The question I want to consider in this article is: "How can you come across to pre-foreclosure sellers as honest when you sometimes have to use the same invasive pre-foreclosure tactics (i.e. public records searches; blind mail-outs; intrusive door-to-door knocking; offensive "bandit" road signs) to FIND these motivated sellers so you can help them solve their problems when there are so many investor sharks out there who do NOT have integrity? Assuming, of course, that you ARE honest...how can we best avoid the negative connotations of the "I'm here to Steal Your House" guys out there calling themselves 'investors'?

"I'm here to STEAL your HOUSE!"

If you've ever been in foreclosure or stepped to the kitchen table of someone who is going through the process of pre-foreclosure to help them work out their options...and seen all the marketing messages that flood their mailbox...you've seen this attitude in action.

If you don't know what I'm talking about with the crazy marketing stuff and pre-foreclosure tactics, you obviously:

a) have never been through the foreclosure process yourself or known someone closely who has

b) haven't been active in pre-foreclosure investing

or

c) don't live in a large metro market with huge numbers of highly competitive and very aggressive investors chasing a limited subset of profitable pre-foreclosure investing real estate deals...

Or some combination of the three.
Here's the question...

We need to know- what works to approach pre-foreclosure investing from a service mentality and still make money?

I'll happily share what has worked for me and other ultra-successful investors I know and have trained with.

How can you come across to pre-foreclosure sellers as honest when you have to use the same invasive tactics (i.e. public records; blind mail-outs; intrusive door-to-door; offensive "bandit" road signs)?

How do you let them know you are there to ethically and legally make money and that you can do so by helping them solve their problems when there are so many sharks out there?

You tell them that you can help, want to help, and have no intention of asking them to do or sign anything they would feel uncomfortable with.

You treat them as a person.

You listen and listen actively.

You offer solutions and you tell them that if it doesn't work for both of us we won't do it.

It's as simple as that.

Sure, people are cynical. We live in a cynical, crazy, messed up world.

There're no magic words you can say to convey to people that you really are sincere, that you really can help, that you're not trying to steal their house when it comes to pre-foreclosure investing.

You can just do your best to help these motivated sellers to understand their options, and lay out the scenarios that are possible.

But in the end, as they say, "honesty is the best policy", right?

Motivated sellers in pre-foreclosure will believe you (and thus sell to you instead of the other guys) if you are sincere, if you are forthright without being pushy, if you explain how you can help, if you give them all their options (including those that will not financially benefit you directly in any way), if you offer to help with moving expenses and finding a new home, if you point them in the right direction for credit-rebuilding resources, and if you fully explain how you can and will stand to make a profit by solving their problems.

Those pre-foreclosure tactics have been proven to work and sustain a business that depends on reputation to a very high degree in th log term.

Plus it's just good karma, and too many 'vulture investors' out there are on the negative side of that equation, giving those practicing ethical pre-foreclosure investing a bad name.

They aren't sincere. They don't tell motivated sellers all their options. They don't care about helping. They are pushy and sometimes even rude. They never tell the motivated sellers how they will make money. They couldn't care less about what happens to the person after they buy their house, where they will live or how bad there credit is.

I have the feeling many of the 'investors' using these selfish pre-foreclosure tactics will be punished for this. And it doesn't have to be that way!

We can all create more wealth through creating win-win scenarios and pre-foreclosure investing can be a great opportunity to do just that-- if you use honest pre-foreclosure tactics. If more investors genuinely cared and just approached it from a "do for them" rather than "do to them" mentality, more would find themselves the answer for more and more troubled motivated sellers over time.

Let's think about what you can accomplish as a pre-foreclosure investor (besides getting great deals on properties and potentially making a lot of money):

1. You can help someone in danger of ruining their credit take action before it's too late

2. You can help someone in danger of foreclosure avoid this painful process

3. You can help someone in a terribly stressful situation find relief

4. You can help someone who can't sleep at night get peace of mind

YOU can do all of these things as a pre-foreclosure investor.

And that's something to be proud of!

Do it right, do it ethically, do it honestly...and you can still profit I promise!

More info on your stop foreclosure information search:

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