Seller Motivation

[Strat V.]

I did a marketing campaign for out of state owners and I am getting calls. I was trying to use a script to determine motivation but did not work very well. I referenced the script, ie. seller lead sheet for key points.

My question is how do you determine if a seller is really motivated or just a tire kicker curious about what you can "offer"? Any pointers, advice or comments?

[Wendell De Guzman]

Here's the script that I use for motivated sellers. The acronym is WOWPReLo so you can remember it.

W - tell me, what do you think houses in your neighborhood sells for or what is your property WORTH? (now for vacant properties with out-of-state owners, you may want to skip this question and just find out based on the address how much the house is worth because most likely they do not know what they are worth)
O - how much do you OWE? Are you behind on your mortgage?
W - WHY are you selling? WHAT will you use the money for? (these 2 questions are critical in understanding the seller's motivation)
P - tell me more about the PROPERTY (number of bed/bath/square feet/how old is it/etc?)
Re- does it need any repairs or renovation?
Lo - "If I offer you all cash and close in 2 weeks, what is the Lowest price you will accept?" (always follow it up with: "Is that the best you can do?")

Motivated sellers are easy to spot. If they have no issue telling you how much do they owe and they tell you they need to sell because of urgent reasons, then they are motivated.

If they want full price, they don't tell you what their loan balance is, or they are just testing the waters to find out how much they can sell their house for, they are NOT motivated sellers.

Hope this helps!