In this post, I’m going to discuss how to streamline the process of the initial meeting with the homeowner facing foreclosure. Your obvious purpose in this meeting is to get all the paperwork signed that will allow you to do the short sale. You want to avoid meeting with the homeowner multiple times because it can be a huge waste of time for you. Ok, let’s go over a few of the steps, and how you prepare yourself for this meeting.
First off, you should never never never never NEVER schedule a meeting with a homeowner until they’re ready to move forward. One of the most frustrating things in this business is spending 2-4 hours of your day going out to meet with a homeowner, only to have them “think about it” and you walking away from the meeting empty handed. There is nothing the homeowner needs to discuss with you in person that can’t be discussed over the phone. If you think the homeowner might be flaky, and you want to meet with them anyway, you will probably be wasting your time. My personal technique is to have the “flaky” homeowner come to the office, and before I had an office, I’d have them meet with me at a Starbucks. That way it will not disturb my day as much, and I can keep working while they “come to me.” I’ll discuss the inbound call and how to tell if the homeowner is “flaky” in another post.
Ok, so assuming the homeowner in foreclosure is on board with you doing the short sale, what now. Well, you can either meet at their house or have them come to your office (which might be a bank, a Starbucks, a UPS store, or something else if you don’t have an office yet for your pre foreclosure short sale business (which is ok). I prefer the homeowner to come to the office. After the paperwork package is complete and I’ve started my negiating with the bank, THEN I’ll go out to the property. You can get enough info from the homeowner to know where to start your offer without viewing the property (again, I’ll discuss this in more detail in another post). So bottom line, have them come to the office for the initial meeting.
Notary. Many people get hung up on the notary, since there are docs that will need to be notarized. Let’s make this as easy as possible. Here are your options. 1. Meet at a bank, UPS store, or other place with a notary on staff. 2. Have a traveling notary meet you where you’re meeting the homeowner. 3. Build trust with a notary who will allow you to bring the docs to them and they will notarize them for you at a later date (some notaries interpret the rules this way). 4. Pay for someone unrelated to the business to get their notary stamp. It’s a quick and cheap class to become a notary, and is VERY worth having someone you know or someone in your office become one. Bottom line. Do not get all hung up on the notary thing. Be creative to make this process easy for you.
Paperwork Packages. Have the package memorized. Know exactly what you’re going to say and in what order you’re going to go through the paperwork. Have a checklist. Do not get all hung up on this, just go over it by yourself a few times so you know what to say and it will relieve the stress.
To Summarize:
- Only meet with homeowners who are ready to get started
- Meet at a location convenient to you, if able
- Be creative with the Notary
These few simple steps will make your life of meeting with the homeowner in foreclosure a bit more streamlined. There is a lot more to talk about, which I’ll cover in more detail in later posts.
Take care,
