All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Thanks for letting me know. I can definitely see how using your time to find leads is a better use of your time. 

Thank you very much for the feedback @Shanequa J.

I'll definitely keep this in mind, and keep looking for a cost effective mailing service that makes sense to use while I get my marketing campaign off the ground.

Did you happen to track the amount of time per letter, or number of letters per hour? What exactly were you doing when you were doing it yourself?

I appreciate your input!

Of course, my friend. More to come as I get this direct mail thing figured out!

I've made a simple spreadsheet with links to low cost DIY yellow letter and business letter supplies. For my Sacramento folks who have discussed this with me recently, and anyone else who may be interested... here's the link

https://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/Elliott_E/file/direct-mail-supply-management

The cost comes out to 53 cents for the business letter and 59 cents for the yellow letter (mailed). This does not include your time. I'll probably try and lean out the packing/stamping/writing process and write up some instructions if I can come up with something really efficient for bootstrap investors to complete the process very quickly. I think handwriting on the envelope is an important touch anyways.

Printing onto the yellow lined paper might be a bit of a hassle, its going to take some playing around with the measurements and margins. 

Also, I'm using this printer. 

http://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL-L2340DW-Monochrome-Wireless-Printing/dp/B00LZS5EEI/ref=lp_172648_1_1?s=office-electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1457200226&sr=1-1

Since it's a very popular commercial choice, there are a lot of low cost toner options available... as long as you're willing to print in black ink only. My ink per page is something along then lines of 4 cents with this.

I hope this is helpful to some of you! I will continue to try to optimize this and the preparation process, and share any useful findings I come across!

Cheers!

Hey all,

I've built up a quick absentee landlord list and would like to send my first round of yellow letters asap. The list is only 550 leads, but we are looking to build a second one and send out another round very shortly.

I'm looking at different costs associated and would like some input. Where are you guys ordering your letters from? I got my list from yellowletters.com but a batch of  550 mailers from them costs 1.10/ea. 

If you are printing them yourselves, what is that cost per letter. What about the amount of time input per batch of mailers? If I'm going to be printing them myself, it would have to be at a markedly reduced cost and a fairly small amount of time in, as I would rather spend the time generating leads or doing other higher value work. What are some tricks you use to minimize the costs and/or speed up the process itself?

Cheers and happy Friday

Elliott

Sorry, posted this on the wrong board. I reposted it on the wholesaling board.

Not sure how to delete this... help me mods!

@Jamie S. That last post was gold. Awesome tips from the trenches there. 

Thanks Jeff, let's see how much feedback we can get! I recently posted about how to approach learning to estimate rehab costs, and got a ton of responses.

Welcome Tony!

When did you graduate from UCD? What did you study? I'm also a Davis alum, class of '12. 

I know a couple of good agents and lenders in the area, I can probably help you match up with someone who more specifically meets your needs if you'd like to chat. We'll help you escape from Davis haha.

@Jessica Sorensen

I'm not sure I am an experienced investor, but I have been renting out the spare bedrooms of my home for a few years now and I have learned a bit about the unique nuances that are involved. 

I would look into what you can charge using airbnb and compare it to what you may get from consistent renters. Also consider occupancy will be much easier to manage with traditional tenants... but it is very very very important that you screen with rigor to ensure that you will be willing to live with this person for a potentially longer term. 

I ruled out airBnB because of how actively involved I would have to be in renting and managing my space. My roommates now are professionals and grad students in their mid 20's, we have a great family at home, we hardly even see each other, and they're here to stay... they also pay my whole mortgage. :)