When an influencer like Barbara Corcoran says that now is a great time to buy a house (USA Today real estate section January 12, 2022) and that you shouldn't wait for prices to fall, I have to believe that now is a great time to buy a house. Who am I to second guess Barbara Corcoran? She is one of the savviest influencers in real estate today.

"But, Mike," you say, "I already own a house, and I can't live in two places at once." Well, of course you own your own home. You're in real estate and you can't sell what you don't buy. So, if now is the time to buy a personal residence, now is also the time to buy a rental property.

"But, Mike, how do I do that?"

Let's start with why and then go to how. Look around and you will see cash investors, including flippers, HomeLight, WeBuyHouses.com, the guy with all the billboards, and your local real estate team advertising a guaranteed offer in 24 hours. They are still out there aggressively gobbling up single family homes.

What do they know? They know that between rents increasing and home equity growing, a single family rental is a winning investment. A retirement provider. A hedge against inflation.

You're in real estate and real estate is what you know. You probably know more about real estate than index funds or cryptocurrency or NFT's.

OK, that's the why. Here's the how. Go on lots of listing appointments and always use Floyd's pricing dialogue. Below is anexcerpt using (as an example) a home that your comps say should sell for about $500,000.

SAMPLE DIALOGUE

As you know, Mr. and Mrs. Seller, there are three prices on every home.

There's wholesale, that's the price a cash investor would pay for your home, and in this market it could be anywhere from 70 – 90% of full retail, or in your case, somewhere between $350,000 and $450,000.

By the way, I buy houses as well. If I could get you, let's say somewhere in the neighborhood of $400,000, with no prep on your part, and no showings, all cash in your pocket and closed within the time frame you said earlier, would you even consider it?

If you hear anything other than no, make an offer. Make it subject to your investor group signing off, and subject to inspection. Protect yourself, but get it on paper. Most closings start with an offer.

If you go on enough listing appointments (and I know that is a big IF) and you always ask if they would consider wholesale, you can put yourself in a position to buy a house every year. And here's the really beautiful part of this strategy. When you are going on lots of listing appointments, you get lots of listings, and listings are the name of the game.