Well, look what we have here, another Swipe & Deploy for ya!
JP Moses here, hookin’ you up with one of the best documents in my whole, fat arsenal of real estate investing forms.
It’s called… “Seller Acknowledgements!”
I know… impressive, right?!
Truth be told, this little document is quite literally one of the most important and critical pieces of every “mom-and-pop” real estate deal I do. It’s kind of the ultimate “butt protector,” which is precisely why, in spite of its supremely boring official name, its much more appropriate nickname is the Best Damn Doc, Period (BDDP).
So, chill with me for a minute, as I enlighten you with a truth bomb:
“You want to play this ‘real estate investor’ game, you’d better know how to sit down with a seller and make things happen.”
Joe Kaiser
Seller Acknowledgment Form
Before I tell you more about this document and what it’ll do for you — and walk you through how to deploy it — let me say this:
I did not come up with this seller acknowledgement form.
I actually swiped and deployed it myself years ago from one of my long-time REI heroes Joe Kaiser. In fact, Joe’s the one who so aptly named this little beauty.
If you’ve been around REI for a minute like me, then you may recall Joe Kaiser from back in the day — he was one of the “old dogs” who used to form the very backbone of the old REI forums back in the heyday.
He was also one of the bestest, awesomest & smartest guys around—second to none when it comes to being a true dealmaker through and through.
Seriously, if you ever went through one of Joe’s training courses back in the day (Mechanic’s Lien System, anyone?), then you know there was zero, zilch, nada fluff or hype… just brass tacks, tactical genius oozing all over you.
I had the pleasure of meeting Joe personally when our paths crossed at a private mastermind event back in 2010. We spent a couple of solid days together in a lakehouse somewhere in Maine with around a dozen or so other folks… it was awesome, and yes, I was totally star-struck.
Anywho, enough with the man-crushiness. Joe was a pillar of my learning curve in the early days. And it’s incredibly tragic that he passed away, far too young. The real estate investing world lost a time-tested, tried-and-true, sergeant at arms. Those coming after him have missed an opportunity to learn from him in person. He’s sincerely missed.
And thank you, Joe, for passing this “best damn doc” gem along.
What the heck is a Seller Acknowledgment Form?
Well, this is a document I always, always, ALWAYS have any “mom-and-pop” seller fill out and initial/sign, immediately after they sign a purchase agreement.
Quite simply, it’s one of the finest examples of CYA disclosure I’ve ever seen.
The BDDP (for short) is a tool for getting everyone’s cards on the table, all in plain English, and easily understood by anyone and everyone. It overturns all the rocks and clears the air so all parties can move forward with full disclosure.
With the seller initialing each item on this baby, there can be no evidence of deceit, wrongdoing, or fraud occurring or later claimed by anyone.
Why Seller Acknowledgment Forms Matter…
Best I just let Joe explain that himself. And I quote…
As a real estate investor specializing in high-risk foreclosure real estate, it’s vitally important to document all aspects of any transaction, and we do this through the methods described in my course, 37 Ways to Bulletproof Every Foreclosure Deal. (Currently out of print.)
We know that if we do not, sellers have the opportunity down the road to unwind the deal by saying they didn’t understand, thought it was a loan, or any of the 20 other issues contained in my seller acknowledgement form, the Best Damn Doc.
The purpose of the Best Damn Doc is to document what took place so that any seller later claiming he or she was treated unfairly will have the burden of explaining documentation that clearly establishes otherwise.
There’s nothing sinister about it. Any documentation that sheds light on the transaction and makes each party’s intentions all the more clear is a good thing. The fact it serves to prevent sellers from making untruthful claims about the transaction is a good thing as well.
Sellers are always free to decide for themselves if they want “independent counsel” to review our documentation, and we always advise them they should.
Always.
They rarely do.
How to deploy the Seller Acknowledgment Form, or the ‘BDDP’, yourself…
OK, now that you know what this is, where it comes from, and why you totally need to be using it in every single deal from this minute forward, let me give you the bottom line:
There are 22 points on this doc. Don’t be afraid of using it… in fact, be afraid not to.
And remember, if you choose to follow our lead here, then these 22 items are not negotiable. If your seller refuses to sign off on a single item, you don’t close, and the seller doesn’t get his/her money.
Walk away. No one deal is worth it.
Just add a little fun and whimsy to how you go through it with the seller and you’ll be golden.
So, how should you go through it with the seller?
Check out this video below of me walking through the doc, how I use it, and how I share it with the seller — which is an important part of the conversation. You’ll see exactly how I talk to the seller, step by step, with zero pushback or awkwardness.
Press play, friends…
Seller Acknowledgment Form, Otherwise Known as the Best Damn Doc, Period: Get Mine Now 🙂
Well, now that you better understand the components of this doc… I hope that you use it to level up your real estate investing game.
Ready to just grab mine for your own bag of tricks?
Well, before that… I’d like to ask a small favor:
Would you please “Like” our Facebook page if you haven’t done so already?
After that, you can simply download the document here… No strings attached.
Oh, and BTW…
In case you didn’t know, we give stuff away like this all the time, like our contractor lien waiver, affidavit of equitable interest, ‘the way things work’ for landlords, transfer letter, assignment of contract, simple real estate contracts, and an agreement for subcontractors.
