All Forum Posts by: Braden C.

A couple hundred letters is a decent start but it typically takes a few thousand to land a deal. Like others have said, get really good at one strategy and add others as you feel comfortable. If you all at once start a DM campaign, facebook campaign, PPC, SEO, driving for dollars, cold calling, SMS, etc., you'll have a tough time. 

@Matthew Bailey Mike Simmons was on the BP podcast recently and has his own podcast. On his podcasts he talks a lot about his mastermind group and encourages his listeners to get involved with their own. I'd check out his site and see if he can connect you with a group. There's also a virtual event in October called Flip Hacking Live that is supposed to address a lot of your questions. This will be my first time attending so I can't vouch for the event but for $300 I figured it was worth a shot if I can pickup a new strategy or two. 

@Jay Eubank First of all, congrats on taking action! As important as your list and mail piece are, what's even more important is how you handle the incoming leads. I get asked almost daily "how many letters do I need to send in order to get a deal?" Nobody can give you an honest answer on this, and if they say they can then they're lying. If you do a great job of answering each call, following-up, being courteous and sympathetic to a sellers needs, you'll get deals a lot faster than the person who is the opposite of that. 

Just something to keep in mind as you get going. We often get so hung-up on the little things that we forget the big picture and just how important good customer service is.  

@Sean Ybarra Isn't that your company? Your profile says it is and you're listed as the CEO on their website... Pretttty sure you know where they're based out of.

@Donald Dooley Any reason why you want to find one in New England? There are several very good direct mail companies that aren't in New England that specialize in working with real estate investors. 

@Derek Morrison I'll never forget the first time I took a letter call ten years ago, I panicked and the seller could hear it in my voice. The good news is that it gets easier and easier with each call you take and your confidence will build. 

One thing I did that was really helpful was to spend 30 or so seconds after each call and replay it in my head. This helped me to learn what to say, and what not to say. No matter what though, take action because it's going to be difficult whether you do it today or a year from now, the only difference is you'll be a year behind where you could be. 

@Brandon Corcoran Whether you're doing direct mail, SEO, PPC, SMS, cold calling, etc. the cost per acquisition is going to depend a lot on YOU. 

Example, two people in the same market have the same budget and do the same type of marketing. Person A always answers their phone, follows-up on leads, and is very professional with how they speak to potential sellers. Person B answers their phone about half the time, takes several days to return messages, and is somewhat abrasive and rude on the phone. Who do you think will have a better ROI on their marketing?

@Brendan Chisholm Great job on doing your due diligence and finding the problem. That being said, I would find the solution to the problem and create an opportunity for yourself rather than just giving up on the deal. If the third unit is non-conforming then why not negotiate with the seller and price the unit as a duplex? Would it be possible to tie-in the third unit to one of the other two and add bedrooms/bathrooms? 

@Akiem Jones Check out propstream.com, you can pull lists and do quite a bit more as well. We use them for our personal investing and recommend them for people we do mail for. Good luck! 

@Sergey Mikhaylyuk There are several companies you can get lists from. I really like propstream, it's easy to use and you can do a lot more than just download lists. 

You can probably also get a list for free from your local property appraiser but you'll need to sort it which can be pretty time consuming.