All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I have seen a number of posts talking about SEO to attract in-bound marketing. Have any of you worked with a company that focuses on the Real Estate Investor?

Looks like a great tool so people can decide whether or not to mail to owners who are already listed in MLS. Good luck!

How did you get your first deal? Was it through direct mail?

Conventional business wisdom states that you should keep marketing so you can keep a funnel growing and have a steady stream of homes to purchase.

You can contact a list broker about getting business listings from a number of sources. They might recommend that general listings can be obtained with the D&B file. There are also specialized medical files where you can specify practice size and other pertinent factors that would help qualify a business for your space.

Occasionally clients will pass angry mail recipients off to me as "the source". One of the more memorable was the old man who was convinced we were in collusion with his children to get him out of his house. Having just dealt with a similar situation with my own dad I understood the emotions and about 15 minutes later we were, well not exactly friends, but at least I wasn't part of the conspiracy.

@Jonathan Holmes, @Joe Davalos and @Michael Ablan There are a number of sites where you can direct people to get off mailing lists.

The FTC has an informational site about all sorts of unwanted contact:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0262-stopping-unsolicited-mail-phone-calls-and-email

But the place to go for opting out of mail is The Direct Marketing Association: http://www.directmail.com/mail_preference/

Most professional and ethical list compilers will run their lists the the DMA suppression each month as part of the standard list hygiene. Ask your vendor if they do this,  and you will save on even more stamps.

What type of list are you using? I know that different targets can come with varying prices, but I agree with @Erin Spence and @Sharad M. that 20 cents is very much on the high end.

Another way to improve deliverability is to be sure that your list provider performs list hygiene. National Change of Address (NCOA) and CASS Certification for the address are 2 that the compiler should supply documents of completion. 

The overall list industry standard for a purchased list is 90-95% deliverability. Some vendors will experience higher rates due to the compilation practices.

I have been taking the strategy of signing up for the directories  a couple at a time. It is time consuming  and sometimes frustrating to find the free listings. Some will only let you sign up through YEXT which charges a monthly fee. 

It's a slow process, but in the long run will be worth it. 

You might consider jump starting things with a mail campaign (outbound marketing). This way you can reach people who may not be actively looking on the internet.

You can get lists of some of those Persona  targets - Seniors with 20+ Year Ownership (ready to downsize or transition) and Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores are 2 lists that can fit some of the targets that @Daniel Sisto mentioned. 

I agree with @Fradel Schaechter - Direct marketing is a great way to find property. But as @Bob Okenwa said, it is a competitive market so you are going to need to look at some alternative lists. 

Absentee Owners tend to be over-use in competitive markets, so I wouldn't recommend that.

Seniors with 20+Year Ownership and Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores are 2 that aren't getting over-mailed-to yet.

1. Decide the zips you want to invest in.

2. Consider the home values you want to stay within - do you want the very high end along with the lowest values?

3. What sort of properties? Single, multi-family, Condo?

From there you can work with a broker to fine tune your list.

I agree about marketing to find homes to buy. Direct mail is a good vehicle and the first step is getting a list.

1. Decide which counties or zips you want property

2. Figure out the home values you want to consider - up to $200,000? $100-500,000? etc

3. What sort of property do you want? single family, multifamily, condos, apartments?

4. Focus in on 1 or 2 types of lists: Absentee, Divorced, Seniors, Low Financial Stability Scores?

From there you can fine tune - mailing to the people who own property you want to buy and have motivation to sell.

Some areas don't offer such information, or make it very difficult as you are finding. Another option might be to contact homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores.