BiggerPockets

Update - Still at it

Thursday, April 29

General update: 

I"m not sure that the county I live in (Monmouth County) is where I should be doing the direct mailers.  I've been working at linking up with either an established wholersaler, rehabber or both, so that I can bring them the leads I get and we can pursue the deal together.  I'm more concerned with learning the process and completing a deal than the money for now. 

I know alot of investors are in the northern NJ area, so it may be a better idea to do direct mailers there.

Week 2 - 33 Mailers, some Direct Mail responses + More

Monday, April 05

Week 2

 I sent out 33 more mailers today from 20 new leads.  I was aiming to send to 25 leads, but I didn't realize the surrogate office would be closed last Friday (Good Friday), so I was only able to send out to the 20 leads I had gotten earlier last week.

I have received 6 responses from direct mail so far:

1.  Already under contract

2.  Currently listed

3.  Currently listed

4.  No property in the estate?

5.  One angry voicemail asking that I not send any more letters

6.  One attorney I need to call back

 Also, I called a "We Buy Houses" bandit sign and spoke with a local wholesaler.  He said that he could find me a cash buyer in exchange of splitting the wholesale fee.  I will keep this as an option.

New Total

77 leads and 131 mailers.  6 responses from direct mail.

42 leads and 68 mailers

Wednesday, March 24

I got 42 more probate leads and converted them to letters.  Being that some had more than one administrator and/or an attorney and an administrator, the total number of mailers going out will be 68.  Last batch was 15 leads which converted to 25 mailers.  So, the totals so far are:

 57 leads with 98 mailers sent.

Back at It - 25 Mailers

Monday, March 22

I mailed out 25 letters today from some probate leads I got last week.  I foolishly got frustrated last year and stopped mailing them, even though I was getting calls/responses.  So, I'm back at it, with the goal being to mail 25 letters a week.

All feedback is appreciated.

Realtor Not Submitting My Offer

Monday, June 29

6-29-09 

I went back to get more probate leads Friday (6-26-09) and today.  I refined my search requirements and am now only mailing to out of state heirs or when there is only one heir.  I got 30 more leads which I will be transferring to personal mailers.  I am going to need to combine another strategy to find some motivated sellers.  I could either start mailing to probates in other counties, start mailing to pre-foreclosures, or go after REOs.  I got some advice on BP to stay away from REOs until I have done some deals with private sellers.  Also, areas where I've seen alot of REOs aren't close to where I live (not really a big issue).

---------------

I got 2 more responses from my probate mailers.  The 1st response was from a lawyer handling the case who said they won't be selling.  My 2nd response I went and checked out today.  It's a higher end house in very good condition, but filled with a ton of stuff.  The sellers barely said a word and just showed the house.  My realtor never sent me comps on this, so I still have to get comps and then make an offer.  The seem to have next to no motivation, but we'll see.

---------------

On Saturday (6-27-09), I went a checked out a listed short sale.  I put together an offer and sent it to my agent through email.  I haven't submitted an offer on a listed house yet, so I wanted to submit one on this even if it had little chance of being accepted.  The asking price was 215k (ARV around 250k) and my offer was 127k.  In a nice way, my realtor emailed me back saying that with an offer this low the bank would rather go to foreclosure.  Also, she wants to meet with my buyer, which I can't see any of my potential buyers doing.  Any opinions on this?  Should I just move on to the next realtor?

---------------

Any/all advice is appreciated. 

Brian

38 More Mailers

Wednesday, June 24

6-24-09

I transferred the remaining probate leads I had to letters/personal mailers on Monday (6-22-09).  Today, I went and bought stamps and got them mailed out.  A total of 38 mailers.  In the process, I found 4 properties in the probate leads that are already listed.  I was thinking about putting in offers on them to see if there is any motivation there.

---------------

I went to a REIA meeting tonight.  Tonight was a local speaker/investor who covered wholesaling.  I've heard him speak before at a REIA sub-meeting.  I got the business card of an experienced wholesaler which I will be adding to my buyer's list.

---------------

I got an email from my real estate agent saying that any foreclosure properties I want to submit offers on are going to need a proof of funds letter.  I've read that you can use a Coastal Funding letter to get around this issue, but I need to figure out how to proceed while being up front with my agent.  I never mentioned that I would be assigning the deal, but I said I would be bringing in a partner who is a cash buyer to close the deal.  Even if I got a proof of funds letter from a local investor, I can't guarantee he or she will be the person who buys the deal from me...  Please let me know your thoughts and opinions on how to solve this proof of funds issue.  Thanks.

 Brian