Short Time for Short Sale?-Part 1
Posted by: Michelle Odessey, in Marketing, Short Sales, Pre-Foreclosures & REOs, GeneralHoning the skill of a successful, short sales real estate investor begins with knowing your ‘market’ and knowing the best ‘marketing approach’, and planning your marketing campaign. That begins with knowing what the heck the game is in your state.
What If your list source is made available to you only 21 to 30 days BEFORE all the properties on the list go to sale – what’s your best marketing plan?
For Example:
Two of my coaching students, Mike and Debra, each reside in a different state that has the short time from the date of list publication (or list availability) to the date of the auction day.
Mike has a Full-Time Job that he has to be accountable for – quotas to meet and customers to keep happy. His goal is to make $1MM cash. He has developed a small buyers list of rehabbers for quick-turning the properties and has kept a few for himself to rehab and then retail.
He uses the “Stay in Your Home” approach in his marketing and uses a combination of a direct mail series AND showing up at the homeowners door.
Mike gets his ‘list’ by going down (or sending someone down) to the courthouse and copying down the new postings.
Debra is a Full-Time Home-Schooling Mom and Wife. She was working part-time up until the first of this year making about $24K in salary. She and her husband (who also works full time) bought, rehabbed, and sold or lease optioned about 4 homes of the last couple years.
Debra already has one good source for a private lender and she has set her short term goal (6 months) to make $30K in cash replacing her part-time job’s salary.
She uses the “I want to buy your home” marketing approach and plans a series of direct mail letters.
Debra gets her ‘list’ from the monthly Local-Paper listings of three non-metropolitan counties.
BOTH Mike and Debra live in smaller metro areas and both states are NON-Judicial states (which means No Foreclosure Hearings – No Judges – No Court Time for the homeowners).
Question To You:
Which method do you think is going to produce the best results and why? AND Would you be willing to do that method yourself – 150%?
For those of you who are new to real estate investing – I promise to give you both the results of this poll AND the success of these two students’ marketing methods.
Let me know by entering your comments below!
Until next time,
Michelle
Entries (RSS)
February 6th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
I would say Mike had better results, as his information is fresher and his message more appealing to someone in distress.
February 6th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
i would say Mike
February 6th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
I would say Debra will get better results, her goal of $30K is more realistic, she has her lender ready for quick action. (That is a plus)
February 6th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
I think that Mike will make it better , and faster , 1) he already has a buyers list 2) his approach works better ; and he also uses multiple marketing strategies . Door knocking is the best ..
February 6th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
I like Mike’s approach; which is the approach I use. I advertise to help the homeowner keep their home by using several different options they may not know about. I give them info on everything but buying their home; when I see they can not afford the repayment program I them convert them to short sales; Over 70 % cannot keep their home.
February 6th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
I think Debras strategy is preferable than mike’s, but it all depends on the person. Personally, I like to put several signs of “I Buy House” and others, but I donn’t recommend knocking at doors. What if the owner is upset and causes harm?
February 6th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
I believe both will achieve their goal. Mike’s approach is good, but misleading to the homeowner, so his deals will be down the road. If he were in a State that had more time then great.
Debra has a private investor and everyone knows that having cash to close quickly is the name of the game.
February 6th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Mike has the best way of doing business, it is better to send sombody to the court house and do the research. Mike should be doing other things, like knocking on doors, that to me is the quickest way to get the pre-foreclosures (courthouse)
Thanks Tom G.
Punta Gorda FL.
February 6th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
I would say Mike. I like his “stay in your home” approach with multiple approaches, direct mail and going to the house.
February 6th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Mike’s approach is better for this situation because of the short time frames that the homeowners have to work with. Since Mike gets his list daily the homeowner has more time to make an informed decision. In addition, he maximizes his time by leveraging others to collect the leads and he has built a buyer’s list. Direct mail, which I use works great when you have a great list-there is no better list-in California, foreclosures drag on forever!! And he can door knock all of his killer deals. So, to recap he 1) leverages other for a fresh list 2) uses direct mail-maximize his time 3) has a list of buyers allowing him to be a transaction engineer -all while working a full time job.
Just my 2 cents!
James
February 6th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
I am pretty new to real estate. I have been reading all your tips, so far, which is helping me to get a better understanding of the real estate market.
i would like you here your answer
February 6th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
MIKE’S METHOD IS ABSOLUTELY THE BETTER CHOICE. HIS LIST IS OBTAINED EARLIER GIVING HIM ADDED
TIME TO WORK THE SHORT SALE WHEN THE STAY IN YOUR HOME APPROACH DOES NOT WORK. HIS LIST IS ACCURATE AND COMPLETE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FORECLOSURE CASE CAN BE OBTAINED. MANY LISTS AND PAPER ADS DO NOT INCLUDE ALL THE USEFUL INFORMATION. DOOR KNOCKING PUTS HIM WAY AHEAD OF HIS COMPETITION AS MANY MAILED PIECES ARE SIMPLY NOT LOOKED AT. IF OWNER HAS MOVED OUT, HE WILL KNOW THIS SOONER AND WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE THE FURTHER STEP OF TRYING TO LOCATE THE OWNER WHO HAS ALREADY ABANDONED THE PROPERTY AND MAY BE MORE WILLING TO WORK WITH HIM.
February 6th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Mike’s method is better. Helping people “stay in their home” is more appealing than Debra’s “I want to buy your home”. Mike would get better results.
However, knocking on doors may be a risk as you are facing angry homeowners. When I used this technique, I felt in danger a couple of times.
February 7th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Mike’s method is likely to produce better results, although both have facets that are useful.
Here’s why: In states that have a short time between the publication of default and the sale of the property (3-4 weeks), there is often not enough time for a series of mailing campaigns. This also means that checking monthly listings in the newspaper will likely miss a lot of opportunities.
However, having private money is definately an advantage (for a quick closing, all cash sale)
Having a buyers list is also a plus (Mike). Although quick-turning short sales will require some additional knowledge. (You can’t assign the contract, but you could do a double closing or use a land trust to convey title). Having multiple marketing strategies is a plus (Mike). Targeted door knocking (perhaps with a “leave-behind” door hanger for those properties that are not abandoned) adds value too.
February 14th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
Neither or either will work in certian situations. There are a thousand variebles to creative situations. You give it your best shot and whone down from there. Never forgetting the phrase WiIFM ” Whats in it for me” if your the buyer and the same for the buyer when you sell.
July 20th, 2007 at 9:37 am
SHORT TIME FOR SHORT SALE, PT 1
I would love to read Michelle’s input on this one. Since I live in Georgia and was led to believe that I couldn’t obtain information from the courthouse — I really want her answer.
How do I receive it since this is archived??
September 17th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Internet Marketing and Advertising…
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…
December 31st, 2007 at 6:04 am
Short sales are looking even better right now. I noticed the inventory is raising locally. Might be a good thing for investors.
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