Approaching an Multifamily owner

[Ahmed Al]

Hello BP friends,

I have been trying to locate a good multi family deal in my area. I have tried loopnet, crexi and other similar portals but was unsuccessful to get a deal , too many big sharks.

So I have decided to take the other route where I am visiting properties which fits my criteria and short listing them to get owner info.

Now I did make some calls but they are straight away showing zero interest to talk about selling.

I know big firms use there nicely written sales pitch but for independent investors what approach has worked?

Would love to hear some of you guys experience.

Thanks

Ahmed

[Erik W.]

Hi @Ahmed Al, welcome to BP!

"they are straight away showing zero interest to talk about selling"

How many calls did you make?  Any answer of less than 100 means you haven't called enough people yet.  I used to be a real estate agent, and cold calling people who want to sell succeeds about 0.5-1% of the time.  So you may need to call 200 before you get any interest.

Now, if you have called 100+ owners and aren't getting any hits, let's look at your presentation. How are you starting off the conversation?  "Hi, my name is Ahmed and I want to buy your apartment?"

Nope, no good.  There are so many wanna be MF real estate investors now they are probably getting calls like these 3-5 times per week from professional deal hunters and a couple dozen "I Buy Apartment" postcards per month.

You need to STAND OUT from the rest of your competition.  How?  By forming a relationship that goes beyond, "Hi, I want to buy your property."  Maybe introduce yourself as a budding investor who is trying to learn the ropes of the business and you'd be happy to take them out for lunch and see if you can learn something from them.  Maybe by offering to do some free "grunt" work for them in exchange for conversation on how to be a successful MF investor.  But my favorite strategy is using an already existing relationship the owner has with someone else.

What do I mean by that?  You call banks, business groups, contractors, insurance agents, etc.  Call anyone who might know someone who might own a MF property that they might sell.  You need leads coming in from people the Seller already knows and trusts enough to do business with, not just cold calls.  Go to groups like BNI (Bigger Net Income) where business people meet, talk, and share their services.  Hand out 50-100 business cards.

The plain fact is this isn't easy to get started in.  Every day something like 10-20 people post on Bigger Pockets about how they are ready to start their real estate investing in MF.  They and the thousands of people across the country are looking for great deals.  You have to outhustle 90% of them.  That's about the fall out rate based on how many post here once or twice and are never heard from again.  Making big money takes big effort.  

Are you prepared to put in "the grind?"  I hope so.  It's the best chance for success!  Working harder than everyone else.  Eventually it gets easier.  I now have people who know what I've been doing for the past 16 years and they call me when they get ready to sell.  Good luck!