How to Talk to Pre-Foreclosure Sellers (Without Sounding Shady or Pushy)

Imagine this.

You're on the brink of losing your home. It's a situation filled with stress and uncertainty. Today, we're delving into how to approach and talk to homeowners in pre-foreclosure with the compassion and expertise they deserve. We're going to be discussing the crucial but sensitive topic of talking to people that are in pre-foreclosure and the best way to go about it. I'm Nathan Payne, and I want to welcome you to the call today so you can learn how to master talking to people in pre-foreclosure. What we're going to be covering today in this live breakdown is how to effectively communicate with people in pre-foreclosure. So you can be sensitive to their situation. We're also going to be going over how to use batch leads to identify and approach these homeowners and key strategies to provide solutions and benefits to both parties. But before we dive into this call that breaks down all this, I want to invite you to my free masterclass that I have at painlessflipping.com.

P-A-Y-N-E, like my last name, Painless Flipping.

We do a free masterclass where we teach you exactly how to work with sellers and buyers and get deals in rapid, fast time with little to no investment. So go ahead and register for our free masterclass. I'd love to see you there. All right, Everyone, so without further ado, let's dive into this call so we can see exactly how to talk to people that are in foreclosure with empathy and being sensitive to their situation.

Let's talk about getting a hold of these people. Let's get— talk about getting a hold of this list. So there's multiple ways to get a pre-foreclosure list. Obviously, Batch Leads has data that you can get it from. You can also get it from your county. I get mine from my county for free. I just asked my title company, I just said, hey, title company, can you send me the pre-foreclosure list every month? So every month they send me the new pre-foreclosure list, okay? And, uh, you Notice of default, that's kind of the list that I get. Just to let you know, that's when they stop making payments and then they get a notice that they're in default. And I think there's 90 days. I know all over the United States, it might be different processes and stuff, but that's the list that I get. So as soon as someone hits that list, that doesn't mean that they're like ready to go. A lot of people just chill like the whole time and they're like, well, I'll figure it out. And when I've called someone on our last call about this, they were like, no, don't talk to me, you know, because they're getting a bunch of people calling them just like, you want to sell? You want to sell? You want to sell? So we're going to try and approach this from a different way and we're going I'm going to show you how it's working for a lot of people I've talked to. A lot of the top marketers that send marketing messages out, they say this is the best way to approach people in pre-foreclosure, probate, these situations where, look, you're not in there, you're not in their shoes. You got to put yourself in their shoes. They are losing their home. They do not want to get a call from someone saying, hey, my name's John, you know, do you want to sell? That could really—

it's a sensitive, you know, time and topic to just bring up.

Yeah, and not only that, but if someone's in pre-foreclosure, there's probably some like cross, uh, things that are happening, like cross-motivating factors, you would say, as like a wholesaler, an investor. Like they might be going through divorce, they might be— someone might have died in the family, someone might have died and the property now is in default because they haven't been able to make the payments. So if you just call and you're like, hey, is the house for sale? Like there's probably a lot going on where it can be insensitive and you might not get the reception or like the response that you, you feel like you you would normally think you could get from asking that question. So let's, let's go. I just told you where you can get the data. Let's go right now into showing you what you do once you get the data. All right, Landry, you got— you're going to share— show us how to skip trace it, right?

Yeah, absolutely. And real quick, Nathan, too, because if you guys do have a Batch Leads account or you guys try it out and get into a trial, you just literally go to this property search section and then just type what, you know, your market, and then you can pull up your filters and find people right here in the pre-foreclosure and auctions. Before I skip trace the list, Nathan, I just wanted ask you in terms of like, for example, the people that you're reaching out to and starting conversations with, you mentioned are notice of default. So people brand new in the process, you know, it's, it's been 90 days since they've made payments, and now they're getting an official notice. What's the difference in reaching out to somebody that is brand new in, in that compared to somebody that maybe already has like an auction date, which you guys can filter in here too? But what would you say?

