1) Count up how much money you have available.

2) Study your Summary Sheet of available properties to see if the amount of money you have is in line with the asking down payment in your area.

3) If you do not have any money, try to take over a property for zero cash down.

4) Even if you have enough money for a down payment, try to getthe seller to reduce his or her asking down payment, so you conserve your cash.

5) Negotiate as much as you can. Keep talking until you get an agreement on the down payment.

Money in hand gives you power! Knowing how much money you can put down places you in a power position. Why? You, and only you, know how much (or little) money you have to put down on the property. The seller does not know. So the seller is working from an unknown position, whereas you know all about the deal.

To build your wealth in real estate on borrowed money, follow this rule which works everywhere in the world:

Keep your down payment as close to zero as you can on every property you buy. Allow the seller or mortgage lender to put as much money into the property as possible. By keeping your down payment as low as possible, you increase your leverage enormously.

Never pay all cash for any piece of income property.

You can, if you wish, pay all cash for your home because you want to get away from the monthly mortgage payments. Doing this will give you more time to think about your real estate business. But do not ever pay all cash for an income property. It ties up too much of your money. Let another person or lender put their money into the property! That’s how you can get rich in real estate on borrowed money.

Many people get their first few properties with zero cash down. How do they do this? By:

• Analyzing their cash situation so they know exactly how much money they have (or do not have) for their future real estate investments.

• Recognizing they have to get property for zero cash down because they don’t have much cash.

• Studying their Summary Sheet for their local area and deciding that some properties could be obtained for zero money down.

• Reviewing their Summary Sheet for other local properties. Some required very little money down.

• Negotiating with different owners to the point where some of them agree to take over their properties for zero money down. Most such sellers are elderly and are anxious to move to another area.

Thus, as you can see, the three keys to getting residential income real estate for zero cash down are to:

1) Do you best to analyze the seller’s situation. Put yourself in the seller’s place and try to understand why he/she wants to sell the property.

2) Work to give the seller what he or she desires, provided the deal can be done on zero cash from you.

3) Try to give the seller the asking price, a higher rate of interest, large monthly payments, or any other “sweeteners” while reducing your down payment to zero.

Keep in mind at all times that the most a seller can say is no! But even after a seller says no, you may find that the seller calls you a few weeks later to say yes! This happens again and again. Never be afraid to negotiate! It will eventually pay off in big savings to you.