You are about to learn one of the best-kept secrets in creative real estate investing, 'HOW TO REJECT THE SELLER BEFORE THEY REJECT YOU.' One of the best ways to get started in real estate investing is to learn how to use the phone to practice your skills by making cold calls. You will increase your skill level so that when the opportunity does come from your marketing, you'll be prepared to grab that deal rather than stumble and lose it.

Here's how to tap into a source of great deals with your calls, tired landlords. When property maintenance is lacking, this is often a sign that the property owner is not anywhere nearby, and is perhaps even out of state. This category of property owners is a hidden source of motivated sellers that can be one of your best sources of buying rental property.

Where do you buy these names? One is an information source provider who has put all the county property information onto a huge database that is easy to access. It is also a good idea to invest into the Haines Criss-Cross Directory www.haines.com at about $500 per county (depending on your county and state). You can reach a local representative for more information off of their website.

Another way to find the phone numbers to call these out-of-state owners is to find a property in your town where the tax bill is being sent to an address far away thru the public records. This usually means that you've found an out-of-town owner. You can do your own research in your local county records (this is good only if you have the time to do this research) or you can buy the names, addresses and phone numbers you want (discussed below). If you are currently working with a realtor, they can also pull information off of the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) of people who are out-of-state owners.

If you don't want to go to the courthouse for this information, another way to do get a list is to call a list broker. I use Keenote, Inc., and work with them to create a list of out-of-state owners for you that you can buy from. When you get the names you can send out a letter or postcard to entice interested owners to call you. If you choose this route, feed these incoming calls into your Pat Live answering service. For those who do not have this service, I highly recommend it (www.Patlive.com). This screening service asks all the pertinent information we would ask if the owner called us directly. This service saves us time and the information from the motivated seller is sent to us directly via email from the PatLive representative.

People who own property in your hometown, but who live out of the area are great leads for you to talk with for two reasons.

FIRST, they have to deal with the property long distance as a rental or vacant property. This means maintenance and tenant headaches, hassles and bills for them to deal with. Many owners would LOVE to have these headaches taken off their hands.

SECOND, since the owner has not already sold the property, and already has bought or owns a personal residence to live, it's a good chance that the out-of-state owner does not absolutely have to have all their equity out of the property. The real benefit to you is that the seller can be flexible on the terms of sale. You can structure a long-term lease option or take the property 'Subject to' the existing mortgage and hold title to the property while the owner carries the note.

Thus, be proactive and PICK UP THE TELEPHONE AND CALL the out-of-state owners directly! Your conversation will go something like this:

"Hi, this is Minh. I'm an investor in Greenbelt, Maryland and I have your number as someone who might be interested in selling or renting a property in the area. I wanted to provide you with a service we provide for landlords where ....WE GUARANTEE YOUR RENT AND WE TAKE CARE OF YOUR PROPERTY. Is this a benefit that can help you with your property at ___________________?"

The biggest objection you will get on the phone is: "Where did you get my phone number?" Just tell the truth: "I hired a researcher to find me the names and phone numbers of people who owned property here that met my qualifications. They gave me the list and your name and phone number was on it. Is there a reason for us to spend a couple of minutes talking about me renting/buying your property, or probably not?"

Of course you've noticed how we gave the seller an option out as we finished the question. BECUASE 97% + OF THE PEOPLE YOU CALL WILL NOT WANT TO SELL OR LISTEN TO YOUR CREATIVE OFFER or SALES PITCH. You have to eliminate them before they can REJECT you. You are giving yourself power by giving them a way out. In essence, YOU ARE REJECTING THE SELLERS RATHER THAN THE OTHER WAY AROUND. The key is speed, which is to go through your list as fast as possible until someone does say, "yes, I would like to hear more about how you can GUARANTEE MY RENT and TAKE CARE OF MY PROPERTY." So allow the conversation to be very short if they are not interested so that you maximize your time and are only dealing with owners that really do need your services.

In your evaluation of your calls/presentations remember that you shouldn't take rejection personally. It's essential to try to build resilience in confronting rejection. Hearing a "no" answer allows you to move on to get a "yes." Also, when faced with a "no" answer, consider asking the prospect where you went wrong or what error you have made in the presentation. This takes a lot from people to do because it makes you swallow your pride but it really helps you learn from your mistakes. Last, DO NOT FOCUS ON THE NEGATIVES. If you can approach obstacles from a positive frame of mind and avoid negative habits such as self-defeating mind chatter, you'll be a winner already. A loser mindset is one of victimization, one that blames everything and everybody. It's not you who fails, just a transaction or prospect that didn't see it your way and they chose not to do business with you. That's it. But if you play that negative thought pattern over and over again in your head, you will then start giving that thought life and making it a reality. So focus on the good of your calls and remember that they are great for practice and you'll be so much better just with those thoughts alone. Once you get the hang of it (making calls without hesitation), you will see that your skills get better and the fear lessons, and by understanding that rejection is something you can control, you're now in the driver's seat towards achieving your goals.

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