All Forum Posts by: Brandon Foken

@Robbie Knecht - I always do letters in an envelope with actual hand writing on the envelope. My return address is pre-printed on the envelope though. The letters themselves are typed, but I sign each and every one of them for the first 3 touches. No postcards at all. I do a couple of unique things with my mailers and with all materials and paying the letter writer, I spend roughly $.89 per piece of mail. Hope all that helps!

Campaigns are still trucking along. I've shifted from doing blasts of YLs/postcards/etc. to more targeted, "nicer" marketing materials to hopefully stand out in my competitive market. Response rates still generally suck - averaging about 1% - but the quality of my inbound calls has increased. Now that I'm mailing more folks, I can get a way with that response rate, but I'm still working hard to improve it. Did you have any specific questions you wanted addressed, @Micah Copeland??

Nothing like putting a small sign with tiny letters set back 10 feet from a road where people are doing 50MPH+. I'm sure he gets tons of phone calls....

I'm a little late to the party, but beware of NiMBYs out here. I live in San Francisco and I'm surrounded by renovation projects. I've received multiple notices for city planning meetings for proposed building changes. I live across the street from what was a 4,000+ sqft SFH that is now being split up into 6 condos. They want to eliminate street parking to add garage access and let me tell you, nothing upsets people more than removing a parking space.

Also, the renovation times out here seem absurdly long. On the aforementioned project, they started demo in January of 2014. I walked by yesterday and noticed the parking permit just got extended to 7/15/15. Not sure if that is a function of the SOW or the time involved with city planning meetings, permit reviews, etc. Hope that helps. Oh, and be prepared to have equipment/tools stolen. I spoke with the GC one day after he came over asking if my building had security cameras pointing towards his project. Chatted him up a bit and he said for the last 2 years, he's had tools stolen at every single one of his projects. They recently erected a massive 8 foot or so plywood fence to keep the riffraff out.

Since you are in California, look up First Tuesday. Their contracts are simpler than CAR and have the added advantage of being written by a few lawyers. I've used them for years and they are simple and easy to use.

To further @Alexi Schreier 's point. Housing inventory in Oakland for December 2014 was .8 months. Fremont was .4 months. My feeling is that the low supply is what is currently driving most of the appreciation. I took Econ 101 in college so I'm an expert on this (Hint: that was sarcasm!). Demand has stayed constant over the last year, but supply has fallen. That means only one thing: prices have to rise. I don't see how we get out of this low inventory hole in 2015. Hopefully 2016 we see a return to a more normal, stable RE market here in the Bay.

I don't have anything to add on the Click2Mail piece, but I'm really confused on your mailing campaign. To be sure, you are mailing 1,000 cash buyers and 300 properties (200 probates and ~100 NODs)?? If that's the case, I believe you will be extremely disappointed with your results. 

May I ask why you are spending the time/money to prospect cash buyers? 

DJ, I say go the EDDM route since there isn't a ton of addresses. I've sent an EDDM before and the response rate was quite low, but I think I missed an opportunity to stand out and deliver an exciting, unique message. Mine was just like any other postcard you get in the mail. So, if you do go the EDDM route, stand out and do something a bit bold. Good luck!!

Logan, I'd definitely hold off sending those letters until 2015. Let everyone get done with the holidays first and then their brain will allow them to think about real estate. As for the stamps, love 'em. Do something that sticks out instead of the same ol' American Flag forever stamp.

Great thread, @Karin Crompton . I have a GC who runs a crew of 4 primary guys who are at the job-site daily. The GC gets nothing and I told him as much since he is the boss. I'm getting $25 Best Buy GCs to the rest of the crew (electrician, plumber, carpenter and finisher). My feeling is that they can get something for themselves there or use it to help offset the cost of their kid's presents. Nothing too fancy, but enough to let them know I appreciate their work.