All Forum Posts by: Eric Olsen

@Diedrick Nagle first off i dont know why i cant get the @(persons name) thing to work right. Any tips would be appreciated. 

As for my strategies I drive for dollars. I use pre printed maps of areas I want to search and highlight roads as I go. When I find something worth looking into, i search the property on the county assessors web site to find vacant owners. I do some door knocking as well yet Im a big baby with this because I scares me. Silly i know but getting better with it. 

I then input the data into a spread sheet i made. Im thinking of putting it into google docs so that i always have access to it. 

What are IFTTT formulas? Never heard of that before.

pardon the typos. Im responding via mobile phone. 

@kevinkim great idea with the dollar store invitations. I am actually online looking for more invitations right now. 

As I stated earlier the call back I recieved said that they did not own the property. Investigating deeper it turns out that the person I mailed about this house is a public notary who dealt with thw actual owner of the house.  I now have the owners real address and they will be getting a letter soon.

Thanks everyone! I appreciate your posts. Anyone else have good ideas regarding direct mail?

@Ryan Canfield you are 100% correct. Looking forwardto going back out asap! Good luck to you and your wife. 

Hey everyone!  Just wanted to post that I finally received my first call back from my direct mail efforts.  Target property is in my local area and the county assessors web site shows it is own by a local person as well though the billing address is different.

According to the voicemail left for me they are claiming that they do not own the house that I mailed them about. I will have to follow up on this to see if I can get more information from those who received my letter.

About my strategy with this...Targeting absentee owners for my direct mail. I am currently using colorful blank party invitations.  Its a half folded card stock insert that is white on the inside.  Outside color matches the envelope.  I wanted to stay as far away from anything that resembled business mail.  I figured who doesn't like to get a party invitation. It would almost certainly be opened before hitting the trash.

Content of the insert is simple...

Hello (sellers name),

I was driving in the area and noticed your property at 123 main st in Hometown USA.  I would like to purchase this property from you.  Please call to discuss details.  (phone #)

Thank you, 

Eric Olsen

These were all hand written and were the first series of mailers that included this home.

As I said this was a first for me so I wanted to share my experience and excitement!  Keep kickin' *** out there everyone.  Ill be joining your ranks soon!

E

I prepare to drive for dollars ahead of time by printing maps of the areas I want to drive from google maps.  I just highlight as I go.  Yeah, this does not answer your question but some times simple is best.  I had thought about finding/using some app to track my routes, My Tracks and My maps were what I found.  I went out today and guess what, i forgot to use them.  Figures.  Also, i don't want to get stuck wasting time trying to work the app as this would take away from my actual driving.

With my printed maps and my note book, I capture all I need.  What I use my phone for when driving is to check the county recorder and assessment web pages to find tax info and absentee owners.  I then just enter the info into a spread sheet that I created when I return from driving.

Now, if I could just get someone to answer my yellow letters or answer the door when I go knocking.  Its getting annoying.

Good Luck!

Eric

@Kenneth reimer. Thank you! I was pretty pumped about this after the conversation. @sloane rowan now I just need to find a deal and get it under contract

While doing some running around for my full time job I struck up a conversation with a roofing contractor at one of my stops. As we spoke, my real estate investing came up and I asked for a business card from the contractor stating the need for construction services at some point. 

He came back with several cards and said "if you ever need any help with real estate please let me know". Now I was on the page  of yes, ill need help with construction down the road and I was networking a possiblity using him for work. Makes sense, right? Yet his statement seemed out of bounds so i clairfied asking if he meant with construction work for his company. He said "No, with funding."

Holy crap man! 

Background on me. I have not yet invested in real estate yet. Im currently working with an investor who is mentoring me but I have never even gotten a property under contract. Yet just by speaking to someone an opportunity for potential funding presented itself! Kick ***!

Now I understand I have not invested in real estate at thethe present. I consider myself an investor though as I'm driving for dollars, running numbers, and actively out there working to get it done. 

As new as I am I continue to make progress each day brining me closer to my goals. The way I look at it is this...Its already done, I just have to finish! 

Have a good holiday weekend everyone and be safe.

E

I was thinking of ways that I could bring value to the BP forums given that I do not yet own any investments.  I found this article from a site I have spent many hours on in the past.  Obviously it is sports oriented yet the lesson applies to everything.  Enjoy!

http://rosstraining.com/blog/2015/12/29/motivation-is-overrated/