All Forum Posts by: Silvio L.

Hi all,

So This past Friday was the opening of the new "quarter" at US LEADS LIST and I decided to get my hands on this highly coveted list of names. I did a fair amount of research and although there is definitely a lot of hype about this company I am still a bit skeptical. For one, it was really expensive! 340 names cost me about $485. But I decided that I needed to take some calculated risk with my marketing budget and so in addition to my trusted absentee list I also bought this one.

First issue - there is only last names and property addresses. What if these people don't live in the home of the deceased relative, how are they going to get my letter? Has anyone had experience with this?

Big issue - My ultimate conundrum is what mailing piece to send. My yellow letter has been working so wonderfully with a healthy response rate between 10-15%. BUT everyone says you should send some special sensitive mail piece that speaks more to this type of property owner. My letter is REALLY simple and literally just says I'd like to buy your house. But it's been working with absentees. Should I move away from my trusted yellow letter... I just don't know. And if I do... to what?

What experiences have you recently had with this type of list? I'm hoping to hear from folks in my area. I've read some older forum posts about this, but I'd like to get some more recent opinions and a renewed discussion on marketing to probates can't hurt.

Any thoughts?

-Silvio

@Carolina E. - My goodness! Can't believe someone would actually go through the trouble.

I think people are intimidated by the letter. It's so casual... so "amateur" they think it's written by someone hiding in the bushes & stalking their home.

@Karen Margrave - I hope you are right, I didn't think of it that way.

So I get a call back from some guy who was completely irate that I would dare send him a letter. He literally threatened me over the phone. I said, "sir, it's just a letter, it's not illegal, if you didn't want to reply you didn't have to". Funny thing is the letter wasn't even addressed to him! It was to his sister! I'm thinking that maybe there is some tension in the family over this home, perhaps it was an inheritance that soured some relationships. I didn't think too much of it, though for the sake of my reputation I held back from just completely telling the guy off.

My point is this - Do you think this guy calls back every company for every piece of solicitation he receives and threatens them? I don't think so. Why would he get so bent out of shape about a simple letter with 14 words asking to buy his house, err, his sister's house?

It's like, man, find a bigger problem!

Geez!

-Rant over

@Account Closed - Thanks! I appreciate it.

@Chris Williams - Thanks for the reply! I've heard about using mail merge before, I'll have to look into that. You're saying it comes out looking hand written? Thanks!

Hi all,

I'd like to hear what companies folks are using to produce their marketing pieces. I'd like to start outsourcing my yellow letter campaign but I want to make sure I hire a trusted company. Any recomendations? Thanks.

-Silvio

Hi Everyone,

Does anyone use or know of a reputable company that will write and send out yellow letters for a reasonable price? We want to scale our wholesaling business and we just can't keep writing all these letters. I think I'm developing Carpal Tunnel!! Any recommendations or referrals would be great, Thanks!!

Best,

Silvio

@Account Closed We have a list of about 50-60 properties. I have tracked about 10 owners and got 3 solid leads. When I start tracking more owners I'm sure I'll get good leads as I think this method can be very successful.

In terms of contact I actually skip trace the owners and just start calling up phone numbers and trying to get in touch with them. At first people are shocked and scared that I found them but I just act like myself and transmit honesty and genuine niceness and so far it's gotten me in the door and I'm feeling REALLY good about these potential deals.

Thanks Everyone for the great encouragement!

@Brian K. - My girlfriend and I.

@Ceasar Blackman - We did a ton of marketing, mostly direct mail where we sent out about 1,500 letters. The funny thing is that this deal came from one of the 1st 50 we sent!

@Eric Hunter - We used yellow letters. I don't have a "buyer's list" because I have basically 5 solid buyers that I can pitch deals too. I am working with a mentor who handled the selling part, though I did bring a couple of my own buyers through! I also found them through marketing and REI meetings.

@Adrian Rice - Just jumped in there man! I had read enough to know where to start and we just...started. One things leads to another and your getting calls, next thing you know your looking at properties... and then, BAM! your offer is accepted and you realize that you're in it for REAL.

@Kelly P. - It sure does!

Thanks everyone again for the feedback.