Direct mail marketing for multi-family investment

[Mary Kaufman]

My husband and I are looking for a small multi-family as our first investment to BURRR. We have a great realtor, but haven't had luck finding any deals on the MLS and are considering hand-writing a letter to prospects. We both work full-time with 2 small children, so don't have the ability to attend sheriff sales and other options, but can write letters when they sleep! I've been playing with ListSource and trying to get the best list to narrow down our property goal. I've narrowed it down to 2 counties and 3 property types (multi-family, triplex, duplex). The part where I'm a little stuck is whether we do owner occupied vs absentee owned. It looks like owner occupied is ~250 prospects, absentee is ~380 and total is ~680. Over 600 feels like too many letters and the cost would also go up substantially. Any thoughts on our strategy or which way to market? Much appreciation for all advice!!