All Forum Posts by: Dev Horn

How about that idea Aaron mentioned of hiring someone - you could do the SPINNER SIGN thing... hire an acrobatic sign man like this:

Best to use a service - such as what @Jerry Puckett & @Michael Quarles offer.

MQ's service - YellowLetters.com is a complete service with everything you need and a ton of options to choose from.  I like their Zip Letters more than yellow letters, but they can do them both and postcards, too.

Jerry is super sharp and can really walk you thru creating an entire strategy AND he'll do the mailing for you!  Check out his site HERE.

Oh man, @Aaron Mazzrillo beat me to it - I was thinking, just keep on cutting them down until they are small enough to hand out to people!  =)

We do a LOT of direct mail here at WeBuyHouses.com.  We use mostly postcards, sometimes professional white letters (letterhead w/ logo), but mostly I like postcards because I can send 2 for the cost of 1 letter.  We use letters for probate mostly.

I like the absentee owner list, with 40%+ equity, SFR only, in the desired price range. I don't think it makes sense to send yellow letters to absentees, many of whom are landlords. They don't care if "my wife and I love your house" and want to "$BUY$" it. Instead, we speak to their problems - crappy tenants, need for repairs AGAIN, financial/cash-flow issues, the burdens of maintaining vacant properties, etc. etc.

You don't want tire kickers.  Might make you feel good to take more calls at the beginning, but soon you'll realize you're wasting money and time with them.  Use a well-targeted list and a well-targeted message >>> Why should they contact you?  what problem do you solve?  why call you instead of the 9,999 other "investors" out there?

I've spent my fair share of time in cities such as NYC, Chicago, Boston, and LA over the past decades, and I have many friends that live or have lived in those cities...  so, allow me to have a little fun with this for a moment (as a guy from the 'burbs).............

I may be completely wrong, but I call BS on the premise that the burbs are in decline and people are movin' to the city in any significant numbers.

City people act like living in the city is "convenient".  Oh yeah, where is your GROCERY STORE?  Oh that's right, everyone in the city eats OUT every night.  (Just take the kids with you to Chez Josephine!)

Most people who grew up in the suburbs also know the city, because we have to sometimes begrudgingly go INTO it to go to a government office =).  Many who live in the city have no idea what's in the burbs because they spend their entire lives in about 10 square blocks in the city because they have NO CAR because it costs $450 a month to rent a PARKING PLACE for a car. (And try getting 3 or 4 bags of groceries home without a car... fun times!  I've been on the subway with food bags - what a JOY!)

And most people with children would rather lose an eye than have to live in a congested urban setting with their young ones and send them to the public schools there.

In the city, you can get a few hundred sq. ft. for $150,000.  In the burbs, you can get an entire house for that. etc etc etc

Unless all those factors (and many others) are changing at an alarming rate, I think this is an academic discussion that does almost nothing to inform us as real professionals.  A couple of studies aside, it seems unlikely that suburbs in any major metro are becoming less attractive to the many  people who prefer to live in suburbs and not a noisy, congested, urban setting.

Good start, but I kind of feel like there are no PEOPLE behind the curtain - the ABOUT US page does not have anyone's name (and yes for a moment I thought that was you and your wife!), or photo and no physical address.  Don't be afraid to be YOU online.  I am suspicious of websites that seem to obscure who is behind them.   There is a reason RE agents put their pics on all their marketing - people want to connect with other people.

I'm also not sure the tagline in your logo area fits this "buyer" site - it sounds like your goal is to SELL houses in the tagline.  That may be true, but it's confusing on a site about BUYING houses...

Do both (invest and be an agent).  From the leads we get even from well targeted "We Buy Houses" marketing, we can list more than we can buy. on an absolute numbers basis.

I'm studying for my RE license right now because I missed a lot of opportunities to list this year and make that 3% (actually 80% of that 3%) rather than 0% on sellers that turn out not to be "cash deals".

You have what 90% of newbies do not have - a MARKETING BUDGET.  It's all downhill from here!  =)

Sounds like you have a good strategy, assuming your list is good (such as absentee owners with 50%+ equity, etc.)   Consider using services provided by @Jerry Puckett , @Michael Quarles (YellowLetters.com) , or the vendor we use - GoBig Printing.  All those guys have automated ways to produce yellow letters.

Also, consider using postcards - they are much cheaper to print & mail.  YellowLetters.com also has a "zip letter" product that is innovative and cost-effective.

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"The man who stops advertising to save money is like the man who stops the clock to save time." ~ Thomas Jefferson

You may find that your county provides online access to homeowner data.  Other than that a lot of us use Listsource.com which is provided by CoreLogic.  CoreLogic is a big data provider to the real estate and mortgage/banking industries; they collect much of their data from counties all over the U.S.

Looks like good advice above, but mostly about the type of mailer & response rates.  The other BIG issue is who you are sending these things to - makes a BIG difference on response rates and lead quality.

I'd take Ryan's advice and split it up and do $500 per month to make it last a few mailings.  Then I'd target Absentee Owners, 40% or higher equity, below median home value.

If you mail to general owner occupants (OO) bought from a typical mailing list vendor, or even OOs with high equity, be prepared to hear the crickets chirp. For OOs, you need to go after certain types, ages, situations, etc. to better zone in on motivation. That's why absentees work much better as a list; there is a much higher chance of finding motivation among landlords, heirs, and others in that list who do not live in the house.

Hope that helps - best of luck!