All Forum Posts by: Joe Davalos

Create my own. City liens code violations vacant property registration drive for dollars. Property tax issues   

It takes time to input into excel but important to track. As months go by list will grow

I keep a workbook with a sheet for my mailing contact plus  date of mailing and how i received the lead. Also have a worksheet for bad addresses as to not keep mailing to a no good address.  

Do you have an idea as to the number you will be sending per month. At a certain level it’s best to out source. There are many out there that are part of BP. I have used RESIMPLI. @Ray Lai is a member here. You should reach out to him. For me 300 or more goes to a company now to mail for me. It’s cost effective and so easy to upload a spreadsheet click a few buttons pay and send. I would recommend the time you save by using a third party and channel it to Looking at your list and seeing which ones might be more inclined to sell. Mom and Pop poorly self managed. Elderly owners Properties not kept up and such. Then skip trace them and call them. Also skip trace return mail. Good leads there to be had many a times with a bounced back letter or postcard.

Public record in San Antonio best to check with a few people in your city or county that enforces this. I say a few because many times you will get back information from someone   You might also google the municipality name and code enforcement or whatever it’s called in your area. 

Driving for dollars works I don’t have the time very often to do so. Everything works if your focused at it and make adjustments as needed 

If you need just a few you can buy a package from American Tracers. It’s about 80 bucks for 10 traces 8 bucks a trace. Good for one at a time searches. You get it back emailed to you usually within a hour or two I also have used @Tony Battle who is a member here for bulk tracing. I send him 50 at a time. very reasonable His Company is Pinpojnt Private Investigations out of South Dakota

@cody Evans the property taxes are owed. I start off with a distressed lead source like code violations. I put that Property on a mailing list. If I get a returned card I start investigating. I look at deed records google name for obituary see who’s paid the Property taxes last. Right now I do it only on return mail. Then I add them to skip trace Eventually I will on All leads. 

The 40k property taxes owed on a 50k house doesn’t have any equity. You need a good spread to make some money.  The house with 10k in property taxes has a lot  of equity.  if I got a returned card he more than likely moved   It’s just one of many factors I use to see if a viable lead.  I shouldn’t have implied top of the list but definetly worth skip tracing. I move owners over to skip trace list if they have issues. Vacant repairs Code issues and such 

@Cody Evans if you send first class you get returned mail sent back to You. Many times the homeowners have moved and forward address expired but on the label it will list the new address   Also you can skip trace the owner knowing that the address 90 percent of the investors are mailing to is not reaching that owner. 

I skip trace most of the returned mail but investigate further to make sure it’s worth it. I see if they have a mortgage and enough equity.   I focus a lot of attention also on those that have property taxes owed. Sometimes they owe property taxes of 40k on a 50k house. Not worth it so I put them on my do or mail list  But if I get a returned mail and they owe 10k in property taxes on a 100k house it goes to top of the skip trace list. 

I know that @Ray Lai who’s a member here can help you. He has a Company resimpli that does direct mail for you and it’s sent first class.  You can use their design or design your own.  Like I said before I used to do it in-house but it’s not the best way to go if your doing a couple of hundred or more. I just sent a list of 350 and it would have cost me more than I paid to them if I did it myself 

Your on the right track. You want to start building your list into modifiable format like excel. Here’s mine

Property Address City Zip 

Owners Address City Zip

Lead source or Type

Notes

Month Year Added

As you work hard and expand your mind your list will grow   Eventually to increase your opportunities you will want to send direct mail. 

Don’t do it yourself. I started working with resimpli and it actually cost me less than doing it myself once I figure in my time 

Sending direct mail to a list of   distressed properties works. Sending to that list over a period of time works 10 times more.  I did my first wholesale ever last month on a lead I first sent out In June.   On the third mailing got the call   I have been investing off and on since the late 80s Direct mail done right is the best thing I’ve done to grow my business 

One more thing go first class mail Those returned post cards are gold. 

I have a good contractor he’s a bit expensive but good and reliable licensed and insured. PM if you want contact info.

I did my first direct mail with a Company Just earlier this month. I used resimpli. I liked the fact they let me use my original design with some enhancements made. That was important to me since I have used same color and design since June on some repeat mailing. I want to say it was .40 each postcard since I sent over 1000. Way less than I can do it myself Easy to upload your list click and pay. Everything works Nothing doesn’t