15 Ways to Generate Motivated Seller Leads: #2

The good ole’ NOD or LIS list is a great source for motivated sellers.

What is a NOD or LIS?  NOD, is the Notice of Default that is publicly recorded by a trustee when the property is slated for foreclosure in non-judicial states.  In judicial states the LIS, or Lis Pendens, is filed by an attorney or trustee.  Both NOD and LIS are part of the pre-foreclosure process.  When these are filed, it is a screaming red sign that the default borrower is at the end of the line.

Marketing to these lists should be a part of any pre-foreclosure investor or short sale agent’s arsenal.  Depending on your campaign and your competition’s message, you can expect a fairly high response rate compared to most direct mail efforts.   The borrowers must now take action or lose the home and destroy their credit. When you mail to them you are targeting what I term a “qualified” lead.  You know what they need, you know they (should) need a solution within a certain time-frame, and you know what other solutions they may be offered.

Some things to consider:

Check Out Your Competition. You should ask any of your current sellers whose property hits the public record to save whatever mail-pieces they receive.  You should also google for “stop foreclosure” teams in your area and see what type of support or opt-ins they are offering on their web-sites. I will opt-in to read their e-books and to receive their email campaigns. You cannot differentiate yourself from your competition without knowing what they offer.

Develop Marketing Pieces that Trigger a Connective Response and Ask for a Call to Action.  Effective marketing always provides benefit rich solutions to meet a consumer’s needs.  Remember that sellers facing foreclosure have emotional and literal financial needs.  They are in a state of exhaustion, frustration, stress, distress, possibly anger, and sadly they may be in denial. You want to touch them emotionally and then provide them a literal solution.  We use a variety of pieces that include postcards, hand addressed “we care” cards, professionally developed letterhead campaigns with brochures, and simple flyer mailers.

Always Touch the Consumer More Than Once.  It is a cardinal rule of marketing that you have to build presence in the consumer’s mind before they may take action.  Not to say that there are not those impulse callers.  However, most consumers have to be touched 5-7 times before they act.  We always send a minimum of 3-5 successive mailers that are supported by info web-sites, call to action otp-ins, and email campaigns.  Most of the sellers that we convert to listings or investment deals call or email us on touch number 3.   They receive a postcard, a letter, they opt-in for our free information, and then we swoop in to help.

Always Catch & Cultivate. If you are spending hundreds (maybe even thousands) on kick-butt mail pieces and postage, don’t drop-the-ball when it comes to capturing lead information you can drip on to help later or for possible referrals.  Many homeowners you market to will choose an alternative other than working with you to stop their foreclosure.  For instance, we consistently lose sellers to bankruptcy.  But, guess what?  They always end up coming back.  We make sure they come back to us through the use of follow-up campaigns.

Automate Automate Automate. 1) For your NOD or LIS mailing campaigns, I suggest that you find a full-service mail fulfillment company to do all the work.  Those of you in short states that get your list all at once, I suggest using someplace local.  2) For gathering a list that requires you go to the courthouse, systemize gathering the information.  3) Automate follow-up using a lead capture web-site and CRM.  4) Consider using phone and text capture systems as well.

Always Make Sure that You Provide Credibility without Drowning the Message. You do want to include who you are, testimonials, and how they can seek you out.  If a seller cannot Google and find your company, any profiles describing your commitment to the services you provide, and no other professional associations they may not trust working with you.  We have found the best way to establish credibility is through testimonials and case studies.  Our most effective mail piece includes pictures of homeowners with their comments as well as the benefits they received by working with us….e.g., “Avoided Foreclosure, walked-away from over $150k in mortgage debt worry-free, no deficiency judgment, second mortgage wiped clean, already in a new home they can own.”

Always Track & Measure Your Results.  DO NOT spend a bunch of money and not track which mail pieces and support campaigns are most effective.  We use tracking codes on our phone lead capture, each mail piece, and each email.  At the end of each month I measure the cost of each lead converted.  The  campaigns that cost the most for the least conversion, we ax.  The campaigns that are effective, we enhance and do more of.

Train & Systemize. DO NOT spend a bunch of money and not train your team to handle a distressed seller call.  They need to have a scripted and required list of information to gather from the seller.  Your team also needs a systemized and fast follow-up plan for assessing the property, meeting with the homeowner, and getting the lender a short sale package so foreclosure is postponed.

Don’t Forget Timing. Especially in a “short state,” like we are in, you may only have a window of a few days to get the seller’s attention, cultivate, and then get them to the table to discuss selling their home.  Your mail-pieces have to come one right after the other.  They have to SCREAM “call to action.”

How do you get these lists? In some areas you will get the best and most current list by going directly to the courthouse.  In other states, you may be blessed with sources who compile the list.  No matter what, you need to make sure you are using leads that are not ‘aged’ when dealing with NOD.

A FREE TIP:  We do extra mailers to the out-of-state property owners.  It takes a little extra work sometimes to get the address of the out-of-state owners.  If you have the address, you can mail directly versus sending mail to a vacant property that is returned or thrown away by a tenant, or lost in mail forwarding purgatory.  We have a higher conversion rate with our out-of-state sellers than our local property owners.

Results From Our Team This Month:  We mailed to just over 500 sellers three pieces.  Piece number one generated 4 listings.  Piece number two generated 3 listings and one equity deal.  Piece number three generated 3 listings.  We also generated 5 listings days 2-4 after the final piece was received by the sellers in response to an auto email campaign.  We expect to continue to receive calls from the mailer.  At our expected short sale close rate, we will make back our investment 30 times over.

To Your Short Sale Success!

Amy Ransdell ~ Your Atlanta Short Sale Specialist