Door Knocking Pre-Foreclosure List?

Question

Hey BP members,

Have anyone in here ever went door to door knocking a pre-foreclosure list? Any results? What is your experience? Would you recommend doing it?

I don't mind getting rejections so I would like to give this a try :)

Let me know your thoughts!

Ray Lai · Answer

@Michael Lee

Glad you're already doorknocking. Since you're doing pre-foreclosures, thought this would help - this was the most well-written post on the topic I've come across, Ken Min wrote it:

"First, I knew it was a pre-foreclosure so I knew there would be a lot of emotion involved. My first goal was to defuse the emotion. I would knock, and say that I was buying houses in the neighborhood and offering a variety of ways to buy the house.

That would usually pique their interest. Normally, they would say "what do you mean by that", which is a perfect opener for the various techniques I use (Subject, To, Wrap, Lease Option, etc) and that it didn't require fixing up the house or house "showings". I told them I am not a real estate agent so those fees could be saved. That would usually get me in the door if they were inclined to talk.

Once I was at the dinner table talking, I'd ask them what their goals are. (Solution selling.) I'd let them talk until they were finished. I'd write down on my pad what seemed to be their key points. It showed I was listening.

I would then ask them how much they thought the house would sell for. Then I would ask how much the principal is. That ALWAYS confused them. Which is good. They didn't know if I knew they were behind on their mortgage and weren't sure of the number.

So, I would simply take my pad and say "let's figure it out". I would write down principal, I'd ask if that included taxes, "does that include insurance", do you have an HOA, is there a second loan on the house, a HELOC or any unpaid child support liens, and then I would say, very casually "about how much will it take to bring the house current?, does that include legal fees? On rare occasion, someone would say "the loan is current" so I put down zero for that number without questioning them. With the others, I would put in the number (arrears) which meant that we all knew the house was in pre-foreclosure without having to use that nasty, emotional word.

I would then ask if a sale date had been set. I already knew the answer. Sometimes they did not know because they had never read the foreclosure notice. (Too afraid of the obvious.) I would tell them that there is always a solution, I had seven solutions available to me at the time, but not all solutions are equal. I would explain the pluses and minuses of each and then ask them which one I could help them with. More often than not, it was to give them "walking money", do a Subject To and take over their loan and give them 30 days to move. I would bring the loan current and that would help with their credit.

Door knocking pre-foreclosures works if you treat them as though they are people, and they are going through a tough time. Few people are in foreclosure by choice. I made a LOT of money using that technique (door knocking) along with my "Seven Ways To Avoid Foreclosure" letter that I posted elsewhere at BP a few months ago."

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

its all about consistency.. and its dog tough.... when it was legal I ORegon and Washington ( new laws really preclude this activity.. At least if you don't want to get in major trouble.

I had 3 crews  2 in each.. boy girl... we hit EVERY NOD in the 4 county area... so that's a metro area with 6 people working it and that brought in 2 to 4 deals a month... so think about that.. now I only bought screaming deals.. I was not one of these guys that bought no equity sub too deals ( losers those are )... so I could compensate them fairly.. but they still had other revenue streams.. they made marketing pieces for others etc etc..

This also worked because I had a title company that would give me all the NOD lists each week for free.. and they would scrub them to the ones with equity and first position... again major help most private folks are not going to get.

then lastly.. we did not hit them until 3 to 7 days before they were going to lose the house.. Anything before that and as others above mentioned.. just not motivated enough to spend all the time and energy on someone who is certain that their uncle ralph is going to come to the rescue.. they have to really understand that they are going to lose it on Friday and your door knocking on Monday... its a mad scramble but that's what set us apart.   Can an individual do this  sure but lots of work and I am not so sure .. one would not do just as good farming an area as a listing agent and getting listings frankly.

Jon Lee · Answer

Hi @Michael Lee (my dad's name)....I think door knocking is a great way to get in front of owners.  It take commitment, persistence and selling out the the strategy...AND it works at a high level to get transactions!  I have too many examples of it working in my areas of investing.

Here are two strategies to make your door knocking more effective:

1) Don't just door-knock the target house.  Door-knock ALL the surrounding houses around it.  if you're feeling froggy, door knock the entire neighborhood street!  The reason is because you don't want to be seen door knocking just the one house.  Also...neighbors are NOSEY...they can probably tell you more the target house than you ever thought was possible.

2) Have a short 3-4 questions that you can ask all the folks you talk to.  Relate the questions to their thoughts of the neighborhood, what they like or don't like about it, etc.  The last questions should be "Are you or anyone you know looking to sell their property?"

Hope these two things help!

Josh Caldwell · Answer

Pre Foreclosure people tend to respond in smaller numbers and angrier than most lists.  When you get one, you need to be very soft and comforting in your approach.  An apparent random door knock can work well   They key with those people is to let them know that you have a solution to their problem and that you are not just trying to screw them while they are down.

Alice K. · Answer

I've done the whole "let me go to owners" and knock on doors / leave flyers as an agent.

@Jay Hinrichs is right, it was tough. Also, where I am it was SO AWKWARD. So, if / when you do it, if it feels weird, know that you aren't alone!

I love how @Ray Lai said it should be done. Since, imagine if we were being foreclosed on (heaven-forbid). I'd be PISSED / SAD / PANICKING.

All that said, you can do it! I can see it now, you're playing some Tony Robbins tapes while walking door to door. Haha

Adrien C. · Answer

I guess it depends on your definition of "pre-foreclosure." The pre-foreclosure list I mentioned above was a list of people who missed 1-3 payments are were in the banks pre-foreclosure process. Foreclosures in Indiana are judicial so once the bank files in court, it's all public record. Again at this stage, it's still too early for most people.

However, like @Jay Hinrichs mentioned, I contact the owners 30 days out from the actual sale where they lose the house. I also will knock 2 weeks out. I usually have 6-7 a month that are decent to go after and we've landed 2 so far this year. The ones I don't get usually either cancel the sale last minute, or the owner died and probate was never opened so impossible to get done in 2 weeks. But again, it's what you say at the door that makes the difference.

Donald Torrence · Answer

I did door knocking in the late 90's into early 2000.  I had a great turn out with door knocking. When I went door to door I also had hand written fliers with me that said I was in your neighborhood looking for a home to buy and if you or any of your neighbors are interested in selling call me today. I will pay you for the referral. I would get a ton of phone call from the owners. I pull the notices on the door of their neighbors so they would not think I single them out.

Michael Lee · Answer

Thanks for everyone's input! Definitely not looking to take advantage of people while they are down, and if I can help them get out of foreclosure, I would. Besides, I am an agent so I can help list if they got time.

@Ray Lai awesome walkthrough of your conversation, thanks!

@Adrien S. yea I guess it makes more sense contacting the ones who are actually close to auction, or perhaps have auction dates set

@Alice K. Tony Robbins tape is a good fit for door to door haha, thanks!

Michael Lee · Answer

Thanks for the input guys!

@Jon Lee I gave that a try, going around the block knocking with 1 target house that's a pre-foreclosure ( I didn't tell my partner which house was the target, so he wouldn't act strange lol ). And while we're out there, we walked for dollar and got some addresses as well for mailing. Great suggestion for the 3-4 questions!

@Jay Hinrichs  I got a good friend from the title side as well helping me out with the list :)

I heard a lot of guys say they are not really motivated when they have months to take care of the problem. My thinking is when I do the mailing later, they have a face to go with the letter. Do you feel it works only if it's close to auction date? or you're getting some results even if it's earlier in the cycle?

But I'll definitely look out for the ones who are close to the auction date.

Door Knocking Pre-Foreclosure List?

Most Popular Reply