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Written by Judson Voss
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 I can't tell you the number of times someone has emailed me to ask, "How do you get the deals? I have been driving around with a realtor for a month and so far nothing."
Don't get me wrong realtors are a great resource for deals and we market to them on a regular basis to stir up a deal they may have and don't realize. Going to the courthouse is great also, if you don't mind the competition. The fact is if you want deals that no one or very few other people know about you MUST direct mail to them. It is imperative that you get to your prospects before the competition otherwise you are just another face in the crowd.
Pre-Furnished Leads
Public Records
Your local government has done you a huge favor already by making everyone publish public records when they want to do just about anything. This means you can check your local newspaper or legal paper to find out about all kinds of activities. What are some of the actions that you will find that may be good direct mail candidates? I am glad you asked.
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Divorce
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Bank Foreclosure
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Bankruptcy
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Tax Foreclosures
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Codes Violations
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Probate Notices
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Civil Suits
Anytime a party has a situation that may be creating hardship and a house can either be the problem or the solution that is a good candidate for direct mail.
Mailing Lists
There are many, many, many mailing services that will help you create a list of leads. It seems that the criteria is almost endless that list companies will let you filter. Go Google mailing lists and you will find a ton of companies at all different price ranges. Check them out. If you pay for the list make sure it is up to date (ask them.) Also make sure they provide you with easy export options so you can get it into your database management system like Real Prospect.
Focused Campaigns
As they say there is more than one way to skin a cat. In our area we use the same service we recieve comparable sales from. They have all of the courthouse records and allows us to filter them by just about anything imaginable. This very focused list of homeowners are then exported from the software into Real Prospect. From here you can create a customized campaign sending your customized message to the recipient multiple times without having to manage the campaign. Just set it up once, add leads as needed and then print and mail.
The Tools
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A computer (probably figured)
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A printer
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Stock of paper and envelopes - you can use window envelopes if you aren't handwriting the letters
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Specialty postcards
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A lot of stamps - don't use meters or bulk rate, you need first class stamps, the stranger the better
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An integrated software system that will allow you to direct mail without much thought and maintenance but will also allow you to maintain your prospects and the activities involved with them, like Real Prospect.
Direct mail is not free and does take a little time but it takes a lot less than driving around looking for your next deal. Not to mention as you get better at ad copy you will continually screen your prospects to the point that you hear mostly from the ones who are going to be good candidates to sell a house. Next time you get a great deal and a buddy asks how you found the house you can just smile and have your own little secret.
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Written by Judson Voss
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 You don't get deals. You make deals. We have heard this over and over again. I can tell you from personal experience this is absolutely true. If finding a deal means getting a listing from the MLS and paying close to the price they are asking then it may be a slow road. Deals come in all shapes and sizes and most of the time deals come after a lot of hard work.
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Written by Larry H. Goins
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 Have you ever lowered the price of a house you have for sale as a retail property? Hopefully after you read this you will never have to do that again. Did you know that for every $1,000 in price reduction of a home it only changes the payment about $6 dollars? That is not much of an incentive for a buyer if you ask me. However, if you keep the price the same and offer to pay closing cost or carry a small second mortgage it greatly increases the number of qualified buyers that could purchase your home. I would like to suggest that before you ever put a home on the market to retail that you get an appraisal first. Let me also say that there are appraisers out there that can stretch the value but I don’t recommend going that rout. I have seen many sellers that found an appraiser to stretch the value but what good does it do when the lender is going to require either a desktop review or another drive by appraisal or even another full appraisal possibly. Besides, you don’t want to get a reputation with the lenders of pumping up the values of your homes, not to mention the possibilities of fraud becoming an issue. You don’t want any part of that. You want a good appraisal by a reputable appraiser.
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Written by Judson Voss
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Coming Soon
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