I receieved my first call, did I handle it correctly?
I receieved my first defaulting homeowner call today. The call caught me off guard because I only started to send letters out last week for the first time. So I wasn't 100% prepared.
Anyway the homeowner called and first wanted to know how I knew about their personal problems. I told her that her lender had publicly posted her house up for sale and that I was just calling to see if I can help out their situation. Of course, she had told me that she had everything handled with the lender. I immediately congatulated her agreement with her lender. From there, her story started to slip and I realized that they really did not work antyhing out with their lender, they were just in denial. I then told her that I will give her a call in a week or two to see if her arrangement is still holding with the lender. If not, I stated that we would meet up and discuss further details. She said, "OK sounds good."
I hope I did not cut it too short, I just didn't want to be pushy and to look desperate. What do you think? Should I call back in a week or two weeks.
Thank you all in advanced for responding. <IMG SRC="images/forum/smilies/icon_confused.gif"> [ Edited by tjm528 on Date 04/30/2003 ]
Sounds like you did the right thing. As you know, you can not work with a homeowner that isnt motivated to get out of this situation. So go ahead and call her next week, in a couple weeks, and perhaps a month from now. When she is motivated to let you help her, you will be ready.
Keep working all of your other leads and put this on the back burner until (or if) she is ready.
Best of Success!
BAMZ
Thanks for always getting back to me BAMZ.
Hi I am also getting ready to do some mailings to distressed home owners any advice or possibly a rough draft of the basic wording of your letters to these homeowners. I have started one numerous time but just cant get it right, so I start another AGAIN thanks in advance for any help or advice
Would a postcard,sent in the mean time, be too pushy?
I do a post card for two reasons.
1. It is cheaper to mail and if returned not much money out of pocket.
2. People in the post office will see it as well and I know some of them read things like this. So I get more then just the homeowner viewing it.
What you say just needs to be short and simple. Tell them you are offering ways to help them out of the financial problems of owning a hose and maybe throw something in like don't let foreclosure ruin your credit.
.
tjm45,
You mentioned to the lady that the lender have advertised their house in public. Where did you find the add? Also, when I get aware of homes for foreclosure, I drive up to the house & try to talk with the owner. However, they give me unwelcome looks and show no interest in selling their house. I mention to them that I am aware of their delinquicy & wether they have no ineterest due to someone elses offers? They reply that they spoke with somebody who offered to keep all their equity and take the house. They feel being ripped off, and everyone that approaches them asking if they want to sell, they don't want to discuss it assuming ur going to offer the same and take full advantage of them.
Does anybody can give input on how to approach such emotonial owners to gain their confidence or just to be able to just have a chatt with them?
Thanks all.
Kparkk,
When I said that their lender had publicly posted their house for sale, I was talking about the lis pendens.
I personally have not even knocked on one door yet, but I do plan to very soon. However, when I do, I will basically use the same approach as the phone call. All the experienced investors posts that I have read tell you not to tell them everything upfront, but ask them what they want out of their current situation and to hear them out. If they say that they have everything worked out already, congatulate them and give them your card and tell them to give you a call if things do not work out the way they plan. Also tell them to call you even if they need to talk to someone about their problems. Chances are, they're in denial and if you show that you care and develop trust, you might just hear back fromm them.
I wish you the best of luck, Hope I helped.
Terilyn,
send me a private email with your email address and I will send the letter.
tjm528. Could you send me a copy of that letter. Thanks.
sepia53@yahoo.com
tjm528,
You may want to ask Joel to post it under Freebies if you like. I have a Sample Preforeclosure Letter under the "Freebies" link. You don't want to get bombarded with people asking for a copy via e-mail. That's what happened to $Cash$ and his postcard...Just a heads up.
The sample letter I have here explains how I got their name and address. It's a simple starter letter that I used as a foundation for my letter. I found a better response rate if I actually put it into a regular envelope and made it look like regular mail. One homeowner called today explaining how their received will over 50 postcards/letters and mine stood out the most because I gave extra attention to the letters by hand signing all of them. I also used a red stamp that said, "You have options!" I stamped it on the letter so that it can be seen through the white envelope. I also stated in the letter,"there are options available to you, even if you have little or no equity."
Tanya[ Edited by tanya1215 on Date 05/02/2003 ]
Thank you for the advice, I think that I'll be alright, if it gets out of hand like you said, I will post it under freebies.
I would be careful of two things i have read here.
One, someone said that they mentioned the word foreclosure on a postcard. I think that could be very upseting for someone to recieve because a lot of other would people have a chance to see it. some spouses are trying to protect the other from knowing about the situation (right or wrong they do it), as mentioned the mail-carrier reads it, and it may be inadvertantly left on a counter where a visitor can read it. If that happened to me I'd be furious and not even think about dealing with whoever sent it. In the in formal survey of the people I have dealt with I ask them why they chose me to call when I know they got a ton of other letters/postcards they have said that it was the compassion and empathy they felt. On the other hand they often say immediately following that that what they hated most was having the postcards say that they were in foreclosure. they tell me this even though I don't ask. they feel it is an invasion of their privacy.
Second, i would caution against telling folks that you know they are in foreclosure. Let them tell you if they want but telling them you have come because they are in a compromising position makes them feel like you are a vulture ready to pick their bones. Sure it's technically public knowledge it takes their dignity away to bring it up first. If they are motivated enough to deal with you they'll tell you and if they don't tell you then they probably not motivated enough to make a deal anyway. So avoid the hassle on you both.
Just my two cents.
Great Luck,
KP