marketing on $50 a month

[sniper]

hello, group.
I was thinking if you have any ideas of what kind of marketing campaign one can do for $50 a month (besides business cards, flyers and car magnets)?


your input is appreciated !!!

[Propertygirl]

What about post cards that you print yourself?
You could have 2 different cards and send them out every other week.  
How many people do you see in the nod's per month?

[Immy]

Sniper,
If you can invest $70 to start, get 1,000 business cards made at Staples - and start dropping them EVERYWHERE you go.  I haven't gotten a deal off of them since I started in August BUT I have received phone calls from them -- so people do pick them up.
Good luck!

[sniper]

What about post cards that you print yourself?
You could have 2 different cards and send them out every other week.  
How many people do you see in the nod's per month?

Ramona, I am in MD, where the new foreclosure bill recently passed.
So I am not planning to target foreclosures.

[rhm76384]

Hey,
     Here is what I've done this month for less than $50 and have three offers to purchase out. I went to the tax appraiser's website (off the investors resources link to right). I knew what neighborhood I wanted so looked up the various streets. This neighborhood has a high number of rentals so I looked for out of town owners and got thier addresses. Went to USPS.com and went to the NetPost premium postcards, picked one, typed in a suitable note about isn't it tough being an out-of-town landlord and my being an investor, addressed and mailed all from my computer. So far about a 10% response rate from motivated sellers. Am going to do more of the same. Couldn't be much easier, much cheaper and I've prescreened my callers.
Peace,
Richard

[Immy]

Richard,
This is exactly what I just for a few streets around my house, except I went even cheaper and handwrote a note on an index card.  I'm inspