Jill Friday – How to Talk to a Seller (ReAir LA 1682)
Jill Friday – How to Talk to a Seller (ReAir LA 1682)
Transcript:
Steven Jack Butala:
Steve and Jill here.
Jill K DeWit:
Happy Friday.
Steven Jack Butala:
Welcome to The Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I’m Steven Jack Butala.
Jill K DeWit:
And I’m Jill Dewitt, broadcasting from the Valley of the Sun.
Steven Jack Butala:
Today, Jill and I talk about … Well, it’s Jill Friday. She’s going to talk about how to talk to a seller. Sounds trite and silly, especially to a data person like me, because people like me … How to talk to a seller? This is how you talk to your seller.
Steven Jack Butala:
“Hello.”
Jill K DeWit:
“What do you got?”
Steven Jack Butala:
“I’d like to sell … Yes. I got your letter, and wondering if it’s legit. Yeah. Come on. You’re talking too slow. Let’s go.”
Jill K DeWit:
“Hurry it up.”
Steven Jack Butala:
That’s not how you talk to sellers.
Jill K DeWit:
“I sent out 3,000 offers today. Hurry up, ma’am. Hurry it up. Come on, lady. Get to the point.”
Steven Jack Butala:
“You want to sell or not? Going to the bar. I’m on my way to the bar. Want to sell or not?”
Jill K DeWit:
“Just sign it and send it in, would you?”
Steven Jack Butala:
That’s not how you do it.
Steven Jack Butala:
Before we get into it. Let’s take a question posted by one of our members on the landinvestors.com online community. It’s free. What’s so funny?
Jill K DeWit:
It’s just really funny. There’s a reason why we don’t let you talk on the phone. It’s totally true.
Jill K DeWit:
Wait, wait. Truth time. Our phone ring in our office, back when we had an office, and I get excited. I’m like, “Let me answer.” Steven’s like, “Get me away. Is it still ringing? Why am I hearing ringing?”
Steven Jack Butala:
That’s my exit.
Jill K DeWit:
Steven’s like, “See ya.”
Steven Jack Butala:
You’ve clearly forgotten to subscribe to the Land Academy YouTube channel, but please do so now. Comment on the shows you like.
Jill K DeWit:
Right. You would also sneak over and go … Close my office door. Here they go again.
Steven Jack Butala:
I have 30 minutes of peace. Jill’s talking to a seller.
Jill K DeWit:
That’s funny.
Jill K DeWit:
All right. [inaudible 00:01:47] I was sharing yield data with another member here. I can’t remember who. We figured out that his yield was so far off because he was using an employee to handle the incoming calls.
Steven Jack Butala:
Ding, ding.
Jill K DeWit:
I’m set up differently from him in a lot of ways, but I still worry that handing off my least favorite part of this could ruin it.
Steven Jack Butala:
Yep.
Jill K DeWit:
Jack and Jill talk a lot about the benefits of doing this as a partnership, but I’m not looking to give away half of the pie.
Steven Jack Butala:
I did.
Jill K DeWit:
I would only consider having the Jill work done by a paid employee or a VA. That’s okay too.
Steven Jack Butala:
This is all you.
Jill K DeWit:
Oh.
Steven Jack Butala:
Honestly, I got pure luck with Jill.
Jill K DeWit:
Well, we didn’t have to make this a partnership. You chose to do that. There’s probably people … There’s lots of people out there that would … The way it worked out, yes, we are partners in every way you can imagine. “Mommy, what does Miss Jill mean by that?”
Steven Jack Butala:
“Mommy, I want a partner.”
Jill K DeWit:
“Can I have one like Miss Jill?” Anyway. Oh no.
Steven Jack Butala:
The kids are in the back seat. Jill’s imitating them. She doesn’t talk like that at random.
Jill K DeWit:
Could you imagine? No. That’s true. All right.
Jill K DeWit:
I understand. Yeah. I would not go into this with that intent myself. If I didn’t know you … Let’s back up. I’m this person. I’m not that good on the phone. I need someone that’s good on the phone. Or I’m doing it, and I’m okay on the phone, but I could be better on the phone, and it’s something I don’t like to do. I would be searching and finding someone.
Steven Jack Butala:
So would I.
