Feedback requested

[JasonBhatt 0]

Greetings to all

 

I made more cold calls today, and got one investor, and one potential. Although I am not worried about the outright rejection, I wish people would give me feedback if I screwed the whole deal up.

 

This is not a exact transcript of the conversation, but it is close.

 

She called me back, based on a message I left:

 

Me: Hello, This my name is Jason Bhattacharya, How are you? A friend gave me your number in regards to a house that is for sale.

 

… She tells me about the house

 

Me: Sounds wonderful. Well, I work for a company called Cheshire Developments, and we work in Lease Purchase. What lease purchase is… (described l/p). We will be responsible for all the rent payments as well as the upkeep of the house … We work with people who have b-d credit,

 

Her: So I lease the house to you, and then you lease it to someone else?

 

Me: That is correct

 

Her: Why wouldn’t I rent it myself

 

Me: (told her about all the headaches she’d have with rental tenants, as well as how T/Bs are better because they are looking to buy the house. Not rent it, then I told her that section 8 people will never qualify to move into one our houses, since we deal with nice houses, in nice neighborhoods)

 

Her: Why can’t the people get a loan by themselves? I have major debts as well as no credit, and I got a business loan. That is much harder to get then it is a loan for a house, since the house will be the collateral for the loan.

 

Me: Well, I am not sure on that to be quite honest. I would be more then happy to get back with you in that regard if you would like. But from what I know based on my research and readings, people that can’t qualify for a bank loan have some problems in their past, that with time will go away. I cited an example of my doctor friend, who has just opened a practice, and according to the bank his debt to income ratio is off the roof. So he won’t qualify for a loan, for about three years, when he starts to show a profit in his business.

 

Her: Well, what I don’t understand is the bank should see that this doctor is making $500,000 a year, and the loan would be secured by the house anyways.

 

Me: Yes, as I said, I would love the opportunity to sit down with you and your husband, and I would bring someone who has more experience in this area then I do. Would that be acceptable?

 

Her: No. I don’t think that would work.

 

Afterwards she told me about her background in business and told me that she was worried about

1) The tenants lowering the value of the neighborhood

2) What type of tenants would have such bad credit that they can’t buy a house.

3) What if we did not exercise our option to purchase her house, although she would get to keep the equity, she would have another headache to deal with.

 

I don’t think that anyone wants to read the whole convo, but that is a basic summary of it. Does anyone have any feedback for me? The reason that I think that this MIGHT have worked, is because she was asking all the questions… Or do you guys think that she was just grilling me for the hell of it?

 

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

-Jason

A.F. & A.M. 211

[option8 0]

Jason,

First of all, congratulations on making the dials! Often this is where we get stuck.

Here are a few observations on your call today:

 

Me: Sounds wonderful. Well, I work for a company called Cheshire Developments, and we work in Lease Purchase. What lease purchase is… (described l/p). We will be responsible for all the rent payments as well as the upkeep of the house … We work with people who have b-d credit,

 

I'm not sure how Michael feels about this, but personally, I would spend much more time drawing out the sellers motivation.

 

"Sounds like a lovely home, why would you want to sell it?"

"Wow, you sound like you really like you home, why...?"

What is their unique situation: transferred, divorce, marriage, too much home , What? You are looking for motivation, not a house, then you can speak to that motivation...

Well, I work for a company called Cheshire Developments, and we work in Lease Purchase. What lease purchase is… (described l/p). We will be responsible for all the rent payments as well as the upkeep of the house … We work with people who have b-d credit,

Try something along these lines...

"Yes, I see you problem, dilemma, issue, challenge...

What if I were to lease your home for a few years, guarantee your montly rent, take care of the day to day maintenence hassles and cash you out down the road."

 

I think you will find that this appraoch is much less apt to trigger barriers based on their preconceptions about lease purchases. The "technical" description may be correct, but may hinder you from getting the desired reaction - which is for them to picture you solving their problem in a manner that is comfortable.

