First of all, a little background about the author of what you are about to read.
For 30 years, I owned operated a construction company. We specialized in high end Remodels and Additions. About 80% of the time your customer was the wife and not so much the husband. She seems to know what she wants and doesn’t want. The husband seams’ happy that the wife is happy….
There can be many bumps down the road to completion. Remember you work with a bunch of humans. Keeping communication open and being able to iron out problems smoothly shows professionalism. Their confidence is in knowing that you will handle all issues until completion. That art of communication is what make’s people want to be your friend and bottom line, deal with you.
When investing in properties you are going to be talking to many sellers of properties. It is normally a little awkward at first but it becomes easier as you go. It is also nice if you enter into some small talk with them and this too will become easier the more you do it.
I am always focused on three things when I call a seller:
1)Human Relations
2)Information Gathering
3)Deal Structuring
The first thing I will ask a broker or a seller after my introduction is if XYZ property is still for sale? Anyone have earnest money in escrow? If it is under contract I will normally move on. If it is still for sale I will ask what type of neighborhood is it located in should I not know. There is a bunch of money to be made in war zones; I choose not to work in them.
Remember to ask those two questions first as it may save a bunch of phone time should the D areas not be your forte as well. For the purpose of this article we will deal with sellers as opposed to Real Estate Agents, you handle each one differently.
You will be making many calls and emails should you choose to go after the on-market properties and you will be fielding responses from your automated lead generating low cost mail campaigns should you choose this way. If you are mailing to a Bankruptcy list, you know then of the situation they are in before they tell you. Some will say right up front and some much later unless asked. Knowing this upfront helps in crafting the contract to purchase the property. The numbers have to work. This is just 8th grade math.
If you are cold calling sellers, then you have a little more of a challenge getting some of the information from them. Many do not want to talk about their home being foreclosed on. A bankruptcy or a divorce that forces sale of a property. Etc. This is where compassion, trust and a helpful spirit come into play. In order to find a deal, you have to deal with people that are motivated in some way. And believe me, motivation has hundreds of faces.
I have assumed up until this point of the book that you had an in-depth knowledge of residential real estate. Obviously good mixes of phone educate and real estate knowledge would be excellent to have from the beginning but that may not be the case with you. Don’t let this stop you…. The only way to become good at something is to practice; you will not be good in the beginning generally speaking. We do have partnership programs if you are interested in learning to negotiate and converse with sellers.
So, let’s say at this point you have decided to focus your efforts on a particular mailing list in a selected geographic area. We know they will have some motivation here or they would not be on the list. These people that you have contacted through mailing will call in to a specific number and leave a message. You will in turn call them right back and discuss their situation and how you can help them. Here is how that conversation should go:
Hi, my name’s Al from ABC properties (insert your company here, what appears on your mailings). You had left a message for me to call concerning a home you were thinking of selling, is this a good time for you to talk? (pause), (Seller) Yes, this would be fine. Remember they called you…. You have their name, use it. Say Fred, are you considering selling your home? (Fred) Well it’s looking like we may have to. (Me) Oh Gosh, I’m sorry to hear that. (Sounding a bit like Leave it to Beaver) Is there anything
I can do to help? It is at this point if you were successful in recruiting him as a friend in the start of the conversation you will get more information as to his situation.
This is where you try to get a clear understanding of his situation. What type of loan is on the home and with whom? Is the loan current? Generally, it will not be. What do you feel the house is worth? If you had unlimited funds what type of repairs are needed with the house to bring it up to tip-top shape? How many back payments does it take to become current? And among other things, what would you like to see happen? Let them talk, ask them questions on subject. There will be a different theme to your conversations depending on what list you mailed to or if you are cold calling to advertised homes.
After listening to their situation and you asking them certain questions to build a better picture you are now ready to see if they are interested in considering your offer. It is perfectly fine to ask them if you can call them back in a half hour or hour. This will give you time to run the numbers and try to structure a deal you can make money on. You are looking through investors eyes remember if you are looking to assign the deal.
If you are mailing to people that own their homes free and clear the underlying theme would be an owner contract structured in a way that is a win-win for everyone. Perhaps an interest free, principal only payment? Profit share? If I could give one bit of advice and that would be…. If you don’t ask you certainly won’t get.
If you are mailing to a list of out of state owners the theme has now changed to how difficult it must be to manage a property that far away. However, you will say it like this: It’s probable not much of a problem managing a home that far away is it? Let them talk…
If someone should ask you why they received your marketing piece I merely state that our company is looking to purchase X number of houses in your area buy the end of the month. We feel that if we mail out information about our company people feel more comfortable in dealing with us when we talk on the phone. You then may say, would you by any chance happen to have a home for sale ?
The bottom line is that the more compassion and understanding you show with their situation the more they are going to want to work with you.
