Getting the Attention of the Homeowner

PERSONAL CONTACT WORKS BEST - This the toughest part, yet to become a successful foreclosure investor you must overcome the obsticle of establishing contact with a distressed homeowner. You will have much greater success if you TALK TO THEM OVER THE PHONE FIRST ( rather than sending out hundreds of generic,overused mailers ). Once the Notice of Default is public record the homeowner usually receives many cold, sterile postcards and letters from other would be foreclosure investors.

Personal Contact Works

Studies have shown that ONLY sending mailers to get the owner to contact YOU just is not effective. Think about it, most homeowners are in a state of denial about what is happening - they need REAL HELP, not more junk mail. Often these mailers are percieved as predatory and are simply ignored. Why not gain confidence with the owner personally ? It works much better! You will be in a much better position to have an opportunity to purchase their home when the owners are comfortable with YOU. You need to use a combination of mailers and phone contact. An excellent guide can be found here on approaching homeowners : Foreclosure training This method is a true formula that works; Because it's based on a consistent proven method of sourcing, structuring and closing that is process oriented your chances of closing will be much better than trying to re-invent the wheel on every deal. We made $76,000 last year using the pre-foreclosure methods in Ringolds e-book - all with reassigned pre-foreclosure contracts using no money of our own.

Understanding Distressed Homeowners

REMEMBER! CONNECTING EMOTIONALLY WITH SELLERS WHO NEED YOUR HELP IS THE BUSINESS YOUR IN, not just houses and numbers. You are there to inform them of the best option to: keep their home or prevent further credit damage, and if possible, provide a solution to save their equity.

Take a Consultive Approach

A consultive approach works best - helping the homeowner find a possible retention option may provide YOU with no immediate benefit some times. You won't come out ahead on EVERY deal. Just move on and realize, however, your reputation will be golden as an outcome of these helpful relationships. Only after you've examined every retention option should you introduce liquidation - buying their property.

Time Is The Enemy

It is critial distressed homeowners understand that time is their ENEMY and liquidation may be the BEST option. Once the NOD has been filed they usually have 30-45 days before a sheriff sale. You need to move fast. Assuming you're helping a homeowner who has a home that has appreciated and has some equity built up, offering enough money to pay the missed back payments plus late fees AND give them some exit cash is usually enough get the homeowner to sign a sales contract. Your goal as a foreclosure investor in a pre-foreclosure liquidation scenario is to make an offer that pays off the mortgage allows the homeowner to get a clean break and seperate from the home and avoid foreclosure. Usually if the property goes to auction the homeowners get nothing. The reason being that the owners' equity is often times completely offset by the expenses and fees incurred leading up to the auction.