Marketing to Pre-Foreclosures

[Chris Galindo]

First off, hello to all my fellow agents and thank you for all the great information here. In this post I want to talk about my current marketing tactic. I have been door knocking on homes that just received notice of entering the foreclosure process, so far only been targeting those with equity taking into account closing costs and REALTOR® fees. In my approach I introduce myself, let them know I am aware of their situation and would like to offer my services to help them keep their equity. When I am unable to reach prospects I leave behind an envelope with these contents:

1. Hand Written Letter

Hi (First Name) and/or (First Name),

My name is Chris Galindo, I am your local REALTOR®. I stopped by to offer my assistance in your current situation. Your home has begun the pre-foreclosure process and I would like to help you keep your equity before the bank takes it, while also saving your credit. Time is of the essence, we have less than 90 days to move. Please contact me as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Chris Galindo

(Signature)

2. Unofficial Notice Document of Foreclosure

3. Two Business Cards

I have been doing this for about two weeks with no success. Now, I'm not expecting immediate clients. What I would like is some criticism. I've been knocking on the same houses continuously and new ones as they appear, I will not stop knocking til I get a yes or no. After the first visit when the envelope is left behind, every subsequent visit I only leave behind two more business cards. Any suggestions on how to trigger a response? I honestly thought this would be an easy target market. Motivated to sell and keep whatever money they can.

[Jason OBrien]

Hi @Chris Galindo

The effort you're putting into the approach is good; however expecting early results may be a challenge.   First, you and hundreds of other agent are prospecting these people in this situation so you wont be unique to most of these potential sellers.    

Once they miss a payment or two, they will get door knocked and mailed to death by everyone that has a "solution" to their problem.    It's tough to trust when your facing a stressful situation of a pending foreclosure etc and the overwhelming mailings and contact can make many want to shutter the doors and not respond to help initially.

If you continue to door knock, stagger your trips between a couple of weeks and try evenings and weekends etc.  Eventually you may reach someone to talk to face to face.  

Once in front of someone then next challenge for you is to convince them "your the guy" for them and assure them they can trust you with their problem and offer a real solution.

Trust + Like = Listing Success  

Competence + Actual performance = Life long client/friend/referrals.

Good luck!