You’re generating a bunch of seller leads…fantastic. But they’ll mean nothing if you can’t seal the deal. In this mini-training over the next few days I’ll be focusing on “sealing the deal” with your sellers. Getting them to say “yes” and sign.
So that brings us to the first step: make sure they want to and that they can sell. Pre-qualify your sellers. There is no amount of negotiating skill that is going to convince an unmotivated seller to accept 50-60 cents on the dollar or agree to crazy terms.
In other words, if you’re not dealing with the right kind of seller you’re wasting your time. When I work with my private clients, we spend a lot of time on this one concept. Why spend an hour or more with a seller who is never going to accept or can’t accept your offer?
You have to pre-qualify your incoming leads to make sure that (1) there is a compelling reason that they need to sell quickly; and (2) their loan balance is less than you can afford to pay.
If the answer to either of these is “no’ then just move on. It’s not a viable lead and is nothing more than a waste of your time. And you must realize that most of the leads you receive fall into this category.
Some leads will want full market price. Some are just testing the water. Some owe too much. Some are just pure a——- (well let’s call them “socially challenged”). It doesn’t matter. Discard these leads quickly to get to the ones that will make you money…a lot of money!
Here’s how I pre-qualify leads:
You have to start by understanding how a truly motivated seller acts. They are desperate and anxious for your help. They may be a little reserved in their answer, but never aggressive.
Have a conversation as opposed to an interrogation. Ask open ended questions that allow them to tell you about their house and what’s happening in their life.
After they describe their house, I’ll ask them questions that elicit a favorable response about the house and/or neighborhood: “That sounds like a great house…have you loved living there?”; “You’ve lived there a long time…you must have a lot of great memories?”. Once they open up and tell me something they love, then I ask: “Why are you selling now?”
Their response is usually raw and truthful. This is where you get to see their true motivation.
Then I start asking personal questions about their loan; if their payments are up to date; are they in foreclosure; how much they owe to the bank. If I receive much resistance, then I suspect that I don’t have a motivated seller.
Now that you have their loan info and a description of the property, you can apply a quick formula to see if their loan balance is below what you could pay. If not PASS. If so, then you have a lead worth pursuing to the next level.
In the next part of this mini-series I’ll be talking about making offers on the phone so watch for it.
Expect Abundance,
Lou Castillo
