I too am pretty new. So I have a question for the experienced realtors. How do you qualify your leads? What questions do you ask? Half my leads are tire kickers. They don't know the area and are in no hurry to buy or sale. I fooled around with these the first 6-9 months to get some experience and practice. Now Im done wasting my time and money. What questions should I be asking these leads? If someone says we've been considering a new home......whats the reply? Or we plan on sale the house....?

Make them qualify themselves. what are you planning to do? how are you planning to do it? when do you plan to do it? You will need x dollars to do that, do you have it all now? Where is it? why haven't you done anything up to this point? My personal favorite is are you just doing some wishful thinking, or are you really planning to do something, I mean really doing something by actually doing something in the next 45-60 days?

I'd be glad to help. Are you referring to buyer leads or listing/seller leads? And what lead sources are you getting them from? Lead source can be a indicator of motivation.

Thanks for the sign call Mr. Buyer prospect. Want to tour the home? No problem! Email me a copy of your loan pre-approval letter. Don't have one? Call local bank at this number. Is free and should take less than 15 minutes on the phone to get started.

Don't want to do this? Call another agent.

Here are my buyer scripts that work about 80% of the time. Of-course I am always open to others input/critique. This seems to be the most efficient way for me to deal with buyers and allows me to show only a handful of homes (2-3) to them and then they make a decision. From my experience this approach pushes buyers away who need to see 15+ homes or never buy, and allows me to work with only the most motivated buyers.


SIGN CALL:
1) Which home in the neighborhood do you own? ( )
2) When would you like to take a look at the home? ( )
Skip to # 4 Below, if approved prequalify with more questions from #1 below and setup showing. Inform them that when you meet you will be bringing the documentation for you both to work together for that home or any other home. For backup (if they are not interested in that listing) bring a list of the best priced properties in the area and review with them. - Don't leave without setting up another appt with them.


All other buyers: Craigslist, website & referral leads.

1)How can I help YOU? ( ) ………….
- What area's are you considering?
- What price range?
- Are you working with a real estate agent?
- When do you want to be in your home? (time frame)
- Whats important to you about moving? (motivation)
- If I found the home you want today, are you ready to make a decision? ( ) ... Great...

2) I wanted to let you know that I just created a list of the best priced properties in our area. This list includes motivated sellers, bank owned properties and foreclosures… I am reserving this list for clients that are interested in viewing homes this week, as these properties will sell fast.

3) When would be a good time to meet and take a look at them? ( ) Great!

Objection - To show you how hot these properties are, I can email you a list of the homes that were on my list last week that have all gone pending.

4)Have you talked to a lender about getting preapproved? ( ) Terrific (who?)/ oh, ok….

NO – I can have my lender ____ at _____ call you as soon as possible and discuss with you all the financing options available to you… It won’t take more than 10 minutes and there is no obligation. Can I have them call you shortly? ( ) Great!

5)I have time on _____ at _____ to meet with you and review this list. Will that work? ( ) Great, I will see you then! ---Get EMAIL and send to LENDER--- Add to Leads and Setup Appt!


*Call back with status of prequal and prequalify more if possible (ask more questions) and confirm meeting.

2nd Contact
1)Hi _____ it looks like the lender was able to get you approved for ______.

2)Have you outlined, in detail, the type of home you want to purchase? Bed/Bath/etc? Have you seen anything you liked?

3)Once we’ve determined the type of home you want to purchase, I will select the three to four absolutely best homes in that range for you to look at…I don’t want to confuse you by showing you a lot of homes… does that make sense?

4)Once we have looked at these properties, I will ask you to select one and write an offer to purchase that property… Are you prepared to write an offer if we find the right property?

5)Once we’ve written an offer to the seller, I will negotiate that contract for you. If accepted, we’ll work together each day toward the closing. - Fair Enough?

6)I look forward to meeting with you on ____ at ____. Also, I will be bringing with me the documentation that will allow us to work together. I am going to email it to you asap. Can I count on you to review it before our meeting? ( ) Great! See you at _______!



Gauge their responses, motivation and their time frame and make sure that you want to work with them. If they are not ready to buy now (2-18 month buyers) call them every 90 days until they are ready to buy, also ask for referrals. Use this simple script:

Hi ______. This is _____ with ______. Do you need to still buy a home? Can we start the process this week?


*If you call 3-4 times and they don't pickup or return your calls delete them and move on to other more motivated leads. Its just a numbers game....


These scripts for the most part are a combination of Mike Ferry, Ben Kinny, Bob Fritz scripts....

I agree with the prior posters. You need to see if they have there financing in place.

If they don't then you can provide a value added service of helping them get their financing in place. Which they will do and think your great because of this if they are serious.

And if they don't get their financing in place then you can weed them out.

Is there a professional way to ask if ask about their financial plan? Or a simple...Have you been qualified for your home loan?

always keep it simple....

I just always asked them if they had a pre-approval letter from a lender. Sometimes they would say they are "pre-qualified" and I'd explain the difference and tell them my loan officer will give them a call with some special pricing on the loan when they get approved. Also you want to have them meet you at a Starbucks or your office and sign a Buyers Brokerage Agreement on the first appointment.

Been doing this 10 years now. First words out of my word, "Have you talked to a lender, do you have a pre-qual or pre-approval letter?" I say that all in one breath.

