All Forum Posts by: Stephen Barton

@John Chapman 

Personally we change it up. We will send a typed letter in the first round, then we will do handwritten next cycle, and then we go back to typed, last we are going to use postcards. We have gotten 3 deals just so far out of the 1200 names we bought from list source and that is almost 3 cycles of different letter types. We are going to continue marketing to that list for some time in the future. Until they call and say "take me off of your list" we are sending letters. I believe the key for you should be CONSISTENCY! Just stick it out! Do not give up when (and you will get these callers) they say rudely, "why are you sending me these letters?" Just be polite and do not take it personally ok? Hang in there, it will get easier:)

I just check this site out @John Chapman and they said they are NOT fulfilling orders right now and to check back when their site is back up and running? I am already not very impressed. I have to say I have had great success with yellow letters that I personally write myself. (Whew talk about a hand cramp:) I am about to just outsource this in hopes of automating my business by going straight to the #1 source and contributor to people like you and me-yellowletters.com. I mean for the price at around .83 cents a letter and .48 cents a full color postcard I am going with them. 

@Joshua Carr 

There is some good advice here so far with everyone who has posted already! However, I feel the biggest one has not been said. DIRECT MAIL! Check out these two links:

Direct mail from bigger pockets!

Direct Mail via biggerpockets2!

Joshua I hope you will find that you get what you put into anything in life. For my company, we have tried all of the other methods listed before but the real leads that actually turned into deals was direct mail. You can go to list source.com, click2mail.com, and yellow letters.com. I have heard from one person that they purchased an absentee owner list (where someone owns more than one property) for $60 for 500 names and addresses. Personally I spent $246 for 1,200 names/addresses and I am continuing to mail to that list for 6 months. The key is to not give up after the first letter that you send out. I did not get any deals until the 2nd and 3rd letter. Just one deal has doubled my money back and then some now from here it is all profit (minus my expenses). Hang in there! You can do it!

You know I am fairly new to Real Estate Investing, but I can tell you that you are in the very best program on the planet-Biggerpockets! Yeah, I know it sounds cheesy but I am super serious. You do not need to pay to have a good mentor! I found my mentor on here who is local in my area and he has really been such a blessing. The best mentors out there will not charge you money! The REAL mentors want to help you because they love helping. Sure, there might be someone out there that you can pay thousands of dollars to but they only want your money. Why not take that same money and put it into a marketing campaign like I did and find some deals? Just find a mentor near you or someone whom you can build a relationship with to help you with contracts. ( I highly recommend a real estate attorney for this as well). I can only tell you what worked for me, and I am working on deal #4 & #5! Not too bad for someone who only had a couple of thousand to start with!

I can tell you from the viewpoint of having thousands of medical debt myself. I am now on disability for a back injury (Ruptured and herniated discs). When I incurred the debt originally I did not have insurance so I was left with a sizable debt. The creditors eventually were able to file with small claims and would have eventually garnished my wages. I did however make arrangements to pay each one of them a little each month which I have been doing for over a couple of years now. I would have to say that unless this person has made some indication to you that he has been making payments then I would steer clear. Just my two cents worth, but I feel everyone deserves a second chance. With that said, I feel strongly in saying that does NOT mean you and your husband should take a chance with your money (investments). In the end, trust your instincts and go with what your intuition is telling you! I think you are pretty smart in reaching out on this forum and I wish you all the best. Feel free to email me if you need more specifics on this situation. I would be glad to help you! 

@Jose Genao 

As someone who has just finished their first year in college myself, I would have to say continue to read on this site! Reading on the site will give you some great knowledge on where to go next. There are so many books out there, and this business is what you make of it. 

1.Start with the Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing here: The BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing

2.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere

3.Work on adding a profile picture (one that is PROFESSIONAL) and completely fill out your profile if you haven't already done so.

4.You really just need to reach out to others in your area and ask to become colleagues. My biggest step after learning the basics was to find a mentor. Make sure you have some basic knowledge first because a mentor will want to see that you are serious and do not just want a handout. 

5.DO NOT GIVE UP! I think for me the toughest thing is to not get down or depressed when things aren't going according to plan. You can do this! Listen to every single Podcast that you can! Each one of them have some good knowledge and advice. 

@David Gillilan  

Hi there, and welcome to Biggerpockets! Man, you are really in the right place. Sorry no one has reached out to you yet. In my opinion, I have added value to my mentor by bringing him deals! I have been able to swap information with him on how I am getting my deals and he does the same. I feel that a good mentor/mentee relationship should be reciprocal. What I mean is that information should not be one-sided, but should flow in both directions between the two of you. You will add value by just being enthusiastic and positive, and if you can just ask him where he is struggling or just find something he may need some help with. For instance, I was driving around running some errands and he needed someone to go to one of his properties to check on it and did not have the time. Well, I did and he asked me if I would be willing to go to the property and make sure whether or not some work was completed. I really encourage you to just be assertive and find out where you can help out. Communication is the key in anything and I believe with time your friendship will grow. Good luck, and do not give up when things get tough! You can do it!

@Taylor Jennings I think thursday is a good day! So we can tell everyone it will be on October 30th then! I will give you a call later this afternoon to see what I can do to help!

@Ryan Mullin 

@Taylor Jennings 

I agree about having a meeting the last week of the month. I will give you a call Taylor to see where I can help you out. We should try to really market this event as much as we can. We just need a specific day and what we will talk about. I have some great ideas and will reach out to see where I can help!

Thank you so much for your insight. We actually do not use bandit signs anymore but we wanted to know if someone brought us a deal-could we give them money to do so. Very insightful and you are so cool for answering my question!