All Forum Posts by: Sharon Vornholt

@Shaun J.- I get my lists locally.Generally that's where you should be looking. Each one of the 3300+ counties are different. Try: online, the newspaper, or worst case scenario the courthouse. 

I'm not a fan of buying probate leads. They are expensive and not always accurate.

I've been doing direct mail for more than 25 years now. Statistically speaking, more than 80% of your deals will come at or beyond the 5th mailing.  Does that mean you won't get a deal from the 1st mailing? Absolutely not. It means that you will get momentum around that time, (month 5) if you mail every month.  That's the key. Consistency. 

Here's another statistic for you; most people will quit mailing on or around the 3rd mailing.  You want to be the last man standing when it comes to direct mail. Just by staying in the game you will be ahead of most people. 

I use over sized postcards for all my mailings except probates. I only use white computer generated letters for those. Hands down they have worked the best for me. I have specialized in probates for more than a decade.

Direct mail results are sitting at about a 1% response in most areas around the country. To put that into perspective, on average, you will need to talk to 15-20 perspective sellers before you get a deal in most markets.  If you are mailing 1000 direct mail pieces a month that means you will only get about 10 calls.  

So you will either need to send more mail or develop leads from other sources like driving for dollars, your website, bandit signs etc.  You might also consider adding ringless voicemail to your direct mail campaigns. 

I hope this is helpful.

Sharon

As @Jerry Puckett said, stay in the game.  You want to be the last man standing.  And yes, there is almost always something "more" that they want or need in addition to cash.  More often than not it is cleaning out the house. That is so hard for a lot of people. 

What @Dev Horn said.

That's very area specific Stephen. I always like to come across as a professional myself, so that directs all my marketing pieces.

I’m happy to be a part of this great event. Thanks for asking @Brie Schmidt  

Andrew -

In the beginning, I looked at every house. I think that is how you get good a talking to sellers, and you get a feel for how much work needs to be done.

Now, I personally get a feel on the phone if we can get in the ballpark on price. I don't ask them how much they want. I say something like, "how much were you thinking you could get for the house".  I want to begin to change their expectations on the phone,  because they almost always want too much. 

To find out the condition of the house, I always use a property information form.  I start the conversation by asking them to tell me about the house.  Think of it as a conversation. Then I fill in the blanks asking about things they haven't mentioned.

I personally don't know how you can make a solid offer if you don't look at the property. You can give them a range based on the information you have given them. If it looks like you can get in the ballpark then go look at the house.  This is after you have some experience. 

Depending on the ARV of the house, I will generally start the process at about 70% of the ARV; sometimes higher on a higher priced house. That's why having accurate repair estimates is so critical.

You can get a copy of the form I use here:  https://louisvillegalsrealestateblog.com/talk-motivated-seller-form-video/

@Brie Schmidt -  I'm so excited to be a part of your event!  Thanks for inviting me. It's going to be fun.

Kat -

You should be able to buy a list of foreclosure properties for not a lot of money. Probates are harder to find. There are 3300+ counties in the US and each one of them is different.   You can:

• Call the newspaper and see if they are printed in there and when that might be. In Louisville where I am, they are printed at an exact time every month. 
• Call your local probate court and as if there is a LIST of probates filed that you can get.
• Ask a real estate attorney in your area how you can get a list
• Check online - some counties are online. Google probate + your county. I just did that and several things came up.
• Check your local online records. Here you can go online and there is a drop down list.  You can choose wills and a time range (like last month) then scroll to the bottom of the wills and see if there is probate filing info.
• As a last resort, they are available at the courthouse but I would look for another way.

There has to be a notice to creditors somewhere so they can make a claim for any money owed to them by the person that has passed away. 

You're going to need to do a little detective work.  I focus on probates so I have a lot of info on my blog - Louisville Gals Real Estate Blog. FYI I will be having a webinar soon on probates (probably next week).

Sharon

Hi @Jonathan M. - I love working with probates. And yes, the process differs from state to state, and each one of the 3300+ counties has a little different process.  You can Google the process for your state.  It's actually pretty easy to do.

The thing to focus on is that these folks have a problem; they have a house that they must sell (in most cases) before the estate can be closed.  You are a problem solver that just happens to involve real estate. That's the business you are in. The problem solving business.

If you work probates with that mindset, you will do great.  There is a lot of info here on BP and also on my blog.  Just learn all you can.  Best of luck.

Sharon