Posted by Ben in Ohio on April 25, 2000 at 08:35:23:
Excellent post!
Letter, Postcard, Phonecall - Which is best? - Posted by claude (sacramento)
Posted by claude (sacramento) on April 24, 2000 at 17:38:49:
When attempting to contact an out of state owner of a vacant property is it best to send a letter, postcard or to try to locate their phone number and give them a call?
All opinions appreciated.
Thanks.
Claude
ALL of the above, and then some! (LONG) - Posted by Jim IL
Posted by Jim IL on April 25, 2000 at 01:23:57:
Do all of the above.
That is what some call Guierilla (sp?) marketing.
I have recently gone on a marketing blitz again, to get my buying machine running at full speed.
In the past when I did the BEST and got the most deals, I covered all the above and then some.
Flyers anywhere and everywhere you can put them.
Business cards left laying on any surface or bulletin board you find.
Business cards to anyone you meet or talk to. Give them a few and tell them to pass them out. I also tell people that IF I buy a home from someone they refer, I pay a finders fee.
If people say, “I do not really know anyone who needs to sell there home now”, have them take the card anyway, they may eventually know someone.
Newspaper ads, For Sale section, for “I Buy Houses” ads.
Postcard mailings, letters, all to out of state owners, pre foreclosures, and expired MLS listings.
Bandit signs, all over town at major intersections and leading into residential developements.
they call these “bandit signs” because most cities have ordinances/laws against them.
But, if you go out on a Friday afternoon, late, and post them, then remove them on sunday night, chances are the city will never take them down or fine you.
And, tell anyone who you meet or talk to and let them know what you do. (make it simple, don’t give them details, just tell them you BUY HOUSES!)
Also, magnetic signs for your vehicles.
I have them on mine and get calls.
I also have an old cargo van parked in front of my home, I live on a main thoroughfare, and on it is painted, “I Buy Homes xxx-xxx-xxxx”.
The van is a real piece of junk, looks bad, but is rather large and can be seen easily by people driving by. And it DOES get calls. (which is hard to believe if you were to see it, but the message is clear.)
Later, when I have more time and money, I do plan on buying a new van or SUV and gettting it painted professionally to have my sign on it.
I BUY HOMES and my 800 number.
Just make your message simple in ALL your advertising, and make sure that your phone number is EASY to read and remember. (BIG NUMBERS and LETTERS).
This way, they will be able to contact you.
There are a few “Shadier” ways that I have heard of lately.
Goto the local FREE paper boxes and stacks of FSBO magazines. Take the top 3/4 of the stack, and place a flyer from you in each paper or magazine. Then place them back in the machine or stack. (FREE advertising to a target market here.)
You are only doing the top 3/4 because if when the vendor places new ones out, and they remove the left over old ones, they will not find your flyer and try to charge you to advertise. (this happened to a friend, who WILL remain nameless, for now!)
And, I have also been driving to all the local ATM’s/Drive up auto teller windows in the area for banks and taping flyers there.
Most people these days use the ATM for there banking needs at some point, and they will see your flyer.
And, when the bank takes it down, post some more.
Just replenished mine tonight.
Basically, the idea is to get WHAT YOU DO (I BUY HOUSES!) and your contact info (YOUR NUMBER) out to as many people as possible.
The WEB! you are here now, so surely there are others here that WANT to sell there homes right?
Make a FREE website somewhere. There are plenty of places that offer free space and even help on creating one.
I am signing a deal on Thursday that found me thru my website. (okay, so only two deals in 12 months for my FREE website, but HEY, thats one heck of a return right?)
If you can successfully get 5000 people to see your advertsing, you should get at least a couple of deals from it.
And, all of this is cheap advertsing, except the paper ads of course, depending on where you are.
Hope that helps,
Jim IL
P.S. Someone also told me to place my biz cards in books at the library and bookstores, in books about “How to sell your home” and such, but I got hardly any contacts from that, but it may work for you.
Re: Letter, Postcard, Phonecall - Which is best? - Posted by Bill K. - FL
Posted by Bill K. - FL on April 24, 2000 at 19:59:09:
If I can get the phone number I will always call first. This way you can test the waters, have the opportunity to overcome objections, and establish a rapport. You can’t do that with a letter or postcard. If I can’t get the phone number, which I usually can, unless it is unlisted, then I send a flyer or letter to their residence which I can usually find from the tax billing records. Also, I always leave a flyer at the house when I first find it. It gets trickier with estate sales. Recently I found one where the owner had died a few months back. I read the will stating the heirs names but was unable to locate any of them. Then I called a neighbor who said one of them lived in the neighborhood. Bingo. I found them. You have to be like a detective to track down these vacant house owners. But it’s really not that difficult after you do it a while and learn your local systems.
Re: Letter, Postcard, Phonecall - Which is best? - Posted by Paul Carlin
Posted by Paul Carlin on April 24, 2000 at 18:33:11:
I am not sure. I tried sending out post cards, 400 went out, only one call. No deal either. I am not sure. I would think a phone call would do the god best.