Motivated Home Sellers – Keep Looking, They’re Out There

By now, you should have placed several ads and talked to at least a couple of people who might be able to refer you to a desperately motivated home seller.

While you’re waiting for some response from that direction you need to take a more active role in the search yourself. And you can use the same technique used by the gurus that fly into an area and place real estate under contract over a weekend.

The secret technique that they use and which they reveal in their boot camps is nothing more than picking up the phone. The real secret to this is that many (most?) investors are afraid of the telephone and the ones that use it are the ones pulling down big incomes. Even some investors who place ads and have people respond to them are reluctant to return the call.

Much of their fear stems from the fact that they are unsure of what to say to a home seller. A lot of the fear, in my opinion, comes from the fact that a lot of investors have the notion stuck somewhere in their minds that they are trying to sell something. You can get rid of that problem right now!

You are not selling anything! You are the buyer!

You are not only going to pay a good price, if you have to, for your own home but you are also honestly looking for a home and are the buyer. You’re not selling anything or pretending to be something you’re not. So when you get a lead on a home, don’t be afraid, pick up the phone. Call.

Now that you’ve got the right mind set, two huge questions remain. Who do you call? And what do you say?

You will find the who in your local classifieds under Homes For Sale. You need to use ads that are 4 to 6 weeks old. If you haven’t kept them around, go to the library and search their back issues. The reason we start several weeks past is that if a home has not yet sold, the owner will be more agreeable to our proposal. Ignore ads placed by real estate agents. You have to talk to the actual home owner and you need their phone number. Look especialy for ads that say “by owner”, “owner carry”, “terms” - anything that lets you know it is not an agent.

Make as long a list as you can. Don’t worry about making notes of everything in the ad. If you’re looking for a 3 bedroom home with 2 baths, just list the phone number and skip any you may not want under any circumstance. If you don’t want a 8,000 sq foot home with 8 bedrooms on 5 acres, don’t list the number. Keep it simple.

Get as many numbers as you can. Many of the homes will have sold already so you need a large list. You probably wont need to go through them all to find your home but it’s better to be prepared. Do make a note of any local homes with a phone number that is out of the area. You’ll want to call them first. If they are not living in the home, more than likely they would really like to get out from under the mortgage!

Next we’ll get into what you do with your list. For now, just get the list. It’s the key that will unlock the door to your new home!