Posted by DSmith on May 11, 2006 at 08:48:57:
I live in the metro Atlanta area.
thanks,
Damian
what am i doing wrong - Posted by bill
Posted by bill on April 29, 2006 at 18:57:29:
i have been going to the courthouse and searching records. the lis pendens has the date, foreclosure,bank , name and address of home owner. i go to see them and they act like there is no problem. a few of them have been vacant but the ones with the owner still there give me the impression that everything is fine. are they getting things back on track? are they in denial? a few of them when i drive back by a few weeks later everything looks ok. so what is happening?
thanks bill
Re: what am i doing wrong - Posted by M. Osterman
Posted by M. Osterman on May 01, 2006 at 09:00:36:
You may want to subscribe to a service that gets the lis Pendis notices for you. Big time saver. Also, work on only the deals that will make you a bunch of cash. This way you’ll be in the money once one closes.
As for door knocking you have to be persistant. I’m on my third attempt to succeed at this business. Remember you have to get them to talk. Also, you can head off the “it’s taken care of” simply by getting there first. " I’m sure this is taken care of by now, right?" I’m finding that the more and more I get out there and do this the easyier talking to people ( in default ) is.
Good luck and never ever give up.
Mike
Re: what am i doing wrong - Posted by David (Los Angeles)
Posted by David (Los Angeles) on April 29, 2006 at 19:19:37:
“All taken care of” is a cliche so common it has its own acronym – ATCO. Everybody says it, because it’s the easiest way to get that guy off your porch (or off the phone) and make the embarrassment go away. Most of them probably HAVE taken care of it, or think they have.
The first thing I would do if I were you is follow up. Do any of those ATCOs subsequently end up going to sale? If so, you can probably think of something to say to the next person who tells you that.
Recently, a lot of people have been able to re-fi their way out of the problem, or at least they think so. Their payments are usually higher, and the situation that got them into trouble the first time is usually still there, so a few months down the road they’re facing the same predicament. Follow up those ATCOs, listen to the responses you get, and follow up some more. Think about what people are saying, and see if you can figure out the real story.
And track down the owners of the vacants, if you can. Ask the neighbors if anyone knows where the owner might have gone, call people with the same last name and see if they’re related, use an online service, etc. Good luck.
Re: what am i doing wrong - Posted by alex
Posted by alex on April 30, 2006 at 07:11:13:
I’ve run into this situation several times. What I’ve done to get these people to act on their situation is to offer them a solution. Of course how do I get this information if they say everything is “OK” now.
Here what I say to that. “Oh great” mr. or mrs. home owner, may I ask how you accomplish that? Because my job is to assist people having financial problems and stand a chance to loosing their home. We have several programs we use and if you have some information I’ve not used, I’d greatly appreciate any information you might have to share. You see mr. or mrs homw owner, in our programs we feel pretty sure we can help people that we offer a speical free gift just for the opportunity to see if there is anything we can do to assist them.(my free gift is $100 in lotto ticket)
Now I’m not saying this works in ever case, but it open up some people to realize they are in trouble and will share their information.
Alex
P.S. Plug in the notion that if they don’t have a problem. That you have a business card to give them, should they know of anyone else that might have a reason to use your programs.
Re: what am i doing wrong - Posted by Joe Kaiser
Posted by Joe Kaiser on April 30, 2006 at 22:33:00:
If I’m ever in foreclosure (again 
and you knock on my door and I tell
you “it’s been taken care of,” please do not ask me how I managed it. I
can’t imagine that going over well, frankly, and just the fact you asked
demonstrates you’re not yet tuned in to what’s going on in my life.
Don’t ask them how. You don’t want to put them on the spot or force
them to retell the lie. No one wants to do that.
Instead, if it gets to this point (and you should have an approach in
place that doesn’t move them immediately to this to begin with) you
simply congratulate them on their success and you move on. How you
move on is what separates you from the people who don’t do deals.
