New Investor

[Kellenhomes]

I am new to investing. I have started wholesaling. I have tried letters but they haven’t worked and I have sent them out seven times to property ones with SOME UGLY HOUSES. I tried newspaper ads and they did not work. Now I am trying the bandit signs. How many do I need to place in an area to get GREAT results? I want to find the best marketing strategy. What neighborhoods should I put the signs near? I know working class areas, but where? Should the properties around the intersections look vacant and bad on the outside? Good on the outside? Or do I have to place them in low income areas? Where you see the ugly houses EVERYWHERE. I need help because I know this works but I can’t get enough deals.

[fadi]

Well, trying different kind of marketing won't solve the problem. Letters work, Advertising works but not as good as letters, bandit signs work...

When you say letters did not work, and when there are billions of dollars made every year using direct marketing (letters), that usually means something not right in your marketing.

What is the content of your letters? are they well written? are they written to close? do they motivate the prospect to call you right away? What does the envelope look like? does it scream out solicitation?

Who are you sending them to? does the list indicate some kind of motivation? are they people who are most likely to sell or want to sell?

How many letters are you mailing out? 10? 100? 1000? 10000? and how many times are you mailing each of them? once? twice? three times? how far apart?

Marketing is an art that needs to be done right for it to work...

As far as bandit signs goes, you should put out 50+ if you want to get good number of calls and find a deal maybe two. But if no calls come in, or no deals then what do you plan on doing?

[matt-gerchow-real-estate]

It sounds like you are trying to avoid the cost of marketing...COOL, I get it.

If you treat the business like a hobby it will provide hobby income.

BUT, here's a great little tip from my friend Josh Perez (a wholesaling genius)

Have industrial strength stickers made and then stick them on the front door of ABANDONED houses.

I promise you...YOU WILL GET A CALL.

The sticker should say,

"I want to buy this house.  I have an ALL CASH offer for you.

If you are even the least bit interested, CALL ME (866) SEL-ASIS"

(or whatever your number is)

[Lamar]

Matt that is Ingenious. lol

[Brian(MD)]

I tried newspaper ads and they did not work.

I have a small "WE BUY HOUSES" ad in my local paper, it's cheap, however you need to run the ad 52 weeks per year, this is just my opinion, the Ad needs to lay it's foundation, sellers need to get used to seeing the ad when they open the paper. You can't place an ad and expect your phone to blow up right away. For example: Mr. Homeowner in trouble sees your ad in the paper, he may get his problem solved soon by exploring other options, however, that falls through, so 3 weeks later he is more motivated so he looks for your ad again in that same paper because he needs to sell fast! Is your ad gonna still be there? Or did you decide to cancel ? IMO, keep that ad in the paper as long as possible! I think the 1st month my ad was in the paper I got 2-3 calls.

[mfouts]

I know the secret to getting deals!!  No matter what kind of deal you want, the trick is STICK TO IT.. I took me 6 solid months of not doing any thing but trying to get a stupid deal to get one.. And the first one wasnt even that good, but they it gets better and gets easier and you figure out that it really does happen.. Just find something you are interested and stick to it, dont bounce from probates to foreclosures to free and clear owners.. Just pick one and roll with it until you get calls.. Trust me it works!

[j1dias]

I have a small "WE BUY HOUSES" ad in my local paper, it's cheap, however you need to run the ad 52 weeks per year, this is just my opinion, the Ad needs to lay it's foundation, sellers need to get used to seeing the ad when they open the paper. You can't place an ad and expect your phone to blow up right away. For example: Mr. Homeowner in trouble sees your ad in the paper, he may get his problem solved soon by exploring other options, however, that falls through, so 3 weeks later he is more motivated so he looks for your ad again in that same paper because he needs to sell fast! Is your ad gonna still be there? Or did you decide to cancel ? IMO, keep that ad in the paper as long as possible! I think the 1st month my ad was in the paper I got 2-3 calls.

Brian - are those ads still working for you? I have being playing with this idea for awhile now... just curious... Have you close on any property because of the adds? I guess once you close one property the profit from that one transaction would probably cover the cost of the adds for a long, long time... :O) Am I right?