I bought 1,500 stamps, envelopes, etc., and an absentee list of 1,500 owners.
I plan to send out mass mailers on the first of every month from here on out.
My current sticking points are basic things like how to format my printer to print the address labels from an Excel database. I can get this taken care of.
I need to have my buyers list ready for when I get calls. I also need to familiarize myself with sub2 → owner finance forms and law. This, I could just learn as I go.
I realize 1,500 is a small sample. If I can show that this is a working business model, perhaps my dad would loan me marketing money so I can be sending out 30,000 or eventually 1,000,000 letters every month. I would like to go national, but a problem I foresee is not being able to physically inspect every house.
One other problem is that I have a very uncommon last name and a quick Google search will show that I may or may not have done time for something that may or may not have been related to hallucinogens. Should I send everything under a business name and hide my real name, or would people really care? I don’t want to lose business over this.
This is for anyone still willing to help me. I apologize for my bipolar outbursts. I should get back on medication.
If i were you i would use a stage name. John Wayne’s real name was Marion Morrison. Use a shorter version of your name, or a nickname. I use fake names in my ads. When someone asks for Carl i know why they’re calling. Carl is never available, but I am. Lots of marketers use stage names. Nothing wrong with it.
Sign the letter with just your first name. The last few deals I’ve done I don’t think I ever told the people my name.
For now get those letters out. Be prepared to for the calls. Most people that do mass mail have the initial calls go to a voicemail that makes them describe the house. They then call them back and proceed accordingly.
Don’t prescrean, not until you’ve talked to a hundred sellers and made offers on them all. Make contact with the seller, make a little small talk, get a little bit of info on the property (not for screening, just for small talk and to find motivation), and set the appointment.
If you don’t filter out all the llc’s and obvious landlords a lot of them will call you. Put them on your buyers list. This is how I did it, as well as the REIA.
Skip the sub2 stuff for now.
Wouldn’t I have to tell them my name when I sign the contract?
I wouldn’t want to skip the sub2 stuff for too long. No reason to avoid profits.
I know how to target preforeclosures by looking up lie pendens on the comptroller site.
I can think of a reason to skip the sub2 and that is I don’t have the money to pay off their debt. But for when I do, wouldn’t that take from my profits from the down payment I collect when I owner finance?
If they owe $8,000 and I collect an $8,000 down payment, that leaves me at $0 besides the $200/month.
Also, what do you think of my letter?
"To (owners):
My name is (my name). I am an investor wishing to purchase your house at (address).
I will buy your house in “as-is” condition and purchase in cash. I would like to buy your house as soon as possible.
Please get back to me if you wish to do business.
Sincerely,
(my name)
(my number)"
Staples didn’t sell yellow lined paper in sufficient quantities, so I just went with standard white copy paper.
I can change this letter in any way that I should.
Hi,
You realize if your doing a folded 3 way piece of paper, addressing one face and mailing it you can get a bulk mail rate significantly cheaper than stamps?
GR
I know that for next time. Thanks.
Hmm. When i was sending letters i just used regular stamps. I did yellow letters and also postcards, with forever stamps. I did that with a couple hundred Forever stamps.
So you take your mailings to the post office? How many is considered bulk? How many for bulk mailing rates?
Not sure. Call the post office.
I have no problem mailing a folded up piece of paper if it will save money.
I never recieved any call backs from my letters btw
Post cards have an extremely low rate of callbacks. Yellow letters, hand written, are anywhere from 4-8%.
What about plain white copy paper folded in thirds?
Never tried it. Do something that makes it stand out. Go get one of those 500 packs of kids star stickers and throw a couple of them on the outside.
Are you serious? Is this kindergarten? Will a motivated seller not want to sell because of lack of star stickers?