Well what do you know?
I was intrigued by the idea of "yellow letters" and wanted to try something new so I decided to send out my own version.
I sent out 6 blank greeting cards to certain non-owner occupied properties (all I had time for immediately) with a short message and my phone number. I had my eye on one property in particular because it looked like it could be a good rental property (or sale), was right in my target neighborhood, and the owner owed back taxes (not too much to make it not worthwhile but enough where it might be a bother for her).
The card was sent out Monday, and this morning I got a call back saying yes, she is interested in selling.
So I guess I'll see where this goes.
Comments (11)
Update: unfortunately, this one does not appear to be going anywhere. The husband did a lot of the work on remodeling the house himself, and so he has an emotional interest. It's very difficult to price negotiate when there is ego involved and I don't think the ex and her are on the same page (because she's never even seen it, I don't think she has an attachment to it). The upside is that this did provide a low-cost learning experience in sending out cards and talking with people! I would not be opposed to trying this again in the future.
Dawn Anastasi, almost 12 years ago
Well, I received a voicemail back from the owner this morning. She's back from vacation and was still interested in talking with me about her house. Some specs on the house: 4 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, built in 1971, had some remodeling in 2009 including a new furnace, water heater, updated bathrooms and kitchen. It's rented out at $1,025 per month (which is a normal rate for that size property in that area). When I spoke to her, she indicated that her husband 2 rentals a while back and she hasn't even been in that one, although she heard it was really well kept up. She has a property manager that maintains everything. She will be having her ex-husband call me later tonight to discuss further.
Dawn Anastasi, almost 12 years ago
Owner is hard to find, Boarded up, and back taxes owed., boy that sounds like money to me.
Ned Carey, almost 12 years ago
Update: one of the cards to Dallas, TX came back "forwarding time expired". I went to look at the property again and there's one of those green boards over the side door on the garage, but nothing on the house. There is about $19K of back taxes unpaid.
Dawn Anastasi, almost 12 years ago
In the book, How to Measure Anything, the author points out that 5 truely random samples is all you need to determine the range for which the median falls within. He calls it the Rule of Five. Sound like you were measuring if the yellow letter technique could work for you. IF your non owner occupied mailing was more randomize (don't pick the house you're interested in unless its selected from a bunch of addresses mixed in a hat) then you could make a better go/no go decision. You don't have to send out a gazillion samples, just five RANDOM samples. (please forgive typos)
Al Williamson, almost 12 years ago
I did call her back and she was just leaving for a 2 week vacation and wanted to talk after she got back. That can be a good thing, maybe on her vacation she can imagine how many more vacations she can take with some extra money. :) And yes, I know that 6 cards is not a scientific test, I could have just gotten lucky, the difference is I was not just blasting out letters to anyone, I did some filtering to narrow down the list of who I wanted to send to. I'll keep this updated with more results (if any). So far I haven't sent out any more cards yet.
Dawn Anastasi, almost 12 years ago
Great idea! Who doesn't want to open a greeting card?
Joshua Dorkin, almost 12 years ago
That is terrific, keep us posted as to the end result. While it does indicate it's worth continuing, six cards is not near enough of a test. I hope you continue to test this and also update us on whether this is a worthwhile strategy long run. good luck - Ned
Ned Carey, almost 12 years ago
Congrats on the lead. Good luck with investigating the property further, sounds like a possible win-win if the owner needs to sell.
Kurt K., almost 12 years ago
Well done Dawn. You took action and got a re-action. Nice work.
Al Williamson, almost 12 years ago
Brian Feltz, almost 12 years ago