20 Tips for the Buy Appointment with a Seller in Real Estate Investing

What are the key attributes in closing a deal? 

Professionalism and building rapport in certainly some of them. 

The engagement in the appointment is a crucial portion of the acquisition process. 

Join us today to review key characteristics to support you closing more deals especially for real estate investing for beginners.

It is common that people often question…”What should I say or do in the appointment?” 

Well, there are many things you should say and do, but most importantly, you must know your craft and understand people. 

Understanding people starts with knowing yourself. 

• In a previous blog, The Secrets of Building Rapport,  we mentioned some key sources for building self awareness. Please check it out. It will be very helpful for today’s lesson and for your growth overall.

Let’s get started. Here are some key pointers from beginning of the appointment to end.

Prior to the Appointment

To start, prior to the appointment, you should have clarified:

1. Appointment time and time required for the meeting. 
2. Purpose of the meeting.
3. What the meeting will look like. 

This prepares the customer so they know what to expect. Gage their needs and support them before, during and after the appointment.

Next let us review a few key attributes to support your ability to show professionalism at the arrival stage.

Arrival Stage of the Appointment

1) Dress neat, plain but professional. Jeans are okay. Suit and tie, definitely not. T-shirt, maybe not. Polo, yes…

2) Be on time. In fact, you should be a little early. If you plan to scope the surrounding area before hand, you should at least be 15 minutes early. Also, you may need to ring the doorbell a few minutes early to ensure your meeting is starting on time.

3) Introduce yourself, have a business card to hand them, and briefly outline what the meeting will look like.

4) Thank the customer for inviting you to their home and start the meeting.

5) Have your documents handy. Whether proof of funds, better business bureau ratings, good standing documents from the state, a flash light, agreements in case they are ready to take action, etc.

Now that you have begun the meeting and are having face to face engagement, let’s review other key attributes.

In the Meeting

6) Gage whether the customer wants higher or lower level engagement and act accordingly. Read their body language.

7) Be prepared to sit down on the couch, at the kitchen table, or to immediately walk the property. Your engagement will have to compliment the owners comfort level. Sitting or walking and talking could be the desire. Be prepared for either.

8) Make good eye contact to exhibit trust. Ask questions that give you understanding of how to help them solve the problem and help you understand property details. You should know their “why” prior to the meeting.

9) Be sure to explain the process or ask if they have questions about the process. Be ready to deliver precise details in your answers to display your business acumen. Comprehension on your craft is important.

10) Understand the customers desires based upon their body language. You should be able to determine if they want more explanation, more directness and less talking, or a bit of both. Deliver based upon their needs. This means you need to have good people skills and have the ability to read body language and deliver effective communication accordingly.

11) Be prepared to ask them to provide a tour, or if they want you to walk the property and come back to them.

12) Be prepared to have a keen eye for detail and not take extensive amounts of time reviewing the property. This goes for the inside and outside. A single family home versus a multi unit property matters, but generally if 4 units or less, your walk should not exceed 45 minutes. So maybe a range of 10 minutes to 45 minutes is okay. If you aren’t good at assessing the repairs quickly, you’ll need to practice so you aren’t wasting the clients time. After-all, they are expecting you to be informed and proficient. Review our previous blog How to Calculate ARV & Repairs for help becoming better at this. 

• We also have a pdf download available here or under Free Resources on the website to use during your walks.

Now that you have taken the tour of the property, its time to reconvene with the customer to talk numbers. Let’s review what you’ll need to be prepared to do.

After the Property Tour

13) Ask about call-outs during the walk that concern you if you need more feedback on the cause. This will help validate your repair estimates.

14) Know your repair estimate and your offer price based upon your assessment. Be sure to account for contingency for unforeseen events.

15) Provide your offer to the customer and give them time to provide feedback. If they’ve given you a ballpark of what they are expecting, you may already know if you will be able to meet them at their asking price or if you won’t. Follow up accordingly, if you feel there is room to meet at a number that works or if this is a deal you’ll have to pass on.

16) If you are proficient, perhaps you can provide the customer purchasing options that may help meet their expectation. Review these options with the customer and allow the customer to provide feedback. Some customers will need detailed feedback and some will be familiar, and others will require less feedback.

17) At this point, you may be able to complete the paperwork, or maybe the customer will need time to review their options and get back to you. Your prior engagement with them should have helped you understand how prepared they are in making a decision.

18) Thank them for their time regardless. Offer assistance to anyone they may know in case they have referrals of individuals looking for something similar.

19) Follow up with them accordingly whether you got the agreement done or if they are still in the decision making process.

20) If you got the contract, explain what the next steps will look like up through closing.

Thanks for joining us today faithful readers-future leaders! 

We hope this lesson has been helpful.

Love ya and continue to strive for growth.

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Please comment how this was helpful or provide your tips for the appointment.