All Forum Posts by: Nicholas Armstrong

@Ray Lai My mindset going into the Direct mail was to be as targeted as possible as to not waste any time. I valued quality over quantity because I was still working my J.O.B. 

So while everyone I knew was mailing 1000 Pieces a week and getting 8-10 call backs I made the decision to figure out how I could mail 100 and get the same response rate or more in most cases ;) 

As for lists I mail many different ones. But the one I have had the most success with is:

Absentee / Preforeclosures with 75-100% equity

I also add filters like min/max sq/ft and min/max bed/bath and age of home that I want to flip. That way when someone does call me I know it is a property I will most likely buy if the price is right. (Time = Money) 

I see things all the time about how many pieces of mail you need to send a month to have a successful campaign and it's just simply not true. If people were willing to put in the work upfront and strategically mail yellow letters you'd be surprised at the call back rate.

I also give a TON of credit to my actual yellow letter product itself. I do everything in-house which gives me an advantage. 

If you'd like anymore info on this shoot me a DM and we'll connect.

I'm actually about to put together a video tutorial on how I do my letters, I've taught 2 people in 2 different markets how I do my letters and they get the same response rate.

@John Thedford As I said before, not as familiar with Florida's laws as I am with mine. Haha, But I do know several people in Florida that don't have any issues with it if they double close it to other investors. I think we're talking about two different wholesale processes?

@John Thedford I agree with you there. Making sure you are operating legally is obviously  the biggest concern. My understanding of the law though, is that if you have vested interest in a property you have the right to advertise that said property. I have no idea if that holds true for every state, but I would assume in most places that law would hold true. I am almost positive that is the law in Florida? I could be wrong though and there may be some recent changes i'm not aware of. If you do anything @Shawn Allen do what this guy is telling you.. do NOT buy into the Guru thing. You can find much better advice on these forums than you ever will anywhere else.

As for the "act of deluding sellers into thinking you will buy the property when in reality you actually have zero intentions of doing so" I agree 100% and I think people need to take a hard look on the ethics of that process. As for saying that looking for a lender is a better way to start building income, I disagree. (Especially considering you are a lender) ;) just poking fun. I love my Lenders..

With all that said, this is my biggest point.

I think that as an investor that is just looking for a place to start, locating and evaluating SOLID deals is where anyone should start. If you have 100k to play with that's great! But if your lender is charging 12-18% and you don't know how to locate deals or even what a deal looks like you're losing money..

Start with a finding a solid deal, and money will follow. I guarantee it :) 

As an example,

@Shawn Allen I think @Paul Choi was hinting that he was looking for a deal in your area.. Find him a deal and the money may follow!

@Paul Choi Thanks! It was not the norm that's for sure, but as you said it happened out of much due diligence and strategy. Specifically 6 weeks of due diligence haha :) 

Just as a disclaimer I am not a wholesaler by any means, but I do a very targeted yellow letter campaign that has worked great in my area for flips. Where I invest, I can only assume, is a completely different market than anywhere in California. So our numbers may differ because of that. 

When I began my campaign, money and time was very limited. So I did the only realistic thing I could do, the minimum. List source requires a minimum of a $50 purchase and using the filters I used, it added up to about 300 addresses. Again, my target was extremely specific and I stuck to mailing 100 pieces a week pretty strategically. The material I purchased on Amazon and including postage it cost 54 cents/piece for my yellow letter campaign. 

Before I was halfway through my first campaign I got my first deal, and since then I have bumped it up to about 300 per week. So including my $25 printer I had to buy, I was all in at $95. Which ended up yielding a 25k return. But here is a secret.. my call back % is almost 10X what most people's are. When I was sending 100 per week I would track my calls. Out of every 100 I would consistently hit 15-20 call backs every week. Some were just interested in finding out more information (Which can still lead to other leads) but most where actually in need of selling their home. This may seem somewhat unrealistic in some markets, but it is the product of knowing the market and being very strategic with my marketing investment.

My call back ratio has decreased somewhat, to about an 8% call back rate now. But I am sending more letters in less specific targets. Probate lists are something I am testing as we speak.

@Shawn Allen Moral of the story is if you don't have much money to work with, then obviously more time will be needed to bag a deal. And, if you're like me, you don't mind spending an hour a day to send out some letters at least to get your first few deals. Once you actually start making money, then I suggest you outsource so you can focus on growth. The key to any direct mail campaign is to understand that you HAVE to be consistent with it. And yes I completely agree with @Paul Choi You have to invest some money into it. But just be sure you're being intentional and not throwing noodles at the wall to see what sticks.

If either of you wanted any more info on my DM process I'd love to help in any way.

Good luck!

@Shawn Allen Welcome to the Forums and congrats on getting started. I suggest you utilize this website best you can. I put several buyers on my list by just creating a post titled "Looking for cash buyers in [My area] " You'll get several tire kickers, but you might get one or two buyers that are serious. I would try to attend any real estate meet ups near you. And if you want to take it a step further you can try to find lists of companies or individuals who are buying homes in cash in your area. You can look for websites, go to the courthouse etc to find this info. I now use a Court Retrieval Software tool that gives me all the information I need. But again many hours of work goes into all of that.

Also, I would have to respectively disagree with @Paul Choi on how much money you need to get started. I spend less than 4 cents per piece of mail for my direct mail campaign (not including postage of course) But I also do all the work in-house. I spent 6 weeks and $100 to create my first yellow letter campaign and get it rolling. I ended up bagging a deal after my first go around with my mailers, but that is definitely an exception, not a rule. The biggest thing you need to worry about at this point is taking action, trial and errors are your best friends. 

@Chase Ezell oh and *ahem* Roll Tide ;)

@Chase Ezell Oh yes there are many many in Birmingham. Its a fantastic market! Congratulations on your first purchase. Let me know if I can ever help you guys out in anyway.

Grateful for the opportunity! I look forward to networking with you all Tuesday. Until then, let's get to work!