Posted by Tom-FL on July 20, 2003 at 20:15:52:
>> the marketing and results are very difficult for me correlate. I never know which deal came from what effort.
Might I suggest you code your mailings in some fashion. Use different headlines, different color paper. Have different phone numbers or extension numbers. You could also put a differrent “revision” code at the bottom of each group, i.e. “Rev:3487”. Of course you make notes on each mailing and the code so you can refer back to it.
Needed Good letter for OUT OF TOWN Owners. - Posted by Bill in Vegas
Posted by Bill in Vegas on July 18, 2003 at 20:34:54:
Investors,
I am going to do some mass direct mailings to out of state home owners also called absentee owners. And I am looking for good letters that maybe some of you have written, that have resulted in sales.
If you have any that have worked good could I have a copy. Below is my fax number or just post it here. It would save me alot of time and from reinventing the wheel.
Any pointers very much appreciated, I have done a very narrow and critical seller search and ready to mail.
Thank you so much,
Bill
fax 702.646.2577
email billthehps@aol.com
Re: Needed Good letter for OUT OF TOWN Owners. - Posted by Kristine-CA
Posted by Kristine-CA on July 18, 2003 at 21:38:54:
I agree with Joe K. here. My best results have come from a letter that basically says:
if you’re interested in selling I can buy your property. I’m a cash buyer, etc.
I’ve tried letters that included all the problems I could solve, but the shorter one is the best one to date.
In my opinion, when attempting to find motivated sellers via absentee owners, it’s really a numbers game. There is no reason (necessarily) that absentee owners are motivated. Some might be (depending on your area), but for the most part, it’s putting your name and message out there over and over again.
Happy mailing. Sincerely, Kristine
Re: Needed Good letter for OUT OF TOWN Owners. - Posted by Joe Kaiser
Posted by Joe Kaiser on July 18, 2003 at 20:43:26:
Short and sweet and to the point . . .
Joe
Re: Needed Good letter for OUT OF TOWN Owners. - Posted by js-Indianapolis
Posted by js-Indianapolis on July 19, 2003 at 16:25:12:
Can you share with us how often you mail them? I was thinking every 6 weeks, as opposed to monthly or bi monthly. My thought behind this is it will hit them at different times during the month, therefore, in theory, different cash flow times. ie: Some people are always short right after the first week of the month, some are at the end of the month. Also, just my thought that every month is a bit much, and after two they might have forgotten the first, not building the name recognition you want. Again, all js-Indianapolis theory. I have yet to test it.
Thoughts?
Re: Needed Good letter for OUT OF TOWN Owners. - Posted by Brad Crouch
Posted by Brad Crouch on July 20, 2003 at 15:46:46:
JS,
You might consider mailing to these absentee owners the week after the property tax bills are sent out. In my area, this is twice a year.
Brad
repeat mailings - Posted by Kristine-CA
Posted by Kristine-CA on July 20, 2003 at 13:50:33:
JS: I’m a very inconsistent mail marketer. The only properties that get repeat mailings are properties that I’ve targeted for various reasons (vacant, abandoned, probate, tax defaulted, etc.). If the mail doesn’t come back as undeliverable and the property issue remains (or if I haven’t reached an owner by phone), I keep mailing.
The larger mailings to absentee owners–those of 1000 names–I’ve yet to send repeat mailings. I call these generic mailings because they don’t address the specific property in the text. I think these are week compared to my targeted mailings. I’ve gotten a couple of deals this way, but I’m not so sure how effective repeat mailings would be in this area and I’m not sure I will find out. I’m in the middle of moving my focus to an area with better properties and property values. I don’t the mind junkers. But I am tired of junkers in bad neighborhoods. I’ve just started doing mailings to both absentee and owner/occupants for one inner city zip code with approximately 8000 SFHs. We’ll see what happens there.
I have given no thought to sellers’ monthly cash needs. I don’t work pre-foreclosures or subject-to deals and don’t market to those sellers. Even though they do call. So, I don’t time my mailings at all. Interesting thought, though.
Sometimes I think all this marketing busywork is just that–something to do on the days when there is nothing one can do to get an escrow to close or a seller to work with you. Of course it fills the pipeline, but the marketing and results are very difficult for me correlate. I never know which deal came from what effort.
Happy mailing. Sincerely, Kristine