All Forum Posts by: Chrissy Parsons

In some areas you can go on the county website. If you have trouble, you can call to ask them at the registry of deeds or the tax assessor's office (they will have the tax bill address).

You might try getting in touch with the neighbors.

@Ben Paras - Quite often Senior Homeowners have the same situation even though they are owner occupied. Here's a link to an article: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/10944/74462-yo...

This goes through some value propositions that you can put into your letter or postcards. Could help you to branch out into other neighborhoods.

Some of these ideas came from when I helped my parent move... 

@Brittany Villamil I'd suggest working with a list broker. Quite often they are the same price as when you go on-line. In addition to doing the work for you, they can also offer suggestions so you can get a unique list rather than mailing to the same people other investors are sending to.

In some markets Absentee Owners are getting multiple offers. You might consider something like Owners with Low Financial Stability Scores or Seniors with Long-time Ownership.

@Michael Gustavo sounding like a broken record here - you need to get creative to find the off-market deals. @Ben Paras said he had some success through mailing. I'm curious what kind of list he used.

If you work with a list broker they can suggest lists that can be customized to your area and investing goals.

Absentee Owners have been the go-to list for years, but in a competitive market like yours, you need to get creative since it's safe to say that the absentees have been getting multiple offers in the mail.

Consider Owners with Low Financial Stability Scores and Seniors with Long-Time Ownership.

@Reggie Taylor I agree with @Rush Wall. You need to find off-market deals.

One tactic that works is to send out direct mail to people who share the characteristics of motivated sellers. You can work with a list broker to get some good suggestions.

Absentee Owners has been the go-to list for a while now and has made a lot of people a lot of money. However, Atlanta is a hot market and it's most likely that they are already getting a lot of mail and multiple offers to buy.

A list broker can help with suggestions for alternative off-market lists. Owners with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS) is one. Seniors with Long-Time Ownership is another. These can both be customized for your market and investing goals.

@Robert Campbell, I agree with mailing like @Joseph M. is suggesting. 

In addition to Driving for Dollars, you can increase your mailing for money by working with a list broker to do more Mailing for Money.

A lot of people have had a lot of luck mailing to Absentee Owners. However, if you are in a competitive market, it is quite possible that they are getting lots of mail with offers to buy their home.

A list broker can suggest alternative lists. Owners with Low Financial Stability Scores is one. Seniors with long-time-ownership can be another good market. 

@Account Closed Have you done any mail campaigns? If you work with a list broker, they can suggest some good list alternatives. 

If you are in a crowded market,)which based on your question, I would guess that you are), it is quite possible that all the Absentee Owners are all getting multiple offers. You might consider a list of Owners with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS) or Seniors with Long-Time Ownership.

I researched VOIP services and settled on one called OOMA, getting 2 phone numbers. I paid about $100 for a box then connected a regular phone to it and got 2 wireless phones from them. For $10 a month I have 2 lines. Calls can also be forwarded to a cell phone. 

They have a business service that has more numbers if you need those. It would be worth a call.

https://www.ooma.com/

@Lalita Mitchell Direct mail has been really effective for a lot of people. I think that some of the pessimism comes from everyone mailing to the same list. In some areas, the absentee owners might be getting offers to buy their property practically every week!

You can work with a list broker who can suggest some alternative markets such as Seniors with Long-time Ownership or Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores. These can be customized for your price range etc.

You also want to send out something that speaks to your audience to make your offer stand out if they happen to get more than one. Give some advantages of working with you rather than simply CASH FAST that is the emphasis of a lot of investor mail.

Here's an article that talks about some effective benefit-driven letter techniques that can be good for motivated owner-occupied sellers:

Effective benefit-driven letters for seniors and other owner occupied seller campaigns

@Yusuf Smith The Direct Marketing Association has a mechanism to opt out of getting mail. 

"The Mail Preference Service (MPS) is designed to assist those consumers in decreasing the amount of national non-profit or commercial mail they receive at home. This section will tell you how to use MPS. The Mail Preference Service (MPS) is a consumer service sponsored by The Direct Marketing Association (The DMA)."

Here's a link to their information page:

http://www.dmaconsumers.org/offmailinglist.html -   Or you can suggest that they google "DMA mail preference"

Reputable list compilers run their databases against the suppression list with every update. Ask your provider if the list you are getting has had this done.

If someone complains it's usually because they have received too many solicitations. Time to think about marketing to a different segment. At the very least, keep track of the complaints and scan all future lists for those names and take them off.