This kicked off our November live series on tired landlords. When I say tired landlords, I mean in-state and out of state absentee owners. Some own a couple of properties. Some own dozens. They're some of my favorite people to work with, and they're a great audience to add to your pipeline this fall, through the winter and into the spring.
Today was all about the why. Here's why I love this audience, the three questions that give you multiple ways to win, and a real story from my own business this year. Results vary, and nothing here is a guarantee.
The plan for the series
We're live Monday through Thursday at 10 AM ET all month. Here's how each week flows:
- Monday: real life stories and why this audience is worth your time.
- Tuesday: where to find tired landlords in your market, with free and paid ways.
- Wednesday: what to say, how to say it and in what order, by phone, voicemail, text and email.
- Thursday: live prospecting. I'll work tired landlord leads for the whole time block so you can watch the process in real life.
Three ways to win every conversation
When we reach out, it's usually about one specific property. So the first question is simple: would they be open to an offer on that property?
Whether they say yes or no, there's a second question: "Do you have any other properties in your portfolio right now that you would consider an offer on"?
And if it's no to both, there's still a third: "are you looking to add to your portfolio now or anytime in the near future?"
The timing of each question depends on the answer to the one before it, and we'll unpack that on Wednesday. But here's the point. When you talk to someone who owns one home and lives in it, you've got one shot to help them. A tired landlord owns at least two properties, their home and a rental, so the deck is stacked in your favor. They might want to sell this one, sell another one or buy.
Add more cards to your hand
The way I think about this business, every conversation adds a card to your hand. We keep a pocket buyer hand and a pocket seller hand, and the more cards you hold, the more chances you have to match them up.
That's what makes tired landlords so fun. You can play matchmaker with this audience. If you reach out to a handful of them and follow the process, you'll talk to some, and you might find a match from those conversations alone, without treating the MLS like a slot machine. "We're proactively creating value in the marketplace."
One conversation, four closings this year
Here's my own example. I have four closed transactions this year with one client, a husband and wife, and we're putting a fifth property on the market this week.
It started with one simple conversation, and I wasn't even the one who made it. Someone in our shared office who isn't a licensed agent, with next to no real estate experience, reached out back in January. He used the question we use with aged expireds and asked if the owner was still accepting offers on the property. That property had never been on the market, so the question didn't totally make sense. But she leaned in anyway. They'd been thinking about selling that one and four others. He got a little more information and handed the lead to me.
It's taken time, no question. But it all came from someone picking up the phone and using a simple, proven process to have more conversations.
Why are they selling? "Because they are looking to trade in their five green houses on a red hotel." They still own more properties, including their home, and their kids are investors too. So that one conversation could keep turning into more business for years.
You can't say the wrong thing to the right person
That story shows something I say a lot: "you can't say the wrong thing to the right person or the right thing to the wrong person."
When you reach out to people who are more likely to want what you're offering, with the best data available and a better reason to reach out, you don't have to be super skilled or scripted. You don't have to overcome objections. That's true for brand new agents too.
When aged expireds and tired landlords collide
This is where last month's series and this one meet. A member of our Accelerator program reached out to an aged expired listing. That owner turned out to be an out of state absentee owner with a bunch of other rentals, and it led to several listing opportunities from one conversation.
A lot of the aged expired owners I talked to last month were tired landlords too. They go together really well. The difference is that last month we focused on visible sellers, people who told the world they wanted to sell. This month we're focusing on invisible sellers.
Why landlords suddenly get motivated
Beyond the three questions, there's another big reason to add absentee owners to your outreach. At any time, a landlord can run into one of these:
- A tenant who stops paying, complains constantly or trashes the place.
- Repairs and long term maintenance that keep piling up.
- A good tenant who's moving out, and the turnover that eats up whatever cash flow they had.
In the properties I've sold for that client, several units had long term tenants and deferred maintenance. We were able to work through it and get them sold, but those things add up. An owner who wasn't motivated last week can be motivated this week. "all it takes is one thing to change."
Where this fits in the 1 Deal A Week blueprint
Tired landlords are one piece of a bigger system we call the 1 Deal A Week blueprint. It's three steps:
- Buyers, "because without a buyer, no one's getting paid." Our buyer tackle box has three compartments: pocket buyers, portfolio buyers and institutional buyers.
- Sellers. There are three types: visible sellers, invisible sellers and private sellers.
- The reverse offer strategy, where we present offer options to sellers. Best case, they sign and you've got a contract. Worst case, it opens the door to a solution that better fits the problem they're trying to solve.
If you've got questions about tired landlords you want me to cover this month, bring them to the live streams. And if you want help putting this into practice alongside other agents doing the same work, join our free Skool community, 1 Deal A Week In Real Estate.
Key takeaways
- Tired landlords are in-state and out of state absentee owners, and they're some of the most overlooked sellers in your market.
- Ask three questions: would you consider an offer on this one, on any other property you own, and are you looking to buy?
- Every landlord owns at least two properties, so each conversation gives you more than one way to help.
- One simple conversation in January turned into four closings this year for me, with a fifth listing this week.
- Tenants, repairs and turnover can make an unmotivated landlord motivated almost overnight.
- Last month was visible sellers. This month is invisible sellers.
Chapters
- 00:00 Unlocking opportunities with tired landlords
- 00:34 Defining the tired landlord
- 02:21 The four day roadmap for this series
- 03:14 Three ways to win every conversation
- 06:47 How one conversation led to four closings
- 13:41 How aged expireds become tired landlords
- 16:53 Why landlords suddenly become motivated