Writing letters to vacant homes - Posted by carson

Posted by Kristine-CA on April 19, 2006 at 10:18:51:

Joe’s not being paranoid. He knows that I was lumping him in with the
other grammatically challenged REI gurus. I think we can all agree that
when it comes to content vs. form, we mostly overlook the form in REI
educational materials.

That being said, I agree with DaveD regarding grammar and typos in
marketing letters. We laugh at the marketing letters we receive here
and compare them to ours…but truth is that some of those letters get
to the right people on the right day. My letter can easily be belittled by
the English professor with a problem property. Or the English
professor can call because they want to find out if I can do
what I say I can do–regardless of how I said it.

Grammer and spelling can be helpful but they are not the answer to
financial indepedence.

Kristine

Writing letters to vacant homes - Posted by carson

Posted by carson on April 18, 2006 at 15:26:40:

I think im going to write letters (or type) instead of a standard post card cause they may put a bit more thought into it if they have to open a hand addressed envelope. I will also put a flyer in there with the letter sort of describing what i can do etc.

Any way, Im trying to figure out what i should write. Here is what i have so far, but im not sure if i like it.

Dear so and so

I drove by your home today and noticed that it appeared to be vacant. It?s been my experience that vacant properties are a big hassle for the owner. Costing them time, money, and sleep depending on the situation. I am an investor who specializes in purchasing problem properties from owners who NEED to sell. Are you interested in selling? If so we can take care of your problem ASAP. Give me a call or email any time.

Thanks

Carson
CBP home buyers
123-123-1234

Should i say it looked vacant? would that offend someone if it isnt?

Thoughts? opinions? what do you use?

BTW I would only send these to people that i cant find a phone # for right away.

Re: Writing letters to vacant homes - Posted by Ryan (NC)

Posted by Ryan (NC) on April 19, 2006 at 03:28:21:

From my limited experience with doing this I’d say the most important thing is to get the envelope opened and the message read… (Disclosure: I’ve only sent about 5 or so of these for buying homes)

The basic message I used was along the lines of " Dear so-n-so, I heard your property located at such-n-such might be for sale and I didn’t know how else to contact you, can you please give me a call at your earliest convenience…"

Then stuffed it in a hand addressed envelope with a live stamp, from past marketing results at the JOB the hand addressed envelope and a personally signed letter gets more response than a highly crafted letter sent bulk but you can’t get the same volume. With the few letters I?ve sent we got call backs on 3, and ended up buying a vacant trailer.

Best wishes,
Ryan Needler

Re: Writing letters to vacant homes - Posted by Joe Kaiser

Posted by Joe Kaiser on April 18, 2006 at 20:31:50:

Remember, they’re not stupid.

Any statement you make that causes the homeowner to respond with,
“well, duh,” isn’t a good thing to say.

Do you see any?

Also, be careful of things like “we can take care of your problem.” It’s
presumptuous of you to assume they have a problem and that without
knowing what it might be, you can take care of it. That’s potentially
offensive.

The big thing, initially, is connecting. You give that a chance by not
saying anything dumb or offensive, typically. And remember to make
sure you appear totally and completely harmless, there to provide
assistance if and only if they think it helps.

It’s all about them and what they need.

Joe

if it were me - Posted by lukeNC

Posted by lukeNC on April 18, 2006 at 17:35:03:

and i had a vacant house in foreclosure, i’d call ya.

Re: Writing letters to vacant homes - Posted by DaveD (WI)

Posted by DaveD (WI) on April 18, 2006 at 15:53:43:

It really doesn’t matter what you say. Just showing up is what matters. Bonus if your message is at all clever or memorable. The idea is to make contact and establish rapport, not sell via a letter. Postcards, letters, lumpy mail, FedEx… all are successfully used to gain attention. So do phone calls and talking to neighbors.

3 out of 5… real good - Posted by JT-IN

Posted by JT-IN on April 19, 2006 at 07:58:18:

Ryan:

You should be writing a course on letter writing and marketing to homeowners… with that type of response rate… Well, maybe forget the course until you have sent out a couple of thousand, but the fact remains… It is either beginners luck, or a very good letter and pointed toward motivated folks… Good job. Now send out those other 1995 letters!

