If you’re getting nasty responses from people, it’s probably because they’re either tired of the phone calls from people who just want to make money on them, or you’re saying the wrong thing.
My opening line (at the front door) is: "Hi! I’m so and so. I work in real estate, and I see that you have a problem with a foreclosure. (Now here’s the tricky part.) I usually ask them if they are trying to keep the home or if they would like to sell it, and see what they say. Then I ask them if there’s anything I can do to try to help them do what they want to do.
Keep in mind that foreclosures can be very complicated matters. I once went to a house 2 days prior to the sale. There was substantial equity in the home and it was in a very good neighborhood. The guy was mowing the lawn and I told him who I was. He said he had it all taken care of because he had a new loan approved and was to close the next day. But something else he said told me that someone had given him bad info. I said I would be happy to check on everything for him the next day just to make sure everything was okay, which I suspected it wasn’t. He said that was okay with him. I was right. There was no loan, and his house would have gone through the sheriff’s sale the next day.(The loan broker wasn’t a crook. She just didn’t realize the the loan would require approval by a bankrupcy court, which I knew couldn’t be obtained in 24 hours.) I took a deed, paid off the judgment to stop the sale, and made a deal to lease/op back to him.
The main thing is to let the homeowner do the talking while you figure out what, if anything, you might be able to do to make a deal that works for both of you.
Contacting Owner’s in Foreclosure - Posted by Greg Scott
Posted by Greg Scott on October 14, 1998 at 24:21:55:
I’ve been contacting owners in default by phone and letter. Its difficult to make any kind of contact, and then even more so to get them to discuss the situation.
One technical problem is that these days probably less then 10% of the population actually has a listed phone number. But sending letters , that don’t look like junk mail, is tedious.
Anyone willing to share there methods for contacting and then dealing with the owner in foreclosure?
Phone and Letter will work sometimes, but the best method is
to knock on the door and (try to)discuss their situation face to face.
Remember, you’re there to try to help them solve their problem. If they
don’t think they have a problem, there’s not much you can do. Buying a
course on how to get your foot in the door will pay for itself in short
order.
Re: Contacting Owner’s in Foreclosure - Posted by Brad Crouch
Posted by Brad Crouch on October 14, 1998 at 02:02:39:
Greg,
Stop spinning your wheels and lay out the cash to but Joe Kaiser’s course, “How to Totally Dominate Your Foreclosure Marketplace”. It’s available from this site.
Have you actually knocked on the door of a stranger in foreclosure, with no previous set-up? Based on the reactions I get over the phone I can imagine I’d have to wear riot gear.