In this instructional video, Dr. Toby Potter outlines four essential questions (or “secrets”) that real‑estate investors should use when speaking with motivated or distressed property sellers, typically over the phone. The first question probes the seller’s underlying motivation (“Why are you thinking about selling?”) to shift their view of the property from an asset to a liability. The second asks the seller to imagine the outcome of a rapid cash closing (“What would you do with the money if we closed in 14 days?”), creating a vivid, emotional picture. The third gauges the seller’s seriousness by asking whether they have spoken to anyone else about selling or leasing. The fourth uncovers the property’s financial burden (“What do you owe on the property today?”) to establish the investor’s offer range. Throughout, Dr. Potter stresses a “walk‑away” rule: if the seller hesitates or shuts down on any of these questions, the investor should end the conversation. He also emphasizes a head‑to‑heart framing technique that reframes the property as a costly liability, and provides a concise phone‑script structure that keeps the investor in control, builds a path to resolution, and allows for flexible negotiation without forcing a full‑price sale.
Chapters
This is Dr. Toby Potter. I'm here today to talk to you exactly the 4 secrets you need to understand about working with motivated sellers, distressed sellers. How do you get them to see things your way? Here's what I'm going to go over with you right here, right now. And I want you to understand these 4 secrets, these 4 concepts you need to master so that when they don't follow suit, you walk away. If you waver at any point in time, they control the conversation. With these 4 secrets right here, you stay in complete control of conversation, which allows you to be the driver of this situation. So let me show you these 4 things that we want to talk about today. And I want you to understand, if the seller hesitates on any of these, Walk away. Most of the time you're going to have these conversations over the phone and just politely— I'll show you how to close this out. But number one, let's talk about this. When you're talking to a seller on an off-market deal and they don't know for sure if they're selling or not, you need to ask them, you know, why are you thinking about selling? They may not be. You want to plant that seed for them. Hey, hey, Nick, why are you thinking about selling this property? Well, I really wasn't. Oh. I made the assumption was because it's vacant, it's not owner occupied, and it seems like it's now becoming a liability. What is your plans on this? Where, what direction are you going? Well, you know, I was thinking about maybe putting a renter in there. Get to the bottom of it. If they're thinking about doing something, the number one question you gotta ask, then why haven't you? Why haven't you? You want them to not be defensive and you want them to be transparent to you. Don't be abrupt, but be able to ask the question that forces them to give you the answer. If this is the case, then why haven't you? So I'm always making the assumption, hey Nick, why are you thinking about selling the property? Well, I wasn't thinking about it. Oh, that's my bad. I just saw that it's vacant. I see the grass a little bit tall. The weeds are grown. There's mail busting out of the mailbox. I just assumed, Nick, You were looking at putting this property on the market and you hadn't found the right realtor yet to do that. Let me save you at least 6% by removing that, all the closing costs. I'll pay cash. Let's move forward. Because of that, would you now consider looking to sell the property and let me remove this liability? See, they still think it's an asset. You have to get through their mind to their heart. And in their mind, this is an asset that's going to make them some money someday. But right now it's a liability that's costing them money. It's costing them taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance. This is all a liability. There's no income coming in. We know this for a fact. So we want to force the idea this is a liability. And you're now, if you weren't, you're now thinking about selling. Number 2, what would you do, Nick, if we were able to close on this in the next 14 days? What would you do with that money? See, now you want to give them a result. Well, shit, never really thought about it. See, you're going through their mind straight to their heart. What would you do? What would you do with this money if I was able to buy this house and close in 14 days at your price? What would you do with that money? And now you get them to seeing it, visualizing it. And they have got to open up to you. They got to be communicative. They got to be transparent. Number 3, have you talked to anybody about potentially selling it? Maybe they have been looking for the right realtor and they just don't want or know who's the right one. We don't ever know. Have you talked to anybody about potentially selling this? Have you talked to anybody about potential leasing? What conversations, what action have you been taking to get you where you think you want to go so that I know how serious you are about doing anything. There's so many times I have walked upon properties and property owners, vacant properties, and for 6 months, a year or two, the property sat vacant because they just didn't know what they wanted to do. They bought it or inherited it or somehow got into a partnership that dissolved, and now they don't know what to do. Therefore, they do nothing. You now need to paint a path to success for them. Give them resolution. Give them a positive future. Plant that seed. Go through the head straight to the heart. And then once they're opening up, once they're communicating, once you fully have painted a tremendous opportunity for them, You need to know. So what do you owe on this property today? They may or may not tell you. Most of them will tell you. They're not bashful, especially if it's free. I don't know. It's a bragging right there. I don't know anything. Sweet. Sweet. So I know that I can pay a dollar and you make a dollar profit. And I know where my max allowable offer is because I ran it through my system. I know exactly what I can offer. Now the question is, Where in between that number will we come up to an agreement? They don't have to have full price. They don't have to have full price. Everybody wants full price, but they don't have to have it. So now I start creating more and more and more of a burden. At any point in time, if they shut you down on these, walk away. We can give you so many properties that you never need to force the situation. Allow the situation to evolve through proper structuring, proper tone, proper emphasis. Hey, I'm Dr. Toby Potter. I'll see you next time.
