Short answer: Say who you are and how you found them in the first sentence: a licensed real estate agent who saw the notice the county recorded, which is public. Offer to end the call in the second sentence, then ask one open question, “Where are you with it?” Most homeowners answer that they are working it out with the bank, that they don’t know, or that they are already talking to someone. Refer the first two to a free HUD-approved housing counselor before offering anything, never promise to stop the foreclosure, and never mention foreclosure on a voicemail.
What do you say, in the first ten seconds, to a person who has not told their family, their neighbors or possibly their spouse that the house is in default, when the reason you are calling is that you read it in a public record this morning?
That is the whole difficulty of the pre-foreclosure call, and every bad script on this list fails it in the same way, by pretending the caller has some other reason to be on the phone. “I’m calling about your property.” “I work with homeowners in the area.” “I may have a buyer.” The homeowner knows why you are calling. They have been getting letters for four months. The only question in their mind is whether you are going to be honest about it, and the script below is built on being honest in the first sentence, offering the way off the phone in the second, and then asking the one question that lets them tell you which of several very different people they are.
The pre-foreclosure leads piece covers what the record is, how much time it leaves, and the federal and state rules that decide what an agent may and may not say. Read it first. Nothing below makes sense without the line it draws.
The opener
Hi, is this [homeowner’s name]? My name is [your name], I’m a real estate agent with [your brokerage]. I’ll tell you straight out how I got your name: the county has a notice recorded against the house on Alder Street from last month, and that’s public, and I call people when I see it. If this isn’t a call you want, say so and I’ll leave you alone. Otherwise, can I ask you one question?
Every piece of that is doing a job. Full name, brokerage and the word agent, per the opening lines standard, so the homeowner knows in three seconds that you are not the bank, not a government office, and not a rescue company, which is also the disclosure the rules care most about. The record named plainly, because the homeowner will guess anyway and guessing breeds suspicion. The exit offered before anything is asked, because a person in this position has had control taken from them for months and the first thing you can give back is the choice to hang up. And a request for permission to ask one question, which most people grant, because it is small and because you just told them the truth.
Slow down for this one. The pace that works on an expired list, brisk and matter of fact, reads as callous here. You are not in a hurry. The clock that matters is theirs, and it is measured in months.
The one question
Where are you with it?
Not “are you planning to sell.” Not “have you talked to the bank.” Not “do you know what your options are.” Those are leading questions, and each one carries an assumption about what the homeowner should be doing, which they will hear as judgment. “Where are you with it” assumes nothing. It lets the homeowner describe their own situation in their own frame, and the description sorts the call.
Then be quiet, longer than feels comfortable. This is the silence the practice piece drills, and on this list it carries more weight than on any other, because the homeowner is deciding how much to tell a stranger.
The three answers
Almost everyone who stays on the line gives one of three answers, sometimes in a form that takes a minute to recognize.
“We’re working it out with the bank.” This is the most common answer and it is often true. It might mean a modification is in process, a forbearance was granted, or a reinstatement is being scraped together. Your line is short. “Good. Have you talked to a HUD-approved housing counselor? They’re free, they do exactly this, and they know how the servicer’s process works. I can send you the lookup.” Then, if the counselor is news to them, send the CFPB lookup tool by text or email, with nothing else in the message. Then the ask, which is for permission, and it is tied to the record: “The notice was recorded in August, which in this state means nothing can happen before December. Would you mind if I checked in with you in November, just to see where it landed?” A yes is a dated callback with permission. A no is a no. Either way you have given them something and asked for nothing.
“I don’t know,” or “we’re going to lose it.” This is the answer that bad scripts are written to exploit and good ones are written to slow down. The counselor referral comes first, the same words as above, because a homeowner who does not know their options should hear them from someone who is not trying to list the house. Then, and only then, the one thing you can honestly offer: “If it turns out that keeping it doesn’t work, or you decide you don’t want to, selling it on the open market ahead of the sale date, for what it’s worth, is possible. That is a different outcome from what happens at the auction, and it’s the thing I actually do. You don’t have to decide anything today.” No number. No “you have equity.” No “I can get this done in thirty days.” You have not seen the house, you do not know the payoff, and a promise on this call is the thing the rules exist to punish. The ask is for a conversation, in person or by phone, after they have talked to the counselor, and the date you propose is inside the state’s clock with room to spare.
