What Makes a Seller Motivated?
- Matthew Woods
- Oct 10, 2016
- 3 min read
What do Investors and Homeowners have in common? They love it when the numbers work and they hate when they don’t work.
Unfortunately the numbers don’t always work out for investors and homeowners. In most cases, this isn’t bad news for the investor because the investor knows that she may need to make offers on several properties before she can land a deal.
On the other hand, if the numbers are not working for the homeowner then they have a Big Problem. They’re going to have to figure out how to make their numbers work or eventually be forced to into losing the house in some way (tax sale, foreclosure, etc).
When it comes to investing, the best homeowners to work with are the ones with Big Problems. The homeowner can be an investor or an owner occupant, it doesn’t matter as long as they have a Big Problem; selling their home as quickly as possible. A homeowner with a Big Problem would be considered a Motivated Seller.
Working with motivated sellers will save you time and energy because motivated sellers will be ready to sign a contract right away, so you’d better be prepared when you meet with a motivated seller. This means that you must do your homework before visiting a property. We’ll talk about the kind of homework that you need to do in the days to come, but for now let’s talk about the importance of connecting with people eager to sell their property.
Most motivated sellers will usually have more than one urgent situation happening in their lives that is forcing them to sell; Divorce, Job Loss, Financial Crisis, Probate, looming foreclosure, are just a few. So these sellers (in most cases) aren’t going to be the happiest of people. Typically they’re stressed and uneasy so you will need to know how to talk with the folks in such a way as to not get caught up in all of their drama while at the same time not being unsympathetic too.
You want to make the homeowner feel comfortable working with you. If you can’t make them feel comfortable you’re going to lose a lot of deals. The lesson here is knowing the difference between a motivated seller and an unmotivated seller.
Unmotivated sellers are going to….
Tell you they need time to think…
Motivated sellers KNOW what they want to do!
Not return your calls promptly…
Motivated sellers will call you before you call them!
Not make a decision…
Motivated sellers NEED to make a quick decision!
Talk about the problem more than the solution…
Motivated sellers like to get straight to the point; buy my house!
Not know how much they need to net…
Motivated sellers have spoken to a few people before you, so many times they’ll have an idea of how much they want to walk away with.
Hopefully this will give you a better understanding between motivated and unmotivated sellers. It’s important to find a good deal that will gain you a nice return, but it’s also important to find a good deal without putting too much time into the process.
Here’s an article that should help you get a better understanding of what goes into working with motivated sellers, enjoy and as always, make it a great day you goal getter you!!
~Matthew
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