Kind of a weird title for a lesson on real estate technology, don’t you think? Well, it probably is. We will be back to techie stuff next week. But we thought it might be good this week to consider spending some time away from the tech side of real estate investing.
When you really boil it down, real estate investing is a people business. Houses don’t sell themselves. People sell houses. Motivated sellers are people with problems:
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Divorces
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Death in the family
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Job loss
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Landlord headaches
These are all problems with people, not real estate. Tech is wonderful for locating these situations. But at the end of the day, you have to sit across from someone and find a deal that works for both of you.
When people are hurting, most of them are not interested in the latest iPhone App that values their house.
Take Some Time to Work on Problem-Solving Skills
Learning the latest technology to send out 1,000 offers a day automatically might mean you will get an offer or two accepted, but I bet the other party is just doing it out of desperation. They won’t be happy about how you went about it.
And they probably won’t do business with you again. Or refer you to their desperate friends.
Don’t get me wrong. This is NOT a lesson condemning tech. Just a call to put the tech aside every so often and work on your non-tech skills.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with using technology to help strengthen your non-tech skills.
All of the technology in the world started as a human trying to find a solution to a problem. Many of the best deals in real estate come through people solving other people’s problems. I know we’ve talked about it on the Mogul site a lot, but we can’t emphasize it enough – in order to become really successful, you have to become a great problem solver.
I can anticipate the next question. How do I become a great problem solver? How
do you become great at anything?
Practice.
Spend some time every day coming up with ideas and trying to solve problems for things that bug you. Sat in traffic today? Spill your coffee? Miss an important call? What could you come up with to fix those problems? Even if your idea is goofy, it still gets you in the problem-solving mindset.
The successful entrepreneur James Altucher believes you actually have an ‘idea muscle.’ Like the other muscles in your body, it needs to be worked to keep it strong. He recommends coming up with 10 ideas every day and writing them down.
In addition to the ideas in James Altucher’s column, learn ideas from other real estate investors. Everyone has little tips or techniques that might help your business. Talk to business people in other fields. They may have some ideas you can ‘poach’ and adapt to real estate.
If you have trouble getting started thinking of ideas, you can always purchase this book by Mrs. Claudia Altucher that she wrote with James.
Don’t just let technology be your guide. Let technology help you, but be the leader with your ideas.
Okay – My Phone’s Turned Off – Now What?
Start by thinking where you are now and where you want to be. What kind of path do you need to follow?
Sounds like goal setting to me. Grab your favorite beverage, go out on your porch and write down your real estate (or other) goals if you haven’t done so. They will give you a hint of what types of real estate you need to seek out in order to meet your goals. Do you want equity? Cash flow? Something else?
Here is an alternate way of looking at setting goals.
Now that you have a path, how are you going to get there? Nobody has ever become super-successful on their own without help. You need to find the people who can help you.
That’s where networking comes in. Shy? Yeah we understand. But you gotta get over it. By all means use technology to find lenders, Realtors, meetup groups, private investors, contractors, REIAs, etc. Then go to meet them in person. Before you talk to them about your goals, talk to them about THEIR goals. What are they looking for? How can you help them? Who knows – maybe you have a great piece of technology you can recommend?
Once you have your network built up, by all means use spreadsheets or other database software to keep track of them. Social media can help you stay in touch. Electronic calendars can help you follow up, remember birthdays, etc.
But that first meeting generally must be very non-technical.
Now that you have your network in place, it’s time to start doing deals. That’s where negotiating comes in. It’s where you really make your money. The result of your negotiation not only will determine how much you make on your present deal, but it can also determine whether the person you are dealing with will bring you more business in the future.
The best negotiations are the ones where both sides walk away feeling they got the best part of the deal. That is not that hard to do. When you do the following things, you will produce the best outcome:
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Listen to the other side’s needs
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Explain your requirements
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Creatively come up with a solution that meets both sets of needs
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Honestly explain the potential risks of the deal to everyone involved
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Follow through and do everything you promised you would
Notice how only the fifth step in that process might be aided by technology.
Thank You for Your Indulgence – Now Back to the (Tech) Show
Next week we will be back to finding you technology that can help your real estate investing. But we wanted to give you pause to think about the ‘non-tech’ sides of your business and how you can improve them as well.
Real Estate Moguls learn very well how to blend technology and people to create something special.
Talk to Me
Please feel free to leave comments about other non-tech aspects of your business that you feel are important to develop.
Become an Idea Machine – Flex that idea muscle. Work it baby!
Show Gratitude – Do one thing every day that helps someone else out with nothing in it for you. Your efforts will pay you back many times over.
Meet New People – Whether you use tech to meet them online or go out and meet them in person, expanding your network can only help get you closer to your goals.
Combine Tech and Non-Tech – Think of ways you can use technology for things like finding motivated sellers, with negotiation training you can use to help them out – and help yourself out in the process!
JP Moses
is a real estate investor in Memphis, TN, with experience ranging from land lording to note buying, rehabbing, and wholesaling. However, wholesaling is the area that he enjoys most and where he bring the most experience and expertise to his students.