All Forum Posts by: Julius Dixon

@Claire

@Claire Trammell Really like your thorough response. A couple follow ups - how would you define the difference between the different mailers you stated above (yellow, postcard, etc etc)? What are the benefits and drawbacks of each, and where in the process do you use each one? You mentioned that you need about 5-7 touchpoints, so is the first one like a yellow letter (not sure what this means), second a postcard, etc etc? How does your phrasing in each mailer change in regards to the different formatting?

Also, what recommendations do you have for purchasing the seller's list? What criteria do you think are best to input on listsource?

Thanks so much to both of you for the awesome responses

@Jose Flores - quick question on "Right now I'm getting 2 calls on every 50 abandon properties I mail to and 10 calls for every 100 yellow letters I send out" - what's the difference between mailing to an abandoned property and a "yellow letter?" I think I may just be off on definitions. I sent you some follow up questions in a PM.

@Abel Curiel, thanks for getting back! First of all, I'd love to hop on the phone since you're close by. I'll send you a PM to see if we can schedule a time! I'd love to hear what you think are some good scripts as well for those three processes (VM, first call, and follow up script).

If other readers have thoughts on follow up scripts that have worked for them, I'd love to hear!

What's a heloc

My friend @Forrest Hull and I are beginning in direct mail marketing. We are looking for deals in San Diego where he is located. He will be driving for dollars looking for properties that appear abandoned, run down, etc. I am located in New York, so I will use listsource to build a list of out of state homeowners within our farm area (I will circle back to this forum with the specific zip codes that we will be looking for deals in). A few questions:

- Besides the zip code and out of state home owner, do you guys have any criteria that you think will help me optimize my list before I purchase? Is out of state the best starting point? I don't want to waste money on a bad list.

- For our mailers - do you guys recommend a different tactic for reaching out based on how we're creating the two lists (him driving for dollars and me purchasing a list on listsource)? Our idea for our first letter is literally just a plain envelop with a handwritten note reading "Hi, we are [brief intro] and we would like to purchase your property for cash. Please get back to us at [phone number/email]." We'll have a burner phone number (probably through google voice or something) that will take messages solely dedicated to REI.

We wanted some forward momentum as we were spending too much time in the "learning" phase, which was definitely helpful, but it's now time for action. We want to each have 12/13 addresses to send mailers by midnight this coming Wednesday. I imagine once we find the first 3 or 4 it'll be easy to go way beyond the 25 total we're shooting for, but we just want a manageable, tangible goal. We welcome any and all feedback from other n00bs and experienced investors alike. 

Thanks!

I'm going to find some reia meet ups local for to me, hopefully should be a large variety since I'm in NYC. What should I look for in a meetup in your opinion? What would you have on your mind as objectives to accomplish while there? I want to attend with a purpose in mind if possible so that I'm not spinning my wheels and wasting time. Really appreciate you for talking me through this Kuba F.

You summed that up really well, Kuba F. I'm not sure if it's analysis paralysis as much as it is not knowing what the necessary steps I need to take in order to begin. What should some of my first actionable steps be? Not sure if I should start by mailing letters or by figuring out what market is most feasible or if I should be calling realtors or what. I guess I've spent so much time acquiring facts in an unstructured way such that I don't know what first thing I need to do to get off the ground. Yes, you were right that all I want right now before the student loans become due is the B, making my purchase.

Hey Chris, I seriously appreciate the response. I know there's sometimes a bit of debate about the relative merits of pursuing the license. What do you think are some of the drawbacks of the license, just to put your original (and super helpful!) response to my post in full context. Thanks again!!

Hi guys, I'm a recent grad just beginning my career in nyc. With my current job im just above cash flow neutral due to a high New York rent that I'm now locked into. For the past 8 months or so, I have read and learned about real estate investing from books and forums like bp. My new job is somewhat demanding (left work at around 330am for past 3 days), so while I am able to teach myself about rei remotely, I'm not physically available to look at properties and analyze deals in person because I'm at my desk at work all day. Also, in 5 months from now, my student loans become due, so I have a time crunch on the time within which I must have tied up my first deal (hoping to BRRRR). I believe that I could have access to private money for solid deals. How would you solve the problems of being physically located in a city you're priced out of, without the time availability to drive for dollars, do personal inspection, etc. to find an amazing deal? It's crazy how motivated you can become when you realize if you got fired from your job there's no way you could afford your monthly rent...

Interesting. I checked on list source and you can sort between these mortgage criteria, but I don't understand why you should have to make the selection. Why would you ever select first mortgage as a criteria - when would this ever be beneficial as opposed to knowing the full, all encompassing capital structure of the property?

Dope, makes perfect sense. I appreciate the response! @Brent Coombs