Latest / Results Driven / Episode 183: The 10 Questions You MUST Ask Every Seller in Foreclosure

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Episode 183: The 10 Questions You MUST Ask Every Seller in Foreclosure · Results Driven

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna start marketing to foreclosure leads, I really want you to understand the process before you just start pulling lists and dialing people.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: You need to understand the timelines, you need to know what information eventually needs to be verified with the lender, and more importantly, you need to know how to have this conversation without treating somebody who may be in a really difficult situation like another generic motivated seller.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Are you a driven real estate investor tired of inconsistent deal flow and ready to scale your business?
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Tiffany High and I'm Josh Hyde.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the Results Driven Podcast, where we share proven strategies to build systems that master sales, grow your tool, and create a self-sustaining business with predictable income.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you're a one-person operation or building a team, our mission is to give you the tools, support, and mindset shifts you need to succeed.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Let's dive in.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Foreclosure activity is rising.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And whenever that happens, investors immediately start asking, how do I get the foreclosure list?
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: But getting the list is honestly the easy part.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: The harder part is what happens when somebody on that list actually picks up the phone.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Because if your opener is, hey Bob, I see your house is in foreclosure, that is a really good chance you're either getting hung up on or putting that homeowner on a defensive before you even have a conversation.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: You have to remember there is probably a whole story behind how that person got there.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe a lost job, got a divorce, a medical issue, a tenant stopped paying rent, somebody passed away, maybe they failed a business and took a hit.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: The foreclosure itself tells me something is happening financially, but it does not tell me the full problem.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: And it definitely does not automatically tell me they want to sell their house to me.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna show you where the foreclosure activity is showing up right now.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: But more importantly, I'm gonna walk you through the top 10 questions that we ask when we are talking to somebody in foreclosure so that we can understand their timeline, their financial position, what they actually want to happen, and whether there is a legitimate opportunity for us to help them before their clock runs out.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Let us start with the market.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: But I want to keep this part pretty simple.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: In July of 2026, over 39,000 properties had some type of foreclosure filing.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's up 10% compared to the same period last year.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: There were over 26,000 new foreclosure starts and like 4,000, 5,000 properties that actually completed the foreclosure.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Completed foreclosures were also up 23% year over year.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: And when you zoom out from one month and look at the first half of 2026, foreclosure filings were up 21% compared with the first half of the last year.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now there's an important distinction here.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: When somebody hears 39,000 foreclosure filings, they immediately picture 39,000 banks taking possession of all these houses.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: That is not what the number means.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: A foreclosure filing can represent different stages of the process.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: What I care about as an investor is the direction.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Activity is moving higher.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: That tells me that this is a lead source investors should understand.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: Even if foreclosures are not currently your number one marketing channel, that tells me this is a lead source investors should understand, even if foreclosures are not currently your number one marketing channel.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: If we look at where foreclosure activity is showing up the most, Punta Gorda, Florida had the highest foreclosure rate in July, followed by Killian, Texas, Las Vegas, Baleo, California, Lakeland, Florida.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Nationally, one of every 3,600 housing units had a foreclosure piling during that period.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Then when you look at the properties that actually completed foreclosure and went back to the lender, Houston had the highest volume, followed by Dallas, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and San Antonio.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Texas obviously jumps out because it shows up multiple times.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: But here's what I do not want you doing.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Do not hear me say Punta Gorda has the highest rate and decide tomorrow morning that you are entering Punta Gorda because foreclosures are hot.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: High foreclosure activity tells me there is distress.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: It does not tell me that there is automatically good real estate investing opportunities.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: I still care about whether there is equity in those properties.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: I care about property values, buyer demand, inventory, days on market.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I absolutely care about the foreclosure process and laws inside of that individual state as well.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: So the data tells me where to look.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: It does not make the investing decision for me, though.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now, our team has what we call the foreclosure seller question sheet.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so they all have this on their computer at their desk.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: And when they have someone in foreclosure, they leverage it because we don't want to miss one of these 10 questions.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm just gonna go through them and explain why we would ask them.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you don't get the answers to these, you're gonna get lost somewhere in the process or the deal is gonna fall out.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, guys, the goal here is not to interrogate the seller, right?
