Door Knocking for InvestorsCanvassing is like putting out door hangers but you’ll actually ring the doorbell and have a script you say at the door. There are many places you can canvas. You may be going to people in pre-foreclosure or just in neighborhoods where you want to buy houses. Realtors do it all the time and they call it “farming a market”. You want to be careful when canvassing especially if you are female and/or you’re hiring others to do it for you. You never know who will answer the door.

How to Get the Door Opened

Most people are afraid to open the door to a stranger. Here are a few ideas that will work and give you a jump on any other investor out knocking on their door. Always make sure that you have a clipboard with a lead sheet or form on it to look professional.

Another idea is to go down to a passport photo place and have a name tag made with your picture on it and the name of your company with a title like Housing Consultant. Once you get this, you need to put it on your shirt so that when you are standing at the door and the homeowner is looking through the peephole, they’ll see that you have a name tag on with your picture and they will no longer be afraid to answer the door. It works great! I know from experience.

Make sure you or your canvassers also have flyers or door hangers with them so they can leave something at the home if no one comes to the door.

You can also use an overnight envelope like FedEx or Airborne to leave your flyer in the door, especially if you are only going to pre-foreclosure houses. That way you are not using so many of them. This works great because the homeowner, seeing the FedEx envelope, will open it right away. The best part is that you didn’t have to pay for the delivery AND they’ll provide you the envelopes for free!