How To Target Distressed Property Owners

[Chloe Pacheco]

I am asking my fellow investors, how do you market directly to distressed property owners? I have heard that direct mail is successful and want to know if you agree. If you do agree, then what type of life events do you search when pulling lists to target these people?

[Justin Reed]

Don't target life events, target the types of properties you want. I would miss out on 95% of the deals I do if I did my business searching for life events. The majority of the "events;" that lead to deals aren't things you can track or pull lists for. 

I pull assessor data (with a direct link) of the type of properties in the areas I want and send ALL the property owners an offer. I scrub the list to remove things like properties with a mortgage, duplicates, etc. and spend a tremendous amount of time on pricing, because although these offers may be a lot less than retail, they are not out of the question. I explain in my offer letter to sellers that I am a serious investor, not and agent/broker, I pay cash, and are prepared to close as soon as x days.

Then I sit back and wait for the motivated sellers to call us. You can of course edit this model to fit how exactly you plan on purchasing and what specific property type you are looking for. Believe me - it works like a charm. That is how I GET THERE FIRST. By the time a deal reaches the MLS or a lead source, someone else has already beat you to it. Also, knocking on doors (aka "driving for dollars") is an outdated way of doing this and honestly isn't worth your time. It's no longer about possible subject to leads - we now have DATA and computers and direct mail to get there first. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any additional questions - I would love to help!