Direct mailing list for out-of-town owners with large equity stake

[David Ackerman]

Hi All,

I was doing some reading last night about direct mailing lists. I came across some excellent posts. I was really interested in some of the posts by Jerry Puckett and Jon Klaus. They seem to like the idea of targeting a direct mailing list to out-of-town owners who have a large equity stake in their properties

Here is my question: Why would out-of-town owners be willing to sell for a discount if they already have a large equity stake in the property? Why can't they just call a local realtor and have them put it on the market for fair-value or close to fair value?

I know I am missing something here. But, I am a big believer in asking questions no matter how stupid they are.

Thnx,

Dave

[Jon Klaus]

David, this is a very resonable question and one that I've had. You may have gathered that I've worked with Jerry Puckett, and he and I have collaborated to select my list criteria. We targeted out of area owners with large equity positions. While these owners are in a position to sell quickly, why would they? What is the source of their motivation?

The truth is, most of them do not have motivation to sell quickly at a discount. That's fine, because I'm not after most of them. My appetite is not for a large volume, but targeted areas and specific types of properties. So a deal every couple of months works for me. I'll tell you about the past two sellers in this campaign, their motivations, and why there are more out there just like them.

Seller One and his brother owned a home for many years, but the the brother who lived there became disabled and moved into an assisted living facility. When the brother moved out, the home was in poor condition and filled completely with possessions. The yard was also full of stuff, including a dead car, many tires, assorted junk, and dead trees. While there was no mortgage, there was a fair amount of back taxes owed--over $10K.

By the time I engaged the Seller One, the home was barely live-able. He had talked to real estate agents that told him he'd have to clean it up and fix it up to sell it. He wasn't about to take that on and his brother was in no position to do that either.

Did I have a solution for them? Absolutely. I offered a fast cash closing, but more importantly, they wouldn't have to do a single thing to fix the house or even deal with the junk. The taxes would be paid and they'd be free of the headache. I also talked to Seller One over a period of months and he got four mailings from me. I built credibility and trust. I was in first place, even if someone else offered more, because he knew I would do what I said after several months of engagement.

I bought the property and Seller One and I are both happy.

I'll talk about Seller Two in another post.