First call - Next step ?

[Lee Haenschen]

Ok, so I've only sent out roughly 15 post cards and got a call today from one of my post cards, it really caught me off guard. I was thinking I was going to have to send out thousands of cards to get 1 call.

When the man called I was familiar with his street/house and talked briefly about his house. He's owned it since the 80's and he is an absentee owner, he only lives a few miles down the road. He rents it out and just wants to sell and get out of it.

I asked him if I can call him back in a little while when I get get to a pen and paper as I was driving at the moment.

My mind is racing, what happens if he does not want me to go inside and bother the tenant?

At this point I want to schedule a time to meet with him at the house and do a once over to check big ticket items over and determine what needs to be done to make it market ready, determine whether this is a good rental or a fix n flip. I want to then contact one of the realtors I have made connections with to get an idea of a ARV. Put together my offer and meet up with them man again to propose my offer.

How long does this usually take a seasoned investor from the time you leave the house to the time the offer is in the homeowners hands? I work 60+ hours a week so I am doing my best to not put this on the back burner and expedite the process the best I can.

IF he accepts the offer what would be the next steps? Trust me I have read hundreds of posts on here and read most all of the mainstream books, but my head is full of farts right now as I was not expecting this to happen this quick. I have a title company in mind that is local. Do I deliver my "contract" to the title company and then they do the rest? Would the title company be the one I give the earnest deposit to? Is that even necessary as this is an off market deal? No other offers on the table so I don't know if earnest money is even necessary?