Direct Mail for Multifamily Buy & Hold

[Jay Newman]

I'm looking at starting a direct mail campaign that would aim at absentee owners who own small multifamily properties in the Northwest Arkansas area so I can acquire a solid buy and hold property or two. The first place I pick up I would house hack and I might be able to swing one other rental. I made a post because I haven't been able to find anything on the forums about direct mailing for picking up buy and hold real estate, which I thought was strange. Are there any issues that I might run into when direct mailing when I can't necessarily close fast with cash or assign a contract to someone else who can? Obviously, I wouldn't advertise that I can do these things. I will need to get a loan for my house hacking endeavor. I just wanted to get some feedback on this strategy and why (seemingly) so few people are using it to acquire rentals.

Thanks!

[Sarah Hansen]

I think direct mail marketing is a great idea to acquire rentals. I don't see any issue with this as long as you don't make promises you can't keep. Another strategy, if you want to house hack, is to wait until a unit comes up for rent and call the owner to see if they are interested in selling instead.

Do you have a realtor sending you multi-family listings on the market now? There are quite a few that come through all the time, but the good deals are snapped up pretty quickly. If not, get on a realtor's auto email list to send you properties as soon as they hit the market so you have that acquisition strategy as well. You can pick up some nice deals, as long as you're willing to put in a little elbow grease. Pretty rentals go for top dollar, but some just need a bit of updating and then you can increase rent.

Finally, are you already prequalified with a lender? I'm sure you probably are, but if not, do so. No one likes paperwork, but it will make your close so much easier and you'll be more competitive if you put that pre-qualification letter in with your offer. My husband requires this of all his investor clients so he doesn't take them to properties they can't close on. Message me if you need some good lenders to get you set up. We know of several that are investor friendly in the NWA area.

Good luck!