My first interesting deal since marketing campaign started

[William Johnson]

Hello all,

I hope that what I am about to write in this forum will generate a lot of responses as I am looking for areas to grow in my deal making abilities and in my ability to structure deals. If there are any ways that you can recommend that I approach these situations differently I would be very appreciative.  I am interested in creative approaches to closing this deal with the seller as well as ways that I could structure this deal with investors.

I have recently ordered 200 signs and registered a website to begin a marketing campaign. This is my first attempt to really get into buying houses with no agents involved.  I have put up 35 of these signs and recently received many phone calls and one of them was a phone call from a man who had an employee who might require my services.  After talking to the actual seller (with his boss originally having us on a 3 way call) I learned that he owes 235,000 on the house and it can very easily get 300,000 in today's market.  On top of that the house is perfectly renovated and can sell within 80 days in today's market, the catch is that it is his marriage home and he's going through a divorce.  

I arranged to meet him for a coffee and we negotiate a subject to with 20,000 paid to him at closing and, (here is where I turn into a retard) I leave the coffee shop without having him sign anything, I didn't even have the documents with me!!!  I put out feelers to my investors network to make sure that I have some potential interest in spite of the context and there is plenty but I don't have a signed document.  I try to contact him after this but cannot get him on the phone to set up an appt. to sign.  

I found his address in spite of it being unlisted and I decided to knock on his door and take the risk of spooking him out rather than lose my momentum.  He answers the door and (with a sheepish look on his face) apologizes for avoiding my calls and invites me in, he tells me that he was offered 30k upfront by somebody else.  I try to discredit the others and add credit to my own offer and I do get him to agree to sell it to me but, when I try to get him to sign the offer he says he wants someone to check out the offer.  

We agreed that I will come back the next evening (which was tonight) and I unfortunately had to work at my regular job until 8h30pm (although I do love my day job as well) so I tried to knock at his door earlier in the afternoon and he was not home from work yet.

I will try again tomorrow and I will prepare a very simple, direct pitch to close this deal, 

Hello _____, 

We have spoken many times in the last week. We both know that the conditions that my company offered for you house are unbeatable.  I am here today to nail this deal down with you, if you are interested in taking care of this problem permanently (and I know that you are) then you will sign this deal with me right now.  

I will then hand him the pen to sign with.

I am going to leave it all on the floor for this deal.

[Jordan H.]

I'm learning that the best way to acquire properties is to sell the current owner on a solution to his/her issue. I would focus on your solution to his needs. If your language is too strong, it will come across as an ultimatum, which makes you appear aggressive. If you can spin the conversation to identify his problem and show your solution (sign here), hopefully he'll feel like you're helping him instead of him helping you.