This is a “no brainer” technique that allows you to gain access to more tired landlords and close more lease option deals. I wish I could tell you how I came up with this idea, but I truly don’t remember. I have been using this successfully for over two years. If you play the lease option game, you should get a kick out of it.
Step 1:
Run an ad in the paper that says:
Problem Tenants? Call the Eviction Specialists. Simple. Easy. VERY effective. XXX-XXXX
Step 2:
The phone will ring with people asking about your services. After gaining rapport, you set up an appointment with them to see exactly what their tenant problem is and how you can help them. The phone is NOT the time for details.
Step 3:
They show up and you sit down and LISTEN to all of their problems. No rent in four months, drug dealers trashing the place, etc. After you have all of the details, you can “pitch” them if you feel like it. Here is mine:
Karl: “Mr. Jones, I am certain we can help you but I guess I have some other concerns here…and I know I may be overstepping my bounds so please don’t be offended…but…What are you going to do the next time this happens? I mean this problem is bad enough but you know it often is part of the game. And I guess I am not sure if you are really enjoying playing the game anymore…”
Landlord: “I dunno…” OR “Well, it is not always this bad…” OR (smiling) “I’ll just come see you, Karl!”
Karl: “Lemme ask you this- why did you get into the whole landlord, property owner thing in the first place? Was it for cash flow? To secure a better future? Passive income maybe?”
Landlord: “Uhm, yeah.”
Karl: (smiling) “See right now we are kind of sucking eggs at all that, and I just thought you might be open to a method where you can get back to the space where being a property owner was fun again.
I’m talking everything on auto pilot–you never have to collect rent, or do repairs, or screen tenants, or anything other than just collect a check each month. I mean, that is why you got into Real Estate in the first place, isn’t it?”
OKAY. So you can see how I do this. If they are interested I explain the lease option. I have the forms available. I agree to finish off the eviction for free. And another deal goes in the portfolio.
Sometimes, you get people who aren’t interested or, when you “pitch” them, they respond negatively. If that happens you just backtrack like this.
Karl: “Okay, well what we need then is to get this eviction underway so you can go back to landlording!” (Note: contact them again in 6 months.)
And you help them with their eviction and pick up $200 bucks or so for your time. Easy enough. And that’s the process. Easy enough? Here are some concerns:
How do you not practice law? In my service agreement the landlord signs, there is a statement that says we are not giving legal advice, rather the example forms we provide are merely that and if they are not sure of what they are doing they need to find legal representation.
Also, it states our fee covers the education of the eviction process and the calendar we provide showing them what to do when is an example only.
How do I know how to do an eviction? Well, if you are NOT an expert at this already, I would arrange to meet with an eviction attorney and pay him to answer everything. I would also contact a local investor’s group and see if there are eviction packets you can learn from.
OR you can do what I do which is, if they are not interested in a lease option, my assistant finishes the eviction assistance with them, and she knows everything about evictions.
How much do you charge; why do people use you; and when do you collect? I charge $225. Why $225? Because the attorney in town does this for $475. The attorney in town is slow and files all of his documents weeks and weeks after he should.
He is not a landlord and never has known the pain of eviction. He gets paid regardless of what he does. So my job is to be better, cheaper, and more effective. I collect at the time we sign our agreement and start the forms.
Obviously, like any idea I have, it is never perfected. But the Eviction Specialist technique can sit in the background and work for you, providing opportunities you may have otherwise missed.