All Forum Posts by: Sean McKee

If you only sent out 3500 mailers and got a deal from it, that’s very successful.
I’m actually surprised you got a deal from such a small amount of mailing…

Thanks Joe. I'm glad to hear that it. It was pretty exclusive list that was tedious to create. I didn't have any competition with this particular deal I landed because of that.

1 Vote

Chicago, Illinois

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

@Sean McKee

I never really understood people with smaller budgets doing direct mail. There are companies spending $100k a month on mail and all the smaller sized companies / people all get their data from same sources (like Propstream).

To me it didn’t make sense to use the same info as it is extremely difficult to have any type of advantage

Chris I agree.

I quickly realized I could not compete. That's why I had to pivot to creating my own list. These were leads I knew had a much higher chance of not being on sites like Propstream and they would likely have more motivation to sell.

0 Votes

Chicago, Illinois

Quote from @Michael Quarles:

Good to meet you. There aren’t any tricks. Marketing is very difficult done right.

1-2 properties a year is a great goal. There’s nothing wrong with stability.

Personally I run an algorithm on a market once I decide on it. The algorithm gives me a lot of insight. Things like high demand, high risk, DOM and such.

I still like direct mail. I can drill down and market to just LIKELY motivated prospects.

Besides marketing the larger component is the list of questions to ask and how we ask them.

Most sellers are afraid of that first contact and need direction.

Does BP still allow users to share scripts. If so let me know.

Michael I would definitely love a DM if you can't post it directly here. I'm not sure. I appreciate your response and insight!

0 Votes

Chicago, Illinois

Quote from @Andy Nathan:

I am not doing a lot of direct mailing but I have over 15 years of marketing experience. The key is to test, test, test until it works. Like Bob said above, you need the right mix of list, message, and mailer.

You never know until you keep testing what works and what does not. Then the market changes and you need to start testing something new.

I agree. I’ve done quite a bit of testing. Really only one piece so far that’s stood out.

1 Vote

Chicago, Illinois

Quote from @Account Closed:

Quote from @Sean McKee:

Hello Everyone!

If you are direct mail marketing in today's environment how's it going for you? Are you using to sites like Listsource and Propstream to source leads? What's your best marketing piece? What's your overall response rate.

I did those sites for about 6 months and would either cold call or direct mail depending on the list. What I found when I made contact was that they had already received phone calls or letters from 20 other investors. It was a complete flop, at least for me.

I didn't quit direct mailing all together. I decided to focus on creating niched list that I knew would probably beat out the majority of the competition. My overall response rate was a little over 1% for approximately 3,500 letters sent over a 12 month time period. Which I know is not great response rate, but when I was getting calls, sellers had much more motivation and there was less competition. I ended up landing an 2 unit deal.

My strategy is ok for now, as I only need 1 to 2 deals a year. However I will eventually need more volume and what I'm doing is not really scalable. I would love to hear insights from people who are doing higher marketing volumes and what high level strategies are working (I know you can't reveal all your tricks).

Thanks!

It's the list, the mailing piece and the message. They all have to work together. A while back I sent out 5,000 pieces at $1 a piece and got zero phone calls. I have also sent out 500 at $1 a piece to a different group with a different list and got 20 calls. I haven't done mailers in a while, so I'm not really sure what the response would be right now.

Thanks for this insight. This type of list used definitely seems to change the response rate.

0 Votes

Chicago, Illinois

Quote from @Regina Bailey:

I'm a landlord dealing with a tenant who has been unresponsive for the past month. She is currently late on rent for the month August and still owes a remaining balance of $100 from the previous month. I've made several attempts to personally deliver a five-day notice but haven't been successful. Despite my efforts to reach her by phone, email, and text, it has been nearly impossible to get in touch. I'm at my wit's end and really can't afford to hire an attorney. Do you have any advice on how to start the eviction process? Thank you.

If you are really at the point of eviction, TRY CASH FOR KEYS. You might have to fork over 1k to 2k depending on the rent amount. This will be much faster. Send her a text, email, and post a notice on the door. Offer to waive her rent owed and offer her $$$ to move off two weeks from the notice date.

I've had to do this. It sucks, but it's way faster than going to court and cheaper.

