What do you consider to be a lead?

Question

I've made 15,000 cold calls and I'm kinda confused on the definition. How motivated does someone have to be for you to consider them a lead?

Account Closed · Answer

A prospect is someone you think might sell

A lead is someone that has told you they are going to sell or list in the next 90 days. Other than that, they remain a prospect.

Sales is all about the pipeline and follow up.

You should have a list sorted like the following:

30 Days - they expect to sell or list immediately (30 days) - Lead They've already made up their mind to sell.

60  Days -  They expect to sell or list in the "next couple of months" and have an identified reason to sell (school is ending, building a house, etc) - Lead

90 Days - They have entertained selling but don't have a specific date and are looking at options. - Prospect

Everybody else falls into the catagories of "not going to sell", "talking about  it" but have talked about it for 5 years, etc, no reason to sell, get off my porch and so on.

Your focus should be identifying people who want/need to sell and plan on taking action in the next 90 days.

Dwayne Poster · Answer

Can you define what a ‘prospect’ is in your business dealings?  A ‘lead’ is identifying that prospect through some basic qualifying process. When you cold call, you are applying a qualifying process, amd those that pass, become leads.

Jerryll Noorden · Answer

I don't bother with "leads". I only work with MOTIVATED seller leads.

Many investors are so desperate that they will take anyone  that flinched when they say :Sell your house" to them

So, that said, the meaning of "lead" differs.

My definition of a lead is not how the general public defines it as.

In general, a "lead" is a "prospect". A potential customer. Someone that could potentially buy your product. A lot of people  will consider the act of someone filling in their forms a lead. None of them are wrong really.

But if you want to have a solid lean lead generation machine, you need to start becoing way more selective what you call a lead.

Here is what a true lead means to me.

A lead is not someone that wants to sell their house.

Not someone that NEEDS to dell their house.

Not even someone that DESPERATELY falls on their knees begging you to buy their house.

A lead is anyone willing to accept a below market value for their house REGARDLESS of reason for selling.

THAT is a lead.

In other words, a lead is not niche based. It is not a preforeclosure, tax lien, or an absentee owner that is tired of renting out. NONE of these characteristics impy "motivation".

The problem you are having my friend is exactly what I have been regurtitating for years here on BP.

People obsess with lists and ways to find motivated sellers and they go ridiculously creative... I have even heard gurus talking about stalking the retirement home and making friends with old people so they can have a go at buying their house when they die.

Yes, seriosuly!

Here is the probem with what you are dealing with.

You and pretty much all of you, think you can target motivated sellers. You can't. How many of you are struggling getting motivated sellers?

Most of you will say:" Ohh I get deals all the time".

NOT what I asked.

So let me rephrase that question.

What is your outreach vs conversion rate??

Meaning, how many clals do you make vs how many contracts get signed due to those calls.

I am willing to bet it is less than 1%

Less that ONE %!!!

Want to know what my conversion rate is? 80%+

Imagine less than 1% to MORE than 80%.

The reason is this:

I have accepted and embraced that you can not find motivated selelrs. You can't target them. Because I accepted this I looked for beter ways to get contracts signed, and I discovered that you can't target motivated sellers. You simply need to make it easy for them to find YOU!

THAT is the only and best way! I managed to do this very succesfully, and now, they find me, I don't look for them, and money is pouring in.

It  litterally is that simple.

NEVER think that because a sheer bigger volume of people says one thing does it mean they are correct.  MOST people doing this are wrong.

When someone happen to become motivated, THEY will take action. They will find a way to find a soliution to their problem. Only THEY know they are motivated, no one else. You can't send someone a mailer when you have no idea IF they are motivated or when they will be. You don't KNOW!

Luther Wilson III · Answer

It depends on who you ask...  Some investors look at the potential built in equity or "all in" amount being a certain % of the ARV and others base things off of what the monthly cash flow could be.  There are investors who routinely try to hit the 1% rent ratio rule and there's some that won't purchase a property unless it subject to the existing financing or if the seller is willing to carry a note.  The list goes on...

Your buyers will let you know.  The last few years have been crazy and it seems a lot of the "fundamentals" have gone by the way side.  Now things are already looking different in the market...

As far as someone being motivated to sell that's rather subjective.  When I think of a motivated seller I think of someone needing to sell like yesterday.  Like they need the money to help assist with an ailing relative or they could be at risk of losing the house to foreclosure.  For whatever reasons...  If the house is vacant, the seller is behind on their mortgage payments and they're going through a divorce then that might be a lead.  That's distressed as far as the situation goes but that seller may not admit all of that to you on the first couple conversations.

You've done a bunch of cold calls but what are you trying to accomplish, bro?

Eliott Elias · Answer

Anything is a lead, up to you to convert them

Wale Lawal · Answer

@Mike Schorah

There are a few fairly common situations where a homeowner may become motivated to sell the property on a quicker timeline. Most commonly, we see this occur when a family member unexpectedly inherits a property. These beneficiaries could be motivated to sell if the home is far from their location, in poor condition, or if they are unable to perform the necessary upkeep. In cases of an inherited home, these owners may be more likely to sell than a traditional homeowner.Motivated sellers could also be homeowners who have fallen on hard times, and become unable to maintain their homes. This type of motivated seller is often referred to as a distressed property owner, and the home is in need of significant repair. When the repairs (and subsequent costs) add up, these owners may become highly motivated to sell the property. The same goes for owners with outstanding code violations on the property. For example, if a property violates city code for any reason and the owner is unable to maintain said property they may decide to sell.Another fairly common type of motivated seller is an absentee owner. Absentee owners refer to homeowners who do not live in the same market as the property. This could be a result of an inherited property, as mentioned above, or it could be a rental property owner. When an owner is out of the market and wants to sell, in some cases they may be more inclined to accept a lower offer or speed up the transaction time. It all comes down to the circumstances driving them to sell, however being away from the property can make managing the sale more challenging. As a result, you may find motivated seller leads when searching for absentee owners.

You can ask these questions to your leads:

• Why they want to sell
• How long they’ve lived there
• How much they’re looking to receive from the sale
• Where the property is located
• Who’s on the title
• What improvements have been made

All the best!

What do you consider to be a lead?

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