One of the best techniques to find great real estate deals is to literally knock on the doors of owners who are in default.

What?? We can do that? Absolutely! You can just go up to any house and ring the bell!

Let’s face it, out of all the other investors who have the same list of Notice of Default or Lis Pendens information about the sellers in the early stages of foreclosure, only half will send them either a postcard or letter one time in the mail. That’s it!

And out of the half to send letters, a fraction of them will go to the effort of tracking down the owners’ phone number and giving them a phone call. And the best part is only one or two at most will actually go knock on the seller’s door. And that’s mainly because of the fear we have of approaching these people in need of our help. Now this is time consuming and you must check to see if this is the one that will pay off for you. You need to determine if it’s worth your while to go knocking and if it’s going to be a possible lucrative deal. It should meet one of the following criteria.

• There is a lot of equity in the house. This will give you a nice profit.
• The property is in an area where you are very interested in acquiring long-term keepers.

If either of these criteria is not met, then give the sellers a call on the phone or plug them into your mailing sequence but don’t waste your valuable time visiting them. Most people think that the homeowners wouldn’t want you to come to their door. In many cases they really are in desperate need of help. And you are there to help them, but also make a reasonable profit for your efforts. So, what do you say when you knock on the sellers’ door? Here are two scripts of what to say when you’re knocking on their doors cold:

Script One
This one works well if the sellers are still in pre-foreclosure OR if you’re not quite ready to use the more aggressive script below.

Ring the Bell or Knock on the Door.

Step back off the porch, turn sideways, assume a passive, harmless posture to put them at ease. Look pleasant and not threatening.

Owner: “Yes?”
Investor: “Hi, (looking very harmless and Cute Teddy Bear-like as you can manage) my name is Mary and I’m an investor who is looking to buy another house in this neighborhood. I was wondering if you knew of anyone in the area who might be at all open to selling their house if they got a fair offer.” Or, my mother, brother, nephew, cousin or whoever is interested in buying in this area. You are just trying to help them find a house since this is what you do. (This also lets the homeowner know that you actually do buy homes).
Owner: “Well, actually I might want to sell my house.” Or “We were thinking about it.” (Remember they know they are in trouble and risk losing their house.)
Investor: “Oh, okay, but I’ve probably caught you right in the middle of something, and I don’t want to interrupt you”.
Owner: “No, I just got home from work. Now is a good a time.” And they begin to show you the house.

Script Two
Ring a Ding – Ding…or Knock, Knock

Owner: “Yes, can I help you?”
Investor: “Hi, my name is Mary [looking passive and harmless like a kitten], and I’m an investor who helps out folks who have a house that’s in trouble. Is your house in trouble?”
Owner: “No, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Investor: “Oh, (looking down at your clipboard and scratching your head) I’m a little confused here. It says here that there has been a lis pendens (or notice of default) filed by the lender because this house is behind in its payments. Heck, they even have it listed in the newspaper. (or show them the lis pendens list of house you have.) But maybe there is a mistake…Are you Mrs. (her name)? Well I guess if you don’t know about it you should have been notified.
Owner: “Can I see that paper?”
Investor: “Sure…” (showing the owner the clipboard that has a list of the owner’s house with the date that the Notice of Default was filed or even a copy of the legal notice publication with the seller’s property highlighted)
Owner: (a bit softer now) “Well I guess I must be a bit behind. I thought the bank would work with me longer before they did this.”
Investor: “Yeah, I know…banks sometimes just let their legal department handle this stuff.” “You know though, a lot of times banks make mistakes when they send you all that paperwork. I might be able to get you an extension of time so you can try to sort things out.”

“If you’d like, I’d be happy to take a quick look over the paperwork they sent you to see if I can spot any mistakes they may have made. Would you like me to sit down for a second and see if I can spot anything or see if we can figure out how to keep you in the house?”
Owner: “Okay, come in?”

And now you’re in the house and connecting with the owner. You are on her side, not the bank’s side. You need to show compassion for her and tell her you will try to offer some solutions and possibly help her out. Then you listen to her story; figure out what she owes, what the house is worth, what repairs are needed and how much she needs to get out of the house while still leaving you a nice profit.

Remember, it’s the equity in the house that will give you your profit. If there is enough profit for you while being able to give the owner some cash…it’s a good deal for both you and the owner. You will be looking to make a win-win situation for the both of you.

Don’t be afraid to tell the owner you are there to help her but that you are an investor and need to make a profit also. Most everyone understands this and you will get little resistance from the homeowner. And remember, people will trade the equity in their homes for value today! That’s cash or peace of mind not having to worry about legal proceedings concerning the foreclosure of their house.

Go do it! If you’re uncomfortable doing this…pay someone else to do it!