Jill K DeWit:
I wouldn’t make them a partner. Maybe give them a percentage on what they bring in or something like that. That’s motivating. Because someone like me, who has a sales background, just because that’s all they know and they’re good at it, they are motivated, they might be, like I am, motivated by money. So giving them a percentage is not nuts, but you don’t have to give them 50%. Don’t even worry about that.
Steven Jack Butala:
We have a very successful Career Path member who structures it like this. He found a person like Jill and said, “For every deal that … I’ll …” He pays for everything. She didn’t put a dollar in. So for every … He says, “We need to buy this at 30,000.” She goes and buys it. From there, he’s off. He’s done from there. She goes and sells it for 80 or whatever the number is, and he pays her 25% of everything.
Jill K DeWit:
Yeah. Something like that. It’s per transaction, by the way.
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah. It’s per transaction. It’s not-
Jill K DeWit:
Then it’s not … They’re motivated.
Steven Jack Butala:
There’s no salaries or any of that.
Jill K DeWit:
Exactly. There’s a lot of ways you can do this. You could also … Seriously, I would totally consider having someone in your office learning from you, and then answering the phones. That’s their job. It could be a salaried position, if you don’t want to give up that much of it, and make it a little bonus on the stuff that they sell, because they do get a salary. Just depends on what everybody needs and wants.
Steven Jack Butala:
Look. I wouldn’t go into this with a calculator first.
Jill K DeWit:
Correct.
Steven Jack Butala:
I would go into this first trying to find the right person.
Jill K DeWit:
Correct.
Steven Jack Butala:
And ask them what they want.
Jill K DeWit:
Correct.
Steven Jack Butala:
I’ll tell you what. What they’re not going to say, “Oh, I want to be your partner, and I want 50% of this company.” They’re not going to say that. No one would ever say that.
Jill K DeWit:
Well, if they do, they’re the wrong person.
Steven Jack Butala:
That’s right.
Jill K DeWit:
Truth time. You remember? We were going to do this a couple years ago. We were going to spin off our land company and run it a different way. This is many years ago. We had, basically, some friends of ours who had time. He was a data nut. He wasn’t even going to really be involved. It was her that was going to be involved and really help me.
Jill K DeWit:
She sat me down and told me what the percentage was going to be with this new company that we built up, you built up, over two decades, and then she was going to get involved with this here, and how she deserved half of it. I’m like … That was the last meeting we had, not kidding.
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill K DeWit:
It was in our office, by the way, in our conference room. She’s telling me how … I’m like, “Well, and we’re done.”
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill K DeWit:
Didn’t happen. There’s lots of ways.
Steven Jack Butala:
Some people are just addicted to negotiation. They’re like, “Oh, I can get it for more.” I have a really good friend, well, a family friend of ours. It’s a couple, and the guy, he’s addicted to negotiation. He’s got to get it for $50 less. He’ll walk away.
Jill K DeWit:
Right.
Steven Jack Butala:
And I mean like a motorcycle or something. I don’t like that.
Jill K DeWit:
You got to have a … That’s a little too far, too far gone. Because you’re trying to get a deal done here. That’s the point, and I’m going to talk about it in a minute.
Steven Jack Butala:
Today’s topic … It’s still Friday. How To Talk To A Seller. This is the meat of the show.
Jill K DeWit:
That was a good segue, talking about that individual, because they do … They’re so stubborn on the price, they’re going to walk away from what might be a good deal because they didn’t get to the bottom of it. They just have something in them to get it.
Steven Jack Butala:
Well, math isn’t driving it.
Jill K DeWit:
No. That’s true.
Steven Jack Butala:
It’s this lust for negotiation. If it’s priced at $500, it’s worth 1,000, and you need to get it for 400? That’s a personality problem.
Jill K DeWit:
I know. [crosstalk 00:07:02]
Steven Jack Butala:
Why not just pay 500?
Jill K DeWit:
That’s true.
Jill K DeWit:
Today, we’re talking about how to talk to a seller. I’m going to talk about nuances today, because we have many other shows, and I’ll do many more shows about the specifics and the situations, and really get detailed.
