All Forum Posts by: Eric O'Brian

I was also thinking the same thing... I take them off the list but was wondering whether I should follow up 6 months or a year later, just in case they changed their mind.

Thanks David - Just curious, what do you mean by EDDM?

Thanks Dev! I agree, its not difficult to take them off. I have a "potential" tab in my spreadsheet that I keep peoples info that told me to take them off the list. What do you think of calling them back after a few months just to follow up? Or maybe a letter 6 months or a year later?

I would say for every 200 letters I get one of those calls. The problem is I've been sending the same letter to a few of these zip codes, I need to switch that up- they're probably getting bored of seeing the same message.

Thanks Michael, I was thinking of taking them off the list, but still following up by phone call. That was I save money on postage and contact them in a more personable way.

How often did you call your prospects? Was there a certain formula or way of doing it that you found successful?

I was thinking of sitting down and following up with prospects every 2-3 months. I'm hoping they won't get too annoyed by that either... we'll see.

Hello all,

Every week when I send out a new batch of letters I often get a call that says:

"Please take me off your list, I will never sell my house, I plan to pass it down".

I think its great that people do that, and I plan to do the same once I aquire property, however what if their situation changes to one where they would need my services?

I actually explained to a caller today how I was able to contact him, and I asked him "Can I keep you on my list in case you change your mind?". He replied "Sure, as long as you don't send me anymore letters."

What do you fellow investors do in this situation?

Also, should I be calling prospects after a few weeks once they initially call and I get their numbers? Or should I be re-sending them letters?

Many thanks,

Eric

Joe,

Is the reasoning so they can put a face to a name, and will remember me once they might decide to sell for a lower cash price?

It always seems like they want full market price, and it wouldn't matter if I do meet them, but I am willing to try it.

I also send out yellow letters in the San Diego area, a volume similar to yours, I can attest that it is a tough market.

Of the 100's of calls I've gotten over 5 or 6 months, only 1 I almost closed on. I was so close on closing on a real rundown triplex for a good price- negotiated over a 2 month period, drove across San Diego multiple times to meet the seller and look at the property... in the end we agreed on a price and were ready to go through with the deal until the seller said "One last thing... I still need to ask my wife".

You can imagine how the rest of the story goes...

Most people that call me just want me to make an offer, and never want to name a price- they're not motivated. I agree with Dev, it's all about finding better leads. I'm trying to figure out how to do that myself.

Been thinking about driving for dollars or walking the neighborhood, my mentor said his best results were from knocking on doors.

Hello All,

Can anyone recommend how to change my message between my routine Yellow Letter campaign mailings?

I currently have a list of 3,000 absentee owners, and they get one of my letters every quarter, so I send 1,000 letters out a month.

I've heard many people on here switch up the message between mailings, ie. Letter 2 = "I'm STILL interested in buying your house", Letter 3 = Explaining more in detail what I do, Letter 8 = "This is my last letter", etc

Currently my strategy is to come off as the little guy, just an average joe looking for a property. I very well might move into it, and it would be my first property, so essentially it is accurate.

My yellow letter looks like this (written in my wife's handwriting)

"

Hello <Property Owner Name>,

My name is Mary O'Brian,

My husband Eric and I would like to buy your house at:

<Property Address>

We love the neighborhood and have been looking for a house in the area. If you are thinking about selling anytime in the future, please let us know, we would be very interested!

Please call us at: xxx-xxx-xxxx

Thanks,

Mary

"

I get a response rate of about 5%, mostly tire kickers. I've already touched a few zip codes with the same message, but different envelopes.

Could anyone provide some examples on how to switch up the message?

Does switching up the message provide much better results vs. just sending the same letter?

Since I'm trying to present myself as the little guy, I don't want to go into describing my business and how effective it is, just keep it as personable as possible.

Any input is appreciated!

That's true, moving into a 4 plex would be great... I never realized that you could use an FHA for up to a 4-plex, that might actually make it possible for me. I'm going to look through some multi-family units as well, right now in San Diego prices are quite crazy though. My mentor said it should cool off in a year, unless a fixer-upper comes along, that to buy anything 'retail' here is a bad investment.

Thanks for your input and help!

That's what I've also been thinking... I've never had an on-call job but I can imagine knowing you can be thrown into handling some residential emergency at 2am can be kind of stressful.

I'll ask him about the manager on site setup, I believe these will be units as in SFR's mostly and possibly some duplex's / triplex's.

I definitely have been thinking on owning a duplex / triplex, I'd love to do that. I send alot of letters to multi-family unit owners and am hoping to land a deal with one of those. I currently am renting, and am very eager to own, but am waiting for a deal that makes sense- real estate is very expensive here in San Diego.

My friends that also met my friend strongly suggested that I should just buy a home / multifamily unit on my own, and were saying I'm foolish for not doing so. They didn't understand why I would be sharing the profits with a mentor. At the same time, I don't know anything about structuring a deal or landlording or any of that- I was thinking it would be better to split the profits with a mentor and learn the proper way of doing things along the way.

I did buy the books to get a real estate license here in California through firsttuesday.us, and will be studying for the sales license exam. I am not sure if I'll necessarily take it, but I want to know all the in's-and-out's of real estate. Perhaps I'll be able to structure a deal on my own, but I am still quite inexperienced.