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's to understand where they are, what they owe, what they want, and how much time they actually have.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: So the first question, they don't always have to go in particular order.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: When was the last mortgage payment actually made?
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: So this helps you understand how far behind they might actually be.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: So in case they don't have a statement, if they're like, hey, I'm at least five months behind, then the title company can go pull their public record mortgage and they can do an estimated amount that they are behind on their mortgage.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: And if they knew what their last mortgage payment estimation was, then that will help as well.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're like, hey, do you have a statement?
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully they have a statement.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And if they don't, hey, do you remember how much the mortgage was a month?
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, 900.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Did that include escrow?
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know?
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Did it include property taxes and insurance?
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: All those things help the title company come up with an estimate.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Second, what foreclosure notices have you received so far?
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: We want to understand like what stage of the foreclosure process are they in?
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll be honest, a lot of times they don't know the answer to this one.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: We will probably find out faster through public records because this stuff is all public.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: And if they don't know, the title company can tell them.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Is there an auction or share of sale date scheduled?
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now, we typically might already know the answer to that.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: So we don't, like, depending on if we need to ask it or not, but it'll tell you how much time is left.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: So if there is an auction or share of sale, like we got probably three to five weeks at max to get this thing moving.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: We ask them how much do you approximately think you owe on the property?
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: So obviously we want to get our hands on their mortgage statement because that'll tell us everything.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Even if they have one from the last year, it'll still help us.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: What a lot of sellers don't understand is that the legal fees, once they're in foreclosure, stack so fast.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: They think that they just have to reinstate what they've forgotten to pay or decided not to pay.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's that times probably two or three because of legal fees.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: So if we can get our hands on the mortgage statement, then what I typically do is I can say, hey, if you don't know the answer to these questions, I'm happy to get on a call with the bank with you on the call and ask these questions.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, a lot of times when something's in foreclosure, it moves to an attorney's office and the bank now no longer services the information.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: So there can be problems with that.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: But they should be at least be able to tell you approximately what was owed.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: They will not know the legal fees because you need an actual payoff statement, but they can tell you the previous latest one and your account number, how much is owed on the property, how much your mortgage payments were, all that.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have any second mortgage, a HELOC, liens, unpaid taxes, like anything else that we should be aware of, right?
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because a lot of times, if they're not paying their mortgage, more than likely they probably have their behind on taxes or an HOA.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times too, unfortunately, especially since COVID, sellers that were behind on their mortgage, they went and got help from whatever you want to call it, government help.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: And what really happened was those companies wrapped up a second lien and put it behind the first mortgage.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: And they just don't even know about it, unfortunately.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: So a title search will show you that.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: And by the way, guys, again, this is all public information.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: So if they don't have the answers, then a title company will be able to tell you pretty fast.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know what the reinstatement amount is?
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: They might have a statement, they might not.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: But again, if we can get their latest mortgage statement or anything, then we can make an estimated guess and the title company will help estimate that.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Ideally, would you want to keep the house or sell it, right?
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because we don't want to just keep pushing sell it if they in their heart want to keep the house.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: It is our job, though, to educate them along this process because they might just eventually realize that they aren't capable of keeping the house due to finances.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, we want to make sure that they feel heard and that we're trying to do what's in their best interest, even though they might not have the funds to do it.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to keep it, what have you already tried doing?
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's important.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: You might find out that they actually already tried a loan modification or getting something else on their property, which will lead you to assume there might be a second lien against this property and they just don't even understand what they did.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Next is if the selling becomes the best option, what would you need to have happen?
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Because a lot of times, guys, these people might not have money to move.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: They might have belongings, tenants involved, family people living with them, credit concerns, they might have some other concern that yes, they want to move, yes, they want to sell, but something else is a roadblock that we have to uncover in the process.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes what I'll do, depending on if I feel this person's a little uncomfortable or embarrassed, I'll be like, hey, if you want to sell, um, what would need to happen to make sure it's a successful sale for you?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we work with people in the same situation that maybe have a tenant involved or a family member, or they don't really know where to look next, or maybe they just don't have the funds to go somewhere next.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Do any of those resonate, or is there anything that you would like to see happen?
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: See how I make it look normal that other people have gone through this, then they're a little bit more open to talk about it.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: What happens if nothing changes before the sale date, right?
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's an impact question.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: It helps the seller think through the consequence of doing nothing without using fear or pressure because a lot of times they go through denial.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: And if they wait until the auction date, which depending on what they say, I might follow up with.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: So what is your plan if they do file for the auction coming up?
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: And they'll be like, well, I don't know.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Or they might tell you something.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, I'm just curious, has anyone ever educated you on how the auction process works in our state?
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: They might be like, no, okay, if it's cool with you, I'll help you understand.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then we have an actual packet that explains the foreclosure process, frequently asked questions, and all that, that we can email them as well.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: And from there, what we're gonna explain is, hey, in the state of Ohio, because I'm in Ohio, typically the auction list comes out about five weeks beforehand.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: It will then get auctioned.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are not moved out, by the time that title transfers, a sheriff will show up at your door.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, they will physically remove you from the property and then they will throw all of your belongings inside of the property into the yard and you will not be able to get back in or you'll be arrested.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: I know it sounds harsh.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: I just wanted to educate you on state law.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now, that might change how they react, right?
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: That might make them feel a little bit more urgent about the situation.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I follow that up with, and I would never want to see that happen to you.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: I've seen it happen to other people.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'd rather be proactive about the situation.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: And if there is some way to also still get money in your pocket, we can also try to review that as well before it gets too late and the property owes too much, then what it's worth.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see how all of these questions lead them to really be in control of the answers?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: We want to make them feel heard.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: We want to understand their timelines, any other objections or issues that they're gonna run into once we're in contract, even if they want to sell, right?
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: We might run into other issues.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: My guess is if they can't afford their mortgage, they probably can't afford to even get a truck to move it to the next place.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: So when you're running your numbers, you have to factor in all of this and make sure you're gathering all that information.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: So because a lot of times in foreclosure deals, we're asking before we give them the offer, hey, how do you plan on moving?
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like, do you have movers?
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have family?
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: They might come out and say, I don't know, I don't even have the money to get movers.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: So now in my head, I'm thinking, okay, well, hey, sir, if you want, I can make my offer based on also then including moving you to the next location.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Would you want me to do that?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: And they might say, Yes, I have no other option.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so then obviously you can include it into the numbers of your offer.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, guys, you want to know the timeline, the debt situation, what's their desired outcome?
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: What have they already tried so we know if there might be another lean that pops up, what they need, and then what's the impact of all of it.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna start marketing to foreclosure leads, I really want you to understand the process before you just start pulling lists and dialing people.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: You need to understand the timelines, you need to know what information eventually needs to be verified with the lender, and more importantly, you need to know how to have this conversation without treating somebody who may be in a really difficult situation like another generic motivated seller.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: We actually put together a foreclosure investing guide inside of our free results-driven REI community that walks through the process, the questions we ask, and how we evaluate these deals.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: Josh and I are also inside that community every week going live, showing investors what we are doing inside of our own business and answering questions from people who are actually out there doing deals.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'll put the link in the description.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: Get inside the community, grab the foreclosure guide.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: It is completely free.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: And there is no reason to guess your way through these deals when we have already laid the process out for you.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you inside.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: This episode has come to an end, but your journey continues.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: If you want direct help from us, join our free community by visiting the results driven podcast.com.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's the results driven podcast.com.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see you next time on the results driven podcast.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see you next time on the results driven podcast.