Cold Calling For Real Estate Investors: Complete Guide

If you’re looking to generate leads and deal flow for your real estate investing business, it’s really hard to beat picking up the phone, smiling, and dialing.

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Outside of referrals, cold calling is THE best way to generate fresh leads for your business. (Source)

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Unfortunately, though, most investors are afraid of the strategy -- because they just aren’t sure how to do it and don’t want to mess it up or waste time.

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Which creates a MASSIVE opportunity for you if you are willing to pick up that phone and make calls.

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In this guide, we’re going to break down a step-by-step process you can use to make your cold calling as effective as possible AND give you a few proven scripts to use in the process.

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So if you’re ready to tap into one of the best lead gen strategies you can use today, check this out:

Cold Calling For Real Estate Investors: Step-by-Step Guide

The key to making cold calling work revolves around the prep work that happens BEFORE you start picking up the phone.

Step 1: Find The Right Phone Numbers

Before you make a single call, you want to make sure the list you’re about to start dialing contains the best data possible so you’re not wasting time.

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You can either do this by purchasing pre-built lists of leads or by building the list yourself.

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We recommend using a tool like Propstream to build your own lists so you’re not taking chances with the data you’re buying.

A lot of times, the lists you can buy have been hammered by other investors so you may be climbing uphill in terms of getting people to answer the phone, return your calls, or move forward and sit down at the kitchen table.

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Rather than deal with those headaches, building the lists yourself can help you get access to leads that may have never been called before -- or at least not hammered by a dozen other investors.

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To get started, grab a Propstream account and focus in on the areas you want to start marketing to.

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Identify the types of properties you’re looking to invest in and build a general list full of those properties.

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Use the built-in filters to start trimming the list based on factors like absentee owners, vacancies, equity, foreclosures, bankruptcies, or other factors that signify higher seller motivation levels.

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Then, once you have a quality list of leads ready to go, you’re ready for the next step.

Step 2: Get Organized & Create a Plan

Before you make a single call, you want to make sure you’re organized and have a solid plan of attack.

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That’s where tools like REISift come in clutch.

REISift helps you market to people, not properties. Because relationships are where deals are found.

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It also lets you organize and filter your data so you’re not marketing to the wrong people.

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It helps you track who you’re marketing to so you know when to follow up, which offers you’ve made, and which deals are closest to the goal line -- without using an Excel spreadsheet to do it.

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To get started, you’ll want to login to REISift and import your list.

Then you can start filtering, tagging, and build separate targeting lists using the data you’ve imported.

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That’s going to help you move the most valuable prospects to the top of your list and help differentiate between the properties and who owns them so you’re spending more time contacting owners instead of speaking with tenants who can’t actually help you.

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Then, you want to start skip tracing the records.

If you’re not familiar, skip tracing means getting the information for a phone number or group of contacts.

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You can plug in the address you’re looking up and run a skip trace to find out who owns the property, their address and their phone number. Using REISift to skip trace can save you a TON of time and money.

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Once you’ve validated your data, you can start building your system.

Before you start making your calls, you want to ensure you have a solid, repeatable process that’s easy to replicate success with over and over again.

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Getting good at this part is how you eventually hand the process off to a team member if you’re looking to grow. It’s also how you make your time as effective and efficient as humanly possible.

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To give you an example, let’s say you’re calling one of the prospects on your list.

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You can tag their name in REISift and then trigger an automated sequence to remind you to follow up with them or start sending them marketing messages, if you’re using other strategies like direct mail marketing.

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This is a great guide on building sequences for your campaigns.

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Putting together the system before you start dialing will help you stay on top of the campaigns you’re running so you know people aren’t falling through the cracks and you aren’t leaving deals on the table.

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Step 3: Use The Right Cold Calling Scripts

Once you’ve laid the foundations using steps 1 and 2, the next step is using scripts that have been proven to convert. 

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Nothing is worse than putting yourself on the spot and not knowing what to say with a prospect that answers your call.

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To keep that from happening, here’s a few scripts you can put to use:

#1 - The “Initial Outreach” Script

For your first call to the prospect, your goal is to let them know who you are and why you’re calling.

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Here’s a simple way to do it:

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“Hey prospect! It’s so good to finally reach you. I’m John with John’s Real Estate Group. Just checking in, is this a good time to talk?”

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After that, let the prospect respond.

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Typically, they will give you an objection like they’re not interested in talking right now but some may be open to talking to you a bit more.

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If they object, respond with “Understandable! Rather than take up a ton of your time, I’m calling because…”

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Then get to the point. The key here is to arrange a time you can call back for a more in-depth chat.

