The contact's property for the address on file has likely been listed for sale by owner. This is a good time to reach out to see if they need financing for their next purchase or a referral to one of your agents.
Alert Background:
This contact meets the minimum credit criteria set by your organization, and the property address appears to be listed For Sale By Owner (FSBO) per one of our third-party listing data providers. It would be good to check in and see if they have yet arranged financing for their next home. In a regular market, we found that when a listing showed up 50% of the time, the homeowner hadn't locked in financing for their purchase mortgage. Since you have a prior relationship with the person, you should reconnect and see if they would like you to prepare a pre-qualification. Some borrowers don't realize that they will need that to put in an offer on a new home, which may take some time. Also, you can plant the seed that if selling the house on their own isn't going well, you'd be happy to introduce them to an agent you know and trust.
Script Example:
This script is one example; feel free to make it your own and communicate the message in your own words.
"Hi (First Name),
It's (Your Name)."
Make the Connection: At this point, you want to remind them of how you know each other. This will change the tone of the conversation from a cold call to a warm call. For example, if you spoke to them about buying in the past, bring that up. If this is a contact that an agent provided to you, let the client know the connection, for example:
"We spoke a year ago when you were looking into buying a home..."
OR
"I was introduced to you by (friend) a year ago..."
OR
"We were on the soccer team together in high school ..." (you get the picture, right?)
Now that the conversation has relevance, it's time to start talking about them...
"You may have seen the letter or email from me recently; my system periodically reaches out to clients in the market for a home, and your name popped up, so I thought I would give you a quick call. Are you still at (listed property address)? I see that property may be for sale?"
Let them talk, and ask follow-up questions that will get them talking about their plans, for example...
"What is the reason for the move?"
"Are you looking at buying an existing home or building new?"
"Have you already been pre-qualified for your next purchase/construction loan?"
"How is the for sale by owner process going so far?"
Give Value: Let the conversation continue from here, with you asking questions about them. Remember, people don't want mortgages; they want homes. The more value you can give, in the form of insight or answering questions, the more likely they will open up and have a meaningful discussion.
Differentiate Yourself: Talking about rates and terms will put them to sleep. Rates and Terms will sound very similar from one lender to the next. Instead, let them know some of the steps or challenges they may experience along the way that you have solved countless times...
Possible Next Steps:
The contact is selling and looking to buy or build:
- First, answer any questions they have and get them pre-qualified! Then, send them a follow-up email immediately, so they have your contact info on hand.
- Ask them their preferred method of communication that will work with their schedule, i.e., email, phone, or text.
- If they are looking to build, ask if they would like you to introduce them to a good builder that you know and trust.
- Keep in touch often throughout the process.
Contact is already pre-qualified with another lender:
- Send them an email thanking them for their time, and leave your contact info.
- Let them know you are standing by if they run into any issues with their current lender or if they aren't getting the prompt attention they deserve.
- Set a reminder in your calendar to check back in 30 days to see how it is going.