The Story of Two Chairs...

First off let me get your attention by telling you these “chairs” made us a smooth $11,000+ on a wholesale deal in less than 24 hours.

What most people never tell you is the time it took UP TO those 24 hours to get this deal in the works. Kinda like those “overnight” success stories who have went undiscovered for 20 years working themselves to death in their garage with no support, but one day it just pops and the next facebook discovery is bringing in millions of supporters overnight.

So on Monday August 15 2011, our office gets a call from a gentleman who would like to sell his home and he only wants to speak to Erik. Erik gets on the phone with this seller and listens intently with his whole heart on the overall situation. Within minutes Erik is leaving the office to go out and look at this property. Upon getting to the home, Erik calls the seller and asks if their is a way into the home so he can estimate its repairs. Unable to gain access, Erik sets a appointment to meet the seller on Wednesday at the home.

Wednesday August 17, 2011

Erik shows up and immediately comments on the sellers shirt (up here we have a one day event called the Woodward dream cruise. Largest car show in the world that stretches for miles along Woodward for one day only). You see, I am always looking for off ramps to take when speaking to people. Any common interests that I can use to relate to them that will break the ice and allow them to lower their guard against the negative emotions that can tag along with some “investors”.

This broke the ice immediately and I listened for the next 90 minutes about Bobs 1962 Impala 2 door, that was fawn in color with a complete powder coated underbody and suspension. I listened to how he began restoring the car 10 years ago and with his engineering background how he spent endless weekends at his sons barn over 60 miles away rebuilding every part, packing all the bearings, deciding for 2 weeks on whether to buy the original SS Impala wheels of opt for the Torq Thrust 17 inch alloys wrapped in Pirellis. I listened all about his kids and being scouts honors and his grand daughter who is the joy of his life.

All these different topics and interests were all that mattered to me that day. I left my phone in the car, watch at home and had no other agenda than to genuinely listen to Bobs life and what mattered to him. I needed to know what mattered to Bob, especially when it came to that property.

I knew my end of the bargain. The price I could pay. The comps. The details of the home. I needed to find out what was important to Bob.

As I sat in that garage, I listened to Bob comment on how many times the police drove by and that being a sign of the nicely patrolled area and about dealing with the family in this situation and the integrity of Bobs brother-in-law who passed away. He spoke of his brothers immense desire to always want to learn. How he constantly read books to expand his brain capacity. I took this topic and ran for miles. I love education and speaking to another generation, who has watched the demise of society crumble over the past few decades, I was able to relate to this immensely.

Heres a wonderful way to get the seller a little something special at closing. I knew that I had this deal wrapped up so I asked Bob, “Bob, you have been a resident here for a few years and probably seen a lot of places come and go. Where are the best restaurants in this area”? “Oh my gosh”, Bob responded. “ If you just head down this street here, there is a wonderful cafe that bakes fresh breads, muffins, oats and fresh coffee each day but if you really want a good dining experience, go over to Antonios. Me and Pat love Antonios”.

I had it. I knew Pat and Bob LOVE Antonios. So we grabbed them a wonderful gift card for a few dinners out at Antonios on us.

The morale of this is that Bob was truly and genuinely my only agenda that day. Bob has a situation he needed help in and somewhere between that first initial call and sitting here, Bob was exposing to me what he wanted to occur with this home. We talked for 90 or so minutes about life and then spoke for the last 12 minutes about the property.

I left Bob with an offer that was so close to what he wanted, he felt it wasnt necessary to contact the others who had also marketed to buy his property. He did mention that our letter was absolutely the most considerate and non invasive. To add to that, we were the only company that answered our phones LIVE. No message, no recording...LIVE.

I called Bob later that evening to adjust my offer. Although we had a done deal and Bob was satisfied, I called him to tell him I am going to give them an additional $1000 for the property and set a time to meet him and his wife the next day at Starbucks so we could finalize everything and move to escrow.

Anytime you meet with a private seller you need to remember that they most likely have only bought a home once or twice in their life, so you need to assume nothing and explain escrow, closing costs, title insurance, utilities, earnest money and every little (boring to you) detail about getting them the check in their hand.

I met Bob and Pat at Starbucks and before we even discussed the property,  I spoke to Pat about life, the rain outside, the upcoming cruise and if she wished the 62 Impala was finished so they could be in the dream cruise. We talked for nearly an hour inside Starbucks. After Pat and I got comfortable, I went through the complete process with each of them having their own purchase agreement in front of them so they didnt have to share and squint and feel awkward and explained each line and what it meant.

“Pat, I only have one question. Only one line needs to be filled in. When would you like to close?”

“Oh, soon. How about Monday? Is that too fast for you?” Pat responded

“Pat, if it is said that Monday shall be the day of settlement, then Monday it shall be. How about 2 oclock Pat? Does that work?

“Thats perfect”

When you speak to sellers, remember that thier are emotions tied to this property. Memories of laughter and times with family. Don’t use words like “closing” or “purchase agreement” or “price is too high”. Use subtle words like settlement, margin, ok this document.

Try to forgot alot of what you have been told and move back to common sense when talking with people. If someone were to come to your grandmothers home and buy her house, how would you expect someone to speak to her. Like a frickin human. Not the big investor who has done 500 transactions and pulls up in his porsche. If your meeting a factory worker, wear boots and dirty clothes. If your going to meet a nurse, look professional.

Being a HUGE REO investor, we have had it on easy street for buying deals for the past three years. Recently, having taken over the private seller market, I have had nothing but great experiences sharing stories and LISTENING.

I can truly tell you that the real money made her was the friendship. The currency of people. Helping provide a solution. Listening to what the seller wants and build him a custom solution. Cash is actually the easy, lazy way out. what if he wanted monthly income from this home. What if he just wanted to deal a private person not a big huge real estate buying company. Well, thats why Bob called to speak with Erik. Not return a call to Michigan Property Superstore because they sent a letter for buying the property.

Be a person for the people and you will not only see your profits increase, you will feel good about the business you conducted.

Tell us your stories below, share this with the world and start developing some people skills everywhere you go.