Real Estate Agent · Richardson, TX · Member since 2014 · 511 posts · 161 votes
Hi everyone,
I just ordered 3,912 zip letters from yellow letters. 60 % of the list are absentee owners while the other 40 % are owner occupied. This is the criteria I used:
-SFR
-At least 50 % equity
-Bought house on or before Dec. 2012
-Age 55+ (Owner occ only)
-SQ FT (Less than 3,000 sq ft)
-Trusts are excluded
-2+ Bedrooms
I'll be sending to the same list for the next 6 months and I'll be using PatLive to take all my calls. I'm running this campaign in 2 suburban areas of Dallas TX. I'll be posting monthly updates with response rate, deals under contract, deals closed etc. This will be my very first "well executed" (or at least I hope) mail campaign.
Cold calling is also on the plans as I'm still doing more research on implementing a good system. In the meantime, any advice from more seasoned investors/Marketing experts would be greatly appreciated.
Rental Property Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2012 · 502 posts · 263 votes
9y
@Account Closed I was not trying to discourage you. Do the mailings, stay consistent for 6 months. Dallas is extremely competitive, but there are deals to be had.
Sounds like you have experience already, but executing the basics well will help you out in a competitive market. Answer the phone (got that covered with Pat Live). Schedule appointments on everyone who seems even remotely motivated. If you do this right, you have a better chance of being the first and only investor they call. Get it under contract on the appointment. If you can't get it locked up...follow up, follow up, follow up. Most people don't consistently do this. I just signed a contract yesterday on a house we've been following up on for 4 months.
Real Estate Agent · Richardson, TX · Member since 2014 · 511 posts · 161 votes
9y
Quick update, the mail campaign was a complete failure. Dallas is a much hotter market than I thought and it is extremely competitive. I received only 2 calls out of the 3,900 letters. I'm not counting calls from people asking me to remove them from the list. Given the low response rate, I've decided to build a much stronger list.
The new list will include Evictions, D4D and code violations. I want to stay away from list source as I would imagine most people are getting their lists from them.
Frisco, TX · Member since 2017 · 201 posts · 95 votes
9y
@Account Closed You may want to continue your campaign. In sales we are taught it takes 5-7 touches to "make a sale." I would expect your response rate to increase with each mailing. I would definitely vary the pieces. A letter one month, a post card the next. Change the message a little. You can do post cards consecutively but maybe vary the size and the layout a bit. Obviously "keep your branding." It helps build recognition. Sellers appreciate consistency. They aren't interested in dealing with every "fly by night" operator.
Rental Property Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2012 · 502 posts · 263 votes
9y
@Account Closed I think building your own lists that are a little harder to get is a good idea. But you can't call a mailing campaign a failure after only 1 touch.
Regardless of the list, I would highly recommend committing to 6 mailings (1 per month for 6 months) before I evaluated whether the list is good or bad. I receive a lot of mail from investors wanting to buy my own houses, and probably 75% of them never mail me more than once. I bet if I picked up the phone and called them, 75% of those investor wouldn't even answer.
Yes there is a lot of competition, but most of them are not doing what it takes to succeed. If you mail consistently and answer the phone, you are already doing better than most.