In this vlog, Nathan Payne returns to the neighborhood where he secured his first wholesale deal five years earlier—a hoarder’s house he cleaned out and moved for himself. He walks viewers through a day of door‑knocking, showing real interactions with homeowners, renters, and a 95‑year‑old resident. Throughout the footage he shares practical advice on how to identify promising doors (e.g., overgrown lawns, outdated homes), how to phrase the simple “are you selling or do you know anyone selling?” script, and why indirect questioning works better than a direct sales pitch. He discusses safety and mindset, recounting a past armed encounter while canvassing for Dish Network and emphasizing the importance of staying calm, not taking rejection personally, and being prepared with business cards or flyers. Nathan also explains lead‑generation workflow: gather buyer criteria, target specific neighborhoods, take notes, leave contact info, and follow up with skip‑tracing owners. He wraps up with timing tips (knock between 4‑8 pm when people are home), the value of a friendly demeanor, and the broader lesson that door‑knocking is as much about building rapport as it is about finding deals.
Chapters
What's going on, Investor Thrive Nation? I'm about to knock doors and I'm about to show you guys the first houses I wholesaled from knocking doors. 5 years later, we're in front of this house. The lady's name was Barbara. It was a crazy story. The house was stacked up. It was, it was a hoarder's house and we had to clean that thing out. I offered to move her, took way too long. I had 2 26-foot trucks that we packed up and I drove them myself. Now I don't really do that anymore, but I did just to get one of my first deals. Let's go knock on the door to see if they're selling again. So I won't walk on their lawn. That looks like a nice lawn. Doesn't look like they'd be selling. Looks like they take really good care of the house, unlike the previous owner that we got it from. But hey, great memories of me having to take this, move this person. We're on camera. Well, you're on camera too. Hey, how you doing today, sir? Hey, I was just, um— Don't record me. Yeah, we're done. No worries, we don't have to record you. But I did— No, but I'm not interested in anything you're trying to sell. Oh, I'm not selling anything. I just have a question. Um, are you guys by chance— do you know anyone that's selling in the neighborhood, or are you by chance selling? We're just trying to find if, you know, people are selling the house. No idea. Okay, how do you like the home, by the way? Love it. Yeah, we flipped it, by the way. I'm the guy who flipped this house. Awesome. Is it going pretty good for you? Yeah, there's some stuff that was definitely wrong that we've had to fix, but yeah. Oh, well, I did my best. Didn't follow code. See ya. That's what we get. That's what we're going to get today. I guarantee it. Actually, I wasn't the guy who flipped it. I was the one that wholesaled it, but I don't think he would have understood that. But when you knock doors, you kind of want to look for ones that look like they need a little bit of work, because if you go knock like a brand new house, that might not be worth your time. Hey, how you doing today, sir? Hey, I got a quick question. We're just in the neighborhood. We're investors. We're looking to see if anyone in the neighborhood is selling their homes. We're looking to make offers, cash offers, to people for their houses. No? Are you guys by chance selling? Okay, and you're not sure of anybody else that is? You guys have a great day, okay? See ya. Hey, this is what you're gonna get with the bump. What do you want? And the thing is, it's just a simple question, you know, you're just like, hey, are you selling? We're real estate investors looking for properties to buy in the area. Would you by chance have any properties that you'd be— do you know anyone that's selling, or are you by chance selling? That's it. Because really, there's nothing you can say that will make anyone want to sell their house. You just got to find the opportunity. You can't convince someone to sell their home. Oh, hi, how you doing? Hey, sorry to bother you. I'm just going around the neighborhood asking people. We're real estate investors. We're looking for properties to buy. Would you by chance know anyone in the neighborhood that's selling? I rent this property. Oh, okay. Of course. Yeah, have a great day. Yeah, see ya. Renters. All right, tough crowd today, huh? But what you gonna do? You just got to keep pushing through. You never know what you're gonna get. That one probably could use some work. Let's go go knock it. What I'm usually looking for is outdated homes, maybe taller grass, lawns that aren't taken care of so well. I also ask them if they know anyone, so it's not so direct. If you just straight up ask someone, you're like, hey, are you selling your house? Might be a little weird, right? So I say, hey, do you know by chance know anyone? Hey, how you doing today, sir? I'm just going around the neighborhood seeing if you know anyone that by chance is selling. I'm a real estate investor looking for properties to flip. Are you by chance selling? Have a great day. See ya. This does look official though, right? Yeah, it does. There's nothing here. Just paper. Hello. Hi. Hey, my name's Nathan and we're just going through the neighborhood. I'm a real estate investor. We're asking if you by chance know anyone that's selling. We're looking for properties to buy. No? No. Are you by chance selling this house or? No, we're not. Okay. Well, you gotta take your shot, right? That's what we're going for. Okay, well, have a good one. See you. If you wanted to be super efficient at this, you could have like a card or like something you could give people. I think that would be more helpful. And then like, hey, real quick, let me give you my number. And they're like, nah, get the bump out of here. You think it needs a new roof? Oh, you're right. You are right. Let's freaking knock it. It looks like dirt or something on there. Who knows? That's a big dog though. I wouldn't mess around