What to do when a Seller wants TOO MUCH for their property?

Happy Friday everyone!

Appreciate those of you that responded to Wednesdays Newsletter requesting some topic ideas 🙂 

As an immediate response I wanted to address the most common request I got which is:

What to do when a Seller wants TOO MUCH for their property?

or To be more specific of what they mean:

How do you convince someone to sell when their house obviously needs work and they are asking way too much?

Let me start this by saying one very important thing….

This is not the kind of business where you CONVINCE people of anything.

This isnt like selling widgets or services where you razzle dazzle them and they make an impulse decision.

This is a people focused and problem solving business.

People choose to work with you based on:

• NEED - Selling at a discount to you will get them what they want

• TRUST - They BELIEVE you will do what you say and make things easy

• SECURITY- Do the terms of the deal put them in a better situation?

To analyze WHY people want too much (and if its worth your time pursuing) you should analyze the situation based on these 3 characteristics.

Do they NEED you?

When you get a seller asking too much the first thing you should do is check the records and situation and see if them giving up HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS of equity ACTUALLY makes sense.

Do they have recorded financial problems that need solved?

Do they NEED to get out of town?

Is the home a burden on their finances?

If none of these things are true, and their home is just a dump, this doesn’t mean they NEED to sell.

A beat to hell home doesn’t indicate motivation.

People can live in squaller and be perfectly financially sounded 🙂 

Do they TRUST you?

Look back on your calls and interactions and think about if you left a good impression!

Did you build rapport with them appropriately?

Were you able to mirror their beliefs, emotions, situation enough to have a decent conversation?

If you call them are they happy to talk to you or do they try to get off the phone right away?

If they’re avoiding you, they don’t trust you…. YET.

This just means you have some more Rapport building to do before they will be willing to consider a lower offer.

It’s common for a high asking price to be a defensive move because they don’t want to say no to someone, and they don’t trust you to be able to deliver on what you promise.

Does the deal meet their personal SECURITY needs?

At the base of everyone’s decision making is their own livelihood.

Review the conversations and their situation and consider if them selling puts them in a position of vulnerability.

Will they be kicked out into the streets?

Can they actually afford to move anywhere with what you will pay them?

Can they even qualify for a rental?

Its highly possible that regardless of their financial/situational needs and how much they like you, that they won’t sell unless its for an obscene offer that’ll make it like they won the lottery.

A person going into foreclosure in 2 months when faced with being homeless now vs being homeless in 2 months will always wait the 2 months.

So what exactly should you do?

When people are asking too much for houses that are in bad condition and you KNOW that THEY KNOW its too much, consider the above.

Education on comps wont help your case.

Explaining your rehab cost wont sway them.

They don’t care that you’re a business that needs to make money.

Understand that most people will only buy/sell 1 or 2 properties in their entire life and this is a big deal to them.

If they dont truly Need You, Trust You, or your not respecting their Security, then they won’t sell to you regardless.

Now if you ARE meeting the above needs, then its a game of time and determination.

• Follow up indefinitely, treating them like people not “products.”

• Approach every conversation from a way that matches the sellers personality.

• Be willing to be flexible on your prices, terms, and exit strategy.

Put in the work and never quit, because 95% of this business is being in the right place at the right time, so you just need to make sure you’re always there.

Hit me up on Instagram.

-Mike