All Forum Posts by: Michael Hayes

@Anthony Frank I'm usually at the meetings but I'll be on a much needed short vacation.  Maybe I'll catch you at the next one and welcome!  MIG is a great organization.  Lots of knowledgeable people to help you on your journey.

@Kevin Rodriues you may want to see if a short sale is an option.  I have never personally done it this way but it may be a way for you to get the property, or a way to wholesale it.

Buyers if you have any questions about the wholesale deals below please give me a call. All offers will be looked at, so do not hesitate to send them in! I will not hold these long. If you are interested in both properties I can negotiate a lower package price.

766 Western Park Dr. Memphis, Tn 38109
Sales Price:$17,000
Bedrooms: 3
Baths: 1
Sq.ft: 1181
Description: Estimated rent is $675 minimum/mo. House has extra room that was converted from covered parking. If you prefer covered parking, this one should not be hard to convert back. House is in decent condition. Exterior has been kept in great shape and mostly cosmetic upgrades for interior. Hot water tank, heating unit, and ac units are still present. Video walkthrough and picture set.

865 Carrolton Ave. Memphis, TN 38127
Sales Price: $12,000
Bedrooms: 3
Baths: 1
Sq.ft: 875
Description: Estimated rent is $550-$600/mo. House will need some roof work done, but mostly cosmetic upgrades. If you look at current properties for sale in the area, none are priced this low.  Video walkthrough and picture set.

$500 earnest money and POF also required.

Each of these properties and more have a picture set and video walkthrough that can be found on www.HayesInvestmentDeals.com as well as other property deals.

For further questions, please give me a call or send me a message. 1-901-830-8468

Thank you,

Michael

@David Wurzel hey you may want to check out my post from a while back about my experience with yellow letters.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/87/topics/197622-phone-ringing-off-the-hook-from-yellow-letters

I will say that I am definitely still in my trial-and-error stage with marketing, and I can't give you any response rate statistics to back it up, but out of the 800 or so letters that I sent, I did connect with 2 individuals who agreed to seller finance me their homes.  This is something that is currently in the works, but if it pulls through, the campaign more than paid for itself.  If I had to estimate, I would say I had around a 7-8% response rate. 

As mentioned before, several factors come into play as far as response rate goes.  I definitely believe the way I filtered my list, or lack of enough filtering, played a role in who was contacting me and how often.  I'm going to give it another go, possibly with postcards this time, but with a different list.  Hopefully I can give you some insight on how my new experience is with direct mail once it gets going. 

I'm not sure if you're open to the idea, but my biggest response has been from bandit signs.  Again, I don't have the percentages to back it up, but my experience from using those have been the most positive, profitable, and cost-effective.  All this combined with my growing online marketing efforts gets me a solid number of calls and deals. 

Consistency with whatever you use is the key.  Good luck!

@Daniel Johnson welcome!  If you haven't researched it yet, check out Memphis Investors Group.  That's our local real estate investors association.  I'm only a few months into the game myself, but I have learned a lot and made many connections through this group and am on my way to a profitable year. 

@Zlatan Omeragic I wish I could answer that with a great alternative.  Truth be told, the situations were someone was displeased or just skeptical haven't been numerous, but they made it so very awkward that I had no idea what to do!  Take this scenario...

(Phone rings)

Me:  Hello you've reached Michael!  :D

Very angry lady:  Um yes I received a letter from you, and I just want to know WHY you sent me this?!  Does it look like I have a for sale sign in front of my house?! >:{

Me:  Well no ma'am I.....  O_O

Very angry lady:  My house is NOT for sale and I don't need you sending all this trash to me!!! >_<

Me:  Ok....well I tell you what.  I do apologize.  If you would give me the address and I will make sure you don't receive anymore mail if you are not interested in selling your house. :l

Very angry lady:  PLEASE take me off your list!!! >_<  My address is (insert random numbers and a street name that is said way to fast to be audible).

Me:  Thank you very much.  I will take care of that for you right now.  :/

Very angry lady:  (Hangs up with the force of the Hammer of Thor)

Me:  :,(         <<<<< Me crying is the only part of this story that  didn't actually happen but you get the idea.  Nobody likes to be thrown into such an awkward case.  So I want to know what the best way to handle this is too.  On another note, other investors will call and make it an uncomfortable situation too, even though they should understand what you are doing.  I think this subject could be a whole other forum post though.

@Joe Fairless I used http://melissadata.com/ . 

@Antonio Coleman that is a great idea.  I've had some promising calls but I don't think I filtered my list enough.  I have had several other investors to call me and just "see what the offer may be" or who want to sale at full market value, and I've had callers to call just to tell me how displeased they were that I sent them a letter -_-.  Your suggestion will definitely help to weed out anyone who is unmotivated, but I also plan on adding some more criteria to the next list to target people who may truly be motivated and not just to absentee owners.

@Sean White it was actually 926 letters I had sent out.  I'll message you the price though.  It was a great deal if you think about the time and materials involved in doing it.  From time to time I will write my own yellow letters, but it takes HOURS to even get a fraction of an adequate amount done. 

@Dev Horn agreed!  I'm actually working out a deal now to buy a house from a seller who agreed to carry the note for an awesome price.  House is in a great area, rents well, and doesn't need much repair.  So even if this one deal closes, the yellow letters have already paid for themselves.  As said before, I now know I need to narrow my mail out list a little more to target the TRUELY motivated sellers.  It's a learning experience though.

@Jay Hinrichs thanks.  I'm going to check it out.

@Jay Hinrichs most definitely!  Not a call has been missed as of yet.  Following up on every lead I have.  Looking forward to more calls tomorrow.  Between the yellow letters, bandit signs, and web marketing, I'm growing my business pretty quickly!  Practicing to get better day by day, especially with my negotiating skills. Thanks for the advice.  I love getting help from the pros.  :)