Asking Right Questions to Discover Pain Points

[Jason Malabute]

Real estate rates are touching the skies and it has become nearly almost impossible to get a good deal through a broker. In response to this emerging scenario, we are targeting off-market deals and reaching out to the owners directly.

Our primary concern is to get deals done at better prices by directly working with the owner. But why or when would owners sell to buyers directly? Here’s why:

• When they need a fast closing
• They don’t want to go through the property listing process with brokers
• When they wanted to be selective about buyer
• When they want to make sure that the buyer will take good care of the property
• When the seller is emotionally connected with the property

What I have been learning through this off-market experience is that buyers need to understand that everything is about sales. Even when you are buying, you are in fact selling! You are selling an idea to the buyer, of selling their property to you.

Coming to the most important point – people often sell their problem property or sell it to solve a problem. This is why they rarely sell their best property. So, to buy the property at good discount rates, we need to dig out the pain point that is motivating the seller to sell the property. Some common pain points are:

• Seller needs cash
• The seller is managing the property from another state
• Seller inherited the property
• Seller wants to switch his/her line of business

This being said, there are a few basic questions that you can ask to easily dig out the pain point. Here are some of the questions you should ask the sellers:

• What problem are you trying to solve by selling now?
• Why are you interested in selling now?
• What do you like and dislike about the property?
• If you could change one thing about the property, what would it be and why?

These questions are necessary to find the motivation behind selling, besides money. You’ll then better know how to sell the idea of you being the best buyer for the property (and not only for the price reason).