Research

Richard Roop, the REI marketing genius, says that the best list to have is one that you make yourself. Interestingly, while building my postcard mailout list, I'm finding this to be true. I have been scouring the online courthouse records of properties in eight subdivisions I will be targeting. Most of my research is automated, so it doesn't take me that long. So far, I have processed 6-of-the-8 subdivisions and found a total of 15 foreclosures since last fall alone - 15! This is astounding. My initial thought was "what if I could have intervened into these homeowners' lives before their property got to the point of foreclosure?" Fifteen! From a total of about 1,000 properties.

Also, I came across a couple of properties that are on the brink of preforeclosure. In Texas, they don't file a Lis Pidens, per se, but I've learned how to scout properties that are prime candidates for pre-preforeclosures - that is, properties where the homeowner is just starting to get into trouble. I'll send out letter to those particular homeowners today.

As far as the postcard mailout goes, I goofed a little (ok, a LOT) in my initial cost estimations. It turns out I was blanketing each homeowner once a year, when I really wanted to hit each one every 3-4 months on a continuous basis. Right now, my list includes almost 1,000 homeowners with another 500-700 to go. Breaking this down into 3-month intervals will have me sending out around 500-600 postcards every month, which will cost me anywhere from $150-$180/month. That's a lot different than the $35/month I was originally thinking. I'd like to keep it at 3-month intervals so that my name and message become 'branded' into people's minds. If I only do it once or twice a year, people will easily forget me and my message.