All Forum Posts by: May Emery

@Megan Fisher - I agree with the people who say mail is effective. However, the devil is in the details. If you go on one of the major online sites, you are likely to get the same list that every other investor in your area is mailing to.

You should consider mailing to people who aren’t on every other investor’s radar. 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.

A list broker can help you get the best target for your market.

@Josep A lot of investors find that it can be better to look for "off market” deals. These are homeowners who haven’t taken the time and made the investment to fix up their homes before putting it on the market.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Mailing is probably 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. When you are in a competitive market, you won't want to rely on just an Absentee list since so many other investors are already mailing to them.

You can 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.

@Aaron K. There are a lot of wholesalers looking to build a buyer's list, but it is hard to do. One list that we build is owners with multiple properties. This might indicate that they might be looking for more deals and be open buying what the wholesalers are finding.

@Austin Works It might be worth trying a mail campaign again but with a different list. 

It could be that you were mailing to the same people on every other investor’s lists. 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.

A good list broker can help you sort things out.

@Dominique Palmer - Glad to hear that you are trying to expand beyond what your friends and family know. You are right - mail campaigns can be effective. The list however is key. You don't want to put all your eggs in one basket - especially if it's one of the common lists that everyone is mailing to.

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.

A good list broker should be able to help you to sort things out.

@Erik A. Glad to hear that you don't mention financial difficulties in your pitch. However, consider that these people are probably getting quite a few calls and are sensitive. Making a statement that says "I know where you live" can be intimidating.

You might get a little more general - I'm interested in buying property in your area. People that I have worked with find that it is much easier to sell than they expected.

Also, try contacting people who aren't part of the common call/mail lists. One new segment is Owners with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS). 

@Brice Tchegninougbo Direct Mail is effective all across the country. The key is finding the right list. You need to be mailing to people who aren’t on every other investor’s radar. 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. These are especially key in Nebraska where they prohibit the use of public data and Absentee Owner lists aren't even available.

Consider these:

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.

A good list broker can help you out.

@Angela Dani  A lot of investors find that it can be better to look for "off market” deals. These are homeowners who haven’t taken the time and made the investment to fix up their homes before putting it on the market.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Mailing is probably the best way to find these potential sellers. 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 can 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.

Good luck!

Skip tracing and mailing lists are 2 different things. When you get a mailing list, you specify your criteria and get all the contact information. Skip tracing lets you create your own list then research the contact info.

Don't think that Listsource is the only place to get mailing lists. There are list brokers who can help you pull a customized list for your area - that should be different than what everyone is using from ListSource. You don't want to be maililng to the same people every other investor is contacting.

So much with direct mail and phone calls will have to do with the list that you use. If you are mailing to the same list that every other investor is mailing and calling,.. well it will dry up because there's too much competition in the mail box and they are tired of getting pitched on the phone. 

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.

A good list broker can help you navigate new options.