Here are my results after about $67K worth of direct mail cost in 2014.  It would be awesome is we could have everyone who has sent more than, say, 5,000 mail pieces, to post their REAL WORLD results as well.  

Collectively, it would be cool to see what if any patterns emerge in terms of mail pieces that have done best, what the response rates have been, the overall profit and return people have made from their direct mail efforts, etc.

This should hopefully answer a lot of newbie questions on potential response rates, how much profit they might expect from their marketing efforts, and the sheer volume of mail required to generate ANY deals at all.

The majority of lists I mail to (approx 80%) are high equity (40% or more equity) in zip codes close to me in DC metro area- all lists purchased on listsource.

All my mail pieces go to a simple, personal sounding voicemail.  I've found, after 2 years now of sending 40,000 plus mail pieces each year, that the people who hang up and don't leave messages are virtually never motivated sellers.  If they're motivated, they leave a message.  It's for this reason I don't pay for a call answering service to receive the messages.

OVERALL NUMBERS:

Spend: $67,000

Total Profit: $106,000 (not counting one I renovated and will be selling early this year)

Net Profit: $39,000

Return on Spend: 58.2% (pretty sweet)

*Note- this profit calculation does not include the cost of my time required to get this profit, which was quite significant.  This includes the initial phone call, driving out and meeting the owner at their house, follow-up until I have signed contract back, and the BS associated with title problems, seller's getting cold feet and trying to back out of contracts, and all the other stuff that comes up from contract signing to actually settling on the house.

BEST PERFORMING MAIL PIECE:

Handwritten letter on yellow lined paper with handwritten invitation (A6) sized envelope in random colors (pink, light blue, yellow, etc)

I have graphics on BOTH the letter and the envelope- things like dollar signs, stars, arrows, houses, etc- whatever random stuff I could think of to make the letter more eye catching and 'WTF' eliciting when opened by the homeowner, so they would actually read it.

SECOND BEST PERFORMING MAIL PIECE:

5.5 x 11 inch yellow post card (big post card) with somewhat handwritten looking font.  Includes various graphics (similar to the yellow letter)- i.e. star, house, arrows, etc.

MAIN THOUGHT AFTER THIS PAST YEAR:

Hypothetically discussing what might and might not work when it comes to direct mail is only worthwhile to the extent it provides new ideas for things to test in the real world. Beyond that, trying to imagine what will or will not do well is pointless.  

Only way to know what will or will not work is to pick ONE variable and split test it by sending each half of mail pieces exactly the same, to same list, with the exception of the one variable you are trying to test.