Finding Motivated Sellers: A Key To Goal Setting For Real Estate Investors
So, why does it surprise people when I speak on goal setting that I spend a lot of time on goal setting regarding motivated sellers. If you need motivated sellers, to achieve most if not all of your other goals, then doesn't it make sense to focus on the motivated seller part of your goals, at least at the beginning?
Anyone looking at my portfolio of audio CDs and courses will quickly find a pattern; over half of the titles are about finding motivated sellers. Why is that? Let's think about it.
Let's say you have a goal to make $10,000 per month from owning rental property. To find rental property that will give you excellent cash flow, you need to buy the houses that have strong rents and try to buy them as inexpensively as possible. How do you buy houses inexpensively? You need to find sellers who have a reason to trade you equity they have in their house for a solution to their problem.
The cheaper you can buy the house, the more cash flow you can generate from the house and the quicker and more safely you can achieve your goal of generating $10,000 in rental income. Try buying houses for full price and generating rental income from them quickly. In all but a few markets, it is very difficult to do (if not impossible).
But wait! You say your goal is to generate income from wholesaling property... you do not need to generate cash flow as a rental. Well, motivated sellers are even more important to you.
Have you ever tried to put a house under contract with a un-motivated (read that as inflexible) seller? It can be tough. If you are trying to put a house under contract so that you can wholesale it to another investor for a 4 or 5 figure payday, you NEED to accomplish two things:
1. Make the deal very attractive to the investor you are wholesaling it to (low price, great terms or both) 2. Gain control of the house so that you can "show it around" without risk of losing it
I am suggesting that you need motivated sellers--sellers with a need to sell--to be able to buy houses at a discount or who will allow you to put the house under contract with a 30 or 60 day closing period so that you have time to find your buyer.
Motivated sellers should be the key to your real estate goal setting. So, do you believe me? Great, so here are 3 tips about motivated seller goal setting.
Tip #1: Motivated Seller Quality Comes From Quantity
While you may have goals about converting x number of potential sellers to actual sellers, you need to realize that you need to sift and sort through lots of sellers to find truly motivated ones. The chance of you finding a motivated seller after talking to half a dozen sellers is pretty low. Even with super marketing materials and a wide range of what I can work with, we typically need to go through about 10 sellers to find 1 that is motivated enough that we can make the deal work.
Tip #2: Write Down A Specific Number And Track It Daily
"My goal is to talk to a lot of motivated sellers." Utter nonsense. You need to have a specific number to talk to in a specific period of time and track the results daily.
"My goal is to talk to 50 motivated sellers each month." Getting better. Each day you need to see if you are on track to achieving your goal of talking to 50 motivated sellers that month. If not, you need to ramp up your marketing to get more motivated sellers calling.
On our Real Estate Investor Database (the ULTIMATE contact and business management tool for Real Estate Investors), we have a little graph at the top of almost every page that shows you the "goal line" for the number of motivated sellers you need to reach your goal and where you are. If you are not meeting, the goal it shows up red. If you have met your goal for the day, it is green.
Tip #3: It Is Far Better To Sift and Sort
If you've have tried to make a marginal deal work and found out the hard way that it can cost you large amounts of time, money and energy you might start getting more selective in your deals. Here's some good advice that I received from several of my mentors:
"Don't try to make a marginal deal work, go find a better deal."
If you have 10, 20 or 30 sellers calling in every week, it is a lot easier to say no to a property that you are not 100% sure of... maybe the value of the property is questionable. Maybe you do not like the looks of the condition of the roof. Maybe you don't trust what the seller is telling you. When you have dozens of other sellers to talk to, it is much easier to say, "I am going to pass" and move on.
By the way, you'd be surprised at how much better the deal gets when you really do walk away and they come back to you a week, month or several months later.
So, as you begin to set your goals, keep in mind that while other goals are important, the most critical and key goal for real estate investors is the goal you set for motivated sellers.
Related Tags: goal setting, real estate investing, real estate investor, motivated sellers, flipping, finding deals
James Orr is a professional real estate investor and marketer. To get more information about the LearnToBeRich.com Affiliate Program and James Orr's marketing blog with a plan for affiliates, check out:
http://RuthlessAccountability.com
Your Article Search Directory : Find in ArticlesRecent articles in this category:
- Sbi Best Sip Plans 2010
SBI Mutual funds have introduced many mutual schemes. Each scheme has different limitations. SBI SIP - Icici Sip Plans 2010 - Best Sip Plans
ICICI Prudential offers many schemes. These fund schemes have SIP. What is SIP? SIP's expansion is S - Determining Where To Invest Money
There are several kinds of investments, also you will find numerous factors to find out where to inv - Retirement Plans A Necessity Of Life
A person works whole life to give a decent upbringing to his children and families. But while improv - Stock Market Timing Signals
Follow the PlanThis would seem a statement of common sense, but the fact of stock market timing sign - A Selection Of Financial And Investment Strategy Guidelines For Turning A Profit
Yet, we don't often have the money to leave work right at this moment. We need a constant salary to - Find Out The Profitable Way To Invest In Small Cap Stocks
Everyone wants to find a penny stocks list or other investment strategies that can turn your literal - Portfolio #4 - Watergate
IntroductionThe problem is not that the world is running out of water. No, the problem is that drink - Dulton Group: Information Content Of Dividends
Dulton Group helps you to analyze the information content of dividends, an important factor affectin - Coping With Fear In A Markets
The real fact is that all traders, investors as well as stock market investors, who feel afraid, occ
Most viewed articles in this category:
- Investor Stress: A New Approach
George Muzea is both an investor and a stock market advisor. In any given month, he will be paid $10 - Real Estate Investment Financing
1. Location: Your real estate investment's location is arguably the most important component of your - Canadian Oil Sands - Who Are the Major Players
The Canadian oil sands represent one of the most lucrative investment opportunities to oil and gas i - Why Bulk Preconstruction?
Bulk preconstruction is the latest trend in secure, high profit real estate investing. By buying wit - Investing - It Is Not As Scary As You Think
Many people want to have more money - OK everyone does. However, most people don't know how to go a - How Do I Know Which Programs Are Scams?
Although it is virtually impossible to tell if a HYIP is a scam until the moment when they stop payi - Currency Trading Success - 6 Tips to Increase your Profits
If you want to increase your profit potential and achieve currency trading success then the simple t - The Business Cycle
Investors who want to beat the market should be followers of the business cycle. The business cycle - Pros and Cons of Real Estate
Like any other profession, there are good and bad things about what are available. Each of the thin - The Fixer Upper
Real estate investing has become almost a national pastime. Millions are made every year on the buyi