Jill K DeWit:
But the bottom line is you’re going to have many different people calling you. They’re motivated by many different reasons as to why they’re selling. So number one, I want you to answer the phone with a good attitude, and speak to them like they’re your best friend.
Jill K DeWit:
This is where I lose Steven. Like right now. You don’t like that?
Steven Jack Butala:
I pushed my microphone away and sat on my hands.
Jill K DeWit:
Okay. You don’t like that.
Steven Jack Butala:
No. Jill, just leave me out of it.
Jill K DeWit:
Okay. Got okay.
Steven Jack Butala:
I forever talk on Jack Thursdays. Forget about that I’m here.
Jill K DeWit:
Okay. I will forget you’re here. Just kidding. I’m just kidding. All right.
Jill K DeWit:
So what, Jill? I answered the phone. There’s different things than going, “Yep?” when you answer the phone. Seriously.
Steven Jack Butala:
This is good stuff, actually.
Jill K DeWit:
It really is. People do that. A call just comes in, and you’re scrambling or whatever it is. You’re not ready. Do your best to be ready. If you’re not ready, have a … I used to carry around a notepad and a pen with me. So I knew I was ready. But the moment I answered, I’d have it right there, so at least I could quickly start writing down the situation.
Jill K DeWit:
Have a good attitude and speak to them nicely. That immediate thing sets the tone for how the whole rest of the transaction’s going to go. If you are a jerk when they call you to sell your property off the minute, do you think that they’re going to work with you on this? Probably not. You pissed them off right away. You might have pissed them off when they got your letter. So don’t add to it. Don’t make it worse. Have a good attitude, and really talk nice to them.
Jill K DeWit:
When I say nice to them, really go … Ask them about their day. Ask them what’s going on. “Do you live nearby?” There’s so many things I’m going to talk about, that you’re going to uncover here, that’s really going to help you talking to a seller. That’s one.
Jill K DeWit:
Two. Listen, listen, listen. I can’t tell you how many times we’re sitting on our Thursday member call, or I get properties submitted to me for deal review, and I’ve never spoken to the person, but I’m looking at the facts here, and I’m thinking something’s going on. There’s some situation. What’s really happening? Why are they selling? Nobody knows why. There’s some driving force here. I can see it. I can see it in the deal.
Jill K DeWit:
So I’ll write, and you know who you are, because I write notes back to you saying, from me to the deal manager, “What’s really going on? Why are they selling this and not this? Why are they … see this as a profitable …” whatever it is.
Jill K DeWit:
You’ve got to get that out of them. You can do it in just a few minutes on the first phone call. Again, that tells you how this is all going to play out.
Jill K DeWit:
“My sister and I …” We had one the other day where it’s this guy selling these two properties now, he was trying to sell. A lot of it is his sister lives … has a property next door. They’re not speaking. He now wants to get rid of it. He’s so unhappy with his sister, he doesn’t want to sell it to her, which is the likely person.
Steven Jack Butala:
Can I stop you just for one second?
Jill K DeWit:
Sure.
Steven Jack Butala:
When you uncover a situation like that, that’s non-financial or non-economic, sister-in-law, sister, ex-wife, guy want to move, this is the best … This is what you’re trying to uncover by sending this mail.
Steven Jack Butala:
I don’t know if it’s intentional or unintentional, but part of Jill’s MO is to uncover why they’re selling it. Any of those social reasons are great reasons to get a good bargain on property.
Jill K DeWit:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Well, not only that, when you listen to this too, you might uncover things that are deal killers. “I couldn’t get a well done.” “I couldn’t get this done.” Think about it. “The county wouldn’t let me do what I wanted to do.” You need to hear that stuff, because it’s going to make a decision on whether or not you buy it or what price.
Jill K DeWit:
“Nobody else around here wants it. You sent me this letter. I’m going to call you.” You’re like, “Well, okay. The neighbors don’t want it. I need to think about that. What’s the problem?” “I couldn’t build a house I wanted to, because it would cost too much.” All right, well that’s going to make a difference when I try to sell it, because the slope is so great, or whatever it is.
Jill K DeWit:
You’re going to get all kinds of information. That’s just something … I watch people missing that. They’re just so about the facts.
