Hey everyone, for anyone starting out I just wanted to give some information and knowledge about how I got my first contract signed. Not closed yet! But signed! Inspection is going on this Saturday.

Since the end of 2017, I consumed myself with BP Podcasts, Real Estate Books- Cash Flow Quadrant then Rich Dad Poor Dad being the first two and the BP Forums. Didn't really catch the Real Estate Bug until 2018. Avoided the paralysis by analysis by eventually realizing "I'm going nowhere unless I find deals" so focus on that. Enter 2018 and I started my first marketing campaign- 200 letters in January, 400 in February, 600 in March, 1100 in April. April was the first time I sent out a professional letter instead of just a basic yellow letter. And, all I can say is stick with it- my response rate floated between 1-2%, but many of those leads were high quality. Many were tired landlords with multiple properties, and the one that I have a signed contract on is a primary homeowner that is looking to move out of state, and his house has some deferred maintenance. I have other deals in the pipeline where I'm still building rapport with the sellers, some being small MF and others being SFH. Keep their names and number close, follow up, be on time, and do what you say you're going to do- it is essential to build trust.

To practice talking to motivated sellers on the phone I created my own skit that I repeated to myself for many mornings. Much of the information was obtained from J Scott's Book and Michael Quarrels Podcasts and Posts. Key things to ask- 1. Property to Sell 2. Not listed with agent 3. Why selling 4. Owner of House 5. Timeframe of sale 6. Mortgage, 2nd mortgage, etc 7. Behind or Current 8. Condition          9. Price 10. Setting date to visit if meets criteria.

W/o an agent I had to form relationships with a Title Company way beforehand. That should honestly come first, build relationships with Attorneys, Lenders, Title Companies, Insurance, Contractors, Agents etc. In both my LLC's the other business partners are both contractors which was essential if I am to be successful. I have no contracting skills whatsoever and it is my weak point so finding a contractor was the number 1 priority for both these endeavors. Fortunately I was able to find skilled and trustworthy contractors, and share equity stake with them to give them skin in the game and ambition to be successful.

To get the seller to closing, I built a short but meaningful relationship with the seller. I listened about 90% and spoke 10%. He had a problem and we were there to solve it. There was no rush to closing, or convincing that was needed to be done. When the time was right, he said OK I'm ready to move to the next chapter of my life- that only happens when you can build a connection.

Since no real estate agent was involved, I created my own real estate offer to explain what the seller would be netting out of the transaction. Being new, I did not feel experienced enough to read a 23 page Contract of Sale Agreement with the seller that would have taken many hours. Instead, my Real Estate Offer Document was 2 pages that simply explained what the seller would get out of the deal and the contingencies of it. At the top was my offer, then all his selling costs which I was covering- Transfer Taxes, Recordation, etc. He would receive my offer less his current mortgage, liens, judgments, home equity loans etc. Fortunately all he had was a current mortgage, and underneath I wrote seller net = $. To give him clarity of what he would be walking away from closing with. Concluded by the contingencies of- Clear Title, Inspection, Bank Financing. Then was the inclusions/ exclusions part. All this Real Estate Offer was for is to give direction to give the Title Company when we arrived. Not a necessary step, but again a way to hash out numbers and processes with the seller w/o having to deal with an intimidating 23 page contract with no professional there for assistance.

Thanks for reading.