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Direct Mailing Technique For Real Estate
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Define Your Target Market
You need to know what you?re hunting so to speak. Just an ?I Buy Houses?
message to your market doesn?t come close to what you need to do in direct
mail. There are many, many ways to make money in Real Estate and finding
the truly motivated sellers with direct mail means your message should be
reflective of the target market you are seeking.
For
example if you are targeting pretty house properties that are in
pre-foreclosure then included in your message the seller doesn?t need to
know you take over properties with tenant terrors or that buy junker
houses. They need to be informed that you can possibly take over their
payments and know how to find tenant buyers that will help resolve their
situation so they can move on with their lives. Define your target market
because the message you send needs to reflect accordingly.
Generate Your Mailing Lists From Quality Sources
I?ve seen many types of mailing lists that weren?t worth the paper they
were printed on. If you?re keying into pre-foreclosure properties then
make sure the source providing the information is reputable and you can
test out on a month or two basis before being tied into a one year
contract or paid up front fee. Later when you find out the information is
out-dated and inaccurate then you?re stuck.
Another example is you may be into finding Absentee Owners. These are a
great source of deals if done correctly and basically these are owners of
a property where the tax bill is being sent to an address different than
the subject property. Ninety nine times out of a hundred that is a prime
target... a tired landlord or junker deals to be made. However, it can be
quite frustrating when you find out the information you purchased hasn?t
been updated for over a year on the property tax records. Ouch! Come to
find out after doing a little investigating almost half the properties you
would have been sending letters/postcards to have changed ownership. You
paid for but didn?t receive quality information.
Make sure before you buy mailing list or property tax information that you
have a chance to do a test basis on some of the material. Most all
reputable companies selling quality information will have no problem
sending you a small bit of test data to look over.
Don?t Stop At One Mailing
This is a key principle that many investors seem to never grasp the
concept of. If you have fulfilled the prior two steps in securing quality
mailing list material and you know exactly your target market, then send
them multiple mailings. I have my software system set up where for example
any category that I key into will receive letters and postcards from me.
The text messages will be incremental in nature building up and playing on
different angles and ideals trying to prompt them to call me. Sure, I?ll
get most responses from the initial mailing but many times it may take a
little bit more persistence to get the seller persuaded. I?m glad I didn?t
stop with one seller sending out only five letters. On the sixth letter we
finally put together a deal and I netted over $8,000 quick cash. With
another seller it was actually over a year of mailings before he came
around but the deal got done.
Let Your Letter And System Pre-Screen The Sellers
Time is my most important commodity. I don?t have the time to talk to
unmotivated inflexible sellers wanting all cash and retail value for their
property. You don?t and won?t have the time to waste either with these
types of sellers. Sure, some will get in under the radar but for the vast
majority of the sellers that receive your message they will know a few
things very quickly. You are an investor and expect to make a profit and
yes you have many creative ways to buy properties. In fact you can
probably even close within 48 hours if you run through your due diligence
checklist. However, the message in your letters/postcards needs to state
that if they need all cash AND full retail value not to call you. However,
if they have some considerable degree of flexibility in either the cash
price or terms then to call you as soon as possible. You need to be
seeking quality of sellers and not quantity of sellers fielding fruitless
phone conversations.
Direct Mail Is An Investment?Not An Expense
Make no mistake it does cost money to initiate and maintain an effective
direct mail campaign. When you put together the cost of postage, letters,
envelopes, postcards then you?re talking substantial monies dedicated to
this marketing medium.
In a prudent investor?s budgetary considerations these are costs that most
LIKE to consider. When you?re experiencing success and know how to
effectively secure quality mailing lists or generate them yourself then
you soon change your mindset that you simply can not spend enough on
postage.
Let me try to explain from the analogy that just because you don?t like to
spend gas for your car shouldn?t mean that you don?t ever put gas in it.
If you don?t realize that fact then you are going to be going nowhere
fast! You can make the same comparisons if you don?t consider direct mail
costs as an investment in your Real Estate business.
Summing It All Up
Direct mail is one of the best ways to find motivated sellers or rather,
have them find you, but it takes some time and forethought to actually
accomplish what you?re trying to do. Your goal is to find truly profitable
deals. What means you use to go about doing this are contingent upon your
target market, quality of the mailing contact, multiple messages to same
contact, pre-screening ability, and finally your commitment to direct mail
and an investment in your Real Estate business. Be organized and focused
in your direct mail campaign and soon you too will be finding all the
motivated sellers you can handle. |
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