My Little Direct Mail Campaign(Day 4)- It's working!

Hey BP, 

So I sent out my 100 mailers this past Sunday. You can read about my strategy here and get a visual for my mailers as well with some pictures. 

As of today, I've received 3 calls back. 

Call # 1- Stephanie

Stephanie has been considering selling here duplex(1890, Victorian, 3 blocks from University of Cincinnati) for a few weeks. I got her at the right time! She wants to give me a tour of the property soon, unfortunately, I leave for a 3 week work trip to Anchorage and Portland tomorrow, so we've agreed I'll reach back out to her when I'm back in town, and she'll walk me through her property. Doing a little digging, she bought the property in 2007, so I'm hoping it was towards the very top of the market, because if I can get the property for $10k-$15k more than she paid for it, this will be a humdinger in regards to the cashflow. Obviously, not sure of the insides/utility breakdown among others, but the outside is beautiful and it's an A+ location where I know if I get in good shape would pull in between $2750-$3000 in monthly rent. 

Caller # 2-George

George is 71 and retired, his wife retired last month, and he says, "his properties are always for sale", no emotional attachment(I'm new to the game with one property under my belt, I can say, I'm emotionally attached lol). 

George and I spoke for about an hour. He's got 4 properties, 3 in the area I'm looking and one in downtown Cincinnati that's out of my stratosphere in terms of price. In that hour, George gave me an HVAC guy, plumber, electrician, and an awesome strategy I'll explain-Meet with a mortgage broker, have them draw me up a 1 page offer agreement with pending inspection clause, I submit the offer 10% below mkt value, and ask the seller to carry back 25%. He said, I'll get at least 7 responses for every 10 offers I send. This will weed out some of the 100 mailers I'm sending,I'm still going to send mail, because in a short period, it's turned out to be incredibly effective. He said, the majority of owners in the area I'm looking to invest were bought between 2000-2007, and the area has averaged about 5% in appreciation/year(who knew?) so the 25% I'll be asking them to carry back is all money they've earned through appreciation, and they're going to get a higher return with whatever interest rate we would end up using, so it's a win win. I thought this was genius. 

HE OFFERED TOTAKE ME TO GET LUNCH!!! Again, I'm out of pocket for the next few weeks, so I'm going to call him a few days before I get back into town and meet for a cup of scott or lunch. For whatever reason, I hate the term "mentor", everyone talks as if you need this "guiding light" to start off on the right foot in this business, but I do think/hope this gentleman and myself can build a mutually beneficial relationship whether we do a deal or not. The term "mentor" for me is the equivalent of guy calling his girlfriend "baby" in front of others, her name is Cindy goddamnit, two syllables, just like "baby", the same goes for "babe", although it is only one syllable, it is just as appalling. So George and I are well on our way to becoming chummy, and I guess I'll call him, my "friend who provides sage advice on everything real estate."

Caller # 3- Not sure on the name, he was a mumbler, so I'll have to search his address in my spreadsheet to find it.

He has received inquiries "from others like me" in the past, and they've lowballed him. He thinks they all lowball because him because they think he needs the $. He said he'd be willing to listen to a fair offer. I told him, I don't intend to lowball anyone, and I'd love to walk the property and if it's something I'm interested in, make a medium ball offer. 

So those are the three calls I've received in 4 days after sending out 100 mailers. No angry customers, most likely because they're all investors themselves and understand the game/willing to listen to a fair offer. I'm pretty jacked about the results thus far. Even if nobody else responds, these 3 conversations have made the arthritis from handwriting 100 letters worth it. I've bought 100 more stamps, oy vey, they ain't cheap. I'm a "millennial", so needless to say, these first 200 stamps are the first 200 stamps I've ever procured. I'm pretty pleased with myself though, I did know how to properly mark a postcard, which is knaish.(bill murray voice). 

I'll keep ya'll posted, on what happens from here. If there's one thing I've learned, direct mail feels like digging for gold, and I've never dug for gold. While buying stamps, writing without a keyboard, taping envelopes, paper cuts, and having to use scissors to cut card stock down aren't my version of "fun", there's no more exciting feeling than getting a call from an unknown number..... when it could be your next deal!!!! And it beats the hell out of scouring the MLS every other hour. 

Cheers, 

Jake