It’s just a matter of learning how to talk with a seller.
For 30 years, I owned operated a construction company. We specialized in high end Remodels and Additions. About 80% of the time your customer was the wife and not so much the husband. She seems to know what she wants and doesn’t want. The husband seams’ happy that the wife is happy….
There can be many bumps down the road to completion. Remember you work with a bunch of humans. Keeping communication open and being able to iron out problems smoothly shows professionalism. Their confidence is in knowing that you will handle all issues until completion. That art of communication is what make’s people want to be your friend and bottom line, deal with you.
When investing in properties you are going to be talking to many sellers of properties. It is normally a little awkward at first but it becomes easier as you go. It is also nice if you enter into some small talk with them and this too will become easier the more you do it.
I am always focused on three things when I call a seller:
1)Human Relations
2)Information Gathering
3)Deal Structuring
The first thing I will ask a broker or a seller after my introduction is if XYZ property is still for sale? Anyone have earnest money in escrow? If it is under contract I will normally move on. If it is still for sale I will ask what type of neighborhood is it located in should I not know. There is a bunch of money to be made in war zones; I choose not to work in them.
Remember to ask those two questions first as it may save a bunch of phone time should the D areas not be your forte as well. For the purpose of this article we will deal with sellers as opposed to Real Estate Agents, you handle each one differently.
You will be making many calls and emails should you choose to go after the on-market properties and you will be fielding responses from your automated lead generating low cost mail campaigns should you choose this way. If you are mailing to a Bankruptcy list, you know then of the situation they are in before they tell you. Some will say right up front and some much later unless asked. Knowing this upfront helps in crafting the contract to purchase the property. The numbers have to work. This is just 8th grade math.
If you are cold calling sellers, then you have a little more of a challenge getting some of the information from them. Many do not want to talk about their home being foreclosed on. A bankruptcy or a divorce that forces sale of a property. Etc. This is where compassion, trust and a helpful spirit come into play. In order to find a deal, you have to deal with people that are motivated in some way. And believe me, motivation has hundreds of faces.
I have assumed up until this point of the book that you had an in-depth knowledge of residential real estate. Obviously good mixes of phone educate and real estate knowledge would be excellent to have from the beginning but that may not be the case with you. Don’t let this stop you…. The only way to become good at something is to practice; you will not be good in the beginning generally speaking. We do have partnership programs if you are interested in learning to negotiate and converse with sellers.
So, let’s say at this point you have decided to focus your efforts on a particular mailing list in a selected geographic area. We know they will have some motivation here or they would not be on the list. These people that you have contacted through mailing will call in to a specific number and leave a message. You will in turn call them right back and discuss their situation and how you can help them. Here is how that conversation should go:
Hi, my name’s Al from ABC properties (insert your company here, what appears on your mailings). You had left a message for me to call concerning a home you were thinking of selling, is this a good time for you to talk? (pause), (Seller) Yes, this would be fine. Remember they called you…. You have their name, use it. Say Fred, are you considering selling your home? (Fred) Well it’s looking like we may have to. (Me) Oh Gosh, I’m sorry to hear that. (Sounding a bit like Leave it to Beaver) Is there anything
I can do to help? It is at this point if you were successful in recruiting him as a friend in the start of the conversation you will get more information as to his situation.
This is where you try to get a clear understanding of his situation. What type of loan is on the home and with whom? Is the loan current? Generally, it will not be. What do you feel the house is worth? If you had unlimited funds what type of repairs are needed with the house to bring it up to tip-top shape? How many back payments does it take to become current? And among other things, what would you like to see happen? Let them talk, ask them questions on subject. There will be a different theme to your conversations depending on what list you mailed to or if you are cold calling to advertised homes.
After listening to their situation and you asking them certain questions to build a better picture you are now ready to see if they are interested in considering your offer. It is perfectly fine to ask them if you can call them back in a half hour or hour. This will give you time to run the numbers and try to structure a deal you can make money on. You are looking through investors eyes remember if you are looking to assign the deal.
If you are mailing to people that own their homes free and clear the underlying theme would be an owner contract structured in a way that is a win-win for everyone. Perhaps an interest free, principal only payment? Profit share? If I could give one bit of advice and that would be…. If you don’t ask you certainly won’t get.
If you are mailing to a list of out of state owners the theme has now changed to how difficult it must be to manage a property that far away. However, you will say it like this: It’s probable not much of a problem managing a home that far away is it? Let them talk…
If someone should ask you why they received your marketing piece I merely state that our company is looking to purchase X number of houses in your area buy the end of the month. We feel that if we mail out information about our company people feel more comfortable in dealing with us when we talk on the phone. You then may say, would you by any chance happen to have a home for sale ?
The bottom line is that the more compassion and understanding you show with their situation the more they are going to want to work with you.
It’s just a matter of learning how to talk with a seller.