One of the best direct mail pieces to reach a seller is by a seller letter.
And, today, I’ve got a special swipe and deploy for you that…hint hint…may have something to do with just this very topic.
Like I mentioned in my last blog post about my proven postcard, there are 3 levels of opportunity in the bank foreclosure arena.
These 3 levels of opportunity are:
- The pre-foreclosure stage, which happens before a Sheriff/Trustee sale.
- The pre-list foreclosure happens in the weeks/months between the foreclosure sale and the live MLS listing.
- The post-list foreclosure / REO = real estate owned, when the bank foreclosed on the property and owns it. And, it’s on the MLS.
Normally, what I’m about to share with you today is for REWN members only, like those with access to the Motivated Seller Data Feed, but today I’m feeling extra generous!
So last time, I talked about my proven postcard that I’ve been using for years — it’s helped other investors all over the country have very high levels of success.
Today, let’s get going with my proven seller letter.
A Look At The Seller Letter…
Dear {owner – first name} {owner – last name},
My name is {Your Name}. My {Wife, Husband, Partner} and I noticed that you own the property at {property – street}.
We’re looking to get into the neighborhood and when we saw your house we thought, “That’s the one”.
If you have any interest in selling, we’d love to speak with you about buying the property, even if you’re behind on payments or the house needs work.
We’ll buy “AS-IS” and we can close quickly, or at the time of your choice, plus we’ll take care of all the closing costs and fees normally associated with selling a home.
Please call {Your Phone Number} anytime and we’ll make you a win-win offer.
Thanks,
{Your Name}
{Your Phone Number — Texts Accepted}
{Your Email Address}
{Website Address}
The Seller Letter Explained…
OK, so one of the reasons this seller letter works so well is because it’s “folksy.” It’s clearly not from some corporate entity. And this is an important ingredient to success today…
See, something that I tell my clients and students all the time is, “To succeed in a competitive environment, you need to inject humanity to present yourself as a human, because people do business with people they like.”
And this letter is a great way to open a folksy, friendly relationship. Hedge funds and large corporate buyers in your market don’t have the ability to inject humanity and get to know these sellers the way you and I can.
And that is our distinct advantage over them.
So, you’ll notice the way it begins:
“Dear John Smith,
My name is Cam and my wife, Helen, and I noticed that your property or noticed you own the property at 123 and we’re looking to get into the neighborhood…”
Now, that could imply we want to move into the house or IT could imply we’re building a portfolio of rental properties or we want to flip the house.
It could imply anything the reader wants it to, really. And I think that bit of folksy ambiguity is a good thing… it’s honest, but it also leaves it up to the seller to connect some dots in terms of the meaning they want to give to it.
Then: “If you have any interest in selling, we’d love to speak to you about it, even if you’re behind on your payments or the house needs work…”
By talking about payments and the house needing work, buying it as-is and closing quickly at the time of their choice and taking care of all the closing costs — you’re basically knocking down the objections that a seller might have and presenting yourself as an easy option or alternative.
You’re demonstrating that you’re going to be easy to work with.
Short And Sweet
I also want to point out that this letter is short and sweet. So, even though it’s not going to have the same high level of consumption and readability as the postcard we looked at in my previous post, it’s still going to be read by those who open it.
They’re not going to have a hard time digesting it.
But, what’s there is also very potent, while not feeling hard hitting.
Everybody Wins Or It’s NO Deal
I also particularly like that we finish the letter with the commitment that’ll make them “a win-win offer”. It’s some assurance that helps them dial down their caution.
That’s actually a theme throughout my entire business philosophy — it needs to be win-win or it’s no deal. It’s got to work for the seller and for you, or we shouldn’t do it. No one should be taking advantage of anyone else or beating anybody over the head.
Finally, at the bottom, we give them several ways to get in touch with you. The more ways you give a seller to respond to you, the more likely they will. One of those options is undoubtedly their preferred method of contact.
If the phone number you’re using has the ability to send and receive text messages, keep the Texts Accepted copy. Otherwise, delete it.
The Seller Letter…It’s As Simple As That
And there you go! My proven seller letter explained.
So, swipe it, customize it and deploy that bad boy asap!
Have you already used my letter in your marketing to sellers? Let me know in the comments!
Regards,
Cam Dunlap