Auction date is just, it's, it's coming up sooner, right? They have a date for the auction. So that those people, you could say, maybe might be further along the process. It might more motivated.

Yeah. Do you notice sometimes with— I guess it's kind of just like a mix with the people that you're getting, people that are maybe, maybe a little bit in denial in the beginning of the process of—

oh, yes, a lot of people. There's actually people that are like masters of staying in pre-foreclosure, or they get in and they get out, they get in and get out. I talked to someone that bought a house that had been going through that process for like 10 to 20— I think he said 20 years. I don't want to like get too crazy.

Really? It's like getting in and out of that process? Or— okay, that long.

They played the system and eventually they like weren't able to do it and they lost the house. And then that's why he bought it at an auction. But there's just people who like, they're not that worried about it. They'll catch it up. They'll— they have family or they'll just sell it on the MLS. That was happening a lot during the pandemic when properties were worth a ton. People that were in pre-foreclosure could have just— they could just sell it. But now the way things are now, you can't just throw your house and just sell it if you're in a bad spot. So anyway, to answer your question, it always depends. And that's why you have to approach it where I'm going to explain to you guys all how to approach it the right way versus the insensitive way, the pain. The painful way. You don't want to be painful with these people.

Payless, name the game. Yeah. Okay. So once you guys get the data, whether you import it, you know, yourself, if you are like Nathan and grab it from the county, you know, I love that way that you're having your relationship with your title company and they're able to get you that list as well. For people just brand spanking new in that, that process, or if you guys get it in batch leads, once again, it shows up the same way. So all you have to do in the My List section is just select them. Of course, you'll filter them out and find them, but you'll just select those guys. I'm just going to grab this first page, click and then skip trace. So super straight to the point. So I'm just going to click skip trace, never charges you for duplicates or properties that don't return info, which is really nice. Just going to name this pre-foreclosure skip trace. And these are in Arizona. So I'm just going to label it, click skip trace, takes a couple minutes, and then eventually you'll get the info over to the right of all of these contacts and in each of their details. And then you have a skip trace section like this. So it's currently processing. And then you can just download the results. So it takes less than a minute probably to do it. So, wow, impressive. That's it, right? Yeah, that's it. There you have it.

So how do you reach out to these leads now?

So look, there's going to be a couple solutions, right? You can text, you can call, you can mail, you can— I don't do RVM, but you can RVM, you can smoke signal, you know, I'm just kidding. You can't do that.

Oh, I was like, I mean, because I wasn't thinking of the like legitimate smokes.

Yeah, it's a joke.

You got it. I get you. I get you.

But one thing that is working a lot right now, guys, is door knocking. Okay. But again, you got to door knock with the right message. If you knock on someone's door that's in pre-foreclosure and you're like, hey, I'm here to see if you want to sell this house you haven't made payments on, they might be like, get out of here, or not give you that warm response that you feel like, you know, you deserve as an investor, which you probably just, you know, again, you got to put yourself in their situation. You got to put yourself in their shoes. So Let's talk about how to respond to people the right way. Okay. And this is an opinion, right? Like, but this is what I've done a lot of research and I found a lot of people that are doing deals this way are having success because again, they're not approaching it as like, hey, are you a seller? I'm here to buy your house, right? They're here. They're there to solve the problem, right? They're there to help out and provide value. And if you can approach every situation that you find yourself in as, hey, I'm here to provide value to the other person, not take advantage or get what I want, it's going to work out better. So let me show you you guys how I leverage, uh, AI, artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, to write me a message. I kind of have a good idea of what to write, but I ask Chat to help me out sometimes. So let me show you what it said, and I'm actually kind of amazed that it's exactly what I, I wanted to say, but they said it even better than I could. So I said, what is the best way to text someone in pre-foreclosure and let them know you are there to help? That's all, like, not to buy their house, but to help. So it says, when reaching out to someone in pre-foreclosure, sensitivity, transparency are— and transparency are essential. These individuals are likely going through stressful period, and it's vital that your message is clear, concise, respectful, and non-invasive. Here's a suggestion. Wow.

