You are absoulety right about approaching people that are in an unfortunate point in their life. People who have had problems, situations, crises, all take a bit more to realize what their situation is. I just however do not agree that most of them don’t think logically or rationally. People as a whole can react a bit better when given options and if your letter EXPLAINS they have options (you don’t have to be detailed in the letter, wait for them to call) it will help them to react a bit calmer as opposed to saying “screw it” and going into denial about the situation. It also helps you to gain their trust and show them you are concerned with the SITUATION and not just the PAYCHECK.
Concerning your comment of : “I will agree that, there might small percentage of homeowners that might not care but I would like to hear from people with their success stories to be convinced.”
I’m no Guru, surely no professional, and not even a full time investor. But considering I’ve acquired 3 properties in a month “subject to” using these techniques, I’D say i’ve got a couple success stories ;D.
However, you ARE correct about the focusing on the purpose of the original thread. As far as MY OPINION goes (feel free to disagree, I am wrong… occasionally), I do agree with No Money Down on the items in the envelope. It creates curiosty and if your offering quick cash, I can’t see a dollar sign keychain (bright green) as a joke. But then again, depends on your market…
As Shamatso said, “Put yourself in their place”. If your mailing to homeowners that are more focused on getting out AND getting cash, offer cash and a quick close. If your mailing to people with distressed property and want a clean start offer the opportunity to help rebuild credit and get rid of the house (sub-2), etc. etc. etc. Know your market, and tailor your marketing accordingly. It will pay off. Good Luck!
Green queen I would love to see what you have. If you can share
Blue Boxer I would love to see what you have. Also 
I had an Lp filed myself, and received at least 10 letters a day until the Lp was removed. What doesn’t work- lifesaver candies (its not funny), letteropeners with razor edges (suggests you’re cutthroat), lollypops (suggest you think someone is a sucker), or letters disguised as birthday cards or invitations (the letter is notecard sized, and I felt duped- if you are trying to trick me I wouldnever talk to you), the worst is “i want to buy your house” with an address from a neighborhood where the houses sell for half the price of mine ( i think you can’t afford me, and you haven’t heard the asking price). No the worst were the ones written on a piece of notebook paper, “my husband and I want to buy your house” - no last name or return address(tacky paper, tacky approach).
I liked the letters from people who were genuine, acknowledged they were an attorney or investor; offered that their were options available and most important- acknowledged that I might NOT need their services if I had the problem under control, and apologized if that were the case. My situation was one where I knew I was in no danger of losing my home. It was annoying to have all these letters- I felt that my privacy was invaded.
One last thought- if you are courting people in the 500k plus MV range, remember they are probably professionals with some kind of intelligence, and won’t respond to unprofessional or gimmicky letters. You are trying to get their business, so don’t look like an advertisement carpet cleaning or a new credit card.
I’m a newbie to wholesaling. Got my first property 8 years ago with a carleton sheets method. this is a great site- thanks for the opportunity to post:) :-*
Lainfla:
Would you respond to your lender during pre-foreclosure period? Would you take their suggestion?
Hey Guys,
I spoke to my coaches and they really don’t want the letter out there.
They feel the clients that pay them should have the benefits of marketing that works.
They try and test everything before they give it to us.
They have kick butt methods for selling them too. One of the other students had been trying to sell one of his homes for 5 months, Stevie looked at it and set up the new marketing, the student had a contract in 2 days and it closed in 2 weeks.
They just don’t want every investor out there flooding the market with their marketing, it makes sence… when yo go to debtors homes and you look at all the letters they have kept, they are almost the all the same.
TG
How much do they want for this kick butt letter?
They are bringing out a disc with the marketing on it.
I will let you know.
TG
hello shamatso, all
the lender offers a forebearance ag, something you should never sign, or really think twice about. they offer to add the back payment(s) divided by 6 months to your next 6 months mortgage payments- but you have to sign a letter saying that if you default at any point during that 6 month period, they can foreclose immediately. florida is a mortgage state (versus a deed of trust state). the foreclosure process takes a good 6 months here. i was able to get a rewrite thru the lender as there were predatory issues with the origination process. i’m not allowed to discuss details…
basically communication with the lender during the preforeclsoure process is key to preventing a foreclsoure. as we all know the banks don’t want to be homeowners. once you ar ea month behind, customer service won’t talk to a borrower. they forward your call to home retention department.
what’s happening here in se fla, is the folks who took advantage of the 1% arm mortgages are finding themselves in way over their heads. they can’t sell and move to a cheaper house because the taxes are so outrageous. we’ve had a 20-30% appreciation in home values over the last four years. so a homeowner can’t afford to downsize. plus the insurance issue related to hurricanes. many insurance companies left the state forcing folks to use the state owned fund. the rates are high. my taxes and insurance run me 15k a year. we also don’t have alot of affordable housing. the foreclosures are at 485 for our county- i think that’s a monthly number.
my point is to start making contact asap- preforeclsoure, and keep making contact.
a rei group speaker said that it takes 5 contacts before someone answers you.
hope this helps.
So, figure out what are the options for the owners in foreclosure. For many, there are no way out but to sell and salvage their credit or run the house to the ground. If you could understand the psycology of the homeowner during the foreclosure period would help you better understand how to approach them with better success rate.
Unless you have intentions of helping the homeowner, you will not be successful in the venture. For me, it’s very hard to work with homeowners during foreclosure period. I had better success rate by walking up to their home and talk to them but it was too emotional for me when I see the children looking at me with someone who will be taking their home away from them. I know most of you woud say, I am trying to help them but we all know why we are trying to help them. For this reason, I’ve decided to wait until the property became REO.
Real Estate Owned ( by the bank)
samatso,
i totally understand how you feel. but think of this- when the bank has taken control of the property the homeowner is left with nothing. at least when you buy a house before the foreclsoure, they have some money to relocate and their credit has mortgage lates, but not a foreclosure.
the couple at the end of out street had three kids. the father, an alcoholic didn’t pay the mortgage for 14 months. the mother was in lala land. the kids would come over and we would feed them, give them clean clothes. anyway, they ended up losing the house. the sheriff came, put a sticker on their door, and the couple had to move in a few days. they ended up in a motel, the kids not enrolled in school. they ran out of money, ended up in a christian shelter. i wish i had been involved in wholesaling at that point. they really would have benfitted from someone explaining what was happening, give them cash out to start fresh in a stable home near the kids’ school, suggest credit counseling. to lose your home like that is very undignified. i think the word DENIAL best suggest the distressed homeowner’s mindset.
John Michael has a really nice packet of information, including sample letters and forms for pre-foreclosures. You can download the packet at http://trice84.tripod.com/gifts/My_gift_to_you.pdf.
No I don’t get any kick-backs for recommending this free book (what is the commission on free these days anyway?). It’s just that John Michael has been one of the most valuable resources I’ve encountered online.
You’ll find that after a while you will abandon all samples anyway because people vary so much in circumstance and personality, there is no way to capture everyone in a few templates.
HTH.