All Forum Posts by: Chris Oshea

With my letters to absentee's and drive-by's, I tell them they got the letter because I'm looking to buy a couple of houses in that part of town (without knowing which town they're in some times).

For the really persistent folks who keep asking, I tell them that I have an assistant who helps me with my marketing.

The times I've tried to explain that I got their info/contact info from public records/ tax assesment database/ etc., they just get confused and upset...

Got a call last night in response to one of my yellow letters. It was hard to understand the caller very well because of a thick accent, but heres what I got:

He and his (ex) wife are divorced or at some stage of the divorce

They tried to sell the property but it never sold (my research later shows it was listed in April of 08 but expired and is still sitting there, abandoned)

He doesn't care what it sells for, as his ex is going to get most of the $$$ anyway

Him and his ex aren't on speaking terms apparently, and he said that if I make an offer he'll have his sister talk to his ex, and if she likes the offer, then we'll move forward

From the old website that the realtor set up back in 08, I can see that the interior is/was in great shape and looks pretty new, but the exterior looks terrible. It's on a large piece of land (for the area) in a good area, but looks like hell from the outside. No surprise that it didn't sell.

I'm not even worried about the numbers yet, as next week is the soonest he's available to meet up and talk. What I'm concerned about is not being able to meet with and talk with his ex, who is also on the deed. I've got good reason to believe that the house is owned free + clear or at least they have a LOT of equity.

Should I try and hunt down his ex and contact her, or should I try working through this guy and his sister first?

Anyone been in this sort of situation before?

Thanks!

Very cool, Michael! Thanks for sharing that script!!!

Connection sent! I bought a fairly small list (475) of absentee's with 40% or greater equity who have owned the property for 8+ years, I'm printing the envelopes (same handwritten look as my yellow letters) right now, gonna send half this week and half next week when I get back from NC. I'm anxious to see how these work out! Thanks to everyone who's given advice so far, and anyone who has any other ideas please lets get a good list of good lists! Thanks!!!

Awesome!
I think I'm gonna go with absentee owners in this case, as I'm wondering how many Pre-NOD's would have the equity to sell at enough of a discount for a wholesaler. Not only that, but I can put the list together myself (I've got plenty of time, but low $$$) from the tax assessors online database. This will allow me to also narrow it down to absentee owners who have owned the property long enough to be able to take a discounted sales price if they do decide to sell.

Thanks everyone!

I've got a handful of cash buyers waiting for deals, and I didn't mean I was thinking of getting the owner to finance the deal and then flipping the contract... I had thought "Gee, if I had the $$$ myself maybe I could see if he'd be willing to finance it himself and I could buy the property myself". What I'd LIKE to do is just wholesale the property assuming we can agree upon the right price.

David, are you saying to pass the lead on to one of my buyers and collect a referral fee if/when the deal closes? That's a possibility, though I'm thinking the option idea is what I'm going to try and work with.

I'll be figuring out what a safe offer is tomorrow, I'm gonna see if we can agree upon a price that works for him and me, and if we can, I want to get control of the property. I guess what I'm looking for is HOW I should get the house under contract. I'm not in a position to buy the property myself even with owner financing (believe me, I thought about it), and doing a lease-option would do me no good because of the extensive repairs the house needs (And my lack of funds). What I really need to do is just wholesale the contract... I need the money BADLY to kick my marketing plan up a notch or two (Currently very low budget with no income)

I'm thinking I'll offer the option idea and if it works for him, great. If not, the goal is that my marketing efforts will be bringing me leads like this one on a fairly regular basis (even if not as frequent as I'd like right now)

Met with a seller today (Called one of my bandit signs), long story short the owner is on a waiting list for elderly housing closer to his family and his house is just what i'm looking for. Owns outright, interior is 30 years outdated all the way through, perfect neighborhood, and I think I'll be able to help him out of a potentially difficult situation. I told him I'd come back with an offer on Monday, but here's the thing:

He is on this waiting list and could be notified any time between next week and the next 5 months that a spot has opened up for him, and he'll have to move QUICK or he'll be put back at the end of the line (which he DOESN'T want). He has nowhere to stay until that time, so he wants to stay in his house until they tell him he's good to go. (I think they're gonna give him a week or two advanced notice, but I'm not certain)

I'm working on what my offer is going to be, but I'm curious what options I have in this situation.

I'm looking to wholesale the house, what are my possible ways of working this deal to be a win-win for me and the seller?
Would it be possible to put the property under contract with the agreement that he can live in the house for a certain period of time and leave whenever he has to, and deduct "rent" from the sales price? Would an option be better? or is there another way to work this deal so that he's happy and I'm able to make it work?

Thanks in advance!
-Chris :mrgreen:

Kyle, I've been thinking about buying 500 Pre-NOD leads from YellowLettersComplete.com, and Ted, it's my understanding that Pre-NOD's (pre notice of default) would include the 30/60/90 day late folks...

Alex, I've been enjoying your blog for the last few days! Good stuff!
I'm up in Chelmsford, MA... next to Lowell... about 30 minutes north of Boston. I saw in one of your blog posts that you travel to MA frequently? What part?

Thanks for the replies guys!!!

I'm thinking that I might do best if I purchase a mailing list. I've tried (on a small scale) mailing to the owners of properties I've driven by that look run down or abandoned with so-so success (4 calls from 73 letters, 1 is thinking about moving their elderly mother from the house and selling sooner rather than later, 1 is a realtor and is thinking about selling in the next year, 1 was a "vacation home" and would be willing to sell for $500k... 900sq/ft cabin by a pond, LOL, and one was just curious why I was contacting him).

I was thinking that probate records might be a good way to build my own list, but after much research it seems that probate deals tend to take a while after they're recorded and don't generate much response?

Would it be worth the money to buy a list of pre-NOD leads and mail to them? I'm on a tight budget, what direct mail lists typically generate the most response and uncover the most motivated sellers?

Thanks!
-Chris