Cold Calling for Off-Market Properties
I do NOT like cold calling!
I've only done it one other time, but because of popular demand from you guys and because I don't want my nerves to make me miss out on some potential great deals, I'm doing it again.
Today, we are going to do some live cold calling as I try to get some off-market wholesale deals.
Up until now, all of my wholesale deals have been on-market, meaning there are properties listed for sale on the MLS through a site like Redfin or Zillow.
Now, I really like these types of deals, but not everyone likes wholesaling on-market because you have to deal with things like real estate agents, proof of funds letters, and high earnest money deposits.
I also think it's worth targeting some off-market properites, because there is this possibility that those deals could have higher wholesaling fees than the ones that are on-market.
So, I'm doing it live on camera for you guys, right here, right now. Let's see how it goes.
Today, I'm gonna be cold calling “the secret Zillow list.”
This is a list that I first heard about while listening to an episode of Brent Daniels’ TTP podcast.
The secret Zillow list is when you cold call rental listings that you find on Zillow, but not just any rental listing.
You want to look for the listings that maybe are below market value or a bit run down, because you're trying to get in contact with a tired landlord.
These calls to possible tired landlords might be a little bit easier than just straight up cold calling a random homeowner.
So we're easing into this cold call series, and I've scoured through my local Zillow listings and picked out about a dozen listings that I'm gonna call today.
If you're gonna target this list as well, remember that if you find a listing that looks like it's freshly remodeled, it's probably not the best idea to call.
Because someone who just put a bunch of money into their property is either: one, not going to want to sell it, or two, want to sell it for at least market value. Or maybe even above market value, and that's not what we're looking for.
The second thing you want to think about is, if the listing is listed by a professional property management service, then you're probably not going to be able to call and speak directly to the owner and the decision maker.
And so, all the properties that I've picked are ones where it's just one person. You can call them directly, they're the owner, and you have that conversation with them.
Let's dive in and see what happens.
Cold Call #1
“Hi, this is Chad, you know what to do and when to do it. At the tone please record your message. When you have finished recording you may hang up or press one for more options.”
“Hi, my name is Lil. I am a local investor here and I was calling about your rental listing on 27th Place. I was just wondering if you got that rented out already and if not, if you would be interested in possibly a cash offer or doing some type of owner financing? I look forward to hearing from you. You can reach me at … Thank you.”
It always seems like the first cold call I make, it's like I'm so hyped up for it and I get voicemail.
But that's all right, we're just gonna keep going.
So this guy is a realtor. It says that he's a realtor, and one thing I want to know is not only would people be interested in a cash sale, but also would they be interested in owner financing.
Because if they want monthly income, this property is for rent for $750. He might be willing to take less than that, say $500 a month to do an owner financing deal with me and not have to deal with any of the upkeep or renting out of the property.
And so it could be less money for less hassle. That might be something that homeowners are interested in.
Cold Call #2
“Hi this number is using robo biller to screen their calls, please say your name and the purpose of your call, and I'll try to connect you.”
“My name is Lili, I'm calling about a rental listing.”
“Hi, I'm the career director and director of education here. If you have questions about how to get your license, or how to enroll in our school, please shoot me a caption.”
Okay, so we're gonna send him a text, because obviously he wants people to text him. And here's what I'm gonna say:
“Hi my name is Lili, I live here in the city and am a new real estate investor. I see that you have several rental listings around town, and I would love to know if you'd be willing to sell or owner finance any of them. I appreciate your time, and look forward to hearing from you, thanks.”
We got a text message from him and he said “Thanks but we're not interested in selling. Good luck.”
Let's respond and say “No problem. Thanks for the response.”
Cool, let's keep moving.
Cold Call #3
“Hello, this is Manny.”
“Hi, my name is Lili. I'm calling about your rental listing. I was just wondering if you would be interested in selling or owner financing that property?”
“No I'm good, no thank you.”
“Okay do you have any other properties you might be willing to get rid of?”
“Are you guys wholesalers?”
“No, I'm actually looking to either make a cash purchase for myself, or to do owner financing.”
“I have a couple of other properties. They're not quite ready to live in, but I have one that's not in too bad of condition.”
“Okay yeah, I would love to talk to you about it. Are you wholesaling it, or is it just one you've got?”
“No, this one I bought not too long ago, I just haven't got the time. I have some other properties that I'm working on right now.”
“Got you. Well, do you know how much you want for it? Or can you tell me what type of condition it's in?”
“Well, I know when I bought it, the electricity, they stole. It has so many windows, but some of them are broken. If you want, we could possibly meet tomorrow and see the house.”
“Yeah, what part of town is it in? Yeah, I know where you're talking about. Are you cool giving me an address, and that way I could kind of look up a couple of things and let you know if I'd like to see it tomorrow?”
“Yeah, sure just give me like 15 minutes and I'll send it to you and see you.”
“All right, sounds good. I appreciate it.”
That went well. If they say no, always ask if they have another property that they would be interested in selling.
So I will definitely make sure I save his name and number, and if he doesn't text me, I'll be texting him in a little while.
Now, he asked if I am gonna wholesale the deal. I’m looking for my first flip property, so that's why I said I'm either looking to cash buy it, or to do an owner financing deal.
Now if we get into a situation where I'm looking at it, and I'm like, “Hey this isn’t going to work for me because I don't have enough money, or I don't have experience to flip this, I need to partner with someone and assign it to them,” then I would have that honest conversation.
So that's why I said that I think you should always be honest and let people know what you're going to do.
Owner financing is always a great way to get a property, even if you don't have enough cash to outright purchase it.