Jill K DeWit:
The third thing is you’re striving to get to a number, and get on the same page with some number. When I say number, I mean a sales price. Then your job is to decide if you want it at that number. So the whole goal when you’re talking to sellers is get all the information that you can. Again, you’re trying to find out why they’re selling. How motivated are they? Do they really want to sell? There’s a lot of times too that people …
Jill K DeWit:
We had one the other day. … We talk about this on a Thursday call. When you’re presenting a deal to me, I can hear what’s going on.
Steven Jack Butala:
Me too.
Jill K DeWit:
I can hear the seller going, “All right. You talked me into it. Fine. I’ll sell you this one, but I’m only going to let it go for $80,000.” This guy doesn’t want to sell. He doesn’t need the money. You wore him down, and he said, “Sure. I’ll give you this,” and it’s a make me move number. So you should be done and long gone, and not even thinking about it when it’s that.
Jill K DeWit:
Versus some of the other situations that we were talking about that come up, like, “I inherited it. My husband just passed, and I’m so distraught. I need the money. I need to pay for his stuff. We’re clearly not going to build our cabin there now. I got to get out of here, and I got to do it fast.” They’re excited to talk to you, and you’re helping them.
Jill K DeWit:
The whole goal here is you’re striving to get all the information you can, and get to a number that you guys can agree on. Maybe the number is a number that you sent the offer on. They get it and they’re excited. “What’s the next steps? What do I do? I’m so happy.” Or it’s like, “Shoot. That number’s nuts. 20,000 is really ridiculous. 45, I’d do.” whatever it is.
Jill K DeWit:
Your goal is to get whatever their bottom number is, get it out of them, and then you go off and see if you can make it work. That’s it. Don’t start getting excited too and doing your stuff before you get that number. You can do all of this in less than five minutes on one phone call. It doesn’t have to be an hour.
Steven Jack Butala:
I have some outsider observations.
Jill K DeWit:
Ready.
Steven Jack Butala:
If you accomplish this, as Jill’s been doing for decades, if someone, they get another offer during the transaction, or if they’re staring at a couple offers, which it happens, not that often …
Jill K DeWit:
Not that often.
Steven Jack Butala:
It happens in buying and selling houses all the time. There’s tons of competition. People are staring at six letters. Who do you think they’re going to call back? They’re going to call Jill back because they want to talk to her. They’re going to take her call when some stuff goes on in the transaction that slightly goes sideways and she needs to them about it. Because they want to talk to her. Because it’s not painful. They’re not just waiting for her money. It’s actually not painful to talk to her.
Jill K DeWit:
You do this right, you have a relationship with them, and now, you’re in it together. That’s the goal you want. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had sellers call me because they’re confused by escrow, whether it’s a house or land.
Jill K DeWit:
I’ll never forget this one lady. She was just so worried about this house deal. It was a house thing. The parents had passed 10 years ago. The house was sitting for 10 years. You remember this one?
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill K DeWit:
Great property.
Steven Jack Butala:
Great property.
Jill K DeWit:
The family all finally decided, “Now, let’s just get rid of it. Nobody wants it. It’s been sitting for 10 years.” They put it up to this one sister. Bless her heart. She was afraid we were going to walk, and she would get confused by escrow things.
Jill K DeWit:
I remember one time, we were out of town, on a trip, at the beach. I’m walking through shops and I like, “I have to take this call.” Remember that? I step out of the shop. I’m on the phone with her. It’s Friday afternoon. I’m like, “Don’t worry. We are not going anywhere.” She’s like, “They sent me this form. Are we still okay?” I’m like, “Oh gosh, yes. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be in my office on Monday. I’ll help you fill it out then. We’ll go through it together on the phone. I’m not going anywhere. The money is set aside. We’re going to get this done together.” She’s was like, “Oh, thank you.” That’s all they needed.
Jill K DeWit:
You develop that relationship with them. Like I said, you’re doing this together, and everybody’s happy. They’re going to say, “Thank you for helping me. Thank you for making this easy. Thank you for making my family getting paid out. Yeah, I know I could have gone with an agent, and got more money for it, and done 18 things. It was worth it to me to not have to go through that crap.”
Steven Jack Butala:
Let me drive this point home. It’s really important. We spend a lot of time talking about data and finding places to send mail. That’s all my stuff. My stuff’s easy. Once you get the hang of it, and get used to the tools, and replace the tools when they’re needed, and you troll for environments, and you get the mail out … I’ll give you … My job’s easy.
