Proof of Concept, Yellow Letters

[Tony Wooldridge]

Hello BP, I just wanted to share in my most recent and first Yellow Letter Marketing Campaign. I am obviously new and have been listening, reading, educating and doing what seems like nothing but RE stuff since getting bitten by the RE bug. It’s been Awesome so far!

I have been compiling a list of vacant houses through driving for $ dollars over the past couple of months. I tried to get a list from list source but unfortunately my county doesn't supply (release) that information with list source at least the critique with which I was trying to market to yet (I called list source and they informed me that they aren't sure when my county will release that info if ever). So I have had to do all of the foot work myself and even though it has been a lot of work it has also been very gratifying as well.

I have sent out over seventy letters (not a lot compared to the big dogs but it’s a start) to Tax DQed property owners as well as instate and out of state absentee owners ( due to not having access to the equity of the absentee owners it will take some tweaking to find out what is going to work). I sent them out yesterday and am happy to announce that I received my first call 3 hours ago. HOLY COW I got a call! How awesome is that?! Proof of concept!! I really didn't know what I was going to say but I remembered from all of the Podcast that I have listened to is just SHUT UPand listen. Let them share their situation and that is exactly what I did. She informed me of her situation, which right now I am not sure that I am going to be able to make it work as she doesn't have very much equity in the property. However, I did inform her that if she would allow me time to go back and research her property and put some figures together to see if this would be something that could work for us both. She stated that would be fine.

So I have full intention (I have already looked at the public records and have determined that it might not work but none the less the concept works) of calling her back with either an offer or a recommendation as to how I might be able to help her without me buying the property myself. I appreciate you guys letting me share my situation and appreciate you taking the time for reading as well. Even though this is only one call and for all I know might be the only call I get that might not turn into a deal, at least I know that when you take action the outcome of actually finding a deal is that much closer. ACTION is where it all begins! Thanks again BP

[Tony Wooldridge]

@Scott Upshaw no I don't mind sharing at all.  But let me say that I received two other calls today as well!  Like I mentioned before, I kinda had a general idea of what I was going to say to who ever called but when the phone rang that GR8 plan I had instantly disappeared!  So my back up plan was to grab my IPAD and look at the list that I had downloaded to keep me on track.  

This woman was an out of town absentee owner who moved away from the area but still keep her house in the my farming area.  She currently has it rented out to a long term tenant (2 1/2 to 3 years).  She still owes quite a bit on the property and stated that she is more or less hanging on to it for the tax benefits.  As stated earlier, I just remember telling myself to concentrate on being a good listener above all else so that's what I tried to do.  When she would get finished with telling me more about her situation I would refer to my checklist sheet and continually asked more questions of her to get a better handle of her circumstances.  

I did some searching today and it looks as if she has owned the home for well over 12 years but just finished paying off her second position mortgage (down payment) and has just started paying down the first position mortgage (primary loan).  So she really doesn't have much equity at all.  But before starting my DMM campaign I reached out to a couple of investors that I have started building a relationship with and asked if I came upon a deal that I can't make work if they would be interested in taking a look at it to see if it meets their needs.  By the way, I am a flipper not a wholesaler, however, the reason I am having to do my own marketing is for a couple of reasons.  First, I have not been able to locate a wholesaler in my area yet and secondly, I want to know that I can produce my own results for finding deals if need be.  Well, I hope this has helped thanks for stopping by and appreciate your sharing.  Here is to wishing you a very successful 2017 in your REI ventures!