All Forum Posts by: Ushi Hastie

@April Davis 

Hi April!  Sorry for the late reply.  I have had some success & am plugging along with driving for dollars vacant properties & cold calling them.

YES.  I can't wait to learn more about this topic from the next bad *** guest speaker.  Thank you & I'll look forward to seeing everyone & meeting great folks!!!

@Ethan Summers - Fantastic! Thanks for chiming in.   I've never thought about cold calling for others, that's a great idea &  I'd love to hear more about what you're doing :)

@Erika A. - Only that now after  testing out the theory, I feel that personally reaching out to the owners of properties I'm interested in by phone is the best path for me.  When I have more time, money & patience I will probably revisit direct mail.  However, I've decided that my best weapon is taking the time to have an actual conversation rather than sending a postcard or letter.  I will only be sending letters to folks I can't get ahold of after exhausting all effort to find a contact number for them.

@Whitney Hill, I have changed direction to focus on vacant properties.  I think I will revisit tax delinquents at some point, but for now tracking down the owners of distressed vacant properties is a niche I'm enjoying.

@Eric F., Sorry I forgot to reply!  Findtheseller.com has been very good.  I was able to track down the Heir of the very first property I skip traced.  After negotiating for a couple weeks they just asked me to send them a contract to review this past Friday :)

@Tarl Yarber  The first meeting was badass (of course)!  Great to meet you, your wife & many other attendees.  Really looking forward to the next meetup with Elliot, thank you 🍻

@Eric F. I'm just getting started with it, but after wasting time & money on intelius & white pages premium (90% of data was outdated) I extensively researched the topic on BP, I decided to go with findtheseller.com (I hear TLO is good & cheaper, but hoops to leap through to be approved to use their service). 

 I ordered skip traces on 10 abandoned properties I'm interested in to test their service out.  Super fast turn around & a comprehensive report including addresses & phone numbers/emails  of all known relatives.  I just got my reports last night & will be on the phone this afternoon to verify the accuracy of the information.  They're never going to be 100% correct, but I must say findtheseller seems very promising.  If the info on the subject isn't up to date I bet one of their relatives knows how to get ahold of them ;)

@Aaron Sauceda - Thanks!  Sorry I somehow missed your message.    After spending a significant amount of money & time on direct mail I have changed direction, opting to cold call owners of distressed properties instead, although  I may revisit direct mail at some point.  

@Sean C. - You'll need to google the specifics of your state law, but I wouldn't bother marketing to anyone that isn't significantly behind on taxes.  In WA they don't foreclose until the property hasn't paid for 4 years, it's probably something similar in CA or it may be completely different, it's not hard to find the info online.

@Davido Davido - Why thank you... However, not a lot there???  My blog has 4 years of monthly reports of real estate data in the greater Seattle area!  Happy Holidays  :-)

@Eric Blanchard That is what I'm going for, thanks for sharing!

@Jay Hinrichs  Thanks Jay,  your input has been extremely valuable & helped me to stop beating a dead horse ;)  I'll buy you a coffee sometime, I travel to Portland frequently & plan on moving back there in a few years.

As disappointing (& expensive!) as my venture in direct mail has been,  I don't think I would have gotten to the point of feeling perfectly comfortable with taking the initiative of changing direction if I hadn't made as big of an effort with it as I did.  I'm actually feeling excited to make a change & will start a new thread on the topic as it progresses.  

If at first you don't succeed...