All Forum Posts by: Ray Lai

@Kevin B. Kasper

Welcome to BP :) Not bad for your own design. Make sure that when you say you can buy with cash, you mean it and you don't plan on assigning it - a lot of gurus teach wholesalers to commit fraud.

Pro-tip: Use 1 batch of postcards with first class mail then and then switch to yellow letters. Why? The first class postcards will bounce and save you a lot of money from mailing a bad address from subsequent batches and you can skip-trace the bad addresses for very valuable leads. Also, switching to standard mail afterwards saves money.

There's a lot to your direct mail campaign other than mailing postcards. You need the contracts, follow-up system, and be available to answer the call right away. Have a checklist if you want. Also, you need to practice some scripts on how to talk to sellers and ask the right questions to listen to DMF.

I would split test your original picture with other pictures. Those leaves don't seem as big of hassle as some other parts of property maintenance.

Having a local area code and a landing capture page will boost your response rate as well.

Good luck!

@Mitch Smith

Hey I'm in SD as well and I've invested out of state with NFCU - 15 year fixed rate loan, 25% down investment loans. Though I should warn you, you *must* have boots on the ground if you're doing that as you lose a lot of control investing out of state and are basically forced to use a PM. Lack of control is a big negative in real estate investing but I totally get why you would invest out of state being in SD right now, us being so late in the cycle. 

It's a great time to flip in SD though with the crazy appreciation. We still got at least a year of good times ahead of us.

@Nathan R.

There is no law against contacting a homeowner to buy their property if you are being honest. The problem is when investors misrepresent themselves and say they will buy in cash, quickly, then end up actually doing an assignment to another investor when they actually never had the ability to close at all in the first place.

You should be using a CRM to adequately plan your follow-up. Unless you are contacting very few properties, then you can just use google sheets to track your followup.

@Gray Cato

You're welcome.

Here is a gameplan if you want to use direct mail to find deals:

1) Attend your local REIAs and network, you need to build a buyer list of investors that will buy your properties and network with other people in our industry. Do not spend too much time on this but at least know a few guys at your local REIA that are actively flipping that you can sell to when you get your first assignment.
2) Next develop your strategy, build a list of at least 200 properties to mail to. Response rates are typically 0.5-2% so the bigger the list the better. Options include driving for dollars, absentee, probate, using listsource if you are not in a competitive market, buying lists that are exclusive for your market type (we partnered with a guy that does this)
3) Start a sustained direct mail campaign. First batch with postcards using first-class, then follow-up with yellow-letters using standard mail. There is no point in starting if you cannot sustain because statistical data shows that responses typically occur after at least 3+ mailings. You want to use postcards first since they are cheaper and some may bounce so you can remove the bad ones off your list and skip-trace those so you do not waste money mailing to bad addresses. If you wanted to, you can even skiptrace the bad addresses to find where the owner moved and target the right address.

For fulfillment you can do it yourself to save money if you are broke, but ultimately if you want better response rates and focusing your time on value-add, then you will want to outsource fulfillment to a shop that has economies of scale and can offer you great rates.
Remember, a campaign usually does not get a response until 3+ mailings. A lot of newbies quit after 1 or 2 letters without realizing that people do not open the first letter they see. Focus and sustainment is the key. I would recommend a different marketing piece every 4 weeks for 5-7 months from past data analysis, but you should test this out for your market and see what works best response rate wise.

Also, when you become more advanced you will want to do split testing and other methods. You should always be tracking your response rates and seeing what lists work bests. It is always best to include a website and a local phone number on the postcards as well to maximize your responses.

Another protip: If you are in a competitive market, deals are harder to find however if you do find a deal, someone will be much more likely to split the profits and show you the ropes if you make a friend in the industry. It is better for them to get half the profits than no profits, and you gain invaluable experience as they take you through the process with them.

DO NOT go half-cocked and mail without having an understanding of the legal requirements for your area for assignment contracts. That is how you get in big trouble.

Another recommendation: If you want to make even better money, invest in yourself and become a licensed real estate agent. That way you can buy houses from distressed homeowners (wholesaling) and sell the homes in good condition for a nice commission. You also learn a lot like how to run comps and get direct MLS access which is nice.

Hope that helps. Shoot me a message if you wants scripts or a checklist of things to prep before starting you DM or coaching.

@Nicholas Armstrong

How much are you paying for your skip-tracing? I know @Cornelius Garland's company does it for hits only for $1.50 / lead which is solid.

I haven't used findtheseller but have read multiple posts about its inaccuracies in this forum.

@Jason Malabute

Funneling potential leads is a crucial function in your pipelinle. Using an agent might work if you plan on using them to do all the contracts but that is a large % to give away on all your deals but might make sense if they are a true partner on your team. Or you could consider a call center like Pat Live to field your incoming leads. 

Instructing an agent to do cold calls might not bring the results you seek because most people struggle with cold calls and do not have the skillset of learning how to listen for signs of distress and motivation. 

Welcome to BP @Gray Cato!

MLS is really hard to find a good deal in your market from what I've seen posted. It's good you're going to start networking at the REIA. It'll help you build a team, and if you're lucky maybe even meet a decent wholesaler to pick up a deal. If that doesn't work out, at least check out driving for dollars:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/05/0...

It works well with DM. If you want a DM game plan or help with a DM campaign, feel free to message me, I can provide you checklists, templates, scripts, etc.

Good luck!

@Christian Nachtrieb

Nice pics and thanks for sharing. Great job taking action.

@Haley M.

Sounds like you are ready to start your journey to finding off-market deals to buy real estate at a discount :) If you want any help with a plan, templates, scripts on how to talk to sellers, or a checklist on things you need to prep before starting your campaign, feel free to holler and I'd be glad to help.

@Josue Llanas

Pro-tip: Use 1 batch of postcards with first class mail then and then switch to letters. Why? The first class postcards will bounce and save you a lot of money from mailing a bad address from subsequent batches and you can skip-trace the bad addresses for very valuable leads. Also, switching to standard mail afterwards saves money.

Letters have higher response rates but postcards are cheaper. 

@Josue Llanas

Hey Josue, sounds like you're starting up a wholesaling business. I've got templates, a pre-mailing checklist, protips, gameplan for DM, scripts on how to talk to sellers, and other information you want. Would be happy to share, just shoot me a message on the zipcodes you're targeting and what steps you've taken so far so I can provide you with the right info.