Foreclosure Forecast Newsletter

Folks ask me all the time “can you tell me if I have what it takes to be your next superstar client Alexis?”

Now if you’ve been reading my columns for a while, you would know that I answer all questions with a question. So, to answer that question, YOU will need to answer the below questions to assess your own skills.

When you learn how to capitalize on your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses, you will find it easier to work with homeowners in default and be successful. That is why you want to start with a good self-assessment. Writing down your answers will give you a clearer picture of your assets and liabilities, before you invest a lot of time and money in your new foreclosure business.

Some issues to consider:

• In what areas do you excel?
• How might you capitalize on those strengths to help others and to improve your likelihood of success?
• If you’re personable and get along well with others, for example, you’re one step closer to developing rapport with prospective sellers. If you’re an organized, detail-oriented person, you will have an advantage in developing a system to generate leads. If you have the ability to visualize, you might spot the diamond-in-the-rough property that others dismiss.
• What are your weaknesses?
• If you’re shy and leery of talking with strangers, that doesn’t mean you can’t be successful at foreclosure investing. Many shy people are caring and empathetic–valuable qualities in winning a homeowner’s trust. Shyness or self-consciousness may simply indicate that you need to work on developing your self-confidence.
• For starters, you will want to read my recommended self-help books to brush up on your people skills. If your big weakness is that you’re disorganized or forgetful, you’ll have to work on your time management system to ensure you won’t overlook those all-important follow-up calls with potential clients.
• Are you a good communicator?
• There’s more to the art of communication than simply getting along with others. You must be able to convey your message clearly; ask the right questions without being abrasive, so that owners will tell you the full story; and truly listen to the answers to those questions.
• Does the business of foreclosures bother you ethically?
• Despite the potential financial gains, some people just can’t get beyond the shady image of foreclosure investing as it’s presented in certain newspaper articles and supermarket tabloids. If you feel that making money in foreclosures is inherently unethical, immoral, or dishonest, you will have a problem in this business, where attitude plays a major role in determining the degree of one’s success.
• The power of positive thinking can’t be overstated. You must love what you do, and do it from your heart. If you’re unsure about this, you will talk yourself out of making calls. You can persuade yourself to have a positive or negative self-image.

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
–Henry Ford, automaker”

• Can you handle going into business for yourself without using any of your own cash?
• It’s a bit unsettling to call homeowners without knowing where you’ll get the cash. And even though this book will give you the tools to find all the money partners you’ll ever need, until you close your first deal with someone else’s money, you’ll still worry about the “what ifs.” This is when that positive mental outlook will carry you a long way!

These legitimate questions demand honest answers because foreclosure investing, after all, a business based on honesty and frankness with others as well as yourself.

“Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure.”
–Norman Vincent Peale, motivator, author of The Power of Positive Thinking”

This reminds me of our client Louisa N. She was a long-divorced and now-retired schoolteacher, always liked the idea of owning real estate. She had a little cash saved and plenty of time on her hands, so when she heard about foreclosure investing, she thought it seemed like just the thing for her future. After all, her many years spent dealing with students and their parents had taught her how to handle all kinds of people. She figured she’d be a natural in this business.

Louisa overlooked one thing, however. Although she was a good teacher and could stand up in front of a class with ease, she was uncomfortable talking with her students or their parents outside the classroom, and she never developed close relationships with any of them. Not only was she afraid of intimate, one-on-one relationships, but she also feared rejection and loss of control.

The thought of cold-calling homeowners as a foreclosure investor brought all Louisa’s fears to the surface. She simply couldn’t make those calls. Yet those calls are the lifeblood of the foreclosure investing business. Without the ability to comfortably call strangers, including neighbors, friends, and family of potential pre-foreclosure property owners, it’s impossible to develop your sales leads, let alone contact the homeowners themselves.

Unlike our many successful graduates (who overcame their fear of the phone) Louisa never got off the ground in this business. Had she thoroughly understood the business at the outset and asked herself some of the key questions we’ve discussed, she wouldn’t have had to spend a chunk of her savings before recognizing the fallacy of her dream.

You, too, must ask yourself questions and answer them realistically before committing your time and money to something that may not be right for you.

We’re happy to help understand and deal with your answers, too. So feel free to email me the answers to your self-assessment. But remember, not everyone is cut out for the foreclosure business.

Happy investing,

 

 

Alexis