Direct Mail Concerns, Help

[Brian Pulaski]

Hi All, I am in a new market and it appears there are less opportunities here than my previous market. I used to be able to line up a ton of potential houses and although there was more competition, I was able to get a house just as my last one ended. I keep an eye on that market even after I stopped investing there (curiosity and I like to follow the market as I will be moving back), and I still see good options popping up all over.

With that said I am in Orange County NY now and have visited a handful of homes that fit my criteria. As of this moment I made one offer and it was rejected (understandable). I plan to keep after this house a bit, but not sure the bank and I will ever meet. I will be making another offer on a house today/tomorrow, but at that point have exhausted the current inventory for the most part.

I have decided to start the process of driving around and finding run down properties, or getting Preforeclosure info and sending along direct mail letters. I have drafted my letter, and have a list of 9 homes in a target neighborhood listed in PFclosure on Zillow.

My question is, has anyone experienced negative impacts from these direct mailings? Of course my name, email, phone number and address are on the letters/envelope. I would hate for a vindictive person to feel I have overstepped my bounds or insulted them and something happens from it. I'm not even sure what someone would do, other than maybe send my email or address to spammers, or sign me up for raunchy magazines... however this place is where the experts would probably know, from experience.

So am I being overly worried here? Will 95% of the letters get tossed in the garbage and the current owners won't even read them? I have the time now to find addresses and send these out, and if it gets me a solid deal, I am all for it!

Thanks in advance.