When I am mentoring investors we start with marketing that drives motivated sellers to call (that’s where you have the most leverage – when they call you).
It would be phenomenal if we could zero our marketing in so well that only the truly motivated sellers called.
Haven’t figured that one out yet, so we still receive a lot of calls from homeowners who would “like” to sell, but are not very motivated.
So when sellers call, I tell my clients that the objective of the initial call is NOT to buy their house, but rather to pre-qualify the caller to see if it is worth the time to move forward.
There are 2 pre-qualifiers that need to must be met to move the caller on to the next stage:
- Are they motivated?
If so what is the cause of the motivation and how deep does it run? - Do they owe less to their lender than you are able to pay?
If they owe more, then the only solution is a short sale and I don’t waste my time on short sales.
If the answer you determine for either question is “No” then just PASS on this lead. You’ll never buy the house at the price you need, so don’t waste time.
You should be able to get off the phone in 5-15 minutes. The reality is that there will be 20-25 callers who are not motivated to every 1 deal.
Sounds like a lot, but consider the question I ask my Clients:
“Is it worth it to you to spend 5-15 minutes with 25 callers to find 1 deal where you make at least $10,000?”
The answer must be an emphatic YES!
Let me give you one hint right off the top…
Motivated sellers may be quiet, reserved, even aloof. It may feel like you’re having to pull every answer out of them. Don’t judge that behavior as not motivated. It may just they are overwhelmed or even afraid of talking with an investor.
I have never, however, had a motivated seller be aggressive towards me on the phone. Remember, in the end, they want this to work, so they are not going to go out of their way to insult you or try to prove that you are just a scam.
When that happens, you know they are not motivated.
How I determine if someone is motivated or not is through a series of questions in my Lead Interview Sheet. Based on their answers, I can usually get a pretty good feel of their motivation.
If you would like a copy of my Lead Interview Sheet along with my Purchase & Sales Agreement and my Assignment of Contract forms…
The 3 forms along with training on how to complete them and how to use them properly is just $7 – no catches – no subscriptions. Just some great tools for you.
Expect abundance,
Lou Castillo