If they haven't or don't, I offer either a lender's name and number or tell them to talk to a lender or bank - get your letter and call me back because you need to know what you qualify for and I need to know what you're qualified for. If they fuss, I tell 'em to pretend they own a home and they have it up for sale, would you want people coming through your home who CAN'T afford to buy it? They always answer 'no' - that's where they start to understand it.

If they don't call me back, no sweat to me b/c I'm not wasting time with a 'potential' buyer - and that's all they are at this point, either 'potential' or 'non-potential.'

Triad gave you a very good amount of information, use those guidelines for qualifying leads and it will make your job a lot easier.

You don't state where in Florida you are, but keep in mind that areas that are tourist-driven will have a much higher ratio of tire kickers (my market is full of day dreamers, thus qualifying them becomes more critical).

Would directly ask them about pre-approval from lender will lose a lot of potential buyers???

Thanks everybody for the help. Ive got another question/objection...How do you address buyers who are worried that they are gonna over pay for the property?

Pull up comps for the subject property. Buyers must remember that distress sales or REOs are always going to be cheaper than owner-occupied; although, in my area, some owner-occupieds are priced like distress sales - talk about distressing the market even more. Appraisers are supposed to comp like to like even in terms of owner-occupied (normal sale) to owner-occupied, distress to distress, REO to REO - not an owner-occupied to an REO; but, sometimes, it can't be helped.

Terrible part is EVERY buyer wants to be sure they're not overpaying so then they make low-ball offers. Lord, how I wished this market would straighten out some.

"My knowledge and research will ensure that wont happen, now sign this EBA agreement and lets find you home"

I don't know if I'd say 'my knowledge'. I'd say the 'research' part, but, the knowledge part...I'm just wondering how that'd be in front of a real estate board. Better to just pull comps and let the buyers decide if they're overpaying. 'Course, again, EVERY buyer thinks they're overpaying; every seller thinks they're under-selling.

Thanks for posting these. I'm an experienced Realtor and there's some good verbiage here. The part about bank owned and foreclosure properties selling fast is so true, especially in the last couple of months.

This is a great thread so far..
I like to get the client to fill out a financial information sheet so that I can control who the client talks too and keep them in my pocket. Most of the calls that I deal with are "potential" buyers, so my approach is a little different. I wonder if this approach is hurting or helping...

When you've dealt with people who don't want to talk to a lender, won't get the letter, and you take them out numerous times...and then you finally 'discover' that they're NEVER going to get that letter...if you do this with about 15 different buyers...you'll learn for your own sanity that you NEED their letter; otherwise, there's a very good chance you're just spinning your wheels when you could be working on a REAL buyer.

Some of these people have nothing else to do in life so they find an agent and want to look at homes. I've even been so blunt as to tell people I'm not a home tour guide. I've told 'em there's only two kinds of agents who will take you out without a pre-qual/pre-approval letter...the newbie and the desperate - which do they want for an agent?

you loose the unqualified people who are not ready willing or able to purchase......i would rather show 10 people homes and have 10 sales where the client plays by the rules that have been proven to work......or you could show 100 people homes to make 10 sales


...seriously, i tell them that it is my office policy that i have to have emailed or faxed to me a prequalification letter prior to scheduling the showing and also that the buyer agent will call prior to leaving the office for confirmation of the appt.....the agent will not go to the property without phone confirmation prior to leaving the office.


i have a saying i made this one up:-)
*****someone is always running your business***** it is either you or your client/customer....the only one that has a proven track record in real estate sales is me and not my client, so we play by my rules....***someone is always going to run your business....you or your clients.....what business plan will you follow to make your living.

[quote=estatereal][quote=Rezo]Would directly ask them about pre-approval from lender will lose a lot of potential buyers??? [/quote]

you loose the unqualified people who are not ready willing or able to purchase......i would rather show 10 people homes and have 10 sales where the client plays by the rules that have been proven to work......or you could show 100 people homes to make 10 sales


...seriously, i tell them that it is my office policy that i have to have emailed or faxed to me a prequalification letter prior to scheduling the showing and also that the buyer agent will call prior to leaving the office for confirmation of the appt.....the agent will not go to the property without phone confirmation prior to leaving the office.

[/quote]

I really like that one, blame it on the "office policy"

I actually overheard someone talking in a restaurant once. He said:

"You know what my wife and I like to do? When we are in a new city we call up a real estate agent and tell them we want to buy a house, but we aren't familiar with the city. They takes us around and show us different neighborhoods and we look at a few homes, hell they EVEN BUY US LUNCH!"

How to qualify buyers:
1) they must be preapproved for a mortgage before you show them any houses, no exceptions
2) ask them how soon they NEED to move (not how soon they WANT to move, there's a difference). If they don't need to move, they're probably not serious, even if preapproved.

How to qualify sellers:
1) Ask them why they need to sell (same difference as above)
1b) If they need to sell, ask them how quickly they need the home sold (helps determine price motivation)
2) Ask what their plans are: do they need to buy another home, have they already purchased another home, etc.

Hope that helps!

They are not potential buyers if they are not preapproved for a mortgage. Don't be afraid to ask for the preapproval. You will save a lot of time (yours and theirs), gas and frustration. The only people who don't like being asked are people who aren't serious. Keep that in your head and you'll never go wrong.

OMG that would've made me sick LOL

My buyers and developers usually BUY ME lunch or dinner whatever the case may be.

Work commercial real estate and get rid of the residential flaky buyers.