“We’re selling,” or “we’re already talking to someone.” Then the question is whether that someone has a signed listing. The Code of Ethics, at Standard of Practice 16-4, forbids you to solicit a listing another broker holds exclusively, and on this list the someone might also be an investor with a purchase contract, which is a different conversation governed by different law. “Have you signed anything?” If yes, thank them, wish them well, record it, and let it expire on its own if it is going to. If no, and the someone is an investor offering a fast cash price, the one honest question is whether they have had anyone tell them what the house would bring on the market, because that number is the one an investor’s offer is measured against and the homeowner is entitled to know it. Offer to provide it. Do not disparage the investor.
| The homeowner says | You say next | What gets recorded |
|---|---|---|
| “We’re working it out with the bank.” | The counselor referral; permission for one check-in inside the state clock | Plan: keep; counselor sent; callback date and their yes |
| “I don’t know.” | The counselor referral first; then the market-sale option, with no number and no promise; a conversation date after they have talked to the counselor | Plan: undecided; counselor sent; conversation date; their words |
| “We’re going to lose it.” | The same as above, slower | Same, with the sale date from the record as the outer boundary |
| “We’re already talking to someone.” | “Have you signed anything?” If yes, step back. If no and it is an investor, offer the market number | Status: listed elsewhere, or investor offer pending; the date; no further solicitation if listed |
| “Where did you get my number?” | The truth: the recorded notice is public, the phone number came from [source], and you will remove it if they ask | Their answer; a stop request honored on the spot |
| “Don’t call again.” | “Understood. I won’t.” | Internal do-not-call, immediately |
The voicemail rule on this list
Do not say the word foreclosure, default, or notice on a voicemail, and do not name the lender. A voicemail can be played on speaker in a kitchen with a teenager in it, or picked up by a roommate, or heard by a spouse who has not been told. The voicemail piece argues that most cold-call voicemails are not worth leaving, and on this list the argument is stronger. If you leave one, it is your name, your brokerage, the word agent, the street, and a callback number, and nothing about why. The why is for a live conversation with the person whose name is on the deed.
Dispositions and the clock
Everything on this list goes through the call record with one field the other lists do not need: the first date on which the state would let the house be sold, worked out from the recorded date and the statute, and treated as a wall. A callback set for after that date is a callback to a house that may have been sold at auction. Set the check-in inside it, with room, and if the homeowner names a date beyond it, say so: “That’s after the earliest date the county could sell it. Can I call you a few weeks before that instead?”
“Wants to keep the house, counselor sent, check-in in November with permission” is a good outcome on this list and should be counted as one. So is “listed with another broker.” The metric that matters is not appointments per call. It is how many homeowners, six months later, either kept the house or sold it on the market rather than at the courthouse, and how many of the second group called you back because you were the one agent who told them the truth about how you found them and then gave them the counselor’s number before you asked for anything.
The cluster continues with building the list from the county’s records, the objections specific to this list, and the investor-side law that governs the “already talking to someone” branch. The prospecting hub holds the seller sources together. This call is the slowest one on the site, and it is supposed to be.
Frequently asked questions
What should I say first on a pre-foreclosure call?
Your full name, your brokerage and the word agent, then how you found them: the county recorded a notice against the house, and it is public. Then offer to end the call if they would rather not talk.
What question should I ask a pre-foreclosure homeowner?
“Where are you with it?” It assumes nothing about what the homeowner should do, and the answer tells you which of three very different calls you are on. Then stay quiet longer than feels comfortable.
Should I leave a voicemail for a pre-foreclosure lead?
Only your name, your brokerage, the word agent, the street and a callback number. Never say foreclosure, default or notice, and never name the lender, because someone else in the house may hear it.