Direct mail: Addressing owners, Mr., Mrs., Ms.?

[Chris Oshea]

I'm getting ready to mail out my second batch of "yellow letters" to a hand selected group of about 80 addresses.

I've got all of the owner information from the assessors database, but I'm confused as to how I should be addressing these envelopes?

When the owners name is "John Smith" or "Jane Doe", that's fairly easy... "Mr. John Smith" or "Ms. Jane Doe" would be proper. But what about when the owners on record are "Robert McLaren AND Cheryl Anderson"? (Names are made up, not actual people that I'm aware of)

Would it be best to address the letter to

Mr. Robert McLaren
Ms. Cheryl Anderson
123 Main St
Anytown, MA 12345
?

What about when it's the same last name? One would assume that it would be a married couple, so

Mr. & Mrs. Robert McLaren
123 Main St
Anytown, MA 12345

might be appropriate, but one of the first properties I researched was an abandoned house, the lady who lived in it moved to an assisted living home and her son was the one taking care of it, so the owner info was her son's name, then hers. I wouldn't want to write the address as if it's a married couple when it might be a situation like that... :oops: :oops:

Rather than just putting the names exactly as they appear on the tax info, I want to be "proper" and make a good impression before they even open the letter, so they don't just toss it in the trash because it's addressed WRONG.

Any tips??
Thanks!!!! :mrgreen: