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djbusch

Giving good phone - Can it be learned?

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Upon reading the advice of one of the many wise sages on TNI, I added my full name and telephone number to my first e-mails to FSBO/FRBOs on craigslist (a la MC's 2-email method).

 

Much to my surprise (yeah, I'm a little thick), people started calling! A lot of people, in fact! Over 20 calls in the first 2 days. I had to shut down my automated e-mail script today just so I can catch up with the backlog of voicemails.

 

My question is this: Should I even be calling these folks back? Of the 3 I've spoken to tonight, 1 is selling a mobile home for $8k, one has a hunting cabin up in the Upper Michigan hinterlands and the other rushed me off the phone when I admitted I don't have any buyers lined up for the area where her home is.

 

I also feel like I'm doing something horribly wrong on the phone. In talking to all 3 sellers, I gave them the spiel about how I find sellers interested in lease/purchase and pair them up with buyers wishing to improve their credit and build equity at the same time.

 

I'm pretty sure I have the $8k guy sold on a pure option (the profit potential is staggering on this deal...LOL) for $4k, but I think I need to smooth out my spiel before I turn of any more sellers (like little Miss #3 above).

 

Suggestions?

 

Thanks for reading my rant. We now return you to NFL football season. Go Pack (stop losing, knuckleheads!) Go!

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David, in order of importance, don't worry about your Packers. The Giants looked even worse in their opening night loss to the hated Cowboys. :angry: I swear the camera picked up a few of the players working on their golf swings on the sidelines. :lol:

Are these homeowners calling after they receive the first email or the second? Makes a big difference in how the conversation will go.

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David, in order of importance, don't worry about your Packers. The Giants looked even worse in their opening night loss to the hated Cowboys. :angry: I swear the camera picked up a few of the players working on their golf swings on the sidelines. :lol:

Are these homeowners calling after they receive the first email or the second? Makes a big difference in how the conversation will go.

 

Michael, they're calling after the FIRST e-mail. What I'm finding is that a lot of them believe that I personally want to lease/purchase their home. I may have to revert that first e-mail back to the original format (no phone number). It's just very exciting to have such a response rate.

 

And the Packers...I guess we'll see if Sunday was a fluke when they face our hated rivals (da Bears) tomorrow night.

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David, that's the very reason I use the two email approach. After receiving the first, the homeowner assumes you are looking for a house for yourself, for your own personal residence. If you speak with them then, there is a lot of explaining to do. It becomes time consuming and frustrating. Almost without exception I send the second to avoid that very scenario.

I suppose it's a matter of personal preference. But I'd rather not speak with homeowners until they receive my second email and have a better understanding of what I'm offering. In your case, maybe the practice of speaking with homeowners about lease purchasing is an opportunity to hone your skills.

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In your case, maybe the practice of speaking with homeowners about lease purchasing is an opportunity to hone your skills.

 

Quite possibly true. I have had an irrational fear of the phone, like it's a hand grenade dipped in ebola. It was only yesterday that I finally mustered up the cajones to dial the numbers and talk. Facing your fears is HARD!!

 

However, I will defer to your wisdom in this instance and remove my phone number from the 1st e-mail. I don't want to explain what I'm proposing over the phone 20 times a week. Still, I have had nearly zero contact with sellers beyond the 2nd e-mail. Should the verbiage be tweeked to fit today's market conditions?

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The responses to the 2nd email always drops off considerably. But that's the point. I don't want to talk with homeowners who aren't interested in what I'm proposing. Of course, we need some replies.

I think tweaking or changing the email is a real possibility. What works in one market may fall flat in another. Don't be afraid to try something new. Track the results and adjust accordingly.

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The responses to the 2nd email always drops off considerably. But that's the point. I don't want to talk with homeowners who aren't interested in what I'm proposing. Of course, we need some replies.

I think tweaking or changing the email is a real possibility. What works in one market may fall flat in another. Don't be afraid to try something new. Track the results and adjust accordingly.

 

Yeah I totally agree with Michael on this. (big surprise) It's such a drag trying to explain all we do (which seems it would be attractive to most sellers) 10-20 times a day---when they aren't even nearly MOTIVATED . . . they just want to find out if we're STUPID enuf to buy their house at their over-inflated price (what---are they living back in 2000ish??)

 

I've had enuf experience now to know I only want to talk to the motivated ones. And even then it can be a deal that doesn't work out. But at least I'm not spending my time TRYING to fit a square peg in a round hole.

