Blog

Flipping San Diego Houses: When Sellers Aren’t Motivated


Flipping San Diego houses offers some of the best returns, but largely depends on investors finding motivated homeowners. Unfortunately, not every ‘motivated’ seller appears to be that motivated in today’s market. Why not, and what can investors do when they are flipping San Diego houses?

From day one, investors interested in flipping San Diego houses are taught to seek out motivated sellers. These are the property owners that need the most help and need solutions immediately. By creating win-win scenarios, real estate investors can earn a decent rate of compensation by providing an incredibly valuable service to property owners, lenders, the community and the end buyers.

However, green investors are finding it increasingly difficult to find truly motivated sellers. Despite showing all the indicators of needing help, many fail to budge while others flake out mid-transaction. So what’s the deal here, and how can Southern California real estate investors get better at navigating these hurdles to flip San Diego houses?

Why the Lack of Motivation?

In order to find these ‘motivated’ sellers, San Diego real estate investors often use direct mail, cold calling, door knocking and other outbound marketing techniques. Property owners are normally picked out and targeted as the recipients of these real estate marketing efforts based upon one or more of the following indicators:

  • Mortgage delinquencies
  • Foreclosure notices
  • Bankruptcy filings
  • Out of area owners
  • Underwater mortgages
  • Recent mortgage applications
  • Use of credit and revolving credit
  • Property appearance

Many investors often find it surprising that every prospect doesn’t reply. Despite attempting to make contact, with the intention of providing valuable assistance, many owners are even resistant to offers of help. Others, while receptive, fail to take advantage of the help being offered. So why would someone faced with a financial difficulty neglect help?

There can actually be many reasons for this lack of motivation including:

  • Not recognizing the severity of the situation
  • Believing they can’t be helped after previous failed attempts
  • Fear of becoming a scam victim
  • Pride
  • Hoping things will get better by themselves
  • Just too busy
  • Being poorly advised by friends or Realtors

Sometimes they do appear motivated at first, and then go cold midway through a transaction which can be even worse for investors. So how can the message be better conveyed to help more distressed home owners?

Creating Motivation & Urgency

There are some owners that, for whatever reason, may never budge. Yet, this doesn’t mean that investors ought to give up easily. Sometimes many more houses can be flipped by tweaking marketing messages, scripts and presentations to better relay the benefits to the individual.

Remember that every case is unique. Those that are successful at flipping San Diego houses are those that become the best at recognizing what is most important to the individual seller. Often times, putting in that little extra effort where others don’t makes all the difference.

Of course, there are many truly motivated sellers eager for help that just need to be reached. Sometimes they are reached through the above mentioned methods. Others may be connected with using inbound real estate marketing methods.

[fbcomments]