What The What?! Seller Refuses To Give M...

You do a direct mail campaign and get a call from a seller...

He gives you all the details on the property, and the conversation seems to be going well. Then you ask how much he wants for the property.

And he won’t tell you.

Hey Moguls, Steph Davis here, and I’ve been there… man oh man is that situation frustrating!

The seller wants you to come to the property and just won’t give you a number. If the property is local you might be tempted to go, but time is money. And what if the property is an hour or more away?

You don’t need to feel cornered in that situation; if the seller won’t give you a price, you give them one.

Let’s talk about how to come up with a number that works.

Steer Clear of Tire Kickers

When I first got started, I made the mistake of looking at every single property for every single lead that came in.

I would meet with every potential seller, and this got very old very fast. I ended up wasting a ton of my time, energy and gas money.

So after a couple of months of meeting with every single seller—most of them unmotivated and wasting my time—I realized that I needed to do a better job of screening the sellers on that initial phone call and only meeting with sellers in situations where I thought I had a pretty good chance of getting that deal under contract at a great price.

Is the Price Right?

When a seller wants full market value, the deal isn’t worth it for you. In that situation, there’s no reason to waste your time looking at the property.

If a seller won’t tell you what they’re asking for their property, do NOT risk wasting time driving out to the property, meeting with the seller, and then finding out they want full market value or they still owe too much on the property to make it a good deal for you.

But if they won’t give you a price, don’t just walk away. This might be a great deal; you just need to make the next move to find out.

You Gotta Start Somewhere

If you’re in a situation like this, give the seller a ballpark offer. If the property is in an area that you’re very familiar with, in your farm area, find out:

# of bedrooms
# of bathrooms
Overall square footage
Condition of the property

With that info, you’ll probably be able to throw out a ballpark number for the seller.

T price ell the seller you will need to come look at the house to see what type of repairs are needed, but based on your recent business in that neighborhood lately, you’re going to be within a certain range.

The seller’s response to your ballpark offer lets you know whether to set up an appointment or to part ways.

When You’re Not Sure Where to Start

But what if you’re not familiar with the area?

In those cases, tell the seller right up front that you haven’t done much business in that area and will call them back after you do some research.

Okay…

In my next lesson, I’ll walk you through a real example of how I do this research and come up with a number for the seller. And how their response to that number will let you know whether to visit or to walk away.