How To Ask A Seller What They Owe

I talk to many investors that get hung up on asking a seller what they owe on their property. Real estate investors that have not routinely asked this question and know better, often think that the seller might get mad at them for asking a question they feel is too personal or might say that’s none of your business. First, let me say that I have NEVER had a seller tell me that it is too personal or that it is none of my business. Perhaps it is how and when I ask the question, so let me share with you a little bit about how I ask a seller what they owe on their property.

Before I get started, let me point out that I ask this question to sellers that have called me. I do not call sellers that have ads in the newspaper, on a website or that have properties listed with a real estate agent. So, these sellers have called me and are asking me if I can buy their property.

Second, I want to stress that I ask this question late in the conversation. The conversation is not… “Hi, I’m James. What do you owe on the property?” In fact, I’ve spent a lot of time talking to the seller about the house, about their situation and then I usually ask them about what they owe.

While there is some variation in how it actually comes out, here is how I usually phrase it:

“Do you own the property free and clear or is there a mortgage I would need to take care of?”

And then, if they have a mortgage, I’d immediately follow up with, “And approximately how much would the balance be?”

Of course, there are other variations to the question like:

“Do you own the property free and clear or do you have a mortgage on it?”

But the basic idea is the same… you ask them if they own the house outright or if they owe anything on it and then the next logical question is how much they owe. In most markets, liens on a property are public information. You can find out what liens were put on the property when they bought it or borrowed money against it, but you often cannot tell how much remains.

So, asking how much a seller owes is nothing to fear. Just practice the question in advance so that you feel comfortable with it.

Until my next post,

James

P.S. We have some amazing training resources on how to talk to motivated sellers including our Calls With Motivated Sellers training programs that are available for Real Estate Investor Bronze Members free of charge.

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