How To Drive Motivated Home Seller Leads
Running a successful real estate business depends on generating motivated home seller leads which are the backbone of the business. But finding motivated sellers is not easy.
07/09/2020
Running a successful real estate business depends a lot on generating motivated home seller leads. They work as the backbone of the business and help keep the business afloat. But finding motivated sellers is not easy.
A motivated seller should be eager to sell off their property on lucrative terms and be seeking market competitive rates. These types of sellers also differ from traditional real estates sellers in the following ways:
• A motivated home seller is often willing to sell the property at a buyer’s favorable price. This generally means buying at 10%-30% below the market trend.
• A motivated home seller is ready to sell the property at lucrative terms. This means the seller will agree on terms such as on no money down or 0% interest.
Ideally, smart investors are always looking to find motivated home sellers who are ready to sell at below market value and on easy financial terms. This is because with such just deals they stand to make big gains and can also flip the property easily if need be.
However, finding homeowners who are willing to sell is rare and there are many sharks waiting for such deals to emerge. However, one can find motivated home seller leads by following these basic steps:
• Make a list: Use locally published records, search on the internet, or use a well-established real estate network.
• Use strategy: Target the people of the list by drafting a simple message for approaching them.
• Direct contact advertising and promotion: Launch a direct contact campaign through email or mail to property owners that have shown interest to sell
• Follow up: Take follow-ups to keep your list updated
• Filter leads: Prepare questions and concerns and filter target leads through their replies
Never be afraid to spend a little on marketing as it can help open up a lot more leads very quickly. Using strategies such as direct mail, brochures, and even just going door-to-door is the best way to stay in contact and keep potential sellers engaged. This makes the leads realize the seriousness of the offers and just maybe take the bait.
In order to narrow down your target audience be aware that the following people are more likely to be motivated home sellers looking to liquidate:
• Realtors
• Out-of-state landlords
• Foreclosures (Including pre and current ones)
• Absentee owners
• Attorneys (they can connect investors with leads)
• Homeowners in probate
Once a target list is ready, the next crucial step is to create marketing collaterals. This may take a while as it involves a lot of fine-tuning and understanding of customer and market conditions.
Real estate investors and brokers often have a website with their contact details and information in case a homeowner would like to get in contact. Simply having a contact page on the website is enough to allow a potential seller or buyer to drop their contact information about a particular property. Creating a potential market also includes the process of dropping brochures, flyers, postcards, or letters to would-be sellers.
Creating contact via direct emailing has been proven to be one of the most important steps and successful marketing techniques when it comes to approaching homeowners. Direct mail marketing strategies smoothens the process of communication. The buyer feels no real pressure to sell as engagement is not being done face to face. However, if the marketing is done well the buyer will be curious about what is being offered and depending on the situation may consider selling.
Getting a response from a lead takes usually more than one direct mail. It is expected that you would receive a reply from at least 10-12 homeowners when sending out about 250 direct mails. Directly addressing the recipient's issues and proposing a solution in the message may increase the response rate. For example, if a lead wants to sell the property because he/she needs money immediately, propose that mode of payment is cash and the buyer is ready to make the payment in one go. Highly personalized letters get quick responses.
They are also specialized services that can generate motivated home seller leads for a fee. To learn more click here for motivated home seller leads.
Filter the leads
Once a motivated home seller makes contact through the website, email, or mail, schedule a phone call to find out as much as possible about the property. Try and discuss the following points:
• Why do they want to sell the property?
• How long have they lived in the house?
• What is their asking price?
• The exact location of the property
• Documents of the property
• Does the property need any renovation?
Remember, do not push for buying the property just yet. This stage is to gather information and establish a rapport. Try and educate the seller about the process and suggest solutions.
Finding an off-market property
Off-market properties are often not being openly advertised on different real estate medians. These types of sellers are often hard to find as these deals come and go in the blink of an eye. It is often just about being in the right place at the right time. However, there are some techniques one can use to find off-market property deals that are too good to pass.
Find a distressed property
When an owner is under some kind of distress, he/she usually resorts to selling the property. Try finding a distressed property just by driving around in the local market. Look for houses that need renovation, the ones that have boarded up windows, abandoned lawn, or untamed landscaping. Search for the owner of such properties by visiting local country records or searching on the internet.
Hop onto Local Classifieds
This may sound old-school but it still is a potential step for finding a motivated home seller lead. Do not think about cracking a deal in one go as this step requires consistency. Investors/buyers may need to go through the classifieds regularly. Now classifieds are published online where notifications can be turned on for getting direct updates in the inbox. This saves a lot of time and effort. Investors have voted this strategy as the best-motivated home seller leads generator in previous years.
Contact Local Attorneys
Local attorneys tend to have inside information about the real estate market, especially, in their neighborhoods. They have a local clientele mentioning homeowners that need to sell their property on low market rates. Local attorneys like family lawyers know these properties as they may have clients who are going through bankruptcy, divorce, and other legal issues. Particularly attorneys who work with family and real estate laws are more aware of viable motivated home seller leads.
Use Social Networking
Using potential social networking websites such as Facebook, Google+ and Twitter may help in reaching the target sellers. Facebook particularly gives the option of creating a business page or joining a real estate group in a specific area. This helps you find potential buyers and sellers as per locality making life a lot easier.
Finding a motivated home seller lead is one of the first steps in the multi-step process of cracking a deal in the real-estate business. But finding a hot lead is always a good start. Find out what the homeowner wants and tailor an offer that best suits his needs.
Some buyers are not interested in paying real estate fees while some want to deal with mobile homeowners who want immediate cash. As a successful investor, it is ideal to be consistent and persistent.