Posted by rm on August 12, 2003 at 07:31:00:
You mentioned that you have a rather large, full marketing plan.
I was told by someone quite savvy that if you spend $500 and don’t get a deal, you could spend your money better elsewhere.
What sort of standards do you have to decide whether or not to keep using a particular marketing tool?
Thanks.
Where are the motivated seller?! - Posted by Ben
Posted by Ben on August 11, 2003 at 18:02:50:
Hello there! I was wondering if you could answer a question for me?
I live in Orange County, CA and the RE market is HOT down here. I’ve actually been trying to put together lease option deals for several months and I have not succeeded at all at this endeavor. I purchased Bronchick’s course on Lease Options (among others) in hopes that I would get some new ideas that could help me find motivated sellers, but I have still not seen any kind of results. Just so you know, I am a young, ambitious guy and I have REALLY been hitting this hard. Thus far, I have tried the following: 1) I tried cold-calling a couple thousand FSBO ads as well as FRBO ads from the paper (I aged the FSBO ads about a month and the FRBO ads 1-2 weeks as Peter Conti and David Finkel have suggested). I got several appointments from this, but I did not encounter anybody that was even remotely motivated. 2) Next, I tried several hundred flyers… and nada. 3) Then, I bought and put up 200 bandit signs around town and nailed them mainly on telephone poles. They were large, bold, and beautiful and said “I Buy Houses, CASH! 800-xxx-xxxx” After putting up the signs I got very few calls and only one appointment… someone facing forclosure. I made them an offer, but they didn’t accept it. 4) After these horrible results, I then decided to buy some NOD lists from the internet and start mailing out post cards to them and knocking on their doors. I am still pursuing this method, but I have yet to see positive results from this method.
It almost seems like I am trying to do this in the wrong part of the county or something. However, I refuse to believe this because there are literally millions of homes in this area and SOMEBODY must be a motivated seller around here, right? Anyway, if I am going to be successful at doing this, I am going to need to perfect a method of finding motivated sellers that I can repeat over and over again. I’m still keen on working the foreclosures lists, but the obvious drawback is that I will need to pay for the arrears on the home, etc. I am planning to use most of the option money from my subtenant to pay for the arrears (a risky thing to do, but I don’t have the kind of resources to be able to pay for the arrears myself.)
Anyway, I was wondering if perhaps you could give me a couple of pointers on how I can improve my results? Am I barking up the wrong trees or what? I do want to point out that I am NOT lazy and I have been very tenacious with every one of the approaches that I have tried. I really need to find a method that works!!!
Thanks!
Ben
Re: Where are the motivated seller?! - Posted by John V, FL
Posted by John V, FL on August 12, 2003 at 11:14:53:
It is posible you might be doing many things right already. It just could be the wrong time. If you did all that you are doing in the early to mid 90’s it would have been a lot easier for you to find the deals and a lot less riskier as well on the deals you do. Everyone is jumping on this bandwagon at the end of the cycle.
Maybe you met them already? - Posted by Jim FL
Posted by Jim FL on August 11, 2003 at 18:21:07:
Ben,
It very well might be your approach with sellers.
You seemed to have tried a few methods that would work.
Now, your market is a hot one, so maybe it takes a bigger marketing splash to get decent seller calls.
Instead of 200 signs, why not 1000.
Sure, it costs more, but shop around, for that many, I’m sure you can get a good price.
Take a step back for a moment before you order more marketing materials though.
Go over your seller talks on the phone, as well as face to face.
Disect them.
How did you present yourself?
Someone looking, or wanting to buy a house?
Wrong direction, trust me.
Instead, present yourself as a company, that offers a service to the sellers.
Heck, most of my offers, get a reply of, “how much will this service cost me?”
I love that.
So, take a look at your approach, chances are, there was a deal in there, and you missed it.
Not a big thing, there are others.
After you fine tune your approach, or even before, come here to ask questions.
There are a ton of folks to help.
Then, get back on the wagon, and market til you can’t no more!
Beleive me, I market WAY beyond my comfort zone, and the calls come in…man do they sometimes.
But in waves, so be prepared for the slow times.
Good luck,
Jim FL
What works for you? - Posted by Bryan-SactoCA
Posted by Bryan-SactoCA on August 11, 2003 at 22:08:52:
I was wondering what marketing strategies work best for you. Bandit signs seem to work well, but there’s a big bandit sign crackdown going on now and I don’t feel comfortable using this method. What else works?
Re: What works for you? - Posted by Jim FL
Posted by Jim FL on August 11, 2003 at 22:32:03:
Bryan,
Truth is, signs are the best method, cost efficiency wise.
However, I do a multitude of things, not just signs.
I have a rather large, full marketing plan in place.
I’d list it here, but that would be like writing a course. 
Suffice it to say, I beleive in LOUD, OBNOXIOUS, AGGRESSIVE and PERSISTENT marketing, that gets my message in front of as many people, as often as possible.
Beleive me, when they see your message over and over, in various forms, they will respond.
Good luck,
Jim FL