How many mailers does it take to get a property under contract?

Question

How many mailers does it take on average to get a property under contract?

I am thinking of doing about 5,000 mailers per month.

Thoughts?

My list

Sharon Vornholt · Answer

I've been doing direct mail for more than 25 years now. Statistically speaking, more than 80% of your deals will come at or beyond the 5th mailing.  Does that mean you won't get a deal from the 1st mailing? Absolutely not. It means that you will get momentum around that time, (month 5) if you mail every month.  That's the key. Consistency.

Here's another statistic for you; most people will quit mailing on or around the 3rd mailing.  You want to be the last man standing when it comes to direct mail. Just by staying in the game you will be ahead of most people.

I use over sized postcards for all my mailings except probates. I only use white computer generated letters for those. Hands down they have worked the best for me. I have specialized in probates for more than a decade.

Direct mail results are sitting at about a 1% response in most areas around the country. To put that into perspective, on average, you will need to talk to 15-20 perspective sellers before you get a deal in most markets.  If you are mailing 1000 direct mail pieces a month that means you will only get about 10 calls.

So you will either need to send more mail or develop leads from other sources like driving for dollars, your website, bandit signs etc.  You might also consider adding ringless voicemail to your direct mail campaigns.

I hope this is helpful.

Sharon

May Emery · Answer

@Zach Kramer I would suggest that have more than one target and consider mailing to people who aren’t in every other investor’s sites. Absentee Owners have been popular for a long time, and are apparently still somewhat effective (people are still mailing to them) but they are getting multiple offers to buy their home. It's hard to stand out.

There are some owner-occupied segments with people who share motivating factors for selling their home.

Seniors with Long-time Ownership: often ready to downsize or transition to assistance.

Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS): Struggling financially and likely ready to cash in on their asset.

Both these categories have additional advantages in that they probably don’t haven’t been updated and may have deferred maintenance. They won’t be expecting the same money as their neighbors with the shiny new kitchen and fresh paint.

The out of state absentee owners are more motivated, but are still getting a lot of offers.

Sharon Vornholt · Answer

@Shaun James - I am speaking about probate lists specifically.  Other lists can be purchased.  Probates have always been my #1 source of leads.

Shaun J. · Answer

It's all relative to what your marketing says and it's call to action.

To be honest, I keep my yellow letters short and sweet and try and be personable.

Think of how you do business with your friends when buying something from them

Hey Martin,

It's Shaun. I am interested in buying your Motorcycle. Please give me a call back at xxx-xxx-xxxx

Thanks

Sharon Vornholt · Answer

@Shaun James- I get my lists locally.Generally that's where you should be looking. Each one of the 3300+ counties are different. Try: online, the newspaper, or worst case scenario the courthouse.

I'm not a fan of buying probate leads. They are expensive and not always accurate.

Shaun J. · Answer

@Sharon Vornholt -- If you don't mind, can you msg me about where you are getting your probate lists from?

Thanks in advance!

Zach Kramer · Answer

Thank you Sharon!

We plan to mail 5,000 a month so we expect about 50 calls.

Of those calls I assume only 10 will lead to appointments and one will close.

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

1000% depends on the market and competition.. some markets were we own property we never get mailers other markets we get 5 a week on the same property..

How many mailers does it take to get a property under contract?

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