Wholesaler · Miami, FL · Member since 2015 · 202 posts · 149 votes
Hey BP'ers! I've been lurking for about 2 months now and can finally say I'm READY. Like OBSESSIVELY ready. I'm quitting my job in 30 days or less even if it means ZERO sleep and personal time. I'm committed and STARVING!! Here's my plan for massive action:
-Mail 1,000 postcards saying that I buy houses to list of absentee/OO SFR who are 55+ that last purchased their home in year 1990 and older. Leads will go to PatLive who will screen for motivation and I call back with a general offer of 50% of ARV/Retail, schedule viewing date, and get the contract signed.
-Mail 1,000 postcards to same criteria above (with fresh names, of course) but this postcard will quote a blind offer of 45% of ARV/Retail.
"I would like to buy your house at XXX for $XXX CA$H. You won't have to pay closing costs, or any other nonsense fees. $XXX is net to you/$XXX is cash in YOUR pocket. If you are interested, please call me at ******. Because my funds are limited, this offer may only be available for a limited time and/but I am definitely willing to negotiate. I REALLY want that house. P.S. Please call."
I will direct these calls to voicemail and anyone that calls/leaves a message I call back and go from there. I was thinking of split testing the voicemail to where half the postcards go to a long 2 minute detailed message, and the other half goes to a quick, short, more one-man-shop kind of thing like "Hey you've reached Ana. I'm sorry I missed your call. Please leave a message and I'll call you back as soon as possible. Thanks and have a good day!" On second thought, yes I will be split testing :). #marketingmaniac. I'm thinking this should be handwritten with a live stamp but my limited funds say print all the things!
-I want to do that same thing with inheritance lists/probate lists but I'm having a hard time finding a credible source other than the county office which is horrifically time consuming with my full time job and now also my full time Real Estate Wholesaling Empire.
I will be utilizing:
findcompsnow.com for ARV/Retail.
Podio for offer tracking, campaign reminders, campaign results tracking, and just basically one place to house all my CRM data.
VA to compile blind offers and Mail Merge into podio and a csv document for campaigns.
Vumber for multiple numbers forwarded to voicemail and PatLive.
Either click2mail or yellowletters for postcards. Maybe both.
I will be tracking my results and everything in this post. The first mailing will be to my second bullet point since I'm still waiting for PatLive to officially accept/set up my account ... Even though I've already been charged $105 for my month? ::side eye:: Not sure what's up with that but no sense in crying about the little dollars when I'm getting ready to help thousands of people in distressed situations and make TONS of money with my new system while I'm at it! Hehe :D
Wish me luck!!
Hey BP'ers! I've been lurking for about 2 months now and can finally say I'm READY. Like OBSESSIVELY ready. I'm quitting my job in 30 days or less even if it means ZERO sleep and personal time. I'm committed and STARVING!! Here's my plan for massive action:
-Mail 1,000 postcards saying that I buy houses to list of absentee/OO SFR who are 55+ that last purchased their home in year 1990 and older. Leads will go to PatLive who will screen for motivation and I call back with a general offer of 50% of ARV/Retail, schedule viewing date, and get the contract signed.
-Mail 1,000 postcards to same criteria above (with fresh names, of course) but this postcard will quote a blind offer of 45% of ARV/Retail.
"I would like to buy your house at XXX for $XXX CA$H. You won't have to pay closing costs, or any other nonsense fees. $XXX is net to you/$XXX is cash in YOUR pocket. If you are interested, please call me at ******. Because my funds are limited, this offer may only be available for a limited time and/but I am definitely willing to negotiate. I REALLY want that house. P.S. Please call."
I will direct these calls to voicemail and anyone that calls/leaves a message I call back and go from there. I was thinking of split testing the voicemail to where half the postcards go to a long 2 minute detailed message, and the other half goes to a quick, short, more one-man-shop kind of thing like "Hey you've reached Ana. I'm sorry I missed your call. Please leave a message and I'll call you back as soon as possible. Thanks and have a good day!" On second thought, yes I will be split testing :). #marketingmaniac. I'm thinking this should be handwritten with a live stamp but my limited funds say print all the things!
