OfflineI hope by me writing this, i can HELP some of the "newbies" out there that may be having trouble trying to determine who's "REALLY MOTIVATED" and who's just NOT MOTIVATED enough to sell to us(REI's). Now, when your first starting out your probably going to want to pursue every "Prospect" that you get, but if your Marketing and Advertising is working CORRECTLY, then theirs going to be a time when you just can't pursue every single "Prospect", because your business is growing and time becomes more of an issue. This will HELP you "Sift" through who's a "LEAD" and who's just a "Prospect", so you can maximize your time with MOTIVATED SELLER's that REALLY NEED your services.
Remember that when you are in the 1st intial conversation with the seller, at this point you are NOT trying to sell your service to them. The 1st purpose of the phone call is to "PRE-QUALIFY" the seller. You want to seperate "LEADS" from "Pospects". They are ALL "LEADS" coming in, but you want to seperate the "Tire Kickers" from the "REAL MOTIVATED" sellers. The PRE-QUALIFICATION process should take no more than 5-10 minutes. You are looking for the answer to 2 questions: #1 Are they TRULEY MOTIVATED? #2 Are the numbers going to work? Your going to have to build some RAPPORT, so you can ask what their "PAIN" is: Why is it that their looking to sell RIGHT NOW? And also, How soon do they NEED to move out? Other indications as to how MOTIVATED the seller is, is when you start asking personal questions, like: How much do they owe?(mortgages, liens, etc) Then you start throwing out some "LOW BALL" prices, if they just laugh at you and act as if they dont even want to continue, then that seller is NOT REALLY MOTIVATED. As you explain why your offer came in so low and why you needed the information from earlier, and they act like they want to continue or they say "Lets move on" then, My Friend, you have yourself a MOTIVATED SELLER. Hope this HELPS some, SULLY.
YOUR HERO, SULLY
thank you sully
i was sitting here trying to think of questions to ask sellers and this has helped.
dee
Sully,
Great info, thanks for sharing it with all of us, newbies and oldies.
But I just wanted to add that I personally don't throw out any offers at that point. I ask what's the lowest price they'd take if I paid cash. Then if it's close to my price I make an appointment to see the property. After I walk through it with them, (continuoulsy talking a building rapport) that's when I make them an offer. I couldn't make a fair offer without seeing the property first, but that's just me.
Psalms 118:23 "This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes."
I dont think that i said anything about throwing out any offers? Where did you get that? I couldn't make a fair offer without seeing the property either, Obviously. Are you sure you read the entire post? I'm sorry E, but you really have me lost.
All i was trying to state was, How to differentiate between a "Real" MOTIVATED SELLER and someone who's NOT MOTIVATED enough to buy from you(as a real estate investor) And how us as REI's can SAVE TIME and MONEY by NOT wasting time with people that dont have a "REAL" PROBLEM. SULLY
YOUR HERO, SULLY
Quote: Then you start throwing out some "LOW BALL" prices, if they just laugh at you and act as if they dont even want to continue, then that seller is NOT REALLY MOTIVATED. As you explain why your offer came in so low and why you needed the information from earlier, and they act like they want to continue or they say "Lets move on" then, My Friend, you have yourself a MOTIVATED SELLER.
I thought that's what you said there, maybe I did misunderstand what you were saying. I apologize if I did. I was just trying to explain what I do to get a deal. Sorry for any confusion. You da Man!
Psalms 118:23 "This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes."
Now I've posted this before but it is pretty good data regarding this subject matter and it is worth mentioning again, so I thought it might be beneficial to post it under this forum by Sully. This is from a seminar I went to in August. I thought it was excellent. (Number of times over equals certainty and results.)
>Locate Motivated Flexible Sellers
Only deal with them if they have to sell. I won't deal with people who WANT to sell. I walk away unless they NEED to sell.
Ask them why they are selling? Ask them to tell you about the house, let them go on & on. Then say, That's a lovely home! How could you depart with it? Now you'll find out why they are selling. Again they must NEED to sell, otherwise forget them. Prescreen the sellers.
>Make written offer. The number of rejected offers will tell you who the millionaires are going to be. I make offers and a lot of them.
>Organize the financing.
>Follow up. If they refuse your offer - get back to them in a couple of weeks and follow up. Find out how they are doing. Did they sell? Let them know that you are still interested. Sometimes they are so glad you called back, they might have been looking for your number. You've got to call them.
>Exit Strategy. You have to have an exit strategy before you write your offer. My exit strategy is the first thing I come up with. It will stop you from buying bad deals. The Exit Strategy is extremely important.
Michael that was great information. I agree, the exit strategy is extremely important, as well as following up. Thank you for sharing that with us, I appreciate it very much!
God bless you richly,
Psalms 118:23 "This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes."
I want to clairify something, in my post when i said "Throw out some LOW BALL PRICES", it's NOT really a "TRUE" offer, it's more of a Thermometer to see how HOT or COLD the SELLER is, thats it. It's more of a tool to HELP you gauge the seriousness of the seller, I NEVER would give an offer without first looking at the property, Again, your basically just "testing the waters", i'm sorry for the confusion, guess i should have worded it a little differently, SULLY
YOUR HERO, SULLY
Sully, you said, "As you explain why your offer came in so low and why you needed the information from earlier...". - What do we say when we "explain" to them why we thru out such a low number? I know I can't (or shouldn't) very well say. "Because I want to make money. And, I need this deal to be locked up at this price point to make my investor(s) money so I can get paid." How do you finesse this information? Do you just focus on the work that may need to be done, comps, etc?
~Have Happy Dayz
It's pretty easy to "explain", like today i did exactly what my post says: I looked at a property yesterday, now in this case my birdogger had quite a bit of information for me, so i already knew what the homeowner wanted for the property, I had an "idea" of the repairs needed, and how far along in pre-foreclosure he was, and so fourth. After evaluating the property, i got back to him today with my offer and it was $20,000 lower than he "needed", so i EXPLAINED WHY: The market is sucky, BLAH,BLAH,BLAH, and you have NOT owned the property long enough to realize ANY sort of APPRECIATION, and Based off the COMPS in the Area i have to be a little under them because every month has been a steady decline in values, BLAH, BALH, BLAH. Then i also said "I'm NOT playing any sort of numbers game here, this is where i NEED to be in order for the deal to work for me". You just need to stand your ground and be FIRM, and the only way to do that is with you BACKING up your figures with what i just said: Talk about-Market Conditions, Remind them it's NOT your fault that the numbers are what they are, they got in this situation, your simply offering a way out, SULLY
YOUR HERO, SULLY
I guess I misunderstood. Sorry to cause all this confusion. I just thought you said you threw out offers. But anyway, it's great info, so thanks for sharing it.
Psalms 118:23 "This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes."