Reaching Out To Owner of Vacant Home

[Andrew Champion]

Hello everyone. I have found a distressed home in my area that I am interested in buying for a live in flip. The house has weeds grown up and is very obviously vacant. I was able to find the owners contact information online as well as their primary address. The owner is an older gentleman that lives with a relative that appears to be his son.

What suggestions do you have for reaching out to someone out of the blue? Would a phone call be best to start or perhaps a letter to their primary residence? Any tips on what to say and what NOT to say? Thank you all in advance!

[Todd Powell]

@Andrew Champion I have bought many off market distressed properties, and the key is to find them and build rapport. Writing has never worked for me, but a call and ideally face to face is the best. One time we drove one hour on a Sunday and knocked on their door, and within 3 months, we finally convicted this man to sell us his property months later. It was a run down vacant 4 plex that had sat for 13 years deteriorating, but I presented terms to the seller and found out what his hot buttons were. We ended up doing $40K down and owner carry on the $210K balance for 20 years at 4% interest. The key to closing these deals is creating a win-win and solving the sellers problem. So, owner carry, or maybe cash out for your seller, or owner carry until you fix and flip, or do a refi and hang on to it. I have done all scenarios, and friendly negotiations face to face will override ANY letter you can write. Best of luck!