Even if you don't hire a lawyer you will be out months of rent and hundreds of dollars in court fees. Cook County is terrible when it comes to this.

1 Vote

Chicago, Illinois

Hello Everyone!

Thanks!

2 Votes

Chicago, Illinois

Quote from @Jack Medford:

Hey all!

I recently started a direct mail campaign and am prepping for my second month's mailer. The first month was an intro letter and every month after that will be a Market Brief, which I've attached here. Curious to hear everyone's take on this style of mailer.

Has anyone tried something similar? What were your results?

For context, I'm a Realtor but also looking for off-market properties for flipping. I'm trying to perfect the language to attract both traditional and distressed sellers.

Jack looks pretty good. I like how you are adding a market update. I think that piece would speak to the more sophisticate audience. Out of curiosity how many responses did you get?

I just bought an off market deal from a letter. I think it's still a great strategy and I'm looking to up my game.

2 Votes

San Luis Obispo, California

Quote from @Jennifer Fernéz:

Im looking at properties to buy, and saw a tenant in a 4-unit property I like paid $1,000 in late fees. They are also smokers and their unit is horrid. They are month to month. What are common practices to remove them? Another tenant in the same property pays $750 a month and should be paying more around $1100. What is the best way to increase her rent?

I just bought a two flat with a similar situation except they have 10 animals . I would focus on a few things:

-What is the discount you are getting for dealing with the situation. There's money to be made with dealing with problem properties and tenants. Just make sure it's worth your while. Hopefully your getting at least a 20% or higher discount on the deal. This is by far the most important factor in my opinion.

-Are the tenants generally agreeable and willing to work with you? In my case the tenants already agreed to pay an additional $300 a month in rent.

-However if they seem like they are going to cause trouble, how hard will it be to get rid of them?

-Are you in a landlord or tenant friendly state? Going in guns blazing in tenant friendly state (like mine) could see end up with months and months of lost rent.

It is a people business, so you will have to use some discretion. Talking with them ahead of time before you purchase the property can reveal a lot about the situation.

1 Vote

Quote from @Wai Chan:

@Nathan Gesner

I agree that I have made a big mistake by being too nice to tenant. I should have drawn a clear line beforehand. I have thought of not doing the repair work but she has implied complaining that to City and said the house is not habitable.

The sad thing is that even the tenant has violated the lease and if I want to evict them with just cause, it will take 6-9 months from start to finish and 25K loss of rent + fee.

In California tenant can pretty much do whatever they want and the policy encourage them doing that. It is pretty sad.

I'm sorry this is happening. I agree with getting legal advice. I moved to evict a non-paying tenant and they called the city. They said my attic addition was illegal. It wasn't and we had it permitted. I sorted it out and I filed for an eviction, and she jumped ship a few weeks later. We didn't even make it to the court date.

Tenants threaten these kinds of actions as a form of leverage. Take it away from her. Your already dealing with the maintenance issues. Only do what is required by law. Are you sure they need to move out for the repairs? Once any issues are dealt with, their leverage over you goes down quite a bit.

As long as you are addressing the issues you should be fine. You start getting in trouble when you do absolutely nothing, which is doesn't sound like you are doing. If this tenant is as bad as you say they are, they won't stop there. They will continue to demand more and threaten more.

I'm in a slow eviction city as well, so I understand the fear of losing money for a long period. But an eviction is mutually destructive for both parties. You lose money and they end up with an eviction on their record. They get black listed from housing, etc. Most tenants are equally if not more fearful of this, than you are of losing money.

1 Vote

San Diego, California

All Forum Posts by: Sean McKee

Sean McKee has started 27 posts and replied 219 times.

Post: FAILED Direct Mailing Campaign (sort of)

Post: FAILED Direct Mailing Campaign (sort of)

Post: FAILED Direct Mailing Campaign (sort of)

Post: FAILED Direct Mailing Campaign (sort of)

Post: FAILED Direct Mailing Campaign (sort of)

Post: Advice on Eviction Process in Chicago. IL

Post: FAILED Direct Mailing Campaign (sort of)

Post: Rate My Direct Mail Campaign

Post: Buying a property with bad tenants

Post: Providing tenant alternate accommodation when i need to fix the house