Before I forget, let's text him. And of course, if I do decide to go see that property tomorrow, I'll take my camera with me and we'll make a vlog out of it. And maybe it'll be our first off-market deal. We'll see.
All right I'm saying, “Hi there. This is Lili. We spoke on the phone a few minutes ago. Send me the address of that property when you get the chance, and I'll let you know if we should meet to see it. Thanks.”
Cold Call #4
“Can't take your call now. You can leave a message after the tone.”
“Hi, my name is Lili. I'm trying to reach Ken about a property on 1st street. I was wondering if you would be interested in owner financing or selling that property. Thank you.”
Cold Call #5
“Hi, my name is Lili. I'm calling about your property on 71st avenue. I just wanted to know if you were open to owner financing or selling that property?”
“Well, I don't actually own the property, I just manage it. I don't think the homeowner is interested in selling it. I could always run it by him, but I don't know that he's interested in it. If you want to share with me your information, text it to me. I can send it to him and let him know that you're interested in it.”
“Yeah that would be great. I'll text you now. Just let me know. I appreciate you passing the ask along.”
“Sure.”
“All right, thank you. I'll text you now.”
All right, let's send the text. So I'm just gonna say, “Thanks for your time. My name is Lili and I'm looking to buy a property, either through owner financing or with cash. If the owner is interested in selling any of their properties, I'd be interested in taking a look. Thanks again for passing this along. I can be reached at my cell phone number.”
All right let's keep going.
Cold Call #6
“Hello I'm trying to reach Josh.”
“Josh is going home for the day. Can I help you?”
“Yeah my name's Lili. I'm calling about your listing. I was wondering if you all are open to owner financing or selling that property?"
“No, we are not.”
“Okay, do you have any others you're looking to get rid of?”
“No, we're not.”
“All right, thank you.”
“We don't sell very easily. Once you get land and property, last thing you really want to do is sell it.”
“All right I hear you. Thank you for your time.”
“Okay bye-bye.”
Cold Call #7
“Hello, I'm trying to reach David.”
“Hi, this is him."
“Hi, my name is Lili. I'm calling about your listing on 1st street. I was just wondering if you all are open to owner financing or selling that property?”
“No, I'm not looking to sell it.”
“Okay I hear you. Do you have any others you might be looking to get rid of?”
“No, I really don't right now.”
“Okay well I'm definitely looking to either make some cash purchases or to do an owner finance.”
“Are you a wholesaler?”
“Well I have wholesaled, but I'm looking to keep one for myself.”
“Well, if you ever are wholesaling, give me a call.”
“Yeah, I'll put you on my buyers list for sure. Anything in particular you're looking for?”
“No nothing really, but I've got other properties here. I got houses, I got duplexes, multi-family, whatever. If you've got stuff that you're looking to provide, well I'll keep you in mind.”
“And you keep me in mind as well if you ever want to get rid of anything.”
“Gotcha. Okay, we'll do it all right. Thank you, talk soon.”
“Bye-bye. thank you also.”
A good way to find buyers, so I will throw him into my buyers list database.
Cold Call #8
“Hi, I was calling about a listing.”
“Okay yes I think that's still available. I think it's $825 a month. It's a three bedroom.”
“Okay and I'm wondering are you all open to owner financing or only renting?”
“No, just renting.”
“Okay. All right, thank you for your time.”
The reason I didn't go further is because the name on the listing is different from the person that answered, and he answered as if he's running a real estate company. Typically, they're not the decision maker, and so having the conversation there doesn't take me anywhere.
So that's just why I did that.
Cold Call #9
Let's do some more. All right I'm not as nervous as I was when I started.
“Hello?”
“Hi, I'm trying to reach Jeff. My name is Lili, I'm calling about your listing.”
“Oh yes.”
“Awesome. I'm wondering are you open to owner financing that property or doing a cash offer? Either way.”
“No.”
“All right. Do you have any others you're looking to get rid of?”
“No, not at this time.”
“All right, thank you for your time."
Cold Call #10
“Property management, please leave your name and number and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you.”
“Hello?"
“Hi, I'm calling about a listing.”
“Yeah what's your name?”
“My name is Lili. I'm wondering, are you all open to owner financing or selling that property?”
“I do not believe so. I would have to contact the owner and check with him, but I don't think so.”
“Okay would you mind checking for me, and then you can just keep my contact info and shoot me a text if he's open to it?”
“Yeah, if he wants to sell it. It is a duplex.”
“Yeah, that would be great as well.”
“Okay hold on let me get him. I will call you as soon as I find out.”
“Okay. All right, I appreciate it, thank you so much.”
Yeah I'll take a duplex, even better.
Also, just to tell you guys the reason I called that one even though it was an LLC that was listed.
It was just the way that the pictures were taken. They were definitely taken by a cell phone, and not a very good cell phone. And the listing description wasn't very flowery. It was just like, “Two bedrooms, one bath.” Very basic. So maybe they’re a tired landlord.
Conclusion
So what do you guys think?
I know that cold calling is something that can be intimidating, but this really wasn't that bad.
And maybe you don't want to start directly with homeowners. Maybe you want to try something like this, where you're calling the owners of rental properties, because they may just be a little bit easier to talk to.
They're expecting calls about that property, and I mean at the end of the day, what's the worst that can happen?
They're just gonna say no, maybe they hang up on you, maybe they have a few choice words, but you'll probably be okay.
And everything that I'm saying to you guys, I'm saying to myself as well because I know it can be nerve-wracking.
But I want to share my journey with you guys, and help you along the way as I'm moving down this path too. I hope this helps!
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