Statistics show that the average landlord lasts only three to five years. This means there always will be a huge number of landlords wanting to sell their property. This large turnover can mean money in your pocket if you know the ropes!
Many landlords are amateurs and have little idea what they’re doing. They buy their first rental property as dollar signs dance through their head. They quickly realize they need to treat the rental as a real business.
Perhaps they didn’t screen tenants very well, or perhaps they’ve had a vacant property for months. Whatever the reason, the rental property quickly turns into a nightmare and they want to quickly offload it to someone like you.
Right now, there are hundreds of thousands of landlords you could be assisting.
Since landlords usually don’t live in the property, they have little emotional attachment to it. They didn’t raise their children there and spend the last 25 years in the house. Because they’re not emotionally involved, it’s much easier to do business with them.
As we know, during the real-estate boom a few years ago, 25 percent of home purchases were second houses. Right now, there are hundreds of thousands of landlords you could be assisting.
One proven way to market to these landlords is through direct mail — letters and postcards.
The first thing you need to do is decide what ZIP codes you’re going to invest in. Thanks to technology, you can choose to invest anywhere in the United States using the Internet, email and fax.
Once you’ve identified your areas, it’s time to order your list of absentee owners. (There are many list companies you can choose, such as Melissa Data.) When you order your list, you’ll want to call them on the phone and have one of their representatives assist you.
When you have the representative on the phone, tell him or her that you want to purchase a list of absentee owners in the ZIP codes of your choice.
Then give them the criteria of your choice, such as:
1. Only houses built after 1950
2. Houses larger than 1,000 square feet and no more than 2,500 square feet
3. Properties with at least three bedrooms
4. Only single-family houses, town houses, duplexes, triplexes and quads
5. Houses that are at least 10 years old
6. A total assessed value of under $250,000 (You want houses on the lower end of the value for your area. In my area, it happens to be $250,000. In your area it might be $150,000 or less.)
7. You need at least 2,000 names if you’re serious about closing deals. The more names you order the better, because it is a numbers game.
The person who sends out 20,000 letters a month is going to close more deals than someone who sends out 1,000 letters a month.
Plan your marketing campaign
Once you’ve ordered your list, it will be emailed to you as a spreadsheet and you can begin to plan your marketing campaign.
You will want to mail the list a total of eight times, sending the absentee landlords mail every 2.5 months. It’s extremely important that you mail the list at least eight times. On each mailing, your response rates will go up.
I know many investors who get 75 percent of their deals after the seventh mailing.
Think about it this way: Most people don’t follow up. You’ll join the top 5 percent of real estate investors by sending out eight pieces of mail.
Mail a combination of letters and postcards. The first time send a letter, the second a postcard, the third time a letter, and so on.
Give your prospect a reason to respond.
Before you use any letter or postcard, you need to develop a tool that works. Both your letters and postcards need to have powerful headlines that grab your prospects’ attention, such as:
“Would you like to learn how to eliminate tenant problems forever?”
“Are Your Tenants Giving You A Headache? Here Is Your Prescription For Eliminating Tenant Hassles Forever!”
“Sell Your Rental Property And Close In 30 Days Or Less!”
After you have a headline that is going to get your readers’ attention, make sure that in the body of the mail piece, you list all of the benefits of working with you, such the following:
-You can eliminate tenant hassles forever.
-You’re not a Realtor and don’t charge any fees or commissions.
-You’ll buy their house “As-Is.”
-You’ll close on the date of their choice.
-You’ll buy the property whether it’s tenant-occupied or vacant.
One of the most important parts of a direct-mail piece is to give your prospect a reason to respond. This can be a “Free Special Report” or free audio CD, such as:
“The 5 Little-Known Ways to Eliminate Tenant Hassles Forever!”
“How to Sell Your House in 11 Days, Regardless of Your Current Financial Situation”
“The Five Biggest Mistakes You Can Make When Selling Your House to a Real Estate Investor and How to Avoid Them”
Don’t mail a letter or a postcard if it doesn’t have a strong headline, list the benefits of working with you and offer people something free when they respond.
Upload your postcards and letters to be mailed out. Consider a service such as Click2Mail.com, and in just a few minutes you’re done. Within 30 days, you should start profiting from landlords.
Remember: The key to success is implementation. Any idea without action is worthless.
Jason R. Hanson is the founder of National Real Estate Investor Month, author of How to Build a Real Estate Empire and mentor to students across the country. Visit www.PrimoCoach.com.
Tags: absentee owner, direct mail, landlord, list services, REAL ESTATE, rental