Results of Postcard Mailing to Absentee Owners

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Results of Postcard Mailing to Absentee Owners

Blair Halver
Real Estate Entrepreneur · Winston-Salem, NC · Member since 2008 · 101 posts · 40 votes

Hi all,
I've been compiling my results from my postcard mailings to Absentee Owners over the past few years. Here's what I've been getting:

Average Call-In Rate: 10.67%
Average Voicemail Rate: 4.40%

My Call-In Rate is the total number of calls I receive (whether they leave a message after listening to my 2-minute pre-recorded message or not) divided by the total number of postcards I send.

My Voicemail Rate is the total number of voicemails I receive after they call in and listen to a 2-3 minute pre-recorded message that tells them a little more about how we buy houses, divided by the total number of postcards I send.

I always have the phone calls directed to this pre-screening voicemail greeting. I don't want to take the calls directly and immediately.

I don't include any website or company name on the postcard, just my name and the phone number for them to call the pre-recorded message. I only use a local phone number.

My list criteria: Last Market Sale Date 10 years ago or more, house not older than 1978 (lead paint year), 3+ BR, 2+ BA, 1000sf+, Absentee Owned in-state and out-of-state, exclude trustees and corporations.

If you're on the fence about direct mail in general, or what direct mail to do, and to what list, I've had great success with this combo of postcards and Absentee Owners. I would encourage you to give it a shot.

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Account Closed
Investor · Central Valley, CA · Member since 2012 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
13y

Thanks for sharing. Have you gotten any deals from these mailings? Response rates are great but in the end are only as good as the deal/profit rates.

I'm curious why so many investors avoid trust owned properties in their list criteria. I've bought from plenty of trusts (and several corps for that matter). While arranging and setting up a trust shows some rudimentary estate planning, it certainly doesn't eliminate anyone from being or becoming a motivated seller. In some areas, the bulk of properties that would end up on an "inherited" list will be properties that transfer the property from the trust to a beneficiary/heir named in the trust. Trusts are becoming a customary holding entity for primary residences and for seniors. Just something to think about.

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  • Blair Halver
    OP
    Real Estate Entrepreneur · Winston-Salem, NC · Member since 2008 · 101 posts · 40 votes
    13y
    Originally posted by Danny Day:
    Blair, I'm trying to get an understand of your numbers and how many post cards (and cost) it takes to secure one deal.

    From what I can understand, you have a response rate of 10.5% to your postcards. From there, 4.47% of the people who listen to your 2 minute voicemail leave a message - or is that 4.47% of the people you mail leave a message?

    Then it takes 1 in 25 people who leave a message to close a deal.

    1,000 mailers

    105 response

    4 voicemails

    0.168 deals

    So to close one deal, it takes you 10,000 postcards?

    That's 4.47% of people I mail leave a message. Keep in mind this is an overall average from several markets around the country. It will vary wildly from 4.47% at times. From as low as 0.25% to 6% for the voicemail rate. Voicemail rate = voicemails divided by number of mailers sent.

    So on the high side, say 30 qualified leads (voicemails) to get a deal. To generate that number of leads, you'd divide 30 by .0447 = 671 postcards.

    I know a lot of you reading this will now think, "ok, all I gotta do is mail 671 postcards and I'm gonna get a deal and be rich." Well, I'll just warn you, it doesn't really work out like that.

    You might have already seen the chart below, but it basically sums it all up:

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  • Danny Day
    Developer · Houston, TX · Member since 2008 · 488 posts · 121 votes
    13y

    Ok, thanks for the clarification Blair. This actually really helps. I thought you meant that of your 105 responses, you get 4% who leave voice mails.

    This is a great thread. Thanks for the info.

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  • Eric Narciso
    Real Estate Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2015 · 37 posts · 3 votes
    11y

    Who do you set up your voicemail through?

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  • Account Closed
    Professional · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2015 · 397 posts · 34 votes
    11y
     @Blair Halver:

    It sounds like you may want to capture more of those calling in. Many probably won't sit through some recording.

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