Make me an offer I want to sell in three months.

[Joe S.]

So let’s hear it from the pros. I am having sellers tell me to make them an offer because they want to sell in three months. I don’t like making offers if they are not ready to sell, because three months is a long time from now.. Some of my leads are a hour or more away. 

Another thing if a seller refuses to tell me what they want for their property I’m not so sure I want to drive a hour and a half one way to discover whether or not they’re really motivated.

Are buyers really running these  kind of leads and making open ended offers? Am I missing something?

[Greg Scott]

I own several properties out of state which puts me on a lot of lists.  Data aggregators combine those property details with my email, cell phone, home phone, and home address and sell them to wholesalers and other buyers.  Every week I get about 4 mail pieces, 7 to 10 phone calls, and at least a couple of texts asking to buy one of my properties.  I'm sure it is similar for people in probate, foreclosure, and other purchase lists. 

It gets very tiresome.  But, some callers are insistent that I need to sell to them (even thought I tell them it is unlikely they can meet my price) or keep calling even after I tell them to go away.   I sometimes tell the persistent ones to make me an offer, knowing it is snowball's chance in hell the number will motivate me to sell.

In short, I doubt this person really wants to sell.  I'd offer to call them back in 2 months.