Real Estate Sales vs. Real Estate Problem Solving

[Joseph Bodek]

I received an email the other today from a very well respected Lease Option & Wholesaling Guru who I respect but who I have disagreed with from time to time and this is one of those times.

The first paragraph read, and I quote:

“Do you know what the million-dollar skill is in this business?

SALES.

Why?

If you want to make a lot of money in this business, you must learn sales.

So, what is sales?

Well, it’s simply talking to people and selling them something”.

If you are acting as a Realtor then yes, this quote is in my opinion relevant because when I was a Realtor in another life I was trained as a salesman because that’s what we did, we sold houses.

However, for the last 22 years I’ve worked in the world of creative real estate in niches such as wholesaling, lease option, sub 2, etc. In my experience these areas of real estate are not sales oriented but are actually in the realm of problem solving.

As a Realtor you’re selling something in this case a house but in creative real estate you are solving a problem for the seller and the buyer.

If you are working the right markets and speaking with the right sellers you will be dealing with people that need to sell rather than people that want to sell.

A person that wants to sell usually has no problems that need to be solved other than finding a buyer that will meet their price and cash them out of the property. A person that needs to sell usually has some sort of problem like having two mortgage payments because of difficulty selling the old home and needs to get out from under the old mortgage payments.

In case number two you are not selling anything to either the seller who needs to get out from under or the buyer who in most instances has some sort of problem that will not allow him to qualify for a loan conventionally. Enter a lease option, owner financing, sub2 or some other creative way to get the deal done.

Having worked as a Realtor and at one time in the life insurance business I totally

understand what sales are all about. On the flip side having worked with Wholesaling & Lease Options for the last 22 years I also know what problem solving is all about.

Having a background in sales is not a bad thing to have however, in my experience the million-dollar skill needed to work in creative real estate is not salesmanship but rather the ability to solve problems.

In my experience our business is 95% marketing and problem solving and if you’re working hard to sell some seller on your ability to sell his house your working the wrong market!

If you want the million-dollar skill set in this business learn to market your butt off, stay in the right market and solve a seller and buyer’s problems. Let the Realtors take sales classes!

If you want a taste of what problem solving is all about check out my e-book Wholesale Lease Options For Wholesalers at www.wholesaleleaseoption.com