Posted by Laure on March 17, 1999 at 06:23:19:
The Jerry Springer show has provided many hours of laughter and empty headed entertainment in my house !
oh, yea, it’s not a soap ! ok.
Laure 
Not Much “Competition” Out There - Posted by Bill K. (AZ)
Posted by Bill K. (AZ) on March 16, 1999 at 18:46:32:
Hi All!
I wanted to share some recent experiences regarding “competition”. DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT! I don’t see any evidence of competitors in my area. Oh, for sure, there are other real estate investors in my town, but they aren’t my competition. Here’s why…
Over the past 10 days, I have called four (4) “I Buy Houses, Any Price, Any Condition, Any Location” ads. I was hoping to find an investor(s) who might be interested in buying properties from me; simple flips. So, I’m just trying to build a network.
Three of my calls were answered by machines. I left messages explaining that I might have properties for sale, and left my name and phone number. I haven’t received a single response.
On one call, I was actually able to talk to the guy who placed the ad. This guy wouldn’t win any personality awards. He was very blase, and didn’t sound like he could have cared less about my call. In fact, I felt as though I was keeping him from watching his favorite soap opera. When I explained that I was interested in flipping properties to him, he said, “Uh, huh. OK.” THAT WAS IT! Shortly thereafter, I said goodbye, and he didn’t even bother to get my name or phone number.
Now, I know that people are different in their approach and personalities, but that’s not the point. The point is this…if you respond to people in a timely, courteous manner and show genuine interest in your buyers and sellers, which is nothing more than being professional, YOU CAN’T HELP BUT DO WELL. At the very least, you will have talked to folks who want to buy and sell LONG BEFORE your competition even gets around to listening to their messages. And, you’ll be establishing real rapport that will lead to even more business through word-of-mouth referrals. Your clients will appreciate dealing with someone who is responsible and professional.
So, bring on the competition. I’ll have a property tied up before they finish watching “One Life To Live”.
Much success in your investing.
Bill K. (AZ)
Re: Not Much “Competition” Out There - Posted by JoeKaiser
Posted by JoeKaiser on March 16, 1999 at 22:12:30:
There’s a big difference between the people who are actually out there doing deals and those who are just going through the motions.
I’ve found out the same sort of thing you did. If I’m paying attention and show up with regularity, good things come my way.
Pretty simple, actually.
Joe
Re: me too - Posted by mike8675
Posted by mike8675 on March 16, 1999 at 21:45:14:
I’ve had the same experience calling these people. I’m going to run my own “I buy houses” ad and I guarantee that each person will have my undivided attention. You have to be extremely lazy not to at least talk to people on the phone! The less competition the better.
By the way, Soap Operas suck!
Mike8675
Re: Not Much “Competition” Out There - Posted by BarryCa.
Posted by BarryCa. on March 16, 1999 at 19:46:33:
Bill
I had a slightly better response to four calls. Two appear to be qualified buyers. The third one probably is not. But the fourth who put a 5 or 6 line verbose ad in an expensive newspaper hung up on me when I said I was looking for investors to assign properties to???
Good Luck in Real Estate
Barry