Posted by tang-0-rang on March 11, 2002 at 22:25:09:
what??? can you say that in english, I lost my decoder ring and I am a little confused with this new internet lingo stuff.
Todd W
Tel Mktg: Calling Owners in Default - Posted by Heidi W
Posted by Heidi W on March 11, 2002 at 09:11:35:
Hello,
I’ve got the ‘list’ of people in my area that recently had their properties put on the Notice of Default list - here in CA.
They’ve got some time before the Sale, and they may or may not want to sell at this point. However, I’d like to be able to HELP them - whether it’s just to refer them to a good loan agent, realtor, etc…
I need practice meeting with people - and this is the best source of ‘distressed owners’ I can get my hands on quickly.
My question is: “What are some good things to say on the phone (or in person for that matter if I knock on doors) to break the ice and let them know I’m not there to try to blackmail them into letting me STEAL-THEIR-HOUSE?”
Thanks,
Heidi
Some ideas about Calling Owners in Default - Posted by Glen SoCal
Posted by Glen SoCal on March 12, 2002 at 01:07:48:
Heidi-
Putting together a couple of your comments about ‘HELPING’ people in foreclosure, and your need to get ‘PRACTICE’, I think you’ve already arrived at a way to break the ice.
For a pre ice breaker, you may first want to mail a card letting the owner know you will be calling or calling upon them. I understand that hand-writing the note helps.
When you call, offer that you will explain the foreclosure process, help them identify as many solutions as possible, etc., only for them considering working with you in the future if your services were needed.
If they say that, “All you people act real nice, but you investors are just trying to pick my bones…”, you can respond by saying that you will explain exactly what’s on an investor’s mind. And let them know that there is no need for them to DO anything. You aren’t selling anything, you only want to trade what you have, knowledge, for the opportunity to introduce yourself, and to offer your services, that’s all.
If they agree to listen, ask them to get out a pencil and a piece of paper so that they will have a record of your converstation and so that they will be able to reffer later to the things you’ll be discussing. It will be easier for them to follow along if they have an outline they’ve created while you explain the process.
Let the owner know that they can make up whatever figures they want, and even for a house that they do not own. Let them know that this is only a conversation to familiarize them with the foreclosure process, how much time they have left, what the bank is thinking, how a loan officer or hard-money lender is thinking, if it’s possible to sell their home conventionally, and what their house is worth to an investor, and what their house may be worth to a relative if they could partner with them- (maybe quitclaim part of the interest in the house to the relatives for the bail-out money until they could sell at a fair-market price). Give them all the options. Until they have explored all of the avenues, they will not sell at the price at which an investor would be interested.
If you can get this far, you will have have built a lot of trust.
Also, just thinking about it, you should probably MAKE SURE the owners make up a fictiticious house, ficticious equity etc., as this conversation SHOULD only be an ‘educational conversation’, not intended for their particular property. You just want to explain the process. Most home owners may have difficulty making up figures for a fictitious house, so say something like, "OK, let’s say you own a house worth $100,000… and ask them to make up how long they’ve lived there, how much equity they have, and the real date they got their foreclosure notice. You will have the date of their notification of foreclosure already (and in the neighborhood of how much they owe), but it will help you gauge how forthcoming the owners are about their situation and if they trust you yet. With that, you can get the conversation started in a non-threatening way.
They’d probably burn out on this pretty quickly and want to start talking about THEIR house. If you want to do make the jump from practice to reality, tell them that you should meet for a conversation like that. (You don’t want them shopping your figures around to other investors without getting a shot at buying their place yourself.) And let them know that you would only meet with them if their property met your criteria for investment.
Now before I get my head taken off by the board, this is only for ‘practice’. And, maybe in the process, you’ll be able to make a purchase. But many seasoned investors wouldn’t go to a seller’s home unless the owner was READY TO SELL! At this point, the owner would probably still be in the work-out phase.
I’ve never done this before beyond cold calling someone and they saying that everything was ‘OK now’, and I said, ‘OK’, …and walked away.
For my disclaimer: I understand from the guru’s, that a foreclosure is a highly charged event. And financial disaster can be an unshared experience; friends and relatives may scatter, or the embarassment of a personal financial mess may often go undeclared by the debtor. The person being foreclosed upon is often alone with their messy problem. And they are aware that the sharks are circling. How you convince them that you are actually a friendly dolphin who has arrived to buoy them to the surface is the key, isn’t it? But full-disclosure foreclosure protection laws in California already protect the seller. You just have to get close enough to 'splain that to 'em, and along with that, you’re solutions to THEIR problem.
Hope this helps.
Glen
Re: Tel Mktg: Calling Owners in Default - Posted by Scott
Posted by Scott on March 11, 2002 at 10:53:37:
Let’s start by changing your identity as a real estate investor. It makes a big difference if your focus is on helping them out of a situation THEY have gotten THEMSELVES into, than to think of yourself as steeling the house because they have agreed to take less than market value for the property. We can only do what we can do as RE investors. I’m just not willing to pay someone full retail cash just because they are in a pickle. It just so happens that people who are in that situation are more likely to take my offer. That’s why we focus on motivated sellers. Make sense?
Re: Tel Mktg: Calling Owners in Default - Posted by DNICE
Posted by DNICE on March 11, 2002 at 10:02:15:
Hey if don’t do someelse will so go out there an do your thing calling knocking on door’s because someone might be right behind you