Hello everyone, I am a newbie investor interested in wholesaling porperties to other investors as a way of getting my feet wet and learning more about the business of rehabbing SFR’s. I mostly drive for dollars in my spare time and have compiled a list of about 50 vacant properties within my farming area. I have now begun the process of learning what questions to ask the owners of these properties in order to quickly determine their level of motivation, distress with the property and what they really would like to get out of the whole situation. Unfortunately I have not been pleased with a couple of products that I have ordered that claimed to be able to help me in my quest. Any suggestions or comments about probbing these owners to really get to the meat of their problems with the property and establishing rapport with them would be greatly appreciated. 
It’s all about reading between the lines. If a vacant property owner is considering selling, there are 2 main reasons, A: they need the money or B: they want the money.
Example:
You arrange to meet the owner at the subject property to take a walk around and hopefully strike a deal. He pulls up in a pickup truck with more bumper stickers than you can count, but you notice an overall Harley Davidson theme. He doesn’t have a wife and kids are out of college making it on their own. (You know this because small talk is always step one) He obviously is living just fine in another house and his tone, posture and behavior doesn’t seem anxious. He inherited this property from his parents who just recently died, he hasn’t known what to do with it until you came along and planted a seed in his head to sell it for some quick cash (you know this because you asked leading questions while walking around the house). You’ve built a decent rapport with him because you’ve consciously adjusted your behavior and energy to match his unconscious behavior and energy, and he’s feeling like your just one of his friends to speak freely with. When you are done the quick tour, you come back out to the front porch and you make a comment about his Harley Davidson bumper stickers. He says that he’s wanted a new Harley for years after his evil wife took it to resell during the nasty divorce, but has never had the spare cash to do so, now all his friends make fun of him for being the only one without a bike. BINGO! you’ve just found his motivation. Offer him the price for a new Harley over any liens, debt, yada, yada.
Example:
Same thing, you arrange to meet with a woman with 3 grown kids, a husband, and what smells like 900 cats. She pulls up in her car with small cat-sized crates stacked up to the ceiling in the back seat. After some small talk you find out that she owns and operates a cat rescue (probably a hoarder.) She seems very anxious yet is trying to cover it up by appearing to be relaxed. After some leading questions during the walk through about the property and her cat rescue (you’d ask her about the cat rescue even if you don’t care about the answers just to develop a rapport and keep her enthusiatic.) You get into questions about her family and how their all doing. When it comes to her husband she says he is sick (probably from the ammonia thanks to the cats). You ask, “Is he going to be okay?” She says, well we don’t really know what’s wrong with him, we don’t have any medical insurance and can’t afford a doctor. BINGO!
Read between the lines and develop a rapport. People love to talk about themselves, their family, and their interests. Most people will gladly share their life story if you ask in a non-threatening way.
Edit: To test this theory, try to figure out peoples hobbies, interests, etc. with friends, co-workers and strangers by reading between the lines. Then ask them questions about it like you have an interest (you probably won’t). Pretty soon, they will open up like your Dr. Phil and go into subjects that you care even less about. Match their posture, tone of voice, speed of speech, gestures, etc. to be almost identical to them. People are much more comfortable with people like themselves, so pretend to be like them while you talk to them. It works!
Danny. I really liked your post. What you say is so true. People will tell you anything if they like/trust you.
Thanks Steve. In my previous profession, I was trained extensively on building rapport with people in different countries to then adderss their problems. These people were VERY hesitant to trust outsiders, especially big ugly white men like myself. My overall synopsis on how to build rapport was to be as much like them as I could. Speak their language, participate in their culture, eat their food if it’s offered no matter how disgusting, etc. When you do that, they will open up to you about their problems because you appear to be so much like them, that they see you as a friend. All friends have something in common, atleast in the beginning. It’s how everyone meets and becomes friends. Pretend to have something in common and you will be their friend!