All Forum Posts by: Jeff G.

1. Not really "hand written" yellow letters are awesome. Don't rely on them as your only mail peace though. Different people respond at different times to different mailers.

2. I use 99 cent yellow letters from yellow letters complete. They're wonderful.

3. Not as often as I should. Ideally, you're hitting your entire list every 6 months... but you've got to work up to that.

4. I've had a 4-7% response rate from my yellow letters. That's huge. Most direct mail gets sub 1%.

5. That depends.

6. Pro Tip: Always skip trace your returns (undelivarable) mail. You'll find deals no one else will by doing this one simple trick after every mailing.

@Eve Oliver have the tenants set up automatic bill pay with their bank. They the bank mails you a check on their behalf. The only "gotcha" is that mail times are usually about 5 days. So, if you have good tenants that occasionally run tight on cash and they get paid on the 1st you may have to adjust your grace period slightly.

If you rent in low income areas -- where tenants often don't use bank accounts -- try a service like Pay Near Me that lets them pay you from 7/11 (or the like) with a cash deposit.

@Steven Justice, I just use Google and FB to skip trace. Occasionally I will mail to a known former address and wait for it to bounce back to me undeliverable. Often, but of course not always, the last-known-good forwarding address is printed on the envelope it's just that the forwarding service has expired. I've found tons of people with that last trick.

@Jay Hinrichs you're making me feel old, "way back then 1992." 

This disaster is case and point for why landlords need flood insurance riders on all of their properties. Even areas substantially inland are flooded.

@Ryan Tuleja her bank should be able to allow her to set up recurring payments. Basically, the bank automatically cuts you a check at a and mails it to you on a specific day of the month. The only gotcha is there is usually a 5 day wait for mail time, so you may have to adjust the date you reckon a payment late to account for this is if, for example, your tenant gets paid on the first and the check wont reach you until the 5th.

Is that helpful, or did I miss something?

@Guy Yarkoni, good question. I used to know a cantor turned landlord who moved to Jerusalem and bought some houses. I have lost touch with the guy. Last I knew he fell in love with one of his tenants and married her. True story.

I don't know anybody in or near Tel Aviv though. I'm sure at least a few of the high payed silicon wadi types have gotten the real estate bug, I just don't know which ones. Good luck, man.

@Joe Splitrock you could always go the other way... replace all windows with all glass with ballistic glass, all copper with pex, and and all drywall with fire retardant drywall. That fire retardant drywall stuff is so dense the tenant might break his hand when he punches the wall.

That would be unreasonably expensive, I know. But it's satisfying to visualize some deadbeat throwing a temper tantrum screaming "make me a sandwich [expletive]!" and suddenly finding that he has a broken hand for his troubles.  Heheh

You're right "bad neighborhoods" and "war zones" are different animals.

@John Trujillo Woops! It's PayNearMe. My mistake.

Hello @Zin Tun, you'd have to negotiate that with the city. Every city is different. You might start by reaching out to a city councilman, telling him what you have, and asking how to go about getting the zone changed. Listen to what he says. Be prepared to have a "dog and pony show" to show off your track record to the city to prove your mettle.

You have two things to worry about:

1. In most cities you'll have a hearing and people can weigh in on the process. This can be good and bad.

2. You're in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Kaliforinia. Lots of politicians are control freaks and will make you jump through ridiculous hoops to get stuff done.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.