All Forum Posts by: Anthoy James

So I'm going to send out about 200 yellow letters to 90 day lates this week. I had a couple of questions on what you guys typically do. I plan on sending out 5-6 follow up letters, typically about 1 per week. Is there a better length of time to space it out?

1) Would you recommend answering the phone calls as they come (I have a separate phone just for mailings, also have a couple of scripts to try for when they call) or letting it go to voicemail and then calling them back to weed out who is serious and who isn't?

2) Does anyone have a good contract to use for when I make an appointment with them? Do you typically sign a contract with them the day you meet them? (Assuming you can reach a deal with them)

Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the reply Michael. I'm happy you posted actually, because I have read a lot of your posts and you are definitely one of the members I respect most on this forum. Sorry, I know I was being a bit vague in my post.

Based on your advice I m thinking of sending out 100 letters every week or two, to 1 type of target for 1-2 months and just try each one until I slowly find the best one that works. Do you think that timing between letters would be ok?

I've got a budget of about $2,000 for marketing and I would like to start a mailing campaign. I'm wondering what your take is on what would be the "best" mailing for a beginner who has never mailed before.

I have a separate line for phone calls, bought envelopes and paper to write the letters myself. I may use a service later on, but for now I think it's a good experience to do it myself.

I'm leaning towards starting to send letters to people who have missed 3 months of payments and trying get a possible short sale, etc...

I know there are a lot of other prospects such as FSBO/Expired listings/Absentee Owners/Probate that a lot of other people go after.

If you guys were just starting out in your advertising, what do you think is the best route to take?

Mike, when you say they make 10-20k on a flip, do you mean assigning a contract, or after purchasing and renovating it? That seems really low for the latter!

I'm intrigued by how big LA and the surrounding areas are. Are you guys familiar with all the different prices in the areas or do you guys go based on comps alone? I feel like it would take him years to really get down the prices in all the different markets over there!

He is willing to travel up to 60-75 minutes for work, possibly more. I guess he just thought that Inland Empire was about 2-3 hours away, but I guess there are closer areas he could go to... The problem with driving such a far distance for him is going to every house for a couple hours a day, in different neighborhoods would be a little difficult. In NY, we can go from Queens to Brooklyn in about 10 minutes sometimes. For him to go from Beverly Hills to Riverside to Orange County, etc may be a little time consuming, but he'll have to make it work.

I never realized just how big California really is!

Mitch, thanks for the reply. Very much appreciated. You were right about my definition of saturated. For instance in Queens and Brooklyn you will find 10-15 legitimate investors bidding on a property. Knowing the prices better (and thus willing to bid more than someone who doesn't know them as well) and having available cash as you said will put some above the others. I guess my friend is just afraid of being a small fish in a big pond. He will need at least 6 months - 1 year of just learning the areas/prices before he starts to invest IMO.

Secondly, like I said he really has no clue about the LA real estate market. I don't know too much about California's geography but I'm assuming he named those areas because they are somewhat closer to LA (he will be moving to the beverly hills area, not sure how close that is to the areas your mentioned) whereas the Inland Empire would be too far for him to travel? Again if I am wrong, please correct me as I don't know California at all. :oops:

I was having an interesting conversation with a friend the other day. We are both investors in the NYC area (rehabbing and flipping), and his family is moving to California, more specifically Los Angeles. He has spent years here and knows the market well. What prices to pay in which areas, how much houses will sell for in areas, built up numerous contacts within the industry and has become very successful here.

He knows he will be overall happier in Los Angeles and really wants to move there but will have no idea where to start. His fears are:

1- The LA market is more saturated. I have no idea how the LA market is, but I know that Queens, Brooklyn, and Bronx (our main areas of investment) there is FIERCE competition. Anyone have any idea of how the LA market compares?

2- He has no idea where to invest. I don't know too much about it but I've heard the Long Beach, Compton, Watts, Pico Union area is where a lot of the investors are?

What are your guys thoughts? If anyone in the Los Angeles area has any input or advice I would really appreciate it, thanks!