Direct Mail advice?

Question

Hi BP,

I am a new real estate investor and am currently focusing on wholesaling single family homes in DC. As of now, my budget allows me to mail out 300 postcards from a high equity absentee owner's list. I've done this 2x so far and have had little to no response even after cold calling the people on the list.

I am considering increasing that number to 600. I know that wholesaling is about volume and finding people who are motivated to sell. My question is, is it recommended to stick with the list I am currently using or would I have a better success rate if I switched to a probate or tax sales list? I would be doing this 1x/month, so therefore I need to be efficient with my $.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

-M

Dane Peterson · Answer

In the past 3months I've sent out about 6,400 mailers to UNIQUE addresses.  Out of those 6,400 mailers:

1400 were a signed letter with a total of 14 responses, 1 closed deal, 1 under contract

5000 were postcards with 8 responses, 1 closed deal

So in total I've had 22 responses but it's gotten to a point where I'm averaging a call a day.  I don't count a response as someone asking to be removed from a list or calling about a property that's not our specialty like a call yesterday for vacant land sale.  I'm very specific about not sending to the same address for different types of lists and returned signed letters get updated immediately so that they aren't resent.

I'm just now starting my 2nd mailing to these same groups but will continue to create unique addresses at least until I hit 10,000.  My ultimate goal is to take ALL responses and see if there are similarities in what the underlying factor is to getting a response.

I also want to add that I always provide a unique link to a form that can be completed on my website and of the 22 responses, 3 have gone directly to my site to provide their info.  Just wanted to share that.

My lists are comprised of specific neighborhoods my partner and I want to "farm", absentee owners, properties from Driving for dollars, evictions, code compliance.

I handle all the marketing myself, from creating the material, lists and stuffing my own envelopes.  Postcards were my design and just get uploaded to a mailing house.

Hope something in here was useful.

Rhonda Shrum · Answer

Hi Marcel! I am no expert but I am doing the exact same thing as you, and I will tell you I plan to stick with the same absentee list. I am a marketer, and you have to hit people many, many times to get them to bite. I had lunch with another investor the other day and he told me look, if YOU are mailing to them, someone else is mailing to them, too, it just matters whose card they pick up in that emotional moment when they chose to make the call. I think the magic number has been said to say 7. Now, obviously I'm an optimist and hope to hit way before that (ahahaa) but don't switch around. Stick with your plan!

Justin Silverio · Answer

I agree with Ryan.  Postcards generally get a 0.5% response rate while letters will get 3%+.  I get most of my deals from my DFD, tax lien and some other niche lists.  Absentee owners get a ton of mail from investors so the likelihood of getting a deal would be lower.

Ryan Dossey · Answer

I would consider sending something other than a postcard. They typically have a lower response rate and react well to only certain situations/motivations. Sending something more professional could net you more affluent folks looking to trade equity for ease of transaction.

Jeremy Galloway · Answer

@Marcel Pean I would stick to that list just because you worked on getting the list to that #, repetition does work but may want to send out different mailers than just post cards (example: yellow letters).  People respond to different mailers.

Marcel Pean · Answer

Thanks to everyone for the awesome feedback! It's definitely helped me understand what it is I need to focus on. I like the strategy of continuing with sending postcards to my current absentee list and also sending out yellow letters to a different group of absentee owners. I hope with consistency and persistence I will eventually get that elusive first deal!

Thanks again everyone!

Joe Mclain · Answer

If you are using the same group of absentees, you might want to change something on the postcard.  Possibly make the font a different color or different color postcards so that you can track which mailing you are having the most penetration.

Joe

Justin Silverio · Answer

lol.  Yes, @Rigo Medina I'm real.

Rigo Medina · Answer

@Justin Silverio

Hi! You are real! I heard your recorded BP Podcast on You Tube about a month ago. Sorry, I am a newbie, so I had to write this to you.

Direct Mail advice?

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