BiggerPockets

Hey Guys,

I mailed 2500 "I want to buy your house" postcards to absentee owners last Friday.

The postcards hit today and I've received 48 calls. Three sellers left messages and the rest are hang ups. Two sellers wanted to sell and the other seller was underwater which I referred to my buddy who specializes in short sales.

Today was my first day speaking to sellers.

I pre screened and asked them questions and made 2 offers Today.

The sellers weren't really motivated since both of them owned the property free and clear and just wanted to see what I would offer. They rejected my offers and said they were firm on market value price.

I know the answer to the following question may be obvious , but what should I do with the 40+ hang ups?

Should I call them back ?? how do you recommend I approach the hang up leads?

I am assuming that they are not too motivated since they didn't take the time to leave a message.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Luis

This would be a bad assumption. Sometimes sellers don't like "talking to those machines" (elderly folks who are old fashioned) or would trust a live voice instead of an answering machine.

Call them back and you'll learn a heck of a lot. May even get or two out of it.

I agree with you 100% !! Thank you.

I will be calling each and every hang up at full force. I'll keep the thread posted. :)

I think you've learned a very important lesson... don't send out more mailings than you can field calls for. EVERYTHING I have read says if you want to be in this business, answer your phone. If you don't, you're asking them to go even FURTHER to make your life EASY. Not only are you asking them to pick up the phone and dial (a HUGE first step), you're now asking them to leave YOU a message! It probably took all their courage to take that first step, had you answered, they probably wouldn't have hung up on you, that's rude and all... but an answering machine *CLICK*, they're easy to hang up on.

If you can't answer directly, I would encourage you to look into an answering service that will pick up and potentially even screen calls. You've already had over 50 missed opportunities, how much has that potentially cost you?

UPDATE: GREAT NEWS!!!

I am still jumping in my chair with excitement.

I started calling back all the hang ups today and I found everything except motivation. Until a call came in around 11 am and it was an EXTREMELY motivated seller with two inherited properties.

I set up an appointment and locked in both properties under contract. WOW !!!!

Now I need to send the properties to my buyers list.

I am a bit hesitant about sending the property address to the buyers list which includes some people that I don't even know and have never met.

Is it safe to send the property address so the buyers can run their numbers??

I just want to be as precautious as possible since the seller is so motivated and anybody else could go around my back once they know there is a deal there.

Thank you for your help.

I'm confused... did you have a contract or didn't you? You can't simply "back out" of a contract... You can back out of a verbal agreement (though in some states they're enforceable), but a contract is legally binding.

Talk to your lawyer would always be the first step. The question will quickly become how much are these properties worth to you? Is the contract you had worth spending money on in an attempt to enforce it. Maybe simply a letter from your lawyer on their letterhead to the seller will be enough to make him live up to his end... or maybe it would need to go further. You have to decide what you're willing to invest.

Paying the agent is the seller's responsibility, that has absolutely nothing to do with you. You give the seller X dollars for the house, he gives the agents some portion of X for helping him sell it. Has NOTHING to do with the buyer.

Of the 40 people who you call back I would guess that 1 would turn out to be a real lead. Seems that calling back is the best option, as they must have had a reason for looking into the number.
Some people may have even been programming the number into their phone and were looking to speak to you at a later time anyway.

Have a live answering service....That will help....also, send out a few hundred per day to spread out calls....This works for me! Matt

Hey Tim,

Thank you for the words of encouragement.

My wholesale deal fell through this past Saturday when the seller backed out and now wants to sell it to another person for a higher price.

I'm going to be at the monthly SDCIA meeting tomorrow at 5:30 in Mission Valley. Are you going?

I'd love to meet up and share notes over a cup of joe and see how we can help each other get ahead.

PM or email me when you get a chance and let's set something up.

luigi@localhousedealer.com