All Forum Posts by: Elizabeth Nourse

@Brad Chandler

Interesting numbers for your performance.  Just to be clear, the 1% rate I'm referring to is standard for ALL direct mail, across all industries and all types of direct mail (letters, postcards, etc).  It's kind of a standard number.  Here's the study from the Direct Mail Association that discusses response rates and they cite 1% for direct mail, on average, with a list, in their most recent 2015 study.  

http://www.iwco.com/blog/2015/04/14/dma-response-r...

In my experience (and I've been in marketing for a long time) 1% is the typical benchmark cited for most direct mail campaigns.  Then you adjust your expectations up or down depending on the quality of your list, targeting, message, and type of mailer. 

If you're not getting responses around this number, there might be a good reason- like a weak list or bad messaging, or in some cases, outright fraud.  I've heard of mailing companies offering cheaper rates and then not sending the promised amount of mailers. They might promise 1,000 but really only send 700 for example.  Sadly, I have even heard of a few that ONLY send to a their purchaser and never send any at all to the list.  And if you think about it, how would you really know? It's not like you can check this or verify it easily.  

In summary, just like anything else... I'd look carefully at what you're doing and try to optimize it over time. There's room to get better if other folks are already achieving better numbers.  Hope this helps. 

@Justin Pierce

Thanks Justin- very kind of you!! And very appreciated!!  :) 

Congrats on working on getting your license. I used to work at Long & Foster and they do have a good training program. I'd recommend them- many agents were very happy with it, they do a good job of covering the basics.  The head of training for Long & Foster is actually the President of the Maryland Association of Realtors so they do a very good job! 

I personally did all my licensing classes as an agent online. It worked fine and it's perfect for a new agent if you are working somewhere else. Once you get licensed, I do think it helps to do some classes in person once you get it, to begin networking (which is everything in this business!) 

 As far as your license, once you have it, do you know what type of broker you'd like to work with?  If you're looking for lots of training/ support to grow business as an agent, I'd recommend one of the big brokers (Keller Williams, Long & Foster, etc).  But if you're primarily getting your license to do your own business or feel like you don't want a ton of "extras" feel free to reach out. I've got a number of investors working as agents in my firm, because we offer a very nice commission structure for investors/agents.  No commission splits and no ongoing fees, just a $680 fee on each deal, with a good customer service survey.  Much more affordable than the big guys!!! 

Feel free to message me if you're interested and I hope this was helpful!  
Liz

Hi @Eric Yi

Please feel free to reach out- I have a deep background in real estate and I'm a licensed broker in VA/DC and I'm an agent in MD. I've got a nice group of agents on my team as well as three attorneys, and my favorite clients are investors. :)

Please feel free to review my profile and reach out if you have any questions. I'm happy to help!  

Liz

I've recruited a number of investor agents over the past few months and many of them indicated they weren't getting a break on their commission splits with their brokers when they bought their own homes or investment properties.  Got me thinking about how other companies do it and what agent/investors are paying... at my firm we just charge a flat "transaction fee" per deal, regardless of the type of transaction or commission amount. The fee is $680 per deal, provided the agent has a good customer survey response at closing.  And obviously if its your own deal, you'll have a good survey!    

Anyone willing to share what they are being charged from their broker on their own deals ? 

Personally, I haven't tried wholesaling with direct mail. Your point about response rates in wholesaling is a good one- it makes more sense to compare something that is very similar.  Response rates on ONE mailer should be around 1% on average, for any type of business. Your ability to convert over time is really about your follow up,  how many times you hit them, and how good your list is....  

If it helps... have a few clients that have tried direct mail in NOVA in the last few months. Each one of them has now stopped after spending a lot of money and getting no where with the leads. Each time the leads were unmotivated and they struggled with conversion. Some folks do get it to work, but it is an expensive way to start out and there are cheaper ways to get leads in the beginning. Personally, I'd try a number of strategies over time and test and see what really has the best ROI for you.

I've tried networking, digital advertising, website, and cold calling in the past few months for my business.  Networking and cold calling are the most effective for lead gen. I have two short sales on the market now from calling.  If you'd like to learn more about it, please feel free to reach out and I can give you more details!! 

Liz

Hi! Welcome to BP! I'm a member of Capital REIA, which is a really nice group of investors from all sorts of different backgrounds. It's a nice group and not focused on selling like some of the other organizations can be at times... we meet Tuesdays once a month in Fairfax. https://www.facebook.com/groups/CapitalBP/

@Roger Lin is one of the founders of the group and is a great guy to reach out to! 

If you'd ever like to learn more about the market, feel free to hit me up w/ a connection.  I've got a deep background in real estate investing and might be able to point you the right direction.  :)  Good luck!

Welcome! Justin Pierce is right on about Capital REIA. It's a great group and I've really enjoyed going to the meetings ( and spoke at the meeting in June). I highly recommend them. Very good group of folks without all the selling that many other groups seem to do all the time. It really is about information sharing and networking, more than anything else, which is incredibly valuable.

Last year, I asked my instructor for Broker Law (in Virginia) about the strength of LLCs and how people pierce the veil. He is an attorney and been practicing for decades- and he literally wrote the book on Landlord/ Tenant law in VA. According to him, it is VERY difficult to pierce the corporate veil. Of all the cases he saw, only one was ever successful, and that one there was no separate bank account at all. As long as you have a separate account, he seemed to think you'd be just fine. Additionally, he said attorneys hate to take cases on this, because they are so likely to loose... I'm not an attorney, I'm a RE broker/agent, but hope that helps you!

I've got a couple of clients in the same boat. It's hard to get started farther out from where you live. If it helps, I have NOVA clients that shop in areas closer that are MUCH cheaper. Lots of stuff in PG county is great, as well as Southern Maryland. If your'e interested in learning more about it and how this works, I'd be happy to talk to you sometime!  

Liz