-I want to do that same thing with inheritance lists/probate lists but I'm having a hard time finding a credible source other than the county office which is horrifically time consuming with my full time job and now also my full time Real Estate Wholesaling Empire.
I will be utilizing:
findcompsnow.com for ARV/Retail.
Podio for offer tracking, campaign reminders, campaign results tracking, and just basically one place to house all my CRM data.
VA to compile blind offers and Mail Merge into podio and a csv document for campaigns.
Vumber for multiple numbers forwarded to voicemail and PatLive.
Either click2mail or yellowletters for postcards. Maybe both.
I will be tracking my results and everything in this post. The first mailing will be to my second bullet point since I'm still waiting for PatLive to officially accept/set up my account ... Even though I've already been charged $105 for my month? ::side eye:: Not sure what's up with that but no sense in crying about the little dollars when I'm getting ready to help thousands of people in distressed situations and make TONS of money with my new system while I'm at it! Hehe :D
Wish me luck!!
Ana - I love the passion!!! you already said " ZERO sleep and personal time. I'm committed and STARVING!! " Kool - look at Real Estate as a second job!!! when you're broke - how you gonna pay for marketing - (this is the blood to the business!!)
In Southern Calif - we mail approx 5,000 units per month (approx $2,600 per month)
1.postage - first class mail $.49 (standard is cheaper)
2. paper $.01
3. Envelope $.01
4. ink $.01
Trust me - we train / we mentor - we tell our junior partners keep your job!!!
Congrats!! Awesome, continued success to you! Looking for good Multifamily deals, anywhere!!
Thanks!
Ana, you are a tribute! You are also proof that you will NEVER be paid unless you do something. I used to feel that same way ("DAMN! I wish I was smart enough 10 years ago so I could have done...whatever".) Nothing in the planet works that way. There is no teacher better than real life experience. You are going to rule the world! Well done!
Real Estate Agent · Arlington, VA · Member since 2009 · 27 posts · 1 vote
10y
@Ana G. Thank you for this thread! This is exactly what I have been looking for and this is why I'm on BP! From the start and plenty of details. Are you paying upwards of $500 for Pat Live? You mentioned that you were paying this price earlier.
Lender · Yorba Linda, CA · Member since 2014 · 68 posts · 20 votes
10y
@Ana G. Congrats on the success! Have you increased the number of pieces you're sending out each month via direct mail? Would also love to hear another update before closing out 2015 =)
I have a strong mailing marketing background. That could work depending on your goals but if you have the time to take the calls, you may not want to send out the blind offer b/c that will turn off a lot of possible prospects that will just throw the mailer away. If you have the time, talking to those in that situation should allow you to convert more into deals. If you're in miami, that market is hot so I don't think you need to be that low to close a deal and postage can be expensive.
If you're spending that money on marketing, I would never let it go to a vm unless you just don't have the time at all. Always want to talk to that opportunity to turn it into something. People (especially those willing to sell their property at 50% of market) can be very indecisive and may not leave a vm or change thier minds completely 5 minutes after picking up the phone. Plus inbound calls close better than outbound always. It changes the control of the call. They called you so why did they call you? Rather than you calling them trying to pitch them when calling them back and maybe catching them at the grocery etc
Did you only use the three criteria for your listsource leads (absentee, age 55+, and bought place 1990 and later)? How many results did that yield you (obviously at least 2k)? Have you been following up with those who have not responded at all?
I'm not sure why I would want to put a filter like 1990 or newer in there since you want to be at least a certain number of years old not new house purchases
Real Estate Agent · Astoria, NY · Member since 2015 · 26 posts · 8 votes
10y
@Ana G. This is thread is great, I applaud you on your success!
I too am going to have two voicemails set up for my direct mail. One with a short message and one with a long message. Which did you have more success with?
Ive also signed for a free trial with Realeflow and the provide lists as well, do you know of or have any experience with the quality of their leads?
Do you have lead capture websites set up? ( I also have a free trial set up for those but im questioning if i really need that right now in the beginning.)
@Ana G. - Did you end up finding a credible source for inheritance/probate lists? Anyone know a solid source for this?
