All Forum Posts by: Jakob Mykytyn

I'm in the Albany area and I gave direct mail a go. I sent a couple thousand postcards out followed by a yellow letter. I had the postcards done through an online company. The response rate to the postcards was really horrible. I think I got one call out of the 2000. 

Yellow letters had a much better response. I think it was about a 5% response rate. I didn't end up getting a deal. Most people were set on a very high price or didn't want to sell.

It could just be my lack of practice negotiating as well as my lack of follow through. A lot of people say you need to hit people several times before they will respond, and I only hit people twice. 

For the yellow letters I bought my own printer that could print envelopes and ended up breaking even compared to paying someone to do the mailing on the first 500 letters. It only took a couple hours to get them all out too.  

@Vitaliy Volpov Thank you for the thoughtful reply! I was able to get the contact info for the tenant and after visiting the property found out that the cat had been removed from the property.

@Harvet Jones I like the way you think. I will be switching the locks ASAP and the power is in my name with the "leave on for landlord" program with national grid. Thanks for the advice!

@Brian Degener It's on Delaware Ave, near Lincoln Park.

Hi all,

I recently closed on my first property and gave one of the tenants 30-day notice to vacate. It has been two weeks and I noticed during an inspection of the unit that they had moved all their stuff out. I went to the property a few days later and I noticed that there was a cat in the window of their unit. All of their stuff is still gone and the same day they took utilities out of their name. They have not left a key and I do not have contact information for them. Do I need to give 24-hour notice to inspect the unit to see if the cat is still there? Also can I take possession of the unit?

@Ryan Bolesky thanks for the welcome! I definitely have to check out the next meetup. From what I've read it sounds like a great resource. I will let you know if I find anything in the Saratoga area for sure!

@Lauren Minkoff Thank you! Yeah I love to head up to Saratoga for the weekends. It's a great area. I would definitely be interested in learning more about the rental market. I've been focusing on learning more about Albany/Schenectady area so anything I can learn about Saratoga would be helpful

Hey @Ray Lai thanks for the welcome. For the first mailing I targeting Albany, Schenectady, and Saratoga County in New York State. I sent mailers to Absentee Single family residences with equity greater than 40%. My list was a little over 500. Before I mail to them again I want to hit lower equity absentee owners for a greater chance at subject to financing deals. 

Hey BiggerPockets! My name is Jake Mykytyn (Don't worry if you can't pronounce my last name because sometimes I can't either). I have been interested in investing for several years now but have only focused on stocks and stock options. I started getting interested in real estate investing only a few months back when I read a book on real estate investing and was instantly hooked. Since then I have read several books and I am making my way through the podcasts on BP. I joined BP after listening to the podcasts when I realized what a great resource they are for everything real estate investing. 

I just graduated college and I started working as a mechanical engineer in Schenectady, NY in July while living near Albany, NY. I am interested in real estate investing as a tool to reach early financial freedom. I don't have much of a passion for a standard 9 to 5 job and am happiest when I have the flexibility to create and work on projects that actually excite me.

At this time I am currently looking for a 2-4 unit building to house hack. I am also interested in sub2 deals and wholesaling. I just started my first direct mail marketing campaign directed towards motivated sellers and I am excited to refine it and learn more about the marketing process through this. 

I am in the process of building my team and I can't wait to meet more of you and interact and grow together! 

Thanks for setting this up Laura. I can't wait to get to know you all!