Posted by Michel (TX) on January 27, 2002 at 09:19:04:
Fortunately, we’ll hear back from him. I like his style!
Mortgagor defaults – 6 letters , 6 postcards… - Posted by Hank
Posted by Hank on January 23, 2002 at 23:52:10:
The average time from the lis pendens to the auction is about 6 months in FL for a judicial foreclosure.
If one is going to send out 6 letters and 6 postcards, how would you space them out? … Evenly? … Front loaded? … Back loaded?
In your experience, when would the average mortgagor in trouble ( given the average 6 months time frame ) decide a miricle is not going to happen, and deal with an investor?
Any good letters not in the archives would also be welcome.
Hank
Mailing preforeclosures - Posted by Ronald * Starr(in no CA)
Posted by Ronald * Starr(in no CA) on January 24, 2002 at 20:40:38:
Hank–(FL)---------
Here in CA the foreclosure process is about 4 months long.
Ted Thomas had the most sophisticated mailing program in this area of which I have heard. He sent out 7 letters to each defalting property owner. You might want to back you “attack” down to about 6-8, rather than 12. You could always experiment, sending different numbers to different groups, keeping some records and see if the added mailings lifted your response rate.
Some people move out of the houses before the foreclosure auction. Thus, some of the last mailings will be delivered to an empty house.
I tend to agree with the idea of early and late concentration.
Again, you could experiment with different mailing patterns and see if your results vary.
If you have not yet read books on direct marketing and copywriting for same, you might want to do so. While Rob mentions the many letters and card received by the defaulting owners, many of them are very amateurish and would appeal to almost nobody. A friend of mine, the lender, was accidently written up as the borrower in the local legal paper’s listing of foreclosures. He got a lot of cards and letters. I looked over them. Not many were very well done, in my opinion.
And the number of cards received will vary greatly from locale to locale and even over time in any one locale. There are a lot of people who dabble in pre-foreclosure and will mail for a month, two months, or maybe three months, then stop. So the number of people trying in an area will vary over time.
Good InvestingRon Starr****
Re: Mortgagor defaults - Posted by Rob FL
Posted by Rob FL on January 24, 2002 at 12:50:51:
Frankly I’m not into mailouts for foreclosures. I’ve literally sat down with people in foreclosure and had them bring out a file with 25 letters written to them by investors, attorneys, lenders, credit repair people, etc. But guess who they dealt with, the guy who knocked on their door.
With letters and postcards, 2% or less will ever call you back. With doorknocks, if they are home, 100% will talk with you even it’s briefly. Many will tell you their whole story.
Some tips for doorknocking though. Do it when it’s light out (weekends and evenings are best). And only do it in working class or better neighborhoods. Even I don’t have enough guts to doorknock in the rougher neighborhoods. Dress moderatley professional. Get straight to the point. When they tell you it’s taken care of (and you know it’s not) simply tell them that when you called down to the courthouse yesterday the mortgage wasn’t yet reinstated and you’d like to give them a backup offer in case their Plan A doesn’t work out.
Best wishes in whichever route you take.
Mail assault…incoming!!! - Posted by AdamFL
Posted by AdamFL on January 24, 2002 at 11:22:56:
Hank,
Jeez, you’re hammering these people. This is persistence – a good attribute. You must remember that these people are going to be assaulted with mail after the Lis Pendens, so you’re correct to keep them coming.
Most of my calls have come from a letter that I send out IMMEDIATELY upon filing of the Lis Pendens. In other words, get your letter in their hand before anyone else. I’ve had a few calls in which the seller received my letter the morning after the sheriff woke them from their sleep delivering a notice – scary for some.
Also, many have suggested (because of the high volume of mailings) meeting these people in person, but I’m not that bold.
Best of luck,
AdamFL
Re: Mortgagor defaults - Posted by Rich[FL]
Posted by Rich[FL] on January 24, 2002 at 08:25:36:
JT had some good ideas Hank. I’ve just started my pre-foreclosure “attack” here in FL and have already sent out the first round of postcards. Actually, I look at the courthouse records daily and send out cards daily when I see a Lis Pendens. Out of 50 cards I’ve sent out so far, I’ve had two responses. One I’m working on getting the deed and stopping foreclosure (it has enough equity in it to make it worthwhile); the other I’m working on buying the mortgage from the bank because it is about $15k overencumbered; a subject-to wouldn’t work in this case.
I haven’t written any follow-up letters or postcards yet; I could use the same postcard for the first follow-ups and I may end up doing that. I was thinking about following up every 30 days with postcards, then every two weeks for the last 6 weeks with either postcards and, of course, ending with Joe Kaiser’s famous foreclosure letter .
Hope this helps. Good luck!
Rich
The later it is, the more they’ll owe. (nt) - Posted by Rosie_FL
Posted by Rosie_FL on January 24, 2002 at 08:24:36:
(nt)
Re: Mortgagor defaults – 6 postcards… - Posted by JT-IN
Posted by JT-IN on January 24, 2002 at 07:59:42:
Hank:
This is a good question Hank, and if one really knew the definite answer… well I wouldn’t be posting, cause I would be out taking another deed to stop the foreclosure… 
However, seriously, it is a good question.
I think that you will get a small % of responses overall, and some will come just after filing, but most will come at the last minute, before the sale. So, my educated guess would be, (and I am not sending these postcards, but do work the foreclosure market), to send one card immediately upon filing, the next within 10 days. Then one about 3 months out, another at 5 months, and then two more in the last 30 days, before the sale. This should give you more concentrated exposure early and late in the process, and that is when most of these deals come about.
Just the way that I view things…
JT-IN
Talking about Joe Kaiser! - Posted by Michel (TX)
Posted by Michel (TX) on January 25, 2002 at 02:30:19:
What ever happened to him? I haven’t seen any of his comments posted for a while. They were so informative.
Re: Talking about Joe Kaiser! - Posted by Ronald * Starr(in No CA)
Posted by Ronald * Starr(in No CA) on January 26, 2002 at 15:36:37:
Michel–(TX)----------
The rumor is that Joe is moving from rainy Tacomo, WA, to sunny So CA. Maybe he is so busy setting up his household and business that he does not have the time to post here.
Good Investing**********RonStarr**************