Why? Because the approach you use with an investor should be completely different from the one you use with an owner-occupant.

With an owner-occupant, it’s about building rapport, uncovering their pain points, and guiding them through your process. You listen, ask the right questions, and position yourself as the solution to their problem. Every wholesaler script is designed for this: connect, discover motivation, and negotiate the lowest possible price.

But when you call an experienced investor like me, that script falls flat.

The Wrong Approach

Just last week, I got a call from a wholesaler—let’s call him Jerry. His pitch went like this:

“Hi Jonathan, I see you own the property at [address]. I’m an investor buying houses for cash in the area and wanted to make you an offer. Are you interested in selling?”

Mistake #1: He opened with a yes/no question. Instant dead end.

When I cold call absentee owners, I start differently. I’ll ask if the property is rented or vacant—showing I’ve done my homework and that I recognize I’m speaking to an investor, not a distressed homeowner. I already know how many properties they own and where, so I can steer the conversation in multiple directions. Most importantly, I make it clear I’m a principal buyer, not a wholesaler.

Why It Matters

I asked Jerry what he knew about my property. He said it looked like it needed a lot of work, based on a Google Maps photo. The problem? The image was dated March 2021. My property was fully remodeled in May 2022 and has operated as a short-term rental since then.

I pressed further:

“Are you a principal buyer or a wholesaler?”

Jerry claimed he was a principal buyer. But when I asked if he—or his company—would be signing at closing, the story changed. Suddenly it was “a partner.” After some back-and-forth, he admitted he was wholesaling.

The Lesson

Here’s the issue: Jerry treated me like an owner-occupant and used the same cookie-cutter script. That was a huge mistake.

Wholesalers need to understand that seasoned investors aren’t fooled by vague language or recycled scripts. If you’re a wholesaler, just say so. Be transparent. Ask the right questions—Is the property occupied? What’s the condition? If not interested in selling this property, do you have any others you are trying to move off your portfolio? —and show me you can hold a high-level conversation.

Had Jerry been honest, he might have earned the opportunity to wholesale one of the 70+ houses in my portfolio. But instead, he lost credibility. I won’t take his calls again.

The takeaway? Investors and homeowners are two very different audiences. If you approach them the same way, you’ll strike out every time.