All Forum Posts by: Scott Costello

Heck if @Jerry Puckett is interested I'm interested!

Id also be very interested in a replay of this because unfortunately I won't be able to make the live call. I can learn a lot from you @Dev Horn and Mr Quarles.

Like David said, motivation shows up at random times in people. I've found that when a person calls up initially and then can't be gotten a hold of again, they are thinking about what they want to do. You may have better luck keeping the lines of communication open if you go out and meet them in person on a walk through of the house.

The more you talk with sellers the more you'll be able to pick up on certain tendencies of motivated and non-motivated sellers. Look at some of the scripts you'll find on BP for some help on what to ask. But try and make it more like a conversation more then a punch list of questions. Ask open ended questions sometimes to get them to talk. The more they talk and open up about their situation the more of a connection they will feel with you.

Hope that helps, and great work on taking action!

If the seller still lives in the house, I will sometimes tell them that I need to bring a contractor through the house to get an estimate. Only problem is that if you have multiple buyers and they all can't come at the same time you might be getting some strange looks from the seller on the 5th time you "need to bring a contractor by".

Josh,

You have to go through the files manually, record the information you need (property address, executor, attorney, etc...) into some sort of spreadsheet or on paper. It's as simple (and pain in the butt) as that.

Not all probate files will have property either so you have to weed those out, plus you'll have to make a call on certain things such as...do you want to mail to the spouse of a person who died, or the father/mother of a child that has passed? I typically don't because those situations are a bit too emotional for my liking.

Hope that helps,

-Scott

It all really depends on your exact requirements as to what your best solution is. If you just want to sort and filter things, just use Excel. Then you can save it as a csv file and that will import into any database easily.

Are you looking to do a one time export, send it to a VA and they do the mailings off that list? or are you planning on updating the list as you get responses, or adding to the list when you get new leads?

Think about exactly what your requirements are and you'll then be able to get a better recommendation on what technology will work best for you.

Unless you want to be a completely overtaken by putting those letters together, at some point you are going to have to try an automate some of the steps. A couple of options are..

1 - Hire a local college student or senior citizen to hand write all your letters

2 - Get a service to do it all for you

3 - Create a font with your handwriting and create a word template and mail merge all the information. This method along with getting a yellow letter template that prints the lines and text is a great options as well.

In the beginning it's tough to find the money to hire the direct mail out, trust me I know. But its something you should reinvest money towards once you start getting deals.

Excellent story @Silvio L. it always inspires me to see people taking action and going for their dreams. Best of luck to you and I look forward to your next update.

Georgia,

Being Patient is good, but don't be afraid to experiment with what you put on your letters and even how the envelopes look for your direct marketing. If you don't handwrite the address, try doing that as a split test.

Sometimes i've found that if I spread myself to thin over to many marketing methods, they all suffer. I've gotten the best results by concentrating on one thing. Once you've mastered that and it's sorta on autopilot then you can start adding other marketing methods.

Just my 2 cents, hope it helps.

-Scott

Andy,

I personally like the list with the vacant houses. Once you send out the letters, make sure that you follow it up with a series of letters over the next year. Most of the deals will come from leads you send up to 7 letters too.

Just temper your expectations at first. Sure you may get some deals, but the idea in the beginning is to build momentum. That can take upwards of 6 months.

Hope that helps,

-Scott

DJ,

A great place to find brokers who are also investors might be at your local REIA meetings. You'll know they are all investors, then the trick is actually finding the ones who are brokers. Might be easier then finding a broker who is an investor if you know what I mean?