#2 - The “Gauge Their Interest” Script

The next script you want to use helps you gauge their level of interest so you know whether or not it’s worth moving forward.

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“Hey, it’s John with John’s Real Estate Group. Is this the homeowner?”

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Then wait for a response.

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If they’re the homeowner:

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“Awesome. The reason I’m calling is that I have a few home buyers that are looking for properties in your neighborhood right now. If someone was ready to buy your home, would you possibly be interested in selling?"

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By telling them that you possibly have buyers lined up, you may pique their interest and get them wanting to know more about the potential offers.

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If they aren’t ready to sell right now, you can give them your information and how to contact you if the situation ever changes.

#3 - The “Elevator Pitch” Script

Another great script to use is one that highlights why your buyers or sellers should be listening to you.

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Here’s an example of a great elevator pitch:

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“Hey prospect, just touching base -- I bought a property in your neighborhood last week for considerably more than other homes were going for. If I could help you get top dollar for your home fast would you be interested in setting up a meeting?”

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The key here is to focus on booking an appointment, not closing the deal on your first call.

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When you focus your elevator pitch on the pain points they may be experiencing and what you’ve done to eliminate those pain points for other people like them.

#4 - The “Get To The Point” Script

Many times, prospects are going to be pressed for time.

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That means you want to get straight to the point without making them feel uncomfortable or pressured.

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To do that, try this script:

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“Hi, this is John from John’s Real Estate Group. I’m calling because I have a few buyers lined up for properties like yours. Can you tell me if you’re looking to sell either now or in the near future?”

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If they respond positively, move further into your pitch, breaking down what you do, how you can help, and how you’ve helped other people like them in the same situation.

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If they object or say no, though, move them over in your CRM as a cold lead and tag them so you can follow up with them down the road.

#5 - The “Follow Up” Script

If you’ve made an offer on a property and didn’t hear back, this is a great script to use:

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“Hey prospect, it’s John here. Touching base about the offer I made on your home a while back. I’ve been watching the market and noticed quite a bit of action. Are you still interested in selling your home?”

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The goal here is to determine whether or not they’re still in the market and, if they are, possibly considering updating your offer or booking a new appointment to talk through your original offer.

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A good cold caller can adapt to the situation and think on their feet, though, so don’t be afraid to get creative as long as you remember that it’s always about your prospect and what they want.

Step 4: Track Your Progress

Now, one of the keys to success with cold calling is tracking -- everything.

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Since the fortune is in the followup, you need to understand where each lead is at, when to follow up, and when to make offers.

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This is another job that REISift makes easy.

With it, you can tag your leads and update their profiles in real time to help you remember which calls were made, what was discussed, any comments you want to make, and to trigger automations.

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Check out this tutorial to see how to stay organized.

4 Great Examples of Cold Calling For Real Estate Investors

Since we know one of the best ways to learn is through imitating what success looks like, here’s a few examples of live cold calls:

This example shows what to do when things don’t go as perfectly planned:

In this example, he’s uncovering 2 prospects from cold calling to show you how it’s done:

This example shows you how to think on your feet when you’re cold calling:

5 Tips For Successful Cold Calling For Real Estate Investors

To be as effective as possible, here’s a handful of tips:

Tip 1: Get Started

The biggest reason most people don’t find success cold calling is because they simply don’t start.

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Use the steps and strategies in this guide, rip the bandaid off, and just get started! You’ll learn and get better as you go but nothing replaces just making the calls.

Tip 2: Be Persistent!

Cold calling is a numbers game. The more people you call, the more chances you have to get a “yes”.

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You’re going to get rejected. You’ll get hung up on. But you’ll also uncover warm, interested prospects.

Tip 3: Make Your Start Count

The first few words you say on the call can make or break how well the call goes.

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Make those first few moments count by pre-planning, using the scripts in this guide, and keeping the focus on the prospect and what they ultimately want.

Tip 4: Be Human

Remember, you’re in the relationship business. Don’t treat your cold calls like a numbers game or make it all about the transaction.

Tip 5: Use The Right Tools

From the quality of your list to the management of your leads, the right tools are how you make cold calling as efficient and as simple as possible.

Final Thoughts

Behind referrals, cold calling is THE most effective strategy for generating new leads for your real estate investing business.

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Using the steps, scripts, and tips in this guide, you can take advantage of cold calling while your competitors are too scared to pick up the phone, smile, and dial.

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To get started using what you’ve learned, click here to start your free trial for REISift.

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