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Top 3 Things to Say to Lose a Motivated Seller

Tracy Royce
3 min read
Top 3 Things to Say to Lose a Motivated Seller

Much is speculated, written, and geared towards the effort to attract motivated sellers. They are, after all, the holy grail for real estate investors. Whether by third party or direct efforts, getting an edge on an opportunity is not only potentially profitable, but critical as inventory shortages continue.

So what’s the best way to screw it up? Here’s the Top 3 Things you can say to a motivated Seller to lose them as a lead:

1) You Don’t Need to Do Anything Today

When the phone rings, the person on the other end is in a mindset to take action. This window may or may not stay open, and is often times volatile and easily swayed. Family members, friends, or other internal voices may cause their mindset to shift in another direction, which may be away from you.

Although you can never force anyone to make a decision, being confident in your sales approach and negotiations increase your chances of getting a contract signed, or at least setting an appointment in the very near future.

Least of all, send them to your website (or Facebook page, etc) – something to have them remember and be able to reference you. And by all means, collect their contact information to be able to follow up with them.

2) Call Me Back When Ever You’re Ready

Linking to #1, not being steadfast in trying to have a seller take action can be costly. However, not all deals are made on the first phone call. This arises quite a bit especially if you are making outbound calls to homeowners and lead sources.

But, this is a perfect opportunity to create rapport and trust. If they’re at least open to talking, and don’t request I take them off my call list, I say something to the effect of “Thanks for your time today John. It sounds like you are taking action to find a solution before it’s too late, which is smart. But, like many things, I’ve realized that not all things work out how we plan, right? Mind if I follow up with you to check in and see how things work out for you in a couple weeks? I always like to make myself available as a Plan B should the (loan mod, loan from relative, etc) not work out. Sound good?” I then proceed to tell them how I will follow up with them, and then actually do so.

And don’t worry, expect them to be irritated at times when you follow up. Often times it’s the persistence that lands you the lead, though, since you become the friendly go to source while they are trying to figure out Plan A on their own.

3) Sorry, I Don’t Do That

You’re a wholesaler who buys at 75% of market value minus repairs, plain and simple. But, these pesky Sellers with barely any equity and low interest rate loans keep calling you for help. They may be great candidates for Subject-to selling, and not even know it! But, it’s up to you to help connect them with a more fit resource who knows how to properly structure the deal.

Recently I had a motivated Seller contact me about selling land, and I had to apologize and let them know that wasn’t what I normally purchase. However, I reached out to a couple contacts I knew did and presented them with the deal. Although it wasn’t something they were interested in, outsourcing to other investors is a great way to make referral income or even wholesale the deal to them.

Just because it’s not your bag, doesn’t mean someone else doesn’t want a grab at it! And since you have about 100,000 friends here on BiggerPockets, there’s no excuse to reason that you don’t know someone who might be interested in your lead.

Lastly, if there’s no deal to come of a lead, and especially if there is, always ask if they know of anyone else that could use your services. That alone could earn you deals, save you thousands in marketing, and give you a leg up on the competition. Just like in life, sometimes it’s not the things we say, it’s the things we don’t say or ask for that cause us to lose out.

What rookie mistakes have you made that cost you a lead? What other things can you think of that chases away a motivate seller?

Photo: peasap

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.