My First Marketing Effort...my process.

[Mark Turner]

Hi, I’m not sure if this is of any value to anyone, but I thought I'd share my process in my first marketing effort to purchase an investment home from owners that have not listed nor may have considered listing their homes for sale. I’m in the middle of it, but thought some of it may help you avoid the pitfalls that I may have made or may be making.

Phase 1 - Collecting the Data
For my first marketing effort, I wanted to target multiple families and/or apartments in a small suburban market in NY. I started with a face-to-face visit with the assessor's office where my conversation went like this...
Me - "Hi my name is Mark, I am a local investor and I am looking for a list of the multiple family and apartment homes in this community. "

(I already had a list since this is public, but it was a PDF. I was looking for a sortable excel file that I could use as a starting point. I had the mailing addresses already as I had done some research, but again…I hate typing so I wanted an excel file.)

Assessor’s Assistant – “ Why do you want that?”

Me – “ I have an interest in purchasing a home, and wanted information on the inventory of these properties in the town.”

Assessor’s Assistant – “Well I know that there are none for sale, so what’s the point”

Me – “Yes, I am aware of that, but should they become available, I’d like to have done my homework upfront…may I have the list please?”

Assessor’s Assistant – “I don’t get it”

Me – “ The information is public, is it not?”

Assessor’s Assistant – “Yes”

Me- “May I have the information please, or can you tell me how I can get it (excel version) from your system?”

I then leaned over the counter to speak to the Assessor and he stated that I would have it in 24 hours.

Well I got it in 3 business days. Not great, but I got it. Now to prioritize the list based on my criteria.

Next…. Prioritize the list