All Forum Posts by: Ben Ballinger

I realize OP is over 3 years old, but still wanted to respond, so here it is:

1. You need to be patient with direct mail, it's a long-term strategy. You won't see the main benefits on your initial campaign. As they say, the fortune is in the follow up.

2. You should increase your market budget and reach out to more. Like all statistics, small sample sizes are bad for predictability (in this case, ensuring at least a few responses).  Most people in my area who are successful with direct mail are doing at least 1000-1500 per month.

3. I don't think you're considering ROI. Don't let negative responses get to you personally. It's how marketing is, no matter the industry. You said it's subpar because you only got one good lead. But, you should ONLY be looking at how much you spend, vs how much you make. If you end up purchasing that property for flipping/buy and holding, would the profits more than cover the cost of the campaign (I certainly hope so)? Again, a bigger sample population and more subsequent mailings would likely improve the numbers anyway.

As an example though, if I spend $1,000 on direct mail campaign and get only one legit lead, that results in a sale for a property I flip and make $25,000 on in 160 days... I would do that ALL DAY LONG. If I asked you to give me $1,000 and I would give you back $25,000, would you not jump at it?

That's how you have to approach marketing.

As for whether the letter is too long or short, I can't really comment except to say that having listened to nearly every podcast here at BP, I have heard from people who use 1-2 page long letters, and those who use one sentence letters, and those who do a mix or are somewhere between, who have all been successful. So I don't really think it matters. The similarity between all of them was persistence and investing enough to get out to enough people to see predictable returns.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Mindy, sounds great. The forums are on my app, just not all the categories. The "General Info" category subforums (specifically, the pro area, and this specific board about questions regarding the site) are not listed anywhere, it just starts with the "General Real Estate" section which is technically the second category after General Info on the desktop.

I use iphone 6, current IOS

total annualized return is an automatic calculation. it does the division for you, so if you're doing it ahead of time it's redundant and that is whats affecting the numbers.

if you didn't already look at this article, it breaks the feature down in good detail: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/05/26/annualized-total-return/

I can't seem to add colleagues on the app, only the website. Am I missing something? If not, why has this basic function been excluded? It really limits the usefulness of the app. If I get a keyword alert to a topic that I'm interested in, and in that topic I want to add a colleague, I have to go out and revisit the link on the computer or on my phone browser.

Secondly, the forum list is incomplete on the app. This entire area of the forum, the pro section and each of the info-based forum categories are not included. Again, is this an oversight or purposeful? Why are those categories not included?

Do you have an email list for these properties?

I have a partially-completed SFH flip that needs to be completed... 99% of the materials are already purchased, many installed. The following is a general list of what still needs to be completed.

- build front porch + railing + paint
- tile upstairs bathroom, install vanity and fixtures
- tile downstairs bathroom, finish creating shower enclosure
- tile kitchen backsplash, finish putting in cabinets
- tile kitchen and basement floors + steps
- stain hardwood floors (already sanded ready to go)
- install crown molding throughout
- install various baseboards, railings, etc
- paint entire interior
- rewire one conduit (was in a closet we ripped out, so now it needs to be relocated to a nearby wall)
- fix fences and stain back deck
- landscape front and back of property

This project needs to be finished quickly so someone who can get to work this week would be ideal.  Please message me if you're interested or have someone you can recommend.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: YOU MUST BE RELIABLE, HONEST AND HAVE A QUICK TURN AROUND

I paid him out based on the work done, minus a quick estimate of liquidated damages for leaving work half finished. The profits moving forward will be all mine. It will turn out for the better; I'll make about 1.8 times what I would have made otherwise. Live and learn, shoulda listened to the BP folks who warned me! ;) 

Thanks @Oscar Setiawan, still in the process of it, actually had my contractor walk off the job ... sigh!

But I am learning a ton in the process. I actually have another project going on simultaneously and both should be finished around the same time, so I will definitely post case-studies once they're completed.

Thanks for checking in man!

Kimberly H. I agree, if he's this rude to people on a forum trying to answer his questions I can only imagine his toxic attitude towards tenants who don't live up to his standard of education or intelligence and dare to make a complaint.

Which area specifically do you work in?