Absentee Owner Motivation?

[Colin Stewart]

Hi Everyone!

My name is Colin Stewart and I am a new investor in Dallas/Ft. Worth. I am marketing to absentee owners to source fix/flip opportunities and I am getting calls -- but I am having trouble converting them from suspects to prospects to deals. Mostly everyone I have talked to has a tenant moving out within the next 30-60 days and they want to sell. They do not want to do repairs to the property, but my offers are coming in lower than they want and I am hearing them say they will just list on the MLS.

I am using the "70% ARV minus repair" formula to develop my offers -- and I believe my comps are pretty close.

What are the pros doing to convert absentee owners from suspects to prospects to deals?  Is there anything I am missing?  I feel I am not finding the problem, or pain to solve, so I feel I cannot utilize a someone's circumstance to create motivation.  I have a 15 year sales background working complex sales scenarios with deals ranging from $50,000 to $2M -- so I am savvy with sales, but I'm having trouble finding any problems to solve with the absentee list.  Thinking about ditching absentee owner prospects and just focusing on foreclosure and probate leads so I have more motivated sellers.

Any coaching or advice would be appreciated.  Thank you!!