What should be my script for receiving wholesale calls?

[Patrick Philip]

I'm about to send my first mailing out on Monday. I need to be prepared for the incoming calls. What should be my general script? What questions should I ask?

Some ideas:

1. Why are you selling?

2. What kind of condition is the house in?

3. What is the lowest offer you would accept?

Anything else?

[Account Closed]

@Patrick Philip 

Don't have a script. It sounds terrible. It's a simple matter of having a conversation with another human being, and during that conversation being able to elicit information necessary to determine if the property is a deal for you or not.

1. Shut up and listen. Let them talk. If they've responded to your mailer, they're obviously interested in selling. What you need to do is let THEM tell YOU why they want to sell their house, and be ready to offer solutions to their problems.

2. Know your options. Don't get tunnel vision on whether or not the deal meets your "wholesale" criteria. As @Brian Gibbons puts it, be a "transaction engineer". Understand the seller's situation, and understand what options are available to you to make a profit by helping them out. If you limit yourself to wholesaling, i promise you, you'll miss out on deals, and you'll be back at your 9-5 in no time flat.

3.  Know how to negotiate. You mentioned a few key questions in your post. Understand that those questions are asked for two reasons; 1. to elicit necessary information and 2. to psychologically move the seller from a position of strength to position of weakness. 

4. Don't ask the condition of the house. Everyone is going to tell you "Great!". Ask them to tell you everything that's wrong with the house. "Can you tell me about any issues with the house?; foundation, wiring, plumbing etc." Every time they mention something wrong, reiterate how expensive that item is to fix. "Oh man, that would be expensive to fix just to sell the house.."

5. Don't ask "what's the lowest offer you'd accept". No matter how desperate they are, it makes you sound like a used car salesman. Instead try "If we were to get you an all cash offer today, no closing costs, no commissions, and we bought the house 100% as-is with no repairs needed, what would you be happy with/willing to sell for?" 

So much more! Negotiating is a fine art ;) practice makes perfect! 

**Disclaimer - If none of this makes sense, I've had some bourbon tonight and am typing with one eye open**