Getting to My 1st Deal: Update 4, End of C2; Start of Wk5 & C3: 2nd Contact

[Gabriel Trieu]

Update 4; 2.23.14

Good afternoon everyone, this is my 4th update and my report for Weeks 3 and 4 (Feb.9-Feb.23) in my 2nd yellow letter campaign in attempt to wholesale pre foreclosed SFR's in San Diego, California.

Recap. For weeks 1 and 2, I've sent 15 hand-written yellow letters daily (5 days a week) to homeowners in pre foreclosed SFR's using an MLS-generated list, covering 14 zip codes in San Diego County, Santee, El Cajon, Spring Valley, Lemon Grove, City Heights and Encanto. Also, rather than glue sealing my letters, I simply tucked in the flaps in order to increase open rates. From sending 150 letters and using this method, I've had a response rate of 8.67% (13/150) and a possible deal rate of 2% *read 'Update 3' for more details on my callers and numbers.

Results & Findings. In the past 2 weeks, I've sent another 150 yellow letters to 17 zip codes, covering the last zip codes of San Diego (Mid City, College West, University City, Pacific Beach, North Park, Rancho Penasquitos, Clairemont, and Linda Vista) and moving northward towards Escondido, Carlsbad, Oceanside, and San Marcos. From these areas, I've had 8 phone calls total: 2 homeowners from Active listings, 1 actually interested in selling, 2 curious callers, and 3 angry callers. From these numbers in the past 2 weeks, my response rate was 5.33% (8/150) and my possible deal rate was slightly above 0.5% (0.0067). However, I had no house appointments/visits this time unlike Weeks 1 and 2.

Call Details. From the 2 Active listing homeowners, 1 of them had a house that was fully rehabbed and remodeled to be sold at market value and the other had a rundown-looking house but trying to sell for 15% above market. The 1st homeowner was really nice and understood that I was buying properties wholesale but the 2nd homeowner was really rude and brief, saying that his house was worth $350,000 and said he'd only sell it to me for $400,000. And unless I paid him $400,000 in full, he would never sell to me. He said he had a reverse mortgage on this property too but it didn't make sense to me knowing his home was in pre foreclosure and my understanding of reverse mortgage is that it works similarly to a lease-purchase, meaning he'd have either own the property outright or have tons of equity. When I asked him questions about the conditions of his property, he wouldn't give me a straight response and just kept pressing that he'd only sell for $400,000 when he claimed his house was appraised for $350,000.

My thoughts: seeing that the house looks crappy, it's about 30 years old, original cabinets, kitchen, bathroom, fixtures, and trying to sell for 15% above market when a fully remodeled comparable home on his street sold last month for even less than his 'appraised' value, why would I buy this? Also this guy was just really rude in general and I told him I wasn't interested in buying anymore. Maybe having an angry caller that same morning might've made me slightly edgy that afternoon.

Moving on to other callers, the 1 homeowner that was actually interested in selling was in an underwater property and owed too much for a wholesale deal to be feasible. The curious callers literally just call because they want to know what I mean by "I want to $BUY$" their property. When I ask if they wanted me to buy their homes, they simply refuse and claim they just wanted to know who I am and what I do. And lastly, the angry callers, I'm starting to feel more and more indifferent every time a new one calls. Yes, I understand their situation is serious and stressful but it still doesn't give them any special rights to overreact and cuss at someone on the phone. Seriously. I just think some of these people have anger issues.

Starting this week, I'll be starting my 3rd mailing campaign, focusing on my 2nd touch/contact with remaining pre foreclosed homeowners from Week 1 and 2 of Campaign 2, along with sending letters to new pre foreclosed SFR's in more northern cities neighboring San Diego. In this 3rd campaign, I'll be splitting my 15 daily letter distribution between my 2nd contact(s) and new pre foreclosures. I'll also be using another letter format for contact 2, which includes a reminder of my 1st letter, the homeowner's pre foreclosure status, and my services in possibly being the solution to their problems (still trying to figure out how concise I can make this in my letter). I will still be using the MLS for my leads and I'll be looking into more ways I could possibly scrub my lists for higher quality leads and expanding from pre foreclosures. I'm hoping that this 2nd contact will raise my response and success rate and possibly be that 'call to action' for some of these homeowners.

This is all I have for now. Like always, thank you so much for reading my post! I'd like to get to my 1st deal soon, especially seeing that I've officially sent out 500 letters from my 1st campaign and 300 letters from this 2nd one, totaling 800 letters, in addition to my 100 bandit signs from last Nov./Oct. with nothing but a few close calls but nothing landed and closed yet. Regardless, wish me luck and best of luck to you all in your business endeavors as well! All comments, helpful tips, and constructive criticisms are always welcome! I'll keep you guys posted for this 3rd campaign! Now, let's get those deals!

Best Regards Always
-Gabe