Steven Jack Butala:
What Jill does is imperative.
Jill K DeWit:
Both are imperative.
Steven Jack Butala:
If I screw a lot of stuff up, she still can fix it and does.
Jill K DeWit:
That’s true.
Steven Jack Butala:
We had a person in one of the Career Paths that said, “I don’t get it. I’m sending out all these properties, these mailers. We’re getting all this activity coming back. I don’t understand why we’re not buying any property. Something’s wrong with Land Academy.”
Jill K DeWit:
Yeah. And it’s not.
Steven Jack Butala:
Here’s what happened. He wasn’t … no one was answering the phone. All this inbound … They were getting voicemails. They were getting emails and all kinds of inbound correspondence. They were sending emails back saying, “Great. We do want to buy your property. Thanks very much.” And no one picked up the phone at all. So they weren’t doing any deals.
Steven Jack Butala:
It took a couple weeks in Career Path … Because these people owned other businesses. They owned other businesses. So that’s the way they were, apparently, getting away with running those other businesses. I don’t know. I finally got through to them saying … Jill got mad, in a good kind of mad Jill way.
Jill K DeWit:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Steven Jack Butala:
And said, “Look. You’re not hearing us.”
Jill K DeWit:
“There’s deals. There’s deals there.”
Steven Jack Butala:
“You are not hearing us. There’s 10 deals on your desk right now. You’re just not picking up the phone, and befriending these people, and walking them through the transaction, holding their hand all the way to the end until they get paid.”
Jill K DeWit:
Right. Exactly.
Steven Jack Butala:
This is really, really important, imperative part of this business. It gets downplayed. It gets put in the shadow of all my technical stuff often. I don’t do it intentionally, but it’s really important.
Jill K DeWit:
Thank you very much. That was a great way to end this.
Jill K DeWit:
Happy you could join us today. Five days a week, you can find us here on The Land Academy Show.
Steven Jack Butala:
Join us next week for another interesting episode, You Are Not Alone In Your Real Estate Ambition.
Jill K DeWit:
Thank you. That was really good [inaudible 00:18:33]
Steven Jack Butala:
It’s a good talk.
Jill K DeWit:
Yeah, it is. It’s important. It really is.
Steven Jack Butala:
It’s imperative.
Jill K DeWit:
Once you get them talking … You can add money. You can take away money. People freak out about that. “I did it all wrong. Everybody was mad.” So what? Find out what their bottom number is, and maybe you come up a little bit. You still get some great deals.
Steven Jack Butala:
Yep.
Jill K DeWit:
Maybe you did go in too hot. Maybe there’s something else going on. You got to talk to him and find that out.
Jill K DeWit:
Or heaven forbid, I talked to somebody recently, I’m like, “What happened?” They’re like, “Oh, I overpriced. Everybody loves me.” I’m like, “Oh shoot. Well, here’s the good news. You got many sellers you get to dig through,” I said, “So dig through. Find the ones you love. Then go back and talk to those people, and just say, ‘Shucks. I know you’re excited about my $48,000. I’m sorry. I meant 28,000. I goofed. Is any way … I really like the property, but I can’t do 48. [crosstalk 00:19:34] I screwed up.'”
Steven Jack Butala:
“Here’s why. It doesn’t have the access I thought.”
Jill K DeWit:
“I thought it was closer to this.”
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill K DeWit:
“I thought it had that.”
Steven Jack Butala:
If you’re in it together, they’ll adjust with you.
Jill K DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Jack Butala:
They shouldn’t and probably won’t give you exactly what you want, but they’re in it with you.
Jill K DeWit:
There might be still something there. You just have to talk to and find out. So good.
Jill K DeWit:
Thanks for tuning in. We hope you find our content valuable. We appreciate your support. If you haven’t already, you’ve heard this before, please check out our YouTube channel. Hit that subscribe button.
Jill K DeWit:
We’re Steve and Jill.
Steven Jack Butala:
We’re Steve and Jill. Information …
Jill K DeWit:
… and inspiration …
Steven Jack Butala:
… to buy undervalued property.
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