All Forum Posts by: Sharon Vornholt

@Kortez Walker-

@Rachel H. Thanks for tagging me in this post. 

I have been doing direct mail for 20+ years and it is by far my best source of investor leads. Lead generation websites are a close second.

Here's the thing; Every Door Direct Mail is a "shotgun" approach to marketing.  You hope you hit a motivated seller.  That's what investors are looking for after all; a motivated seller. 

Now if you are an agent and "anyone" is your target that's a whole different story.   There is still a place for EDDM as a strategy for an investor if you are targeting a small area or a single neighborhood, but it shouldn't be your main strategy.  I have an investor friend that is targeting folks in a specific lakefront area. That is one that I advised her to use EDDM. 

With direct mail you can build a very targeted list.  For niches like probates and absentee owners it is the only way to reach these folks.  Off market deals are the best deals.   For instance with Listsourc.com you can get a list of properties with out of state owners, with home values you set, and then add in the magic piece "equity".  I only get houses with 50-100% equity. 

There are several things you need to understand about direct mail.  

The first thing is you have to mail monthly otherwise investors like me that do mail monthly will jump in while you are taking a break and get the deal.  The other thing is that you build momentum with direct mail.  Statistically 85% of your deals will come at or beyond the 5th mailing.   Have I bought houses with one mailing? Absolutely.  But you build momentum with consistent, monthly marketing.  

Best of luck. 

Sharon

Congrats @Natalia Latsios.  You will never be sorry you started early.  Best of luck.

Sharon

Yes we will @Paul Haughton- in more ways than one.  :)

Sharon

Nice Paul!  That is the power of hanging in there and letting the process play out. I love probates!

Sharon

@Lee Schram- they are printed in the newspaper here and they contain all the needed information.

Sharon

Why thank you Michael.   Have a great week.

Sharon

@Diane Johnson- Find a probate attorney and have them take care of this for you.   You will have to pay him or her, but if it's a great deal that won't be a problem.  The attorney can clear up everything.  Just make your offer and give it to the attorney.

Sharon

I have learned rather than posting a job and waiting for people to apply, it is much better to look for people that have the skills you want. When you post a job you get a lot of people that may or may not actually have the skills you want.

Sit down and write out what is is you want from a VA and then look on Odesk. That is the one I use.

Sharon.

Hi @Aaron Crow-

First of all, to use any postcard to mention buying a house from the family of someone that has died is in poor taste.  Don't ever send a PC.  

I only send white computer generated letters because they look professional.  I don't want to look like someone that works out of their car with a legal pad.  It's important (to me) to look like I am a real business person. 

Sharon

@Greg F.  - Like @Rick H. said, most probates won't be distressed homes.  It's a numbers game no matter which niches you work in.

Sharon