All Forum Posts by: Chrissy Parsons

@Tony Marcelle - The Absentee Owner  can be a good target regardless of the occupancy of the home. Landlords can get tired of dealing with tenants, repairs etc. The only problem with them is that they are getting letters from other investors too.

There is a distinction between Absentee and Vacant.

Absentee is generally defined as property that the owner doesn't live in. They have a different primary mailing address for their tax bill.

Vacant properties are a subset of Absentee. This is not part of the public record that I know of, which makes sense because the owner doesn't report occupancy to the government and it can change quickly.

That said, every county can be different.

@Chesaré Johnson - the bureaucrats all make mistakes and landlords know to exaggerate. The tax records aren't always up-to-date on the owner mailing address either, since that's not the first place the owner thinks to inform if they move.

A mail campaign is a good place to find sellers. The list however is key. You should consider mailing to people who aren’t in every other investor’s sites. Absentee Owners have been popular for a long time, and are apparently still somewhat effective (people are still mailing to them) but they are getting multiple offers to buy their home. It's hard to stand out.

There are some owner-occupied segments with people who share motivating factors for selling their home.

Seniors with Long-time Ownership: often ready to downsize or transition to assistance.

Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS): Struggling financially and likely ready to cash in on their asset.

Both these categories have additional advantages in that they probably don’t haven’t been updated and may have deferred maintenance. They won’t be expecting the same money as their neighbors with the shiny new kitchen and fresh paint. 

I would be very leery of a company that doesn't have a customer service number. Think about working with a company that provides a rep to work directly with you!

That said, phone numbers are associated with the owner where they live. (mailing address)

@Dave Vona First, I love your logo!

You should consider mailing to people who aren’t in every other investor’s sites. Absentee Owners have been popular for a long time, and are apparently still somewhat effective (people are still mailing to them) but they are getting multiple offers to buy their home. It's hard to stand out.

There are some owner-occupied segments with people who share motivating factors for selling their home.

Seniors with Long-time Ownership: often ready to downsize or transition to assistance.

Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS): Struggling financially and likely ready to cash in on their asset.

Both these categories have additional advantages in that they probably don’t haven’t been updated and may have deferred maintenance. They won’t be expecting the same money as their neighbors with the shiny new kitchen and fresh paint. 

Thanks

@Kaden Cole I agree that "what-ever you can get first" at a price that you can cash flow will be the better bet.  It will be key to find off-market deals. 

Mail campaigns are about the best way to find your own off-market deals. These are people who share motivational characteristics of people ready to sell, but haven't yet done all the work they think they need to list property. The best way to find them is to send out mailers.

Some good lists to target are Absentee Owners with Equity, Seniors with Long-time Ownership and Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores.

You should work with a list broker to optimize your list for your area. From there, there are a lot of companies that can help with the printing and mailing. Be sure that you highlight that "selling your house can be easier than you think" with the advantages of working directly with you instead of the more traditional route.

@Susie Lowe What type of lists and what counties are you mailing to?

@Derek Pulcini This is the kind of success story we like to hear! How did you find the property? Was it listed or off-market?

What are you doing to find your next deal?

There are some owner-occupied segments with people who share motivating factors for selling their home.

Seniors with Long-time Ownership: often ready to downsize or transition to assistance.

Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS): Struggling financially and likely ready to cash in on their asset.

Both these categories have additional advantages in that they probably don’t haven’t been updated and may have deferred maintenance. They won’t be expecting the same money as their neighbors with the shiny new kitchen and fresh paint.

These lists have been flying under the radar so chances are they aren't getting offers from other investors. 

@Denzil Dwelle You might think about working with a list broker who can pull a list based on what you want. Most of the time they don't charge much more than the on-line sites. 

Some things that might help - work with data that is residential only, specify individual owned vs company owned, decide if you want to omit trust owned.

I agree with  other comments that  the counties all do things differently so it's hard for the compilers to standardize across the country. One problem I find is that the single and 2-4 units tend to get combined in a lot of areas so it's tough to differentiate.

@Jane S. Wow, have to wonder what is going to happen to the market when zillow starts in. It is possible to find sellers with motivation that haven't done the work yet to put their home on the market the traditional way. 

Seniors who have been in their home 15-20 or more years are often ready to downsize or move into assistance.

Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores may be  ready to get out from under their mortgage.

The idea that they don't need to fix things up to "show" the house and pay a realtor commission is appealing to these groups. 

A list broker can help you to get a list optimized for your area so you can get started with a mailing.

Good luck