As a beginner myself, take my advice for what it’s worth. I have increased my response from 1% of the list to 5% over 3 months of tweaking. I dropped my list from 1100 people to 400 or so. I get a better response now than before. My state is different in that we don’t get the NOD is not public knowledge, only the Notice of the Trustee Sale, so we have 21 days to market.
Send more than 1 type of letter and send often. Also, keep in mind they may be bombarded as soon as they hit the list, so hit them up again later on. consistency. it’s not a matter of postcards or letter. It’s both. Just make sure you are sending it to list that’s narrowed down. You get better results mailing to your good leads often than the whole list once or twice. I have done a handwritten letter and a typed letter that’s metered. The metered letter got a 5% response. It can surprise you what different people respond to. I send a typed letter in a double window white #10 envelope and put a “In regards to ” or “RE: ” at the top of the owner’s mailing address. You might want to even bold the bank in your form letter, but leave it in all caps. It reads like this:
In regards to CTW LENDING
John Doe
123 abc st
anytown, anystate 1234567
Or
RE: CTW LENDING
John doe
123 abc st
anytown, anystate 1234567
It tells them right off the bat, that this letter is in regards to their mortgage problem. You could even enhance it by stamping on the outside “Personal and Confidential” with a self-inking red stamper from Home depot. Though I haven’t done that myself, because I do it all online.
For the return address, you want it as generic as possible. Ever wonder why those direct mailers use non-descript generic envelopes that just have a street address? That’s because it outpulls many of the flashier color graphic envelopes. People don’t know what the letter is about, so they open it. For the return address, I put:
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE
123 abc st
anytown, anystate 1234567
I also changed the paper I use from white to canary yellow. They have lots of white paper on their desk, they can’t find yours unless it’s a different color. Direct mail statistics show that goldenrod or grey outpulls white. I only use canary yellow because that’s what’s available on the usps.com website.
I changed the paper and the way I addressed it and I got more calls for 400 letters than I did for 1100 letters in different months. Now I am thinking of further limiting the letters to 200. The letter I use does have incredible copy though. I provide lots of free info on it also. Lots of compliments from the people in foreclosure. I send it twice, once when the person first hits the list(21 days until auction) and again a week later(14 days left). They usually panic and call me in the last 2 weeks, 90% of the time. I don’t even stick a business card in them, though I should.
As for handwritten letters, I have done poorly with it. I have heard of other people with massive success, so I know it’s just a matter of tweaking it and getting it right. I think I messed up the first time by sending them “invitation” size envelopes. They are small and get easily lost in the mass of mail they have. I will change to a standard #10 white envelope and see how that goes.
If you send postcards, send a big postcard so it doesn’t get accidently missed. Use whatever copy you want, but add this to it. You can put FREE $25 GAS in the front in big bold letters with a picture of money and a gas pump. Free $25 GAS goes a longer way than FREE $25 Gift Card. How many times have you broke in your life and filling up your car only halfway? Now imagine what they are going through, because they can’t pay utilities and the mortgage and put gas in their car. Each time that gas price goes up, they feel pain. Your postcard mentioned at the end that a $25 gas card is available to them, if you are able to determine if their house is worth your time to visit to purchase. You prequalify over the phone for motivation and good numbers . I haven’t tried this postcard yet. I am looking to get it designed though. Giveaways are a common promotional tactic in marketing.