“That’s great, I’m glad to hear you’re already on top of this. If there’s
one thing I hate, it’s seeing someone lose their home at a foreclosure
auction. Which reminds me, do you have a backup plan just in case
something goes wrong? I’d be happy to put together a Plan B for you to
make sure you’re absolutely covered, no matter what. No obligation, of
course, but if you think it might be helpful . . .”
When they don’t actually have a plan and you don’t embarrass them
into admitting it, they may very well hear you out and allow you to
create that back up plan for them (which, incidently, becomes THE plan
soon thereafter).
And don’t forget, the first words out of your mouth do matter. If you’re
door knocking regularly you should be opening in such a way that
takes them completely out of this line of thinking. Understand, if you
say anything that moves them to “it’s been taken care of,” you’ve likely
said the wrong thing to begin with.
I work Plan B aggresively if the conversation goes that direction (try as I
might to keep it from going there, it sometimes does).
I already know they’ve got it handled going it. They always have it
handled. That’s a given. I suggest that rather bumping up against it,
you can take it and run with it should it ever come up.
Joe
Re: what am i doing wrong - Posted by Brad Crouch
Posted by Brad Crouch on April 30, 2006 at 21:13:39:
Alex,
Don’t forget to ask them if they would like to consider a “backup” plan
. . . just in case their solution doesn’t work out, maybe even at the last
moment.
Naturally, you have just such a “backup” plan in mind.
Brad
Re: what am i doing wrong - Posted by David (Los Angeles)
Posted by David (Los Angeles) on April 30, 2006 at 10:50:28:
Wow, I imagine you can probably get a lot of ATCOs to let you make your pitch if you pay them $100 just to listen, but with 50-100 new NODs a day in my county (and that number is only going to go up over the next few years), I don’t think I could afford your approach. Maybe in a smaller market. Still, I like your follow-up of actually asking what they’ve done to solve their problem. The main thing is to follow up, rather than just handing them a card and mumbling “call me if anything changes.” If that’s all you do, they have no reason to remember you, much less call you.
Re: what am i doing wrong - Posted by DSmith
Posted by DSmith on May 03, 2006 at 20:05:20:
Ok, I’m racking my brain trying to come up with something to say that won’t move them towards “it’s taken care of”. How else can you approach them other than bringing up the “issue”?
I’m about 3 months into door knocking and struggling with finding the right way to talk to homeowners. I seem to do something different at every house.
By the way, I always enjoy your posts and I think I’m trying to approach investing the way you do. I look forward to your response.
Thanks,
Damian
Re: what am i doing wrong - Posted by Joe Kaiser
Posted by Joe Kaiser on April 30, 2006 at 23:54:27:
Brad, please email me. Thanks.
Joe
Re: what am i doing wrong - Posted by alex
Posted by alex on April 30, 2006 at 19:49:14:
Sorry David, But I don’t think you understood my concept. I never said I give them the money. Why would give them the money,if I gave them a solution to their situation? Now it not my fault if they don’t agree. I’m the professional here, and I’m sure they understand that from the beginning.
“Leaving my business card and mumbling?” I’m not sure that was intented for me. I don’t recall anything I’ve said that would indicate I was mumbling. And I can assure you that if I’m given the opportunity to discuss their situation and give them a solution, they will remember me and call.
I find it strange that all I’ve shared with Bill is how to get his foot in the door. You can learn a lot being in the trenches then reading any courses or CD’s. I know you have a gentleman in your area that teachs the concept of “People Needs” Mr. A.D.Kessler. If you like to discuss this David in more detail, I’d be more then happy to.
So Bill, I hope I’ve not lead you in a direction that you are uncomfortable with. But I can assure you if you have several option for these people, you’ll not pay a dime.
Good luck
alex
Re: what am i doing wrong - Posted by Joe Kaiser
Posted by Joe Kaiser on May 06, 2006 at 24:53:12:
Where do you live?