Reverse Prospecting Works!
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Reverse Prospecting
Several months ago I received a call from a woman I had met 2 years prior. At that time she was thinking about selling her Long Beach condo. It was an investment property, little was owed on it and it was cash flowing nicely, I advised against the sale - in a hot sellers market. It was a good investment, was paying off nicely and was great retirement income. She could easily purchase without selling that condo.
Recently the same woman contacted me again. She wanted another investment condo. It had to be in one of two specific buildings, had to be on the 4th (top) floor and had to be a rear one bedroom unit with loft and a Downtown Long Beach view. There were none available. Fourth floor condos, like these, were not often available. I assured her that all was not lost.
Over the next few days I sent letters to the owners of the one bedroom with Downtown view, loft units, in those 2, and 3 other similar buildings. The owners were advised that I had a ˜specific buyer, who was very well qualified, looking for a specific unit - theirs. The letter stated that I was not necessarily looking to list their property, that this was a genuine request, not a mass mailing, if they were thinking about selling, at any time in the near future, to please contact me - as soon as possible.
About a week later I received a call from a very nice gentleman who owned the exact unit we were searching for. He had already relocated out of state, had a relocation company and had listed the unit, and of all wonders - it was not yet on the market, is this perfect or what?
He wanted to know if the letter was for real. We had a very nice conversation, he told me the listing agents name, fortunately I knew her. We pretty much had negotiated the sale before he informed me he had it listed already.
The listing agent was contacted and assured that we were writing on the unit, unseen if necessary, subject to inspection. She made it possible for us to see the unit prior to it being put onto the MLS (its good to know people), it was perfect (staged) and in excellent condition. My buyer wanted this unit even if it was in bad condition, she would have fixed it.
The buyer did not find the time to actually come in to write and sign the offer for two days, her husband was ill in the hospital and they lived a good distance from Long Beach. Those two days almost cost her the unit, they definitely resulted in her paying a higher price. The buyer had her own lender, who went to her home the evening before she came into my office to write the offer. I received an odd call during the meeting with several questions, it sounded like there was a party going on.
The next day my buyer arrived at my office in tears. She wanted this unit very badly. While driving in, her lender called to inform her that the interest rate would be upwards of 15% and that she would have to give him $10,000 under the table. This to a woman with FICO scores above 750.
I handed her my phone and said fire him or I am not going to represent you. I further explained that this was a felony and I didnt want to visit her in the pokey. She went ashen, dialed the phone and fired him. He called back repeatedly for several hours disturbing us until I took the phone from her, told him to stop whining, hung up on him and turned it off. She then informed me that the lender had been drinking heavily while at her home the evening before. I was appalled.
Now I had to get a new loan for her right away. It was already late afternoon. The property was going on the MLS in the morning and we were out of time, with no loan, just as sub-prime was exploding - great! I called a couple of the lenders I normally deal with, they were useless so I opened up Active Rain, got Brian Bradys phone number, gave him a call, thankfully, he answered his cell phone.
Brian made magic happen! Seriously! We wrote our offer, had a loan commitment letter and were able to submit the offer that evening. He actually drove all the way up from San Diego to meet with my client the next morning to take care of all of the paperwork. Folks, that is like a 2 hour drive each way. He made that trip several times over the course of the transaction!
The listing agent had our offer on her fax first thing in the morning. By the end of that day we were one of three offers on the table. Five, yes five, long days later, several counter offers, and $11,000 more in purchase price, we were told our offer had been accepted (it was still a great price). The listing agent told me the seller wanted to know which offer was from the lady he spoke to on the phone who had sent him the letter. Apparently that was the deciding factor in his choice. Persistence pays, yet again :)
My buyer had 20% down which was leveraged against the condo she had considered selling 2 years ago. The lender, who just happens to be Americas Most Opinionated Mortgage Broker, was able to work the financing out so that there were two low interest loans, by refinancing the original condo to acquire the down payment and placing a new loan on the purchase. We were also able to negotiate some closing costs and wrap the balance into the loan, resulting in deep savings for my buyer. Not one penny out of pocket for the buyer.
We closed on the unit without further problems.
Its good to have friends at ActiveRain.
Thanks Brian!
In a market that is flushed with inventory what are the chances of a buyer wanting something that is not available? Slim, at best? Owners know it is difficult to sell right now and that it takes time to sell most properties in todays market. If you reach them, with a genuine buyer, before they go on the market, in many cases they will negotiate rather than running the risk of not selling and going through the stress of being on the market. Reverse prospecting works if you know EXACTLY what your buyer wants and EXACTLY where they want it to be. Give it a try, you might be pleased with the results.
Reverse Prospecting works!
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| Laurie MannyLong Beach Realtor (562) 212-5420 |
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Main Street Realtors Belmont Heights 244 Redondo Avenue Long Beach California 90803 |
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