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Door Knocking For Profit - Why It Works and How To Do It
By Eric Woolhiser
If you're not out there meeting people, you're missing the boat. Yet of
all the investors I know who are making use of the ForeclosuresMass
services and information, almost nobody is knocking on the doors; most
starting investors simply build a mailing list and mail to it. While
that can have some effect, and produce the odd lead, nothing really works
as well as knocking on the door.
This insight and approach didn't come easy for me. I wasn't always a
people person - I was a computer programmer - and it still takes some
effort for me to approach new people. In my four years of real estate
however, I've come to grips with the fact that ours is a people business,
and making real contact is an essential piece of the puzzle.
Dropping homeowner letters in the mailbox may feel like you've achieved
something, but it's not the same as getting out there and meeting people
face to face. Calling on the phone too, while better than mail, is rarely
effective. (People facing foreclosure are typically besieged by bill
collectors, and they've learned to ignore the phone.) For me, hitting
the pavement is the only way to go.
I owe much of my training to Bill Nasby who is one of our core trainers
in EXIT Realty International. He walked me to my first few doors, and got
me to knock on them. Once you get past your first door of the day, it's
pretty easy. And once you've been doing it consistently week after week,
it seems like a natural thing to do. I plan my week around it.
* Next 37 17 investors only!
How We Do It
Our approach is simple. Every Friday (we love to call it "Foreclosure
Friday"), my partner and I download the list of new properties from
ForeclosuresMass. We merge the list with what've we've worked on in the
past couple of weeks, and map out the locations in a town or two (we work
the same four or five towns consistently). Stating at about 10am, we get
in the car and work all day knocking; usually 25 - 30 doors.
We don't discriminate - we knock on every single door we can get to. At
this preliminary stage, the goal is to find a motivated seller... someone
who wants to do something. Until you have that, it's not worth the time
to find out what the house is worth or to investigate any of the other
specifics about the property. That will come later.
Three Keys To Success
- Find a Partner. When I first began knocking doors, I did it alone.
In those days, ten to fifteen percent of the time, I was met with a very
hostile response. Even among those who spoke with me, my success rate
was low. Now that I work with another investor - my partner Paul - the
hostile responses are down below one percent, and we reach agreement with
many more homeowners.
Knocking as a team works better for a number of reasons.
First, it allows us to bring more to the situation. Paul tends to be the
rapport builder, while I'm more of the technician. (I told you, people
stuff doesn't come naturally to me. I love to get in and solve problems
right away.) Together, we've got all the bases covered and can answer
just about any question that comes up.
Second, it keeps the conversation moving. With two people, the homeowner
tends to look back and forth between us, giving us more of a chance to
explain why we're there and how we can help. We've learned to play off
of each other.
Third, it makes us appear more trustworthy. If we trust each other
enough to work together, the homeowner has at least some evidence that
maybe we're not such bad people.
Finally, working with a partner keeps both of us motivated. There have
been plenty of cold and rainy Fridays where it would have been easier to
stop early or not go out at all. Having a partner keeps us accountable
to each other, and as a result, we cover a lot more ground. And when a
door goes well we pat ourselves on the back; when it doesn't we joke
about that too.
- Get Your Real Estate License. In addition to being an investor, I'm a
licensed real estate agent. I tell this to homeowners right up front,
and it always helps to put them at ease. They understand that my license
gives me some accountability, and that it greatly reduces the likelihood
of my doing anything illegal or unethical.
That's important. These people are fearful and literally in a state of
shock, often having received their Notice of Default from the sheriff
only days before (assuming the sheriff has even been there yet at all).
Building trust is critical, and my certification as a licensed agent goes
a long way.
The other benefit of being an agent is that if the deal is just too thin
to make sense as an investment acquisition, I can still list the property
for sale to others. That gives me an alternative option, and even if the
deal doesn't add up as an investment, it allows me to realize some
benefit for my time.
- Manage Your Emotional State. It's very important to be in the right
frame of mind when you knock on a door. If you're afraid or tentative,
the homeowners will pick up on this, and they'll become afraid as well.
Before I was comfortable, I once knocked on a few doors in a neighborhood
and, being a little nervous, the sellers got a little nervous. In a very
short time, a police car rolled up and escorted me out of the
neighborhood!
Today, I show up smiling, confident, and with the attitude that I'm
bringing the homeowner a gift. I've got an ear to listen, a fluency in
the details of the process they're going through, and a sincere desire to
help them make the best of a bad situation. People can sense this and it
has made all the difference.
Knocking doors can be nerve-racking at first, no doubt about it. It
takes some time, training and practice to make this a good habit. If
you're going to make any deals, you need to be able to sell. That means
meeting new people everyday. You have to push through that fear. And by
the way, I do give my time to train people to knock doors (just like Bill
Nasby did with me). Give me a call and we'll see if we can get you to
the door!
Eric Woolhiser is a REALTOR® with EXIT Advantage Realty in Westford
Massachusetts. His primary concentrations are negotiating short sales and
helping investors purchase multifamily commercial properties in the
Worcester area. He can be reached at eric@woolhiser.com.
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