Networking with Sellers

[Jared Baker]

Hi All,

I hear it commonly said that if you are able to make a personal connection with sellers instead of purely being a transaction you can have more success with closing a deal.  

My question is how do you get to network with sellers when there is a broker in the middle.  For example, I have been looking at a few apartment complexes for sale that with an initial run of the numbers look promising.  I believe my next step is to reach out and get some more accurate data on expense and income, but also try to figure out what the seller actually wants and what problem I can solve for them is, but unsure how to do this with a broker in the middle.  I've had several experiences on the residential side where it seems like the sellers agent didn't like the idea of figuring this info out and so I wasn't able to do any negotiations because they were unwilling to have that type of conversation.

All recommendations welcome!