding, Wood
• Garage -#, attached, detached.
• Basement, Crawl, Slab
PAIN: There’s a very painful component
involved with asking a seller to “Tell Me About Your
House.” It never fails. They always tell you how
much they’ve done and were planning on doing.
BITE YOUR LIP and let them ramble on about this
stuff. IT MAKES THEM FEEL GOOD because
you’re listening. They’ll tell you about all the stuff
and material they’ve already purchased and have
stacked up downstairs or in the garage. You must
have patience. You’re not taking notes on this part….
Just listening.

7.) REPAIRS: Ask the seller what repairs are
needed. Sometimes they get confused and try to
revert back to all the wonderful things they’ve
done. You must be a tad bit firm here and explain
what they’ve done is nice; however, you must ask
them straight up “If I buy your house, what 
repairs must be done?” If they answer “nothing”
follow up with “Doesn’t it need paint and
carpet?” If they need a little help here, ask them
about the roof, electric, plumbing, kitchen,
bathrooms, windows, doors, furnace, and air-
conditioning. Jot notes on items you suspect may
need updating.

8.) “Why are You Unloading this Property?”
Don’t ask them why they’re selling this house.

This one powerful question should immediately
identify whether you’re dealing with a motivated
seller. The word “unload” is very powerful and it
communicates immediately you expect a deal. If
they frown, back-peddle, or say they’re not
unloading this house, you may not have a
motivated seller. Many common reasons involve
settling estates, divorce, job loss, medical
tragedies, downsizing, moving to assisted care
facility, job relocation, family growth, and more.

Two additional powerful phrases in this arena:

9 “Do You Need Top Price or Fast Sale?”

9 “Do You Need Any Money or Just Want
To Get It Out Of Your Name?”

If your seller has a reason such as trying to sell in
order to buy another home sometime soon…. Odds
are, your wasting your time. But don’t trash this
information now. Save it and follow up with them in
a month or two. They may become motivated later.

9.) IDENTIFY THE OWNERS: Ask who owns the
property. This may seem elementary, but many
investors have wasted days, not hours, dealing
with friends, in-laws, out-laws, and even helpful
neighbors of the real owners. Most of the time,
only owners can sell a property to you. Why not
make sure you’re dealing with the right person in
the first place.

A real eye opener in my state involves married
folks. Odds are you’re gonna get a married couple
getting divorced and one party owned the house
BEFORE they got married. This same person
honestly believes it’s their house and they can sell it

on their own without their spouse. Unknown to them,
they must have their soon to be ex-spouse sign off on
the deed to properly sell the property even though
their name is nowhere on the deed. This sometimes
makes them madder than a mashed duck. So if your
state is similar, and their reason for selling is a
divorce, you should ask about the ex-spouse’s
involvement in the sale up front.

10.) Liens / Encumbrances / Mortgages: You
must position yourself to make the seller
comfortable by asking questions in a manner
that’s not offensive to them. Don’t start off by
asking them how much they owe. Ask them who
gets their monthly mortgage payments. It’s
implied it’s ok to have a mortgage on their house.
If they hesitate with this question, tell
them you’re not asking them for their account
number or any personal information. Tell them
you have relationships with some lenders and
mortgage companies and it could be a big factor
in your decision to buy their property. That’s
pretty easy and not very personal. If you fire them
a question of how much do you owe, they’ll
usually immediately retreat telling you “it’s none
of your business.” When this happens, you might
have shot down all of the rapport building that
occurred during the “tell me about your house.”
Asking the lender’s name is a baby step forward
to getting the information gracefully.

Ask:

• how much is their monthly payment?
• does it include taxes and insurance?
• interest rate, fixed or adjustable?
• When did this loan start? (with this info you
should be able to ball-park the balance if loan
is current)
• “How Many Payments Behind Are You?”
Do NOT ask “Are You Behind?” The first
question implies it’s ok and acceptable to be
behind on your house payments. The second
question sets the stage for the seller to be
perceived as not being responsible. Nobody
wants to be called something bad. If they say
they’re 3 months behind… DOUBLE IT.
Always double the numbers of months behind
on payments as a starting point. You can even
ask them “You say you’re 3 months behind,
could it be 6 months?” Surprisingly, they’ll
usually say “yes.”

• Now you can ask “How much do you think
you owe to XYZ Mortgage Company?”
• Repeat the same for a 2nd position mortgage
and even 3rd position mortgages and loans.
Remember, some sellers consider refinancing
a 1st mortgage results in their 2nd mortgage.
This can be frustrating at times.
The purpose of asking these questions is to
allow you the opportunity to pre-screen and
quickly identify not only a motivated seller, but
your ability to make a marginal deal into a very
good deal. Many homeowners now have very low
fixed rate interest loans making very good
“subject to” opportunities for you.

For example, the property involved may be
exactly the kind of property you desire and your
seller may already have a 2 year old, 30 year,
4.0% fixed rate loan in place. This might be right
up your alley. Caution: buying property “subject
to” existing loans usually allows lenders the
opportunity to call the entire note due and
payable with the sale of the property. In other
words, the lender could choose to make you pay
the loan off in full or foreclose on the property.

This isn’t meant to terrify you, only to inform
you of the risks associated with certain strategies.
Learn how to properly and successfully use the
“subject to” technique with minimal risk in the
Bull’s Eye Buying boot camp.

11.) How long have you owned this house? Is an
easy question to help verify the integrity of their
information without leaving your desk. Most
towns now have public records available on the
internet. Use it to your benefit.

12.) Listed with a Real Estate Company? If yes,
how long has it been listed? This speaks for itself.
If you’re licensed, you’re probably forbidden
from talking directly with the seller since they’ve
hired an agent to represent them. If you’re
licensed you should ask this question and not try
to ignore or play “ostrich” because you’re held to

a higher standard as a licensed professional. No
big deal, just call their agent and work with them.

13.) Would You Consider Owner Financing?
Sets the stage to get them thinking about it even if
they say no now. Most of my super deals
involved seller financing.

14.) Do you have other properties to unload?
You may stumble onto a retiring investor or
someone expecting to sell other properties in the
near future. Most things are cheaper when you
buy in bulk. Consider a package deal.

15.) “If I offered you all cash in 2 days, what’s
the least amount you can accept?…(their
answer).. is this the best you can do?”

Memorize this one. If you’re dealing with a
motivated seller, they’ll ALWAYS reduce their
price from the beginning of the conversation. I’ve
had as much as a 50k drop during the first phone
call. It’s very important to get their sale price at
the beginning and use this question at the end.

With this information captured correctly, you can now
pre-screen and identify a motivated seller FAST and cut
through the bull. If you know your market and you feel an
opportunity, you can make arrangements to see the
property to “verify” the information learned on the phone.

If you don’t know your market, get on your
computer and check it out or call a real estate agent. Know
your market is a must to operate effectively in your town.
Sharp investors identify an opportunity with this
information because they know their market.

Do you want the same great tool used in my
business everyday to make sure you ask the right
questions in the right order? Go to
www.MikesPropertyInfoSheet.com now and
You can get this powerful fill in the blank form used
to ID Motivated Sellers FAST!

Visit www.MikeButler.com for upcoming
events including the Bull’s Eye Buying Boot Camp.

Copyright © 2005, Wealth Building 24-7 LLC of Kentucky, All Rights Reserved.

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