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. . .I've had enuf experience now to know I only want to talk to the motivated ones. And even then it can be a deal that doesn't work out. But at least I'm not spending my time TRYING to fit a square peg in a round hole.

There is nothing more frustrating and draining than talking on the phone repeatedly to homeowners who are neither motivated nor serious. It will discourage you in no time flat. Don't do it!

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What are you guys putting in your CL ads? I just put up an ad on Backpage that says "Get full price for your home". How's that sound? It is different from the hundreds of "We buy houses anywhere. Fast Close" ads. Do you mention you're looking for a house to L/P or something generic just saying you want to buy a house? I just started marketing Saturday and it doesn't take long to realize that you need to get sellers finding you instead of you finding the sellers.

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Another question. When responding to CL ad I've been putting "Would you consider leasing your home for a year and then selling at the end of the lease period? I figure that was a simpler less foreboding way of asking would you like to sell on a Rent to own.

 

Also, I saw a guy on Wendy Patton's site a few weeks back hocking some software he had designed to capture leads on CL and any other site you'd want it to monitor. It would key in on words/phrases such as "owner finance" or "for sale by owner". It had a lot of other bells and whistles to manage the leads. Really pretty slick. Has anyone here ever used anything like that?

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You can use Google Alerts to set something like this up:

site:http://<your city>.craigslist.org/reo/ "for sale by owner" | rent | <city name> | lease ... or whatever search terms you want

 

Then choose All Results under How many:

 

You can also enter the text I showed above in Google and then search for older postings by going to the lower left under Show Search Tools, then Choose Date Range.

 

I don't know of a way to set up Google Alerts to provide you with listings from the past month or so.

 

On your email I do that differently. I usually say 12-18 months. For some reason I think months makes people relate to a shorter amount of time than year. And instead of saying selling at the end of the lease, I use "at any time during the lease".

 

Another question. When responding to CL ad I've been putting "Would you consider leasing your home for a year and then selling at the end of the lease period? I figure that was a simpler less foreboding way of asking would you like to sell on a Rent to own.

 

Also, I saw a guy on Wendy Patton's site a few weeks back hocking some software he had designed to capture leads on CL and any other site you'd want it to monitor. It would key in on words/phrases such as "owner finance" or "for sale by owner". It had a lot of other bells and whistles to manage the leads. Really pretty slick. Has anyone here ever used anything like that?

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I have had a couple FSBO I spoke with. I asked how they came up with their price and one said he was using an appraisal from 2006 plus the $70,000 in upgrades he did. Another used a 2007 appraisal with a similar response on upgrades.

 

I guess I should have offered them the appraised value from 1990?

 

. . . they just want to find out if we're STUPID enuf to buy their house at their over-inflated price (what---are they living back in 2000ish??)

 

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What are you guys putting in your CL ads? I just put up an ad on Backpage that says "Get full price for your home". How's that sound? It is different from the hundreds of "We buy houses anywhere. Fast Close" ads. Do you mention you're looking for a house to L/P or something generic just saying you want to buy a house? I just started marketing Saturday and it doesn't take long to realize that you need to get sellers finding you instead of you finding the sellers.

Mike, all marketing is good marketing, particularly when it is free or inexpensive. There's no one right or correct ad to use. Try a variety of ads and note which ones pull and which ones die.

For years I've used ads along these lines:

 

Family Needs Lease Purchase in Good Area

Full Price Paid, No Commissions, No Closing Costs

 

Also, Mike, I'm not familiar with that software you mentioned.

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I have had a couple FSBO I spoke with. I asked how they came up with their price and one said he was using an appraisal from 2006 plus the $70,000 in upgrades he did. Another used a 2007 appraisal with a similar response on upgrades.

 

I guess I should have offered them the appraised value from 1990?

I think I spoke to the same dope. Or someone else who was reading the same homeowners manual.

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Another question. When responding to CL ad I've been putting "Would you consider leasing your home for a year and then selling at the end of the lease period? I figure that was a simpler less foreboding way of asking would you like to sell on a Rent to own.

 

Also, I saw a guy on Wendy Patton's site a few weeks back hocking some software he had designed to capture leads on CL and any other site you'd want it to monitor. It would key in on words/phrases such as "owner finance" or "for sale by owner". It had a lot of other bells and whistles to manage the leads. Really pretty slick. Has anyone here ever used anything like that?

 

Mike, I just say: I saw your ad on CL and am wondering if you would consider leasing with an option to purchase.

 

I read that our own John Jackson has some kind of scraper software (somethin like that) as part of his L/O training program. You could pm him.

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