JT-IN

Re: Writing letters to vacant homes - Posted by Joe Kaiser

Posted by Joe Kaiser on April 18, 2006 at 20:32:36:

Pretty good stuff there DaveD.

Joe

Re: Writing letters to vacant homes - Posted by jason

Posted by jason on April 18, 2006 at 16:05:02:

Grammar… make sure you use proper grammar. incomplete sentences and a lack of punctuation would put you out of the running, if it was my home

just my .02

Re: 3 out of 5… real good - Posted by Ryan (NC)

Posted by Ryan (NC) on April 19, 2006 at 08:40:19:

Thanks for the vote JT. These were vacant MH’s that were late on lot rent thus the higher than normal response I believe. I personally don’t have a lot of patience for mailings ect. was forced on me for years at the JOB. I know it can work and if I ever decide to put down the hammer or can’t find enough deals via word of mouth I might try the other 1995 letters :wink:

Best wishes,
Ryan Needler

Re: Writing letters to vacant homes - Posted by DaveD (WI)

Posted by DaveD (WI) on April 19, 2006 at 08:57:14:

Thanks. Just a few things I’ve picked up along the way. Ugh, don’t remember from who. And you didn’t think I was listening!

Re: Writing letters to vacant homes - Posted by Eric Woolhiser

Posted by Eric Woolhiser on April 19, 2006 at 08:58:57:

Yes, it is very important to capitalize the first word of each sentence. You should also make sure each sentence is really a sentence. Make sure there is a subject and predicate in each “sentence” that you write.

Also it’s is very important to end your sentences with periods.

Sorry DaveD, I just couldn’t resist!

Re: Writing letters to vacant homes - Posted by Kristine-CA

Posted by Kristine-CA on April 18, 2006 at 23:45:04:

I’m not sure about that. If grammar were that important to people,
many of the courses on this site wouldn’t sell too well…

Re: Writing letters to vacant homes - Posted by Joe Kaiser

Posted by Joe Kaiser on April 18, 2006 at 20:23:58:

Upper/Lower case, too, as needed.

Re: Writing letters to vacant homes - Posted by DaveD (WI)

Posted by DaveD (WI) on April 19, 2006 at 09:37:02:

He didn’t like my grammar? Shoot. Guess he won’t be selling me his house. Tell you what. I’ll bet I could send off an ungrammatical monstrosity that would outpull his carefully worded prose any day. In fact, I might just test it. Whatever werks, werks, if ya git my point. Ohmygawd!

Re: Writing letters to vacant homes - Posted by Joe Kaiser

Posted by Joe Kaiser on April 19, 2006 at 03:16:41:

Now, that’s funny! (and shame on you!).

Joe

Re: Writing letters to vacant homes - Posted by jason

Posted by jason on April 19, 2006 at 10:31:13:

Calm down there buddy. jsut pointing out that using complete sentences, not fragments, and proper grammar/punctuation should be a GIVEN

if you didnt catch my drift, i was typing liek you wrote your lette r to get my point across

Funny… - Posted by JT-IN

Posted by JT-IN on April 19, 2006 at 07:53:00:

Joe:

Kristine was talking about those other guys that can’t spell… You didn’t think that her comment was in anyway pointed at you, did you…?

That was funny…

JT-IN

Re: Writing letters to vacant homes - Posted by Eric Woolhiser

Posted by Eric Woolhiser on April 20, 2006 at 13:23:16:

Oh, I’m just having fun. I realize on the net we tend to be relaxed on grammar. But, I can’t resist the irony.

Grammar police - Posted by Jeanne

Posted by Jeanne on April 19, 2006 at 13:40:58:

Jason,

In a perfect world, you’d be right. In the real world, some of the most brilliant people I’ve met (including most marketing gurus) are the worst butchers. Do you want to win the Pulitzer or invest in real estate?

Jeanne (certified copy editor)