Time between phone call and face to face conversation

[Michael Norris]

New investor here. When getting a lead would it be wise to chat via phone for an initial screening of the potential seller rather than driving to meet with the seller? A conversation by phone would save a lot of time, instead of driving across town. It would be nice to feel out the motivation of the seller and possibly capture some pricing information through an initial phone conversation. Although, while doing all of this work via phone, I could be out talking face to face with the potential seller and building a rapport.

I understand there will be a starting phone conversation, the question is how far to take the conversation and how quickly do you get out to talk to the seller in person? 

I was driven to this question through Michael Quarles podcast. He has a big operation and screens his leads twice. Maybe it all comes down to the size of the operation. A big investment firm would screen sellers via phone, while the small operations would visit every lead in person.   `\O/`