 

When describing how your solution works, it is probably better to avoid references to bad credit. Try to position your tenant buyers it in a positive light.."people who need a little more time to line up their funding"

 

Having a history in sales, I think the most effective way to communicate this is to paint a word picture that helps the seller see themselves using our solution. All the words you choose should contribute to the following picture:

 

They've disposed of their headache (ahem property) at top dollar.

The check for the mortgage arrives like clockwork every month.

Beaver Cleaver's family is living in the home

They get to show the accountant their smarts that they moved house this way

They still have the tax benefits on April 14th

Their checkbook balance looks great because they paid no commissions or fees

They have no late night calls about toilets or pipes or lost keys

and finally,

They have walked off into the sunset to get on with their life!

 

If it doesn't contribute to this picture -- leave it out of your script.

All else being equal, we buy from our friends, so take the time to build rapport and draw out that motivation.

 

Hope this help. and keep up those dials!

option8

[Andrew Ikeda 0]

Jason,

 

It's good that your on the phone and talking to people.

 

There are different opinions about how to handle the questions and concerns.

 

Michael says that if they are not motivated just be non-adversarial and end the conversation. If they are interested, then go ahead and give them the info on lease purchasing.

A few people I have spoken with tell me that it is good to do small talk with the sellers and option 8 has good advice/ideas in the above post.

Personally, I think you did a good job and your best effort. While it may not have been a simple one minute phone call, at least you are getting experience by dragging the call out. Your learning what kinds of objections people have and learning step by step how to handle them.

So the conclusion is 1) you could make the call short and just ask them if they are interested in l/p or 2) spend some time with them and draw them out and learn a little as you go.

I think both approaches have merit to them but you will have to decide which approach works best for you. Personally, I like talking with people and I have a difficult time making 10 calls in one hour. My average is around 8-10 minutes per call but again, that's just me.

What to say on the phone? Again, Option 8 has great ideas but I also think that you are gaining some good experience by what you said above. Now it's just a matter of just cranking out phone calls until you find that 'motivated seller'. The lady you spoke with is not a motivated seller...sounds to me like it's time to move on.

Hope this helps. Good luck and enjoy!

 

Sincerely,

 

Andrew

[MichaelC 160]

You've received some excellent advice already from Option8 and Andrew.

I just want to add that my immediated reaction was this seller is not only lacking in motivation, but thoroughly skeptical of you and what you are suggesting. A very tough sell, if not impossible.

[JasonBhatt 0]

One thing that she asked me, that I wished I could answer...

 

What type of problems do they have. With the ease of getting a mortgage these days... Almost anyone can get a loan. Why can't your clients get a standard loan?

 

So my question is:

 

Why can't our clients get standard loans?

 

Why do they go through a L/P agent?

 

 

I forwarded her name to someone who does Sub2 deals... Perhaps he can get something from her. Hey, we are all here to help each other out. She might have not received me, but she might receive someone with all cash. Pass it on right?

 

Thanks Guys!!

-Jason

A.F. & A.M. 211

[MichaelC 160]

So my question is:

 

Why can't our clients get standard loans?

 

Why do they go through a L/P agent?

"Ms. Homeowner, everyone's situation is different. While it is true that there are many mortgage programs to chose from these days, there are still individuals who cannot qualify today.

For example, someone who recently transferred into the area with a new job. Even with decent credit, a career change in a new location may be reason enough why an individual needs to buy time before they can buy your home.

A divorce can often cause an individual's credit to take a hit. Again, with the passing of some time, this individual could then qualify.

An individual may have an inordinate debt load at present, and they were told they need to pay it down some. So, over the next twelve months they are doing just that.

And what about the individual who just needs additional time to build up their cash reserves for their down payment. Again, time is their ally.

So, you see Ms. Homeowner, there may be any number of reasons why an individual may not qualify for a mortgage today, but may very well be a qualified candidate in six to twelve months. These are the people our Lease Purchase program appeals to."