Receiving calls after first direct mail campaign -- No idea what to say or how to qualify leads

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Hi everyone,

I just sent out my first direct mail campaign last week, and I've started to receive phone calls.  I'm using a questionnaire I downloaded from the resources page as a script to help guide the conversation with prospective sellers.  I've only talked to one person so far, and I have a few calls I need to return.  I'm hesitant to call them back because while the script is helpful they may not be the type of motivated sellers I'm looking for.  So my first question is how do I qualify them?  Do I give them a spiel about what I do as a wholesaler?It would be helpful if some of you could give a brief overview of how an initial phone conversation goes with a lead.

The first person I talked to seems like he could be a good lead.  Not too sure because he already said he'd been throwing numbers around with another investor and wanted to know what I could offer.  Although he said he owned his home free and clear, I found something on AgentPro247 that said there was a $24K mortgage on the property.  He has a tenant that's already living in the house, paying $800/month.  Is this a type of property that I could wholesale?  Or would it be better if the home were vacant?

Also, do I make an offer over the phone or do I ask to see the property first?  Do I need to see the property to make an offer? 

Thanks.

[Steven J.]

Great to hear you're taking action and seeing results! Cudos to you! There are a number of people who never make it to that stage of the game.

As you're starting out keep this little nugget in the back of your head; you are learning and will screw up and will learn from that. Don't let setbacks keep you down but instead learn from them. I learned very quickly not to call myself an investor.

As for some phone discussions check out Sharon Vornholt - I believe she's got some good tips for talking with sellers and starting the conversation. You can also check out Bob Marx sales classes on Udemy.com. I wouldn't buy them at the retail value but you can usually end up getting a promo code or sales where many of the classes are $10. He's got good introductory tips such as succinctly describing what you're doing and then asking the seller if you can ask some questions. 

As for my own approach I try to find a way to help the sellers. I can explain what it is I do very simply first. "Hi Mr. seller, how are you today? So, you have a home you're considering selling? Wonderful, well as you know from the letter you received we can buy homes quickly if need be. Would you be able tell me a little about your home, visually walk me through the home if you don't mind." "Great, sounds like the kind of home we'd be interested in. Would you mind telling me why you're selling? (listen and figure out how you may be able to help. You'll probably ask some more questions about the home and specifics of the condition, size, age, utilities, etc.) Well, Mr. Seller this certainly sounds like something we can work with. Now as you know we can buy homes for cash at a discount and close quickly so you can move on(hopefully, you've gained some insight into why they are selling). By the way you've described your home and given the area its in we can usually pay a cash price between $x and $x. (this is most likely going to be insultingly low) What price are you asking for?" "Okay, well based on what you've said about the home I think that price may be a good value for the home. Without seeing its its hard for us to make a firm offer. That being said, we can generally come up with a higher price if we can arrange some sort of financing. We would pay you money today and make payments over a numbers of years. Is this something you'd be interested in?" I really like and prefer seller financing and generally its an option people don't want to do but if you sound like a credible business you may find that you can change their mindset. If the sellers say they are interested at this point I will schedule a time to set up a meeting to see the home and then I'll give them three offers later. One would be cash, one would be payments, and one would be a balloon loan after x number of years. If they are not interested in seller financing I will usually not waste my time seeing the home yet as they are not motivated enough for my business model. Keep in mind, I'm dealing with mobile homes which is very different than SFH. You'll have much more competition from investors to deal with where as mine is very small.

Hope this helps!