The importance of information cannot be understated. Most people live their entire lives without getting enough information. How crazy is it for the average home buyer to make an offer on a home without knowing why the seller is selling, or what they liked most about the home, or how they came up with the price? That's crazy! Real estate investors must learn to probe for information.
The average person will make one or two attempts at gathering information and then give up with less than a tenth of the information necessary to make an informed decision. This is clearly not an option for the real estate investor or any entrepreneur, if they expect to be successful. It all starts with information.
So how do we acquire this information? Let's take a look at how most people approach conversations. What we call "one-word-answer questions" are probably the most common questions asked by people. Let's take a look at a one-word-answer question. "Do you like this house?" This question can be answered with a simple yes or no. A simple technique for gaining more information is the "open-ended question".
An example of an open-ended question might be, "What do you like about this house?" The difference is the "what" in the question. Whenever you communicate with people, try very hard to ask "what" or "how" questions. These words automatcially place the receiver (person you're speaking to) in a place where he/she will actually think about your question, rather than focusing on something else.
This is such a simple tool, yet most people do not use it. Let's look at some other examples. "Do you like the neighborhood?" - replace this with, "What are your feelings about the neighborhood?" "Did you like living here?" - replace this with, "What were some of the things that you liked most about living here?"
Another great use for open-ended questions is to find out the financial status of a home. If you're dealing directly with a seller, rather than ask them, "what do you owe on this home currently?", you might ask, "This is a beautiful home, how did you manage to finance it?" This question is complimentary and may spur the seller to offer information gladly, in order to express how proud they are about their finances. This type of question does require some rapport with the seller and should be offered up when the timing is right.
Never lie about your thoughts on a given property. If the house is in poor condition, just switch the question around, "I see the house is in need of some repairs, what types of refinancing have you considered?" Again, your questions must be honest and timed appropriately.
You'll be pleasantly surprised at how much open-ended questions can bring out of someone. Most people are proud of where they live and actually do like being asked questions, not just about their homes either. Of course people do like keeping to themselves, but when the time is right, they're primed to express themselves and simple open-ended questions help!
©2007 noobdogs.com
By Thomas McGiveron
