2 years ago I tried my hand at this business - within 5 months I had a deal under contract that would have netted me 40K had it gone to closing. Long story not worth telling, but I didn’t control the whole deal - had a “partner” who basically took it out from me. Figured at that time, for various reasons, I didn’t want to pursue recourse legally.
Anyway, I have come into a sum of money. I am looking to get back into the game. In the process the first time, I was really stupid and threw away all my notes, books, contracts, etc., because I was so p.o.'d.
So – for those willing to type - what are the 10 TOP QUESTIONS to ask prospective sellers when they call on your ad. . . the ones you want answered and you will pass on that person - and not expend time and energy unnecessarily if they can’t/won’t respond.
The 10 TOP MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK to see if they are pulling your chain or not.
I wont divulge the entire script because it may take too long to post, but here are some good questions:
“How much do you think your property is worth?”
“How much are you asking for your property?”
I ask these 2 questions above even though I know it’s a load of crap anyways to find out what they think it is worth and how close to it are they willing to let go of their property. The ones that name an asking price way above what they think its worth are most of the time unmotivated, and vice versa.
“When are you looking to sell your property?” / “When do you need to move?” (gauge time frame motivation)
“Are you in a hurry to sell your property now?”
“Sounds like a nice property, what’s your reason for selling?”
“How much do you owe on your property?” (good to find out if they are cooperative or not)
“What have you done so far to sell your property?” (To find out if they have been active or not, or what they plan to do)
“If I don’t buy your property today, or by ______ date, what will you do then?”
And my favourite to ask to end the call:
“If I were to pay you all cash, and closed within a few days, what’s the least you would accept below ______?”
There are a bunch of other questions but these to me are the most important. I don’t ask 100% of these questions on the 1st call, but I do eventually get the answers to all these questions sooner than later.
You will notice that the most important questions are aimed at finding out their hot buttons or emotional reasons for selling. The more emotional hot buttons they have, the easier the sale (or purchase in our industry).