“I need to think about it.” If you’ve talked to enough sellers, you know that sentence. It’s probably killed more deals than any other five words in this business. And there are only two ways people usually respond to it. Either they push. “Why? What’s there to think about? This is a great deal.” Which just makes the seller more sure they need to get you off the phone. Or they back off completely. “Sure, no problem, take your time.” And then never hear from that seller again. I found a third way, and it happened with a woman four days before her house was set to go to auction. We’d gone through everything. Numbers made sense. She said it all sounded good. Then came the line. “I just need to go home and think about it.” Here’s what I said instead. “Oh yeah, that’s not a problem at all. We can always schedule for tomorrow. I’ve got some time around 10am if that works for you.” Her whole tone changed. No pressure, no pitch, just a plan. She said that sounds great. But that’s not where it ended. Before we hung up, I asked one more question. “Oh, and just so I know what to have ready for you tomorrow, what were you wanting to go over in your mind tonight?” That question changed everything. She said, “I just want to make sure I’m making enough from the sale of the house. I don’t want to feel like I’m just giving it away.” And there it was. She didn’t need 24 hours to stare at a wall. She needed to know she wasn’t getting ripped off. So I asked her directly. “What number would you need to see for this to feel like a fair deal to you?” She gave me a number. It made sense. We moved forward right there. If I’d let her go think about it, she probably ghosts me, calls two other investors, and I never hear from her again. “I need to think about it” almost never means think about it. It means there’s a question underneath that hasn’t been answered yet. Your job isn’t to push past that sentence or walk away from it. It’s to find out what it’s actually protecting.

In the past, my transactions have always been straightforward, conventional financing type deals with a realtor involved so I've always used the state's Association of Realtors form. As a non-realtor, how do you make offers (in writing) when you don't have a realtor? Do you have a specific purchase form you like (like the Association of Realtors template)? Did you consult a lawyer to get a custom template made? Just trying to get some tactical advice.

curious what would still make it a no for you

Struggling to find out how to contact the seller directly avoiding contacting their realtor first. My question is how to do this, or does it matter if you reach out to their realtor first to attempt a seller finance deal? What do you prefer and have the most success with?

I have a probate deal that Ive been working and my heart in this is to help him keep his house, or at least walk away with some cash. The deceased father had a reverse mortgage on it and they are demanding payment in the next 3 months. The heir/seller is open to selling and would walk away with about $30k and I would flip; I’ve also offered to buy it and sell it back to him on owner financing - obviously at a higher rate and with money down. He wants to see what that would look like but I’m not sure where to start or how to figure that up. I need to make some money but also want to give him a good deal. House is worth $220k, he will take $125k. That would give him $30k after he pays off the RM. I’m thinking I could sell it back to him at $160k with 10% down, at 8% interest but not sure… also not sure how to calculate the monthly payment he’d need to make and factor in tax, insurance, etc.… any thoughts? Does anyone have contract examples? Thanks!