One more tip. If you can afford to spend $50/week on marketing try this.
Pay someone else to call FSBOs. Post the following ad in the “gig” section on CL:
Work from home! Need someone to call on FSBO ads to get some basic info on the houses for sale. Great part-time income for someone who likes to talk to people and isn’t afraid to be on the phone with them (there’s nothing to fear; remember, they placed the ad so that you’d call). Must have good communication skills and be easy to understand on the phone. Only need to work 1 or 2 nights a week at your leisure, without needing a babysitter forcing you. I give you everything you need including a script, instructions, do’s and don’ts, and the property info sheet.
You’ll get half a dozen respondents in 24 hours. Choose one and pay them $3 per completed sheet, capping them at $50/week. That’s 17 leads a week for only $50! Now all you have to do is pick out the ones willing to give away equity.
Best way to find motivated sellers? Preforeclosures (when they actually have a foreclosure date - look in the legal paper for your area), abandoned homes (drive around and talk to neighbors or look in the tax records, skip tracing and so on.) Just with these 2 ways you will find more sellers that you can handle. How do you approach them? Call them, knock on doors or a very good letter. I have done this personally for years with success.
I was in the same position not to long ago . Until I came across some info that literally rocked my world from a investing standpoint and changed EVERYTHING! I garuntee you have already talked to all the motivated sellers you will ever need but never realized it. They are other wholesalers! If you have a buyers list in place. You can flip other wholesaler deals to your buyers list all day, every day! Go google flex option or a guy named Tim Mai and you will be on your way. By tommorow morning you will restructure your business and get that ole loving feeling back about investing. if you have any questions then shoot me a email or PM. its really not hard at all, So get to it and HAPPY INVESTING BRO!
So how would you find motivated sellers to do a lease option deal? I’ve contacted hundreds of sellers/landlords on Craigslist and Forsalebyowner with no luck yet in finding anyone to actually do a lease option deal.
I don’t think anything changes with the seller using a flex option. As long as you work out the dollar amount, the seller could care less (couldn’t care less?) what you do. Their only obligation is to sell to you for the amount agreed upon in the time specified in the option. If they find a buyer for more than your option, good for him, bad for you!
If you’ve talked to hundreds of sellers it sounds like marketing isn’t your problem…seems like either you’re talking to unmotivated sellers or your pitch must need some work.
Couple questions:
What are you looking at to determine whether the seller is motivated or not? Are you prescreening them or are you pitching everybody who calls?
Actually I used the email scripts from some L/O courses and forums to contact Clist FSBO/FRBO and Forsalebyowner.
This is the basic message to the FSBO/FRBO:
…“would you consider doing a rent to own or lease purchase?”
… “I have pre-screened T/Bs looking for a nice house to RTO in your area”…
I tell the sellers the benefits of doing a L/P transaction
Most said “no”, some just want to sell, some just want to rent, some want to wait until the market goes back up, a couple said scam, a couple may consider it, but only if I live in the house myself, some said “tell me more”, after I’ve told them everything humanly possible about L/O.
Yes, I think many are unmotivated. I was told to use CList and On-line websites if one had a low marketing budget. I heard some people claim they get a “YES” out of every 20 FSBO/FRBO contacts from CList.
So, how and where does one find the really motivated sellers?
Try not to sound eager or at all desperate…more like, “I don’t need to buy your house but you need to sell it, I may buy it if it fits my needs” trust me it’ll come across in your voice either way…seem too eager and you lose…also don’t tell them everything you know about anything! Tell them what they need to hear, which is how your solution will help THEM solve THEIR problems. So in other words you don’t explain to them how L/Os work, you tell them “your payments, maintenance, and repairs will be taken care of until I get the house resold for cash.” Tell the truth, be straight up, but don’t get bogged down in the mechanics of the transaction…they just want their itch scratched, and your job at that point is to not tell them HOW you’ll scratch it, but to actually scratch it. I hope this makes sense.
If people think you are really out to help them (which you should be… dont focus on yourself greedy!) I think you’re more likely to get a lead from them
Getting discouraged just means you have to work harder and possibly do something different until you find what works. Sending out mailers could work, just make sure you don’t only send once, it may take 2-4 mailers before a distressed seller contacts you. With that in mind, 1200-2000 mailers could be expensive so you may want to narrow down your target.
It comes down to a numbers game. You get enough deals into your pipeline, fliter out the duds then evaluate the prospects in 10 mins or less. Write a lot of offers and sooner or later you will start to find deals and you will find what marketing is effective. Keep working hard and don’t ever give up, again if something doesn’t work then try something different and work harder.