Jeni Burke is a seasoned real estate investor with over 20 years of experience in the industry. She began her journey working on single-family homes and gradually refined her strategies to better align with market demands.
Her association with BRRRR Invest Academy introduced her to a highly effective approach that focuses on off-market properties.
Jeni transitioned to targeting off-market deals using a cold calling strategy. This new focus allowed her to identify and engage with motivated sellers who were experiencing financial difficulties.
Her case demonstrates how a structured, data-driven outreach strategy can improve deal flow and boost portfolio performance.
In today’s competitive market, finding motivated sellers can be difficult. Jeni’s team needed to identify property owners facing financial hardship, such as those with tax delinquencies or properties held for long periods without recent activity. These indicators signaled a higher likelihood of seller motivation.
"They're tired landlords, own it for over 15 years, and now all of a sudden they're tax delinquent, right?"
This quote captures the essence of the challenge. Jeni understood that her team needed more than a generic call script. Instead, they needed a customized approach tailored to distressed homeowners.
Jeni had previously employed marketing efforts such as postcard campaigns and direct mail letters. While somewhat effective, these methods lacked the immediacy and personal connection of direct phone contact.
As a result, her team began to prioritize cold calling, targeting off-market opportunities where sellers were more open to negotiation.
"We were getting quite a few warm leads from postcards, but not nearly what we’ve been getting with cold calling."
Watch Jeni break down her exact cold calling process, lead conversion rates, and how she tripled her portfolio in this exclusive interview.
Jeni's team implemented a structured cold calling strategy using data filters to pinpoint distressed property owners.
The criteria included:
This smart filtering allowed the team to target leads with higher potential for conversion.
"We use DealMachine to pull lists of tired landlords and tax delinquent owners—people who’ve likely hit financial strain."
The team hired a virtual assistant responsible for making 150 to 200 calls daily. Using a warm, conversational script, the VA gathered basic information and tagged interested owners as warm leads.
An AI-enhanced dialer helped automatically classify these responses.
"My VA handles the first round of calls. If someone’s interested, we tag them as a warm lead and follow up."
Jeni met with her VA daily to review call logs and refine techniques. This close collaboration improved both the quality of conversations and the rate at which warm leads progressed to meaningful engagements.
"We talk daily, call numbers, issues, lead quality, then meet more formally each week."
Jeni partnered with the BRRRR Invest Academy, where she learned how to source leads, vet VAs, and build repeatable systems. Tools like DealMachine allowed her to automate and organize outreach effectively, including features like skip tracing and lead tagging.
"DealMachine’s filtering and skip tracing made finding the right people seamless."
By increasing daily call volume from 100 to 150 to 200, Jeni's team completed approximately 1,500 to 1,800 calls monthly.
This led to:
"We follow up with about 10 percent of our daily calls. It’s a surprisingly consistent pipeline."
Jeni also expanded into commercial real estate. One major acquisition included an RV park operating at 50 percent occupancy with an NOI of $57,000 annually, showing that her system worked across multiple property types.
"The RV park deal came from the MLS, but the skills I learned from cold calling helped me evaluate it quickly."
Automation tools sorted returning calls and engaged leads, allowing the team to focus efforts on the most promising prospects.
Daily call reviews further improved tactics, resulting in more efficient follow-ups and higher conversion rates.
"It’s part AI, part human judgment. We track everything, then adjust in real time."
Increasing the call volume dramatically improved lead quality. More calls led to more conversations, which in turn resulted in better deals.
"Honestly, 100 calls an hour should be the real benchmark if you want results."
Daily meetings with the VA created a strong feedback loop. This consistent communication allowed for rapid adjustments to scripts and strategies.
Automation helped streamline lead sorting, but human follow-up was essential in closing deals. This combination minimized waste and maximized ROI.
Targeting tax-delinquent owners and long-term holders increased the chance of finding motivated sellers. Smarter data leads to better results.
Jeni's shift from traditional marketing to cold calling, and from residential to commercial, proved the value of adapting to market conditions.
"The strategies I learned were key to growing my portfolio from 6 to 19 doors and beyond."
Q1: How many cold calls should I make per day to find motivated sellers?
A: 150 to 200 calls per day is ideal to consistently generate warm leads.
Q2: What kind of homeowners are most likely to respond to cold calls?
A: Tax-delinquent property owners, tired landlords, and long-term holders are typically more receptive to selling when contacted directly.
Q3: How do I find cold calling leads for off-market real estate deals?
A: Use data platforms like DealMachine to filter for financial distress, long ownership history, or absentee landlords. These signs indicate higher motivation to sell.
Q4: What scripts work best for real estate cold calling?
A: Warm, empathetic scripts that focus on asking questions and listening convert better than robotic sales pitches.
Q5: Can a VA help with cold calling?
A: Yes. A trained VA can handle high-volume outreach, pre-qualify leads, and allow your team to focus on serious prospects.
Jeni’s experience proves that success in real estate doesn’t happen by chance. It comes from focused strategy, consistent effort, and the smart integration of data, technology, and human follow-up.
Investors who adopt this structured cold calling approach are likely to see measurable improvements in their deal flow and portfolio quality.
If you’re struggling to find motivated sellers, it may be time to reconsider your outreach strategy and pick up the phone.