Also, thank you for this. You've inspired many who think that the market is too competitive!
Hey Aroldo no prob, im glad I was able to help you out! Yep- Search the Public Notices for Notice to Creditors. Im not an expert on other markets but in FL, you have to send out a notice in the newspaper to the public advertising the current probate proceedings of an estate so that any current creditors can make a claim and get their money back from the estate. You can also use your county's online public records site but I like this way better because the site will have the complete list of ads/notices from every single newspaper in your state that you can refine by keyword and date. Here's an example: http://floridapublicnotices.com/ , keyword NOTICE TO CREDITORS , dated the last 30 days. Now you just go down the list cross referencing with tax records to verify the real estate then add the Heirs and Personal Rep to your mailing list and send them a letter. Do this every month adding the new leads and mailing them consistently for at least 1year before you even dare consider removing them from your rotation because you WILL net a higher wholesale fee than if it was a regular motivated seller deal but these people need to be able to trust you first. If you can't mail them consistently, automate it with lob.
@Ana G. This is thread is great, I applaud you on your success!
I too am going to have two voicemails set up for my direct mail. One with a short message and one with a long message. Which did you have more success with?
Ive also signed for a free trial with Realeflow and the provide lists as well, do you know of or have any experience with the quality of their leads?
Do you have lead capture websites set up? ( I also have a free trial set up for those but im questioning if i really need that right now in the beginning.)
I've never used realeflow but it looks pretty smooth from the website. I had my assistant taking the calls live and returning missed calls and that went very well until she had to leave us. I have a long voicemail in the meantime and it really made me notice how many people call us instead of fill out a form on our site. My result was like 5% OR LESS would leave a voicemail so I definitely recommend live answering your calls or calling back LITERALLY within 60 seconds of hangup. My lead capture websites from investor carrot have been essential to maintaining the consistent lead flow in our business. My recommendation is to just put one up and let it sit there to marinate and age until you can dedicate the necessary attention it would need to rank on page 1 or until you can hire an seo guy to take care of it but trust me it's so worth it. Get a website up, get something up, and start building your brand so you can dominate your market.
Wholesaler · Miami, FL · Member since 2015 · 202 posts · 149 votes
10y
Thanks for the shout out @Ed B. Since you asked so nicely, here's an update
Last October when I had my biggest month and made $60k, I realized this was my time to ramp up and go after the success that I'd only heard about on podcasts. So I made my decision and went IN. I got infusionsoft and started to systematize. It took me 2 months, too many VA's, and complete isolation but I did it. I had the follow ups totally automatic, the tasks, the process, everything. I mean that CRM was a BEAST and it only took that last final piece of the puzzle to realize I just spent $5k on va's&add ons&customizations even though will now be paying $500/mo to keep it running. But so what? I NEEDED it if I was gonna compete with the big guys. Btw, 5 months later I switched to Zoho & Zapier - no add ons needed. Still, I'll always think of that expensive a** CRM as one of my greatest masterpieces.
Anyway, ive finished my crm so now it's time for me to get back in the business so I immediately mail out 25,000 zips in December and get INUNDATED with calls. Ended up getting like a 6% response rate. It's all I could have ever asked for and more, right? Well it didnt matter either way cos I think I answered/responded to maybe 1/10th of them. Unbelievably overwhelming, like anxiety. It just took everything I had not to cry over the fact that i just spent $8,000 on a SUCCESSFUL mailing only to see it all going down the drain right before my eyes and i was just standing there letting it happen. Thankfully out of desperation I hired an experienced assistant on the spot full time for $15/hr. She was the answer to my real estate prayers. She followed the script, took the calls, made the offers, got the contracts signed, made the follow up calls, responded to the emails, set the appointments, literally EVERYTHING. I was convinced she was the best decision I ever made.
