5 Tips to Maximize Success With Pre-Foreclosure Seller Leads

Working with pre-foreclosure seller leads can be highly rewarding for real estate agents, but that doesn’t make it easy. To be successful with distressed homeowners you need to have a strategy, understand the client and the pre-foreclosure process, and above all, have the right mindset. Incorporate these five tips to maximize success with pre-foreclosure leads.

1. Know Your Real Estate Seller Leads Strategy

Before you begin to work with pre-foreclosure leads, you need to have a strategy in place. It’s best to have some experience under your belt – veteran real estate agents recommend building your skillset first by working For Sale by Owner (FSBO) or expired listings.

When you get your first batch of pre-foreclosure leads, you’ll want to make some prospecting calls, but your success with these is highly dependent on your approach. Homeowners in pre-foreclosure may not yet be fully aware of their situation or ready to talk about it with a stranger. If you don’t have experience working with pre-foreclosure leads, you can approach your prospecting as an “out of the blue” call. A simple outbound script is:

Hi, I’m [YOUR NAME], I’m a local real estate agent with [YOUR TEAM / BROKERAGE], I know this call is a little out of the blue, but I have a bunch of homebuyers I’m working with and I know people are looking for homes like yours in the area; are you interested in selling?

If you get a “yes,” you can then set the appointment to come see the home and discuss selling options. As you build rapport and get to know the client, the topic of foreclosure may come up – but let them come to you, not the other way around.

2. Bring the Right Mindset in Working With Distressed Sellers

The key ingredient to having success with pre-foreclosure leads is bringing the right mindset. You should expect to hear a lot of “no’s” or a lot of hang-ups before you get to a “yes,” but that one “yes” can be all you need to see a return on your efforts. 

Dealing in volume is critical – that’s why KeyLeads sends you a fresh batch of leads every month.

It’s also important to remember that a “no” can turn into “later” or turn into a referral. Unless the prospect explicitly tells you not to contact them again, you should add these leads to your nurture and follow-up campaigns to maximize the chances that they turn into later business.

KeyLeads data shows that around 30-40% of homes in pre-foreclosure sell within 12 months, so you don’t want to miss the opportunity to nurture and win this business.

3. Understand the Distressed Homeowner Client

When you get a “yes” from a prospect, it’s crucial to build rapport right away. Homeowners in pre-foreclosure are in financial distress, so it’s your job to listen to want they want and empathize.

If a client opens up about their situation, you’ll get further along coming from a place of service than going for a hard sell. You may be meeting these clients during some of the hardest, most challenging periods of their lives, so counterintuitive to what you might think – offering guidance on how to save the house may help your business more in the long run. 

One of the most effective things you can do is educate and deblur the pre-foreclosure process and be a source of knowledge for clients.

4. Have a Follow-Up Plan for Your Seller Leads

The gold is in the follow-up, so make sure you have appropriate systems in place to nurture all your KeyLeads business. You’ll want to have a designated tag in your CRM to know these are pre-foreclosure leads and segment them into dedicated campaigns.

Direct mail or postcards can be effective, but ensure your marketing shows the unique value you bring and highlights why you’re an authority or expert so that you stand out in the mailbox. Highlighting a financial component about why prospects should list with you may go far with financially distressed homeowners.

5. Do Your Homework on the Foreclosure Process

Lastly, do your homework before you start to work with pre-foreclosure clients. Know the different stages of pre-foreclosure so that you can talk to them about it if needed and know the different options available to them, including saving the home, getting them an instant cash offer, or listing the home. If clients are comfortable, you may even be able to get in touch with their lender directly to discuss what their options are.

Be organized – have a pre-foreclosure checklist to help steer your clients through each phase of the pre-foreclosure and short sale process confidently and efficiently

Are you ready to be the high-caliber agent that homeowners trust to handle their listings? Put these five areas into practice and watch your business start to grow.