with that dog. That's a big old dog there. We're not trying to mess around here. Oh my dear goodness. I'm not messing with you, buddy. That fence needs to be higher, don't you think? My gosh, that was kind of— that's a freaking big dogger. I loved on the mission catching people right as they pull in. They can't hide. How are you? Are you having a good day? Oh, you know, I'm not selling anything. I'm actually going around asking if I can buy something. I'm a real estate investor going through the neighborhood asking if you by chance know of any of your neighbors, if they're selling or not. No, you know, we bought this house just 4 years ago. Yeah. So we're not— and we really don't know our neighbors that well. Really? Well, you know, it's interesting. Actually, 4 years ago, I actually looked at this house because I was going to potentially buy it. So you bought it. You're the one that bought it. Good. Congratulations. We love this house. The land, the heart is awful hard to make correct to land. Yeah, I love the house. Well, you know, you're doing a great job with that garden. It looks beautiful. Well, hey, it was nice meeting you. My name is Nathan Payne. What's your name? Elaine. Elaine, nice meeting you. Have a great day, okay? I wish you a lot of luck to find this house. Elaine, you're the first person that's wished me luck today. Thank you so much. Everyone else has said, hey, get out of here. But not you. Thank you, Elaine. You have a good one. Elaine's the best. Elaine wished us luck. Let's freaking go. See, knocking doors is fun. Sometimes you meet great people. Sometimes you don't. Sometimes you get attacked by a German Shepherd or one that like could attack you. You never know. This doorbell's like painted on. My gosh. Hello. Hey, how you doing today, sir? Good. I'm a real estate investor. I'm looking for properties to buy and flip. No, we're just renting here. We're about to move out. Oh, you're about to move out? Do you know if the landlord is looking to sell the house? I don't know, it's a key renter or something. Oh, it's a realtor. Okay, I'll give him a call. Thanks for your time, man. You have a great day. All right, so we have a house right here. It's a rental, looks like it needs some work, and, um, the renters are moving out tomorrow. Probably a great opportunity to make a call, see the agent or whoever owns, skip trace them, and see if they'd want to sell. Let's go to this one. Yeah, to be real, I don't know where to go in here. Hello? Let me just knock on this door here. Hello? You want me to come around to the window? I'll come around. I see the lady here. Hi! Hey, how are you? Oh, you're watching Dish Network. I used to work for Dish Network. I didn't want to make you get up. My name is Nathan Payne Payne Payne. I'm a real estate investor. Have you lived here for a long time? I've lived here since they were built. You're serious? Wow. That's— how long have you lived here? 1955. 1955? Wow. Congrats. Well, I love your hair, by the way. Beautiful. Okay, well, you enjoy that ice cream. Okay. Have a great day, ma'am. Wow. That's awesome. 95 years old. Been here since 1955. That's amazing. Now, she's obviously not going to sell, right? She's going to stay here forever as long as she can. But that would be a great one to fix and flip, you know, eventually. Right. So, hey, today hasn't been bad. We've had a couple of opportunities. One renter's moving out. The neighbor next door has been there since 1955. You know, not to be heartless, but she's not going to be, you know, around in the neighborhood forever. So that could be a property you could mark and, you know, keep an eye out on. Because we were kind of pressed for time, I didn't knock on every door. I would recommend getting notes and writing your name, your website, and your contact info and saying, hey, I'm looking for houses to buy in the area, give me a call. And I would have people reach out to you. That's a good way to get leads is knock doors and leave flyers. Be nice to everyone. If someone is being mean or upset at you, don't take it personal. I never take anything personal. Even if someone attacks me, I'm just like, whatever. I was knocking doors for Dish Network in Oklahoma, and I knocked on this door and a guy just opens the door and he has a gun pointed at me. He's like, what are you doing? And I'm like, bro, I'm trying to sell some Dish Network. Would you like some Dish? And he's like, I already got it. I was like, all right. I wasn't worried. I'm ready to die if you want to shoot me. I'm ready to go. I don't want to die, but if I have to die, I'm ready. That only happened in like a random town in Oklahoma. Don't let that scare you. So if you're thinking about knocking doors after watching this and you're like, I need, I need to know when I should do it or where I should go again, I would start with a buyer. I'd find a buyer that through the painless wholesaling method And you'd ask them their buying criteria and ask them what areas they buy in. And then you would go to that specific neighborhood and you look for those opportunities. And then time-wise, it's just like cold calling. Everyone's like, when's the best time to cold call? And my advice is cold call when you, when you are willing to pick up the phone and call. Knock when you can knock, right? Pick a good area, knock, you know, when you can. But if you want to be specific, knock when people are home. And that's like from 4 to 8. If it starts getting dark, people start getting a little sketched out. As long as you have a smile on your face, and you're happy, no big deal. Just be happy, be nice, you know. You never know what people are going through. Try to leave them better off than where you— when you found them. So, you know, they come to the door all grumpy, just smile, compliment them, say, hey, you got a nice garden. Because what it's all about is just making people feel better about themselves. So if that guy who was upset, um, you know, he's probably just having a bad day, let's be real, right? He's tired. It's all good. That's, that's what I got to say. Peace out, Painless Real Estate. Real Estate Nate out.
