Direct Calling vs Direct Mail

[Kyle Civittolo]

I have read a lot about direct mail on this site. What I was wondering is if people have tried direct calling instead? I started putting a list together (mainly of people behing on taxes in my farm area). I then would dig deeper and see how long they have owned the property and how much equity they have. Doing simple google searches I have started adding these peoples phone numbers into my excel sheet. So my question is, would anyone recommend actually calling these people first instead of send them mailings? It would be tough to call a huge list, but might be interesting to test on 40-50 people. I am lnvesting in the Hartford, CT area FYI.

Thanks,
Kyle Civittolo

[Juan Maldonado]

Very old thread but I thought I would share my experience.

Our company focuses on multifamily properties we are now looking for 100 unit plus deals but started by cold calling 8 years ago and now we manage a portfolio of around 1,000 units. Over 70 deals and maybe 3 of these came from brokers, the rest were leads that started with a cold call. The approach works for bigger deals too, but it's certainly more difficult.

When I joined the company a few years back, I was taught basically how to drive for dollars, search property owners and cold call them directly. It took me 5 month to get my first deal, first year did 3 deals total (4 properties). Second year did 3 deals (6 properties)and this year have done 2 pretty big deals (220 units) all from cold calling.

So yes cold calling works, what is important is just like direct mail, keep refining your approach, don't waiver and continue doing it, someone I admire said that the key to success is "persistence and perseverance."

Good luck and remember that the person on the other end that call, that told you to screw off and never call again, doesn't know you and you probably will never meet them. So don't be shy to pick up that phone.

Best of luck fellow cold callers!!