It’s hard to stay focused on real estate all the time. To give my brain a break, I like to read “page turners.” One of my favorite sets of “page turners” is the Harry Bosch series. If you have never heard of Harry Bosch, he is a fictional character from the mind of author Michael Connelly. Bosch is a detective in LA. He is good at what he does. He always finds the killer.
In the book series, Bosch recalls what a senior detective once told him when he was just a rookie. To catch the killer, you have to “Get off your a$$ and knock on doors.” In other words, the killer will not be caught if you just sit at your desk. You have to get out there and pound the pavement and track the killer down. The phrase is repeated enough in the books that if you look close in the Amazon show “Bosch” you will see the phrase pinned up in Bosch’s cubicle.
Where Am I going with all of this? While we landlords and real estate investors are not out there looking for killers, the phrase is still good advice for us. Why? Because we are not going to find new deals or solve certain problems unless we get off our a$$ and knock on doors.
Think about it.
There is a lot of competition out there these days searching for real estate deals. Foreclosure auctions are dominated by hedge funds or other big money interests. Anything remotely close to a deal that is listed on the MLS has multiple offers within hours. I even get three or four random phone calls a week asking me if I want to sell.
But, despite all of this, if we get off or a$$ and go knock on doors, if we get out there and drive around, if we seek out the owner and start a conversation, the chances of landing a deal get much higher. Knocking on doors is something that many people will just not do. It is easier to sit behind a desk and it is safer to hide behind a voicemail. Folks, in today’s hot real estate market, you just have to get out there.
Landlords also have to get out there and knock on doors, their own doors. They need to do property inspections and keep up with what their tenants are doing. Otherwise potential problems and issues will remain hidden. Hidden problems fester and often turn into bigger ones later on. By knocking on doors you can find problems before they fester too long.
Knocking on doors is not easy and can be intimidating. Trust me, I understand that. I have been yelled at and told to go away more times that I can count. Nobody likes rejection. We instead fear it. But we have to get over that fear and get out there. It is how things get accomplished and it is often how we keep moving forward.