That was really good.

I've never seen a better idea of what's going on than most wholesalers do, right? So this is a letter. This is a postcard. This is a text. This is a call. Or you knock on the door and you say this, or you leave a note on the door, whatever. This is exactly what I'd say. Maybe I'd shorten it down. I'll show you how to do that. But basically you say, hey, you knock on the door, just say, hey, Joanne, I hope this— well, this is a text, but it says, I hope this message finds you well. My name is Real Estate Nate. And I've worked with homeowners in your area to find solutions during challenging times like pre-foreclosure. I understand how tough this period can be, and I'd like to offer assistance, whether it's discussing potential options, helping navigate the process, or answering any questions. I'm here to help without any obligation on your part. If you're open to a conversation, please let me know if you're available. Your privacy and comfort are my top priorities.

I love that.

Wow.

That is a really, really nice message.

Yeah, really nice, right? So Landry, you're in pre-foreclosure, you just got— you're going through a lot of crap in your life, for example, in this situation and someone texts you saying, hey, Landry, is your house for sale? Or just says that, you're probably not going to respond, correct?

Right. I, I don't think so. In, in that time type of period in my life, you know, it might be tough, right?

Especially, we'll look at it, especially if you're getting like 10 or 12 of those texts a day that say the same thing.

That's overwhelming already in general. Even if you did want to, it's almost like, I don't even know who's legit here. I don't even— it's not even worth it to me to reply to anybody at this Right.

But you get a text message like this, and this is what I've been talking to a lot of marketers about, and people that are crushing it and doing well with pre-foreclosure is they approach it as like, hey, I'm the expert at pre-foreclosures. I'm the expert at stopping foreclosures from happening. I'm here to help if you need help, right? I'm here to give you some advice, navigate the process. And those people are like, well, how do I get out of pre-foreclosure? How do I stop this? How do I stay in the house? They have those questions and then you're able to navigate. There's guys in the industry that will actually even call the banks and negotiate the payoff. They'll actually try to negotiate how much is there. Now, it doesn't always work, but at least they're able to help out and help the seller in a time— I keep on saying seller because it's ingrained in me, right?

Yeah, right, right.

That wants to, you know, stay in the property or at least know their options, right? And that's the best way to work it. So everybody, if you, you know, if you type something in like this, you can even ask chat to be like, can you shorten the message a little? You can ask it to improve it, right?

It's so— I always forget about it, you know, how cool. I think we were talking about last time you you could tell it to do it in the tone of somebody, you know, somebody out there, which is kind of cool.

So say this in the tone of David Spade.

I think that is what it was. Yeah.

And let them know I am an expert at stopping foreclosures.

You can get really specific with this stuff.

Yeah. Let's see. Channeling David Spade's typical car sarcasm yet humorous tone. So guess who's become the go-to expert at stopping foreclosures? Yep, it's me. Jocking, right? It's your— if you're tangled up in that foreclosure web, let's chat. I promise no pressure and all privacy. And who knows, maybe I can actually help. But I totally can.

I kind of like that.

Hey, that's actually not bad.

You know, I think this is super helpful to have, like, if you had different templates, you know, to switch it up, different tonality, see what works. Like, for anybody in any part of their business, it's always really beneficial to see what marketing method is working best, what list is working best. So why not with, like, your messaging? So that's That's super, that's, yeah, that's really cool.

And like you said, hey, it'd be cool to have a couple different templates.

Oh, there you go.

Give me 10 different templates, right?

Oh, that's awesome. Super quick. No brain power.

No brain power. So guys, this is it. Like, I'm kind of trying to change your mindset, and it's not just me, uh, that's