{"id":5748,"date":"2018-11-19T09:00:44","date_gmt":"2018-11-19T14:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/camerondirect.com\/?p=5748"},"modified":"2020-11-18T18:44:26","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T18:44:26","slug":"direct-mail-for-motivated-sellers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realestatewealthnetwork.com\/blog\/direct-mail-for-motivated-sellers\/","title":{"rendered":"Direct Mail For Motivated Sellers Isn\u2019t Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your real estate success starts with the seller (one who is motivated and willing to sell at a bargain price) <\/em>and one of the best ways to find these motivated sellers is by sending direct mail<\/strong> to vacant property owners.<\/p>\n

One thing\u2019s for sure, if you aren\u2019t talking to motivated sellers, you won\u2019t be in this business for very long!<\/p>\n

Now you may hear people say direct mail is dead. They may say it\u2019s a waste of time, money, resources\u2026 and to that, I say, heck no! Direct mail is alive and well, my friends.<\/p>\n

It works.<\/p>\n

Think about your email inbox for a moment. Is it constantly being filled with junk you\u2019re not interested in or are those you are interested in, pounding you with way too much email?  Why \u201csnail mail\u201d works is because most marketing messages have moved to email leaving your postal mail box with a whole lot less in it than in the past. Ok, maybe not around the holidays\u2026 you know what I mean.<\/p>\n

The thing to keep in mind is R.O.I.  That\u2019s return on investment. We\u2019re looking for the highest R.O.I. we can get when it comes to communicating with motivated sellers.<\/p>\n

With the right list and the right type of campaign \u2013 yellow letters, postcards, etc. \u2013 you will<\/em> get a return on your investment. Oftentimes, just ONE deal makes it worth it. Heck, one good deal could cover your marketing expenses for a LONG time!<\/p>\n

Now if you\u2019re going to use direct mail, you\u2019ve got to be smart about it because it\u2019s expensive. So we need to be careful to match our message with the recipient. That\u2019s a MUST. Then, to get even better results, you should track your campaigns so you know the mail pieces and lists that are giving you the best results, and then you replicate those over and over again.<\/p>\n

\u2026consistency is the key<\/u>.<\/p>\n

If you decide to do direct mail, you\u2019re going to need hone in on a winner of a campaign and then keep doing it again and again so your pipeline of prospects doesn\u2019t dry up. I\u2019ve seen way too many people make the mistake of waiting too long between campaigns or thinking that because they got a lead or two, they can stop or take a break.<\/p>\n

No, sir (Or ma\u2019am). Consistent marketing is the way to go!<\/p>\n

You Got a Bite, Now What?<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s say you\u2019ve done a direct mail campaign. You waited. And, maybe you waited some more (but in the meantime you sent out other mail campaigns, right?!). And finally, you got a response. Hooray!<\/p>\n

Reeling them in is the ultimate goal, yes, but you definitely need to understand how to handle the deal once it falls in your lap. And for many of us, that process can be a real head scratcher.<\/p>\n

But it doesn\u2019t have to be! Check out this interesting example\u2026<\/p>\n

I recently heard from student who received a response from her vacant house mail campaign \u2013 a campaign from which she sends direct mail straight from the in-application mailing system within the Vacant House Data Feed \u2013 (click here to try this powerful system out for yourself \u2013 it\u2019s risk-free!)<\/a><\/p>\n

After the call came in, she did some research on the particular property on the county website and found out that the owner was behind on the taxes and the property was on the list to be sold by the county at auction.<\/p>\n

The total in back taxes - $638. Yep, that\u2019s it. Just $638.<\/p>\n

So, the house was scheduled to be sold at auction, but I explained to the investor that she would most likely NOT be able to buy the house at auction for a bargain price. If there was no other bidder, she might get lucky. But generally speaking, the chances of her buying for the low, low, crazy low price of $638, just what is owed, was slim to none.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing\u2026 because this owner contacted the investor directly \u2013 in response to her letter, I didn\u2019t think it would even make it to the auction. That is, if<\/em> the seller and investor could agree on a price the property could be pulled from the auction \u201cdocket\u201d. And remember, obviously the seller was motivated, which is why he responded to the mail piece\u2026<\/p>\n

Turns out this property belonged to the seller\u2019s mother, who had recently passed away and the son wanted to be done with it.<\/p>\n

So, how much should the investor offer?<\/p>\n

Well, let\u2019s look at two scenarios\u2026 if it were to go to auction vs. working directly with the seller.<\/p>\n

You Can Only Pay What You Can Pay<\/strong><\/p>\n

To figure out the offer, the investor would have to take into consideration whatever the mortgage balance is (if there is one) plus the back taxes.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s a big mortgage and it just doesn\u2019t make financial sense to pay that price for the property \u2013 then it would be best to let it go to auction, where she\u2019d at least have a shot at buying it at a significant discount and the mortgage would be wiped out completely.<\/p>\n

If she\u2019s the winning bidder at the auction, she could simply purchase the owner\u2019s right of redemption (if there is one) for say $1,000, and then she wouldn\u2019t have to worry about the seller redeeming it.<\/p>\n

Side Note: <\/strong>The right of redemption is the right of an owner (whose property has been foreclosed on and sold) to reclaim that property if they are able to come up with the money to repay the amount of the debt.<\/em><\/p>\n

So, that\u2019s the auction route. Here\u2019s another option\u2026<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s no mortgage (meaning the property was owned free and clear) or it\u2019s a very low mortgage, run the numbers to see if it makes sense to scoop it up before<\/em> it goes to auction, like I mentioned above. (And it could easily be worked out that the back taxes would be paid by the seller from the proceeds of the sale.) I\u2019ve done this numerous times over the years by the way.<\/p>\n

To do this, pull comps and calculate the after repair value (ARV), assuming the property needs repairs.<\/p>\n

Depending on how the investor intends to sell, do the math two ways:<\/p>\n