Within the the past week I have sent out about 250 letters to people on the foreclosure and bankruptcy list offering to purchase their home and/or provide foreclosure information at no cost. So far I have gotten about 12 calls. Several were from people who did not even know their homes were being foreclosed on. Of those a few thanked me and said they were not interested in my services or selling. A few more started going into long, unrequested, explainations as to why they were in this perdictiment and how it was the bankruptcy lawyers fault for not knowing the new bankruptcy laws that got them into this position. A couple of folks called ready to tear me a new excrement hole for looking into their personal business but I am SOOOO nice, kind and respectful that by the end of those conversations we were joking together. Out of the 12 calls I am only scheduled to see 1 property tomorrow and I do not feel he is really motivated enough(see the sub2 forum for details).
My point here is to vent a little and let other newbies know that this is a numbers game. The fact that I even got one stranger to call me and trust in me to give personal financial info was incredible. I know that it is just a matter of a little time that I will have my first real estate deal. Good fortunes to all.
Twelve calls out of 250 letters sounds like good odds so far.
If they state they want to keep their house, give them advice on how they might be able to keep it. Tell them the best thing they can do is to work with the bank. Sometimes the bank will take what is owed and put it on the back end of the loan if they begin to make payments on time. The worse thing they can do is to get an unlisted number and ignore the bank. Then, tell them if things don’t work out to call you. This gives you a lot of credibility. Just my two cents on the subject.
That’s almost 5% response, which by all accounts is a terrific repsonse to direct mail.
I hope you got their number, and I hope that you will continue to call them each week until the situation is resolved. Not only is it a numbers game, but one of the things you can do better than your competition is to consistently follow up. Follow-up is rare, and if you are the one who cares enough to call each week, then who will they turn to when it is time to sell?
I am impressed. You letter got the calls. Someone elses may not have. Keep al og book and call them again in 30 days when they are in a little deeper.
And Remember: When they say NO !!! It really means …CONVINCE ME. That’s where YOUR abilities come in to play. If it was EASY, EVERYONE would be doing it.
if there is one thing i could tell you about reaching people in foreclosure is direct mail is great but in order to be truly successful you must come up with other ways of reaching the owners. of all the properties ive done only 1 of 8 ive contacted through direct mail. i dont know the financial situation of your business(if you have one) or yourself, but there are programs softwares and other techniques you could use, and i dont know you might want to look into that. by the way a response of 12 out of 250 is awesome.