All Forum Posts by: Braden C.

Just because it's been cleaned out doesn't mean it hasn't already contaminated the soil, which could mean big $$. I wouldn't walk away from the deal, but I also wouldn't close until the seller has taken care of this issue. 

@Jerryll Noorden Is correct, we almost became best friends once and then things took a drastic turn. Mortal enemies indeed. 

@Vince Lucas I'd be happy to help you. I am an investor myself and also own a small print shop that only works with other real estate investors from around the country. There are several other really great companies that are on BP as well. By being smaller, I am able to spend more time helping customers get their campaigns going and also overseeing the process to make sure everything is done correctly and quickly (95% of our jobs are sent within 24 hours of the proof being approved). Feel free to check out our website, the link is in my signature. 

@Isaiah Moore I am a big advocate for a professional letter versus a yellow notepad letter or, in your case, a white notepad letter. You have a very short window to build trust and show your credibility to a seller, the handwritten letters do neither of those things. A professional letter can not only deliver the same message as your example, but also let the seller know why you're better than all the other mailers they're receiving. I would highly recommend you direct them to your website which can amplify the credibility that you want the seller to see. Provide lots of testimonials, show examples of flips you've done, have a bio about yourself and why you love helping people dispose of real estate, etc. There are several good options for websites, I personally use investor carrot. Good luck! 

@Ahmad Nassar I think your heart is in the right place, you want to help people and that's commendable. I would suggest reading a book titled "When Helping Hurts" by Steve Corbett. Although your heart might be in the right place, you might be creating unintended consequences. As Americans, we often have an attitude of throwing money at something to fix a problem without really thinking about how it might actually hurt those we want to help. As others have said, give a man a fish or teach a man to fish... 

@Devin Rodriguez A decent laser printer along with a letter folder will be pretty cheap to get you started if you decide to do it yourself. You'll still have a lot of time spent inserting, sealing, and stamping plus going to the post office (assuming you're using standard postage). You can buy machines to do all of those things but they aren't cheap. 

Without commercial equipment, from start to finish it will probably take about three minutes per letter by the time you setup the mail merge, print envelopes, print letters, fold, seal, stuff, and stamp. Doing it yourself will save around $0.20-$0.40 per letter depending on your consumable costs. So if it takes 3 minutes per letter you can do 20 in an hour which means your time would be worth between $4-$8 an hour. 

@Jonathan Abbott Are you sure the postcards have been delivered yet, or even sent? Sending thousands of postcards and receiving 0 calls is very, very rare. I have always been big on letters instead of postcards, both work but a really well written letter can be extremely effective. I'd be happy to chat on the phone with you and give some advice and share some numbers with you to help keep you motivated. 

@Joseph Rios I am a broker and investor so I have direct experience with what you're asking. I don't solicit the listing in my letter but if/when I talk with someone who wouldn't benefit from a quick cash sale but they are interested in selling, I offer the help of my brokerage to do that. Not sure about NJ laws but in Florida I have to disclose in the letter that I am a licensed agent so keep that in mind. 

Hey @Lisa Raposo I'd suggest checking out @Seth Williams and what he has to offer for land investing. He gives a ton of free information on his blog that could really help fuel your start. A "few" mailings, as you said, aren't going to get you going. Direct mail is a numbers game and in my experience, it takes 4-5,000 mailers to land a deal. That's based on houses, so vacant land might be less but I wouldn't give up if you haven't already sent several thousand pieces. 

You can do this, don't give up! 

As someone who sends A LOT of direct mail for my own investing business and having a direct mail company, I can tell you that sending DM while working full-time is tough. It's certainly not impossible, but it's tough... The first and easiest way to get around the lack of time is hiring someone who is hungry to earn and learn. If you offer to fund the DM marketing for an agent in exchange for feeding you the best leads and a small percentage of their listing commissions, you'll have about a 90% success rate. You can still have a lot of success handling the leads yourself but I feel like you'll get worn-out pretty quickly. 

Direct mail works, you just have to come up with a way for it to work for you and your situation. 

P.S., if you get a good deal in NW Georgia that you don't want, send me a PM. We're looking for something to buy to escape the miserable summer Florida heat.