To be honest I think I worked less than 10 hours a week just calculating ARV's, making decisions etc behind the scenes while my rockstar assistant took over my place in the same Florida market that I was supposed to dominate. So i figured i might as well shift my focus to my website in the meantime and hired an seo guy to do all the heavy lifting for $5/hr while i directed. Almost immediately the site started bringing us 4-5 organic leads a day and from there i was seriously hooked on this website/seo thing. I wanted MORE free leads. And I wanted them NOW. So I thought to myself duh what better way to speed up the process than Google Adwords? I researched and built landing pages while my seo guy handled the seo for the 50 states i targeted on my site. From there, it wasnt long before we started overflowing with leads and my rockstar assistant was getting us the signed contracts. Now, i dont gamble but this adwords thing turned into an obsession. Click the button and watch the real-time analytics light up. I realize now that i was addicted and spending dumb amounts of money on it but who cares. I have some money here and we're closing deals so there's nothing to worry about. I'm happy and my team is killing it. Unfortunately it didnt stay that way for too long.
We sent out our next mailing to 20k names and this time all at once. I sent out yellow letters with the handwritten address and live stamp, or at least thats what i thought we were sending. When i got my "yellow letter" in the mail, i was horrified to see that it was the super fake looking handwriting font with the barcode on it in a white envelope and the white "handwritten" letter inside didnt make it better. I ended up getting 12 calls and 2 deals. One of them bailed out of nowhere and never sent back the contract but i really didnt care cos the other guy was a homerun. $35K wholesale fee - already sold it to my whale and i havent even gotten the contract back from the seller but i already knew this was in the bag. I blasted it to my list the day before i was supposed to pick up his signed copy cos i wanted to see if i can get more than 35k (which btw i never blast out cos i always just sell my deals to 1 guy). Anyway, the seller ends up in the hospital the next day and we reschedule for monday. No big deal, right? He's excited as hell. Monday comes and he breaks the news to me. Turns out, some *********** wholesaler on my list decided to list my deal 'for sale by owner' on zillow, and over the entire weekend while the seller is trying to rest and recover, he gets hounded with people knocking on his door asking about the house for sale at much more than he thought he was getting. He sold it to one of the big guys for 10k more than i offered him. And the genius zillow wholesaler never even answered any of his calls live ... he sent everyone to a voicemail.
So to make this long story short, my rockstar assistant burns out and quits on me which turns out was perfect timing cos a month later i ran out of money and lost everything i had built, one by one, in a matter of weeks. The car, the website, the phone numbers, the CRM's, the deals i had under contract ... everything. When it was all said and done, my assistant made us a "whopping" $40k in 4.5 months while i spent the entire amount, along with the other $60k, being focused on the wrong thing. I let myself get comfortable and used to this idea that even though i wasnt contributing, just sitting back relaxed on the sidelines, overworking my employees, diminishing my hunger for success, lackadaisically directing the traffic, i thought somehow magically i would still come out on top. I knew better.
Thankfully theres a happy ending to the story. Two of the deals i had under contract ended up needing to go through probate and the closings were delayed, so I have $21k closing in the next couple of weeks that i will be using to start over .. the right way this time.
So my humble advice to everyone:
1. Start with a DETAILED plan, a DETAILED budget, a DETAILED blueprint that leads you to your goal. Write it down, and stick to it like your life depends on it. Tweak it after/while you take action and discover new data with your own eyes.
2. Save like 40% of what you make. Liquid, like in a safe or something where you dont see it. Use the rest of the money to keep you hungry and creative and motivated to keep going after what you're really after.
3. Get a mentor.They're smarter than you in a lot of ways. They keep you focused. If i had one, i'm pretty sure things would have turned out differently. I'm looking for one now.
Real Estate Investor · Sacramento, CA · Member since 2010 · 292 posts · 103 votes
10y
Thanks for the update, Ana. You had some impressive accomplishments and apparently did many things right, but made some unfortunate mistakes, which is good that you seem to have learned from. No shame in failing as long as you learn and know what to do better next time. However, I stand by my original suspicion that you found it harder than you originally thought. I, for one, didn't fully appreciate all the difficulties and challenges until I tried various investing strategies.
Raleigh, NC · Member since 2017 · 80 posts · 25 votes
9y
I love this thread!! I am driving for dollars today but my list is yielding 15 ppl.Absentee in Raleigh....1-300k assessed value...1-3 bdr....excluding trustee owned...and I get 15 results!!:/