All Forum Posts by: Claire Trammell

Hello @Chris Lohan! Glad to meet you!

Shooting for the stars is a wonderful goal! Always learn and grow.

I encourage you to utilize this site and it's resources. Also, reach out with questions and ask about other's experiences. There are so many people on this site that are more than happy to help you succeed.

Good luck!

90%-100% is a great start, especially for the age group you are looking to market to.

Although, keep in mind there still tends to be motivation with less equity. Even as low as 30%-40%- 50%. Depending on how many mailing pieces you want to send out at a time, you may want to consider extending out your equity to generate more leads.

Direct mail as a Realtor is great! I just heard that a recent study showed that 70% of Americans say mail is more personal than the internet. I also read that 48% of people retain direct mail for future reference. Direct mail is a great way to get your name and contact information out there and readily available for future reference and use.

As for narrowing down the amount of leads to mail to, I agree with @Tom T., target one or two zip codes at a time. One step at a time and slowly expand. 

Although, with 100k leads showing as available is exciting! It may seem overwhelming for a single mailing (totally understandable!) however it is exciting to see the opportunities you may have when you begin sending direct mail more regularly. It will take some time to exhaust 100k leads, therefore it allows you to continue expanding and mail to fresh contacts for a while.

Welcome @Collin Golden!!

Love your attitude and sense of humor! Glad to have you in the BP community!

Welcome to Bigger Pockets! 

Some great first steps would be:

Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area:http://www.biggerpockets.com/meet
Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you:http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts
Read Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing
Check out BP Podcasts: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/category/podcast/

This was helpful to me when I started. I hope its helpful to you!

You know, there isn't really a minimum population necessary with direct mail marketing. If you are interested in an area, and there are properties that fit your criteria, go for it! 

Welcome @Chris Jones!!

Though this may be repetitive, I encourage you to take full advantage of this site. It is such a wonderful resource to help advance you in your venture with REI. Ask questions even if you feel like it may be a silly one. There is always more to learn!

Listsource.com is another great place to get a list of leads. They have different criteria you can use to narrow down your search to find the types of houses you are looking for. Equity, bedroom count, value, etc.

@Xai Xiong

A yellow letter campaign is a great way to open doors for deals. 

It looks like Listsource.com is up and working. The leads are usually updated daily and the site is a great source for generating leads.

What criteria are you using to search?

I agree with @Josh Nix

Why not try both?

Although, with yellow letters or even postcards you will be able to get your name and number more accessible to the seller by sending direct mail and getting it physically in their hands. There are many different types of direct mail marketing pieces you could send out, however you will be able to portray the same message: "I want to buy your house." And that's the important part!