Real Estate Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2009 · 44 posts · 13 votes
I just sent out 768 yellow post cards to absentee owners in 2 zip codes in my area. Really it's 767 + 1 to me so I know when to expect the phone calls to start. I used Click2mail's 4x6 single sided card. I'll post updates on response rates/quality.
Real Estate Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2009 · 118 posts · 76 votes
16y
Chris- depends on the time you have allotted for this and how you could otherwise be spending the time printing and stuffing. I've seen a lot of investors quit doing DM because of the time and effort involved.
And when you consider the time of doing other things for two hours a night, it becomes easy to procrastinate. I've found people who outsource these tasks tend to perform this type of marketing longer and have more success.
Real Estate Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2009 · 44 posts · 13 votes
16y
Thanks everyone for the encouragement. I'm targeting absentee owners who have owned the property between 1/1/85 and 1/1/05. Houses built between the same dates. The card basically said
Hi
"My name is Harvie Arington and I work with a group of investors. We are interested in buying your house at
."
I tell them that I buy as is and I can close fast. I tell them that I can buy their house even if they don't have much equity. I give them my phone # and website and tell them they can get free info on how to sell their house for a fair price and close on the date of their choice. I also tell them that if they don't respond I assume they aren't interested or they are working with a realtor.
Involved In Real Estate · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2008 · 89 posts · 15 votes
16y
Hey Harvie, great job! please keep us updated on your results. I personally have found that personal Yellow Letters gave me more bang for my buck, as I noticed more responses with the YL then postcards, but thats just me...
p.s. one last thing, can you share with us more or less how much this campaign costs...
Real Estate Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2009 · 44 posts · 13 votes
16y
I agree that yellow letters would work better. But, I'm on a budget so I didn't want to farm it out and I'm lazy so I didn't want to write 767 letters. I tried to do it on the computer, but I couldn't make it work the way I wanted to. That's why I sent the postcards. As for the cost:
MelissaData $145.92
Click2Mail $278.20
Total $424.12
Involved In Real Estate · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2008 · 89 posts · 15 votes
16y
Thats great! your cost comes out to roughly .55 cents a postcard... Great use of your money... The way I started with yellow letters is that I'd write 50 letters a day in a period of an hr to an hr and half... and I'd do it M-F... On friday I'd have 250 letters to mail out... Of course I don't do this anymore and have a system in place...
Real Estate Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2009 · 118 posts · 76 votes
16y
Outsourcing hand written yellow letters is probably about 3.5 times more expensive than postcards. Buy the letters are about 7 times more effective. I have a dm company and have studied the results quite thoroughly. I don't want to sound like a commercial, but the letters really are the best way to acquire properties.
Flipper/Rehabber · Bakersfield, CA · Member since 2008 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
16y
Yellow letter cost about .35 cents or less to put in the mail... I own Yellow-Letters.com and charge 1.19... Do them yourself...
Its so easy to do and yo ca figure that you can do 100 and hour...
As for Postcards you can print 8.5 x 5.5 yellow for right at .30 cents each... and although they don't pull at the same rate they still should be your second piece to the same prospect....
Real Estate Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2009 · 118 posts · 76 votes
16y
Congrats on getting 3 responses so far. If you get 14 responses by mid month, you've actually surpassed expectations on postcards.
Like Michael said, using a yellow letter campaign may cost more but you get more results. Also having a website will add to your credibility as well and may lead to increased results.
Wholesaler · Amarillo, TX · Member since 2008 · 369 posts · 75 votes
16y
I'm learning that what Michael Quarles is talking about is true.
Recently, I've been looking into creating yellow letters myself.
First, I created a font with my own handwriting.
Then, I ordered invitation style envelopes that I will print myself using the handwritten font.
I ordered some multi-colored filler paper, college ruled, just like notebook paper you use at school. I'll print my letter on that using my handwritten font.
After that I will fold, stuff, and insert a business card magnet.
Finally, I'll take it to a presort mailing service in town who will print the postage at about .18 a stamp!
There is more work involved this way but it saves thousands of dollars per mailing for me.
The cheapest yellow letter company I've found charges .78 per piece. With 6000 pieces I spend $4680.
Doing it myself, including magnets, costs
about $3,000; without magnets it's about $2,000. (that is .33 per letter)
Hopefully all goes well printing that many letters on my home computer using 16 lb, 3-hole punched paper!
Eventually I'll get a worthy printer, and a pitney bowes meter to do my own bulk mailings. Then maybe i'll be a yellow letter vendor myself!
Real Estate Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2009 · 118 posts · 76 votes
16y
Chris- depends on the time you have allotted for this and how you could otherwise be spending the time printing and stuffing. I've seen a lot of investors quit doing DM because of the time and effort involved.
And when you consider the time of doing other things for two hours a night, it becomes easy to procrastinate. I've found people who outsource these tasks tend to perform this type of marketing longer and have more success.
Wholesaler · Amarillo, TX · Member since 2008 · 369 posts · 75 votes
16y
I think it just depends on how much you like $2,000!
Also, wholesaling isn't really that time consuming, that is, as long as you aren't chasing around 1 or 2k deals.
Oh, well I checked your link and that explains your position!
I would like to outsource cooking, grocery shopping, paying bills, folding clothes and just about everything that isn't FUN or GOING TO MAKE ME RICH, but eventually you would spend all of your time and money outsourcing rather then living your life.
Real Estate Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2009 · 44 posts · 13 votes
16y
Sorry it took so long to reply. Out of 768 postcards I got 4 calls. Three didn't return my call and one is an elderly man who wants to unload at least one of his properties. Still hopeful we can come to an agreement. About 50 postcards were sent back undeliverable. I don't know if that is normal. If I learned anything it's that the more personal the communication is the better your response will be. Therefore my next mailing will be yellow letters. I'm also going to try to answer the phone every time it rings even though I have a full time job. I think I will try another service for my list to see if I get fewer returned cards.
Real Estate Consultant · Bloomfield, NJ · Member since 2010 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
16y
DEFINITELY answer the phone everytime it rings and be as warm and friendly as possible when you do.
I would take the 50 returns and dig deeper to track them down. If you can't reach them on your first mailing, neither can your competition. But most of them are moving on while you should probably check to see if they're deceased, living somewhere else, etc.