All Forum Posts by: Robert Kriedermann

It's actually 4+ years since last sale so 10+ would be included. The only people not included are those who owned it since it was built and never had a recorded sale but I had to draw the line somewhere or the list would be too large to handle. I'm thinking I'd like to take off the since last sale qualifier completely since it eliminates recently inherited houses and new landlords who get in over their heads but again, you have to draw the line somewhere to create a list you can afford. When I buy the list I specify 40% or more equity. I try not to offer the first number either but most of the people that have called are not motivated and just want to know what I'll pay.

 I know there are a lot of strategies. I had hoped to start with what I thought was the low hanging fruit of absentee owners. Get a deal from that to pay for the marketing there plus some and invest into another direct mail strategy. Eventually mail to them all. I'm not big enough to send mail to every list right now. I'm debating between ditching this list and starting with another or seeing it through to 6 months of mailings like I've heard a lot of experts recommend.

 I mail a different letter to owner occupants. 

I’ll buy your house “As-Is.” I’ll buy in any condition. Deferred maintenance? Haven’t updated in a while? No repairs or updating needed! Call me at Number and we can discuss getting you paid and selling your house hassle free.

 Yes, List source.

 I viewed about 10 houses. I'm estimating here but the problem is I'm getting 90% of my calls from 20% of my mailings. Those 20% are undesirable areas. I included some zipcodes that have ok areas along with bad areas in them. The bad areas call nonstop. Multiple people calling from the same block. I make verbal offers when they call but they usually expect $40k and the median sales price is $18k. If I'm to move forward, I'll scrub the list and remove the houses in those areas. I'm sure my response rate will drop but I won't be on the phone all day with leads I can't use. When I started I figured I would mail to everyone and qualify when they called. The people who own busted duplexes with no garages in the bad areas are the majority of the calls I get. I think I'll remove all duplexes.

I think I'm pretty good at disqualifying non motivated sellers over the phone. When someone calls me  from a source other than direct mail I look at the house 20% of the time and close 40% of the time. I look at comps while talking to them and give them a ballpark number. I made a lot of verbal $10k offers for lousy areas which were rejected. The more I look at this, the more I see I should scale down the mail I'm sending to the bad areas. Still, even if I remove all the undesirables, I should still have 6k people that got my mail. I'll have to take a closer look at who I'm really mailing. I'm not getting the response from the areas I'd actually want.

I'm looking for a little advice on my first direct mail campaign. I've sent 16,000 letters and gotten no deals.

I sent letters to people with equity who are absentee owners who have owned the house more than 4 years or long time owner occupants who are over 65 years old. i used criteria I've heard Michael Quarles mention in his various interviews and podcasts. I mailed to everyone within 5 counties of me that meet that criteria excluding the handful of war zone zipcodes. The list is approx 8k names. I sent out 2k per week. The mail piece is a white envelope with handwritten font on the outside. The letter is as follows. It is a little different for owner occupants but the general message is the same.

10/13/2016

Hello <Contact>!

I want to buy your house at <Property Address> with cash.

I will pay cash and can close quickly. Call me at Number and we can discuss getting you paid and getting rid of the headache of managing a property you don’t live in.

I’ll buy your property “As-Is.” I’ll buy in any condition. No repairs or updating needed! Close on the day of your choice. I’m full time, experienced, local, and I answer my phone.

Give me a call at Number to get a cash offer on <Property Address>!

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Robert “Beau” Kriedermann

Number

Email address

Website

After all the names were hit in the first month, I started again hitting the names a second time. I have now hit my entire list of 8k names twice. I try to live answer the calls and I've called back every person I've missed calls from. I got about 5% response the first month and about 3% the second month. Although, the vast majority of responses are from the edges of those zipcodes I'd rather not buy in. I'll scrub those names from my list if I continue mailing. I keep track of all the contacts in my database and save their phone number when they call and make notes on each contact. I follow up on leads I think have potential. I had a couple of near deals but we couldn't quite come to agreement on price. I know I've heard people like Sharon Vornholt say 80% of deals come after the 5th contact. If I mail this list again I'm going to go with postcards for a couple rounds. I guess I'm looking for someone to tell me I'm doing the right thing and should keep going.

I'm an experienced full time investor. I started in 2008 and went full time in 2010. I've flipped about 50 houses. I know my market and have successfully negotiated deals with many sellers when they are actively searching for someone to buy their house and they find me. The conversation is a lot different when they reach out to you rather than when they respond to you reaching out to them through direct mail. I've put a few houses under contract from other marketing during this direct mail campaign.With direct mail I'm finding everyone is asking me "how much will you pay" and will rarely give me an asking price. I ask them a few questions about condition, why are they selling, etc. I come up with a ballpark number to see if we are close and most of the time we are not. No motivation. That is to be expected but you'd think I'd get one by now!

Do I continue with this campaign? The money is adding up. Should I modify something? I know from my first two months that I'm going to remove all the houses in areas that I know my phone rings off the hook from that are war zone adjacent. Is the 4 years ownership qualifier messing me up? Any advice or encouragement would be appreciated.

Thanks!

She hasn't contacted me in a few months. Hopefully it stays that way.

Anybody interested in doing a fantasy football league? We could figure out a buy-in price by polling the interested parties. I think ppr leagues are the most fun but I'm open to whatever. Anyone?

She ended up spending my earnest money. She took out an auto title loan to pay me back and we signed a mutual release of the contract.

Update: Now it's a year later and every couple weeks she sends me an email or leaves me a voicemail at 3am about how I screwed her over and she's onto me as if I'm doing something to her now which I am not. I've just been ignoring it as I know I didn't do anything wrong. In the back of my mind I am a little worried though as I discovered this lady has done time for murdering her ex boyfriend with a handgun. Should I keep ignoring it or should I tell some authority if she keeps contacting me?

I'll be there.