@Will F. There are times I wish I didn't live in the Bay Area because it seems like real estate investing would be easier in just about any other market than here; however, I've lived in 7 states and this is, by far, the best place I've ever lived. With that being said, I didn't give up at all. Instead, I actually went bigger and made my mail campaigns even more granular. My business partner and I are sending between 4,000 - 5,000 pieces per month now and are trying a bunch of different letters, verbiage, envelopes, messages, etc. For the most part, we've brought it all in-house. One thing I'll tell you is that everyone who calls us has received other letters, but it was something about our message, our touch that made them call us back.
@Jacob Forbis Our response rates have risen slightly, but they're still not at the level we'd like them to be. We're trying a few different techniques/ideas for the next round of mailers in hopes of getting them higher. Even though our response rates aren't were we would like them, we've still gotten deals done from them and I attribute that solely to our net being cast very wide. Instead of going after 400 people like we were in November, we are now mailing between 4,000 - 5,000 people monthly. Even if our response rates continue to suck, which I hope they don't, we are getting enough responses because of the sheer numbers we are mailing. From our mailings in Dec/Jan we've closed two deals (one wholesale and one rehab). Best of luck to you!
