First Yellow Letter Campaign
I just sent out my first batch of yellow letters to the Kansas City metro market, and thought people might find the first impressions of a new wholesaler of some interest. My goal was to raise bit of capital to continue to fund my buy and hold investing. I sent approximately 1000 letters which went out 5 days before this post, have had about 30 call, and have learned a bunch and gained some better questions:
1) Not every call is a motivated seller. In the KC market, which is a pretty hot market, this list has already been mailed to several times, so many just want you to stop sending them letters. I have had 1 motivated seller so far, but she held a note that was 75% of the value of the property.
2) As a corollary to #1, think very carefully in choosing your marketing area. If you'd guess it's already been hit several times, it probably has.
3) Don't stay on the phone for 20 minutes with a dead lead. Ask quick screening questions up front such as "Do you have a house to sell?", level of motivation, and expected price. If they say no, or want above market value, I'm going to guess there is a 99% chance that you can buy at wholesale.
4) You are going to start speaking to people with real problems: deaths in the family, money problems, family issues, etc. Try to help them out without lecturing them even if you CAN'T buy their house. Many of the people who preceded me in these mailings seem to have been real jerks based on discussions with some of these homeowners. In short "HELP PEOPLE OUT WHERE YOU CAN"
5) Fielding calls takes a lot of time.
Questions:
1) Do people work these popular lists, or is it better to just say "Already been done too many times" and move on?
2) If there is not motivation, do you bother throwing offers, or do you simply move on rather than insult the homeowner? How do the experienced folks deal with this?
3) Do you find that letting folks screen themselves through voicemail is better than answering each call, or worse? I am starting to think that Michael Q. is on to something with his long winded screening phone call. Seems like a good idea to eliminate the tire kickers.
4) Any general advice would be very appreciated.
I hope that this is useful.