We have been mailing to obits for about 4 weeks now with no calls yet. We finally got our first call on Thursday. Kirk called us and said that his father passed away a few weeks ago and he and his two brothers inherited the house and had NO idea what to do with it. We set up an appointment and met him on Friday.
We met with Kirk and went through the house. ARV is $90,000. The house needs a TON of work. All new windows, flooring, roof, kitchen, 2 baths, furnace, AC, water heater, etc. Structurally sound and a great layout, but needs a lot of work. I have a budget put together and am going to make an offer Monday morning. Here’s the part the got me.
As we inspected the house we listened to Kirk talk about his dad and all of his accomplishments. He was a WW2 bomber pilot, an expert carpenter, and an all around great guy. We went trough his old music room with all of his stereo equipment and old 8 tracks and vinyl records… it was great hearing Kirk talk about how proud he was of his father. I hope someday my son talks about me like that.
Kirk said that after the funeral and a few days of mourning he headed over to the house and was looking for some direction on what to do. Then he said that he checked the mailbox and found our we buy houses postcard and that he felt a huge weight released off of his shoulders. He said that he was thankful to find somebody to help him get this house off of his hands becuase neither he or his brothers had time to deal with it. They just wanted a little cash out of it and wanted to move on…
That blew me away. I finally get it. If you know me well you know that I am a slow learner. Steve (mentor or sorts) can tell me 100 things but until I experience it I don’t completely get it. I just experienced how we can help people in a way that I wasn’t quite open to. Well, I am now.
Jared are Dead people calling you?
LMAO! No Michael, but their children are!!
Congrats Jared. Just a thought for you…I have had better response rates using letters instead of postcards to these people. Hand address the envelopes and use a live stamp. Not saying you should stop what you are currently doing, but just through it in there. Good Luck and let us know how it works.
Probates are one of my favorites to mail to. I send them a yellow letter, then a follow up yellow letter, and then 4 postcards. They get mail from me once a month until they call and sell me the house or scream and me and tell me to stop mailing them stuff. I have a contract on a property right now that came from a Probate, and listen to these terms:
ARV is $150k
I paid $90k
BUT I got 100% Owner Financing (It’s also free and clear)
Monthly payments $700 a month
Zero Interest
4 year balloon
Woah. Now Thats HOT.
That is hot Tracy! Nice one! Your blog looks great too…
Jared
Where are you getting the addresses for the obituaries ?
I would like to know where you get the addresses to send mail to obits…Thanks
My wife is an agent and has access to the mls and tax records online. I just go to the tax site and type in the deceased persons name and their address pops up. If it looks like a house that fits my criteria I send them a postcard.
Probate cases are Public record. You can search for these cases in the Financial Paper (NOT your regular paper). While some cities don’t publish anything other than the deceased person’s name, some go as far as to publish the name of the executor, their mailing address, and their phone number!!
If you can’t find the public record paper online, call your local courthouse and ask them which paper the public notices are published. Then run and get yourself one of those papers to scour for information. You may find some other useful information in there, as well, such as Divorces, lis Pendens, etc.
Thank you both for the feedback
I am currently working on my probate list. I don’t know about where you live, but the county where I want to buy publish all the information that you need on this leads online. The legal paper is good, especially if you don’t have another option, but I found that you can obtain the info. your seeking much faster online and FREE! Do a search for your county. You’ll be surprised how much info. you can get online these days.
Leticia
P.S. to everyone actually working and getting deals out of this leads: How many estates do you have to mail to in a consistent basis (Marie letters, post cards, etc.) before your phone starts to ring with motivated sellers?