Yesterday, I got on the phone and spent some time calling FSBOs and Expired Listings. I got 4 sellers to agree to meet with me. But, here’s the problem. Half of those sellers owe too much on their house and aren’t motivated enough to go thru the credit agony of a short sale. So, I’m going to have to call both of them today and cancel. The other two sellers both do not live in the house. One of them inherited the house from his sister, and the other has already moved out of town.
They both have equity in their homes (I know because I asked them what they owe.) This makes my job easier. The point I am making is that the vacant houses have much more motivation than the ones where the seller lives there. I talked to another lady who I could have gotten an appointment with, but it would not have been worth my time. Their home was listed for 299 (worth 220) and had expired. I asked her why they were selling. “Oh, we want 15-20 acres instead of the 5 acres we have now,” she said.
Then, I asked the key question, “what will you do if your home does NOT sell?” Oh, we’ll just stay here. At that point I realized I was wasting my time. My final question was, “From what I can see, your home is only going to sell for around $250,000 on the high side. Is that something you would consider?” She told me no. Then I ended the call.
In today’s market, some people are serious about selling, and some will only waste your time, beat you up on why they home hasn’t sold for “their price”, and cause you to lose self confidence. I can sell any home for more money than anyone else. The problem is, sellers still want a higher price than any buyer will be willing to pay. So, I have to work harder to sort thru the people wanting to sell in order to find the people that must sell. Nothing in this world worth doing is easy. If you want to make a good living, you’ve got to work at it. Fortunately, a hard worker can make more money in this business than just about anywhere else.
To summarize.
First point: Put more time calling and mailing the FSBOs and Expired Listings that don’t live in the home. Chase these leads harder than anyone else.
Second point: The key pre-qualifying question is to ask the sellers what they plan on doing if their home does NOT sell. This is where the rubber meets the road and the truth comes out.
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Ben & Chris Curry The Short Sale Agent's Advocate
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