u/Maleficent-Shake-249

Had a verbal agreement on an off-market deal yesterday. Seller was super motivated, house needs at least $40k in work. Sent the contract over, heard nothing.

Reached out this morning and he says his brother told him Zillow says it’s worth $60k more, so now he wants retail price.

I feel like once family gets in their ear, it's a lost cause. What would you guys do in this situation? Any advice on how to salvage this, or should I just move on to the next lead?

I’m still trying to make sense of this because it completely goes against everything I’ve been doing. I just locked up my biggest deal of the year, and it didn’t come from my usual routine of aggressively pushing a script.

It started as a normal, laid-back conversation. No hard pitch. No pressure. No trying to force anything. Just talking to a seller like a normal human being. But somewhere in that conversation, the dynamic was just different. The motivation came out naturally, and a few days later, the contract was signed.

What’s really messing with my head isn’t even the deal itself… It’s the fact that it happened right after I made one specific shift in my process: I completely removed myself from the initial cold outreach.

I realized that when I was doing the daily dials myself, I was too attached. I pushed too hard. But by stepping back and having someone else handle the front-end with a strict "no pressure, just have a conversation" approach, the leads coming to me are finally warm and ready to talk numbers.

It’s making me question everything I thought I knew about the whole “grind 400 dials a day yourself” mentality.

am I missing something obvious? Anyone else had deals click much easier once you stepped away from the initial prospecting phase?

About 8 months ago, I was on a Zoom call with a wholesaler I’ll call David. The guy looked like he hadn't slept in a week. He was surrounded by sticky notes, drinking his third Red Bull, and manually dialing his lists while we were talking.

He was making decent money, but he was completely trapped in his own business.

Then, he told me the story that finally broke him:
A week prior, David was spending his afternoon cold calling a pre-foreclosure list. He got stuck on the phone for 20 minutes trying to convince a completely unmotivated seller who just wanted to argue. While he was dealing with that headache, his phone beeped with an incoming call from a distressed seller who had received his direct mail.

Because he was busy arguing, he let it go to voicemail. When David finally called back 45 minutes later, the seller told him, "Sorry, I just signed a contract with another guy who answered the phone."

That missed call cost him a $15,000 assignment fee. All because he was busy doing a $15/hour task.

That was the turning point. I told David: "You are a closer, not a telemarketer. You need a shield."

Not because he wasn’t good at sales.
Because he was stuck doing low-level tasks instead of focusing on closers and motivated sellers.

I see this happen way more than people admit in wholesaling.

What’s the most expensive deal you lost just because you were stuck in the weeds?

About 8 months ago, I was on a Zoom call with a wholesaler I’ll call David. The guy looked like he hadn't slept in a week. He was surrounded by sticky notes, drinking his third Red Bull, and manually dialing his lists while we were talking.

He was making decent money, but he was completely trapped in his own business.

Then, he told me the story that finally broke him:
A week prior, David was spending his afternoon cold calling a pre-foreclosure list. He got stuck on the phone for 20 minutes trying to convince a completely unmotivated seller who just wanted to argue. While he was dealing with that headache, his phone beeped with an incoming call from a distressed seller who had received his direct mail.

Because he was busy arguing, he let it go to voicemail. When David finally called back 45 minutes later, the seller told him, "Sorry, I just signed a contract with another guy who answered the phone."

That missed call cost him a $15,000 assignment fee. All because he was busy doing a $15/hour task.

That was the turning point. I told David: "You are a closer, not a telemarketer. You need a shield."

Not because he wasn’t good at sales.
Because he was stuck doing low-level tasks instead of focusing on closers and motivated sellers.

I see this happen way more than people admit in wholesaling.

What’s the most expensive deal you lost just because you were stuck in the weeds?

I’ve got a tenant who has been with me for 5 years. Zero issues. Rent always on time, she keeps the place spotless, never calls over nonsense, and anytime something breaks she just handles it and lets me know after. Honestly one of the best tenants I’ve ever had.

She called me today crying because she’s been sick and had to go on FMLA. She doesn’t qualify for disability, so she currently has no income and can’t cover rent.

I told her not to stress and gave her 90 days rent-free. My logic is simple: I’d rather support a great tenant who’s always done right by me than force her out over a tough temporary situation. Losing a few months of rent is easier than losing someone reliable long-term.

Curious how others here would approach this. Would you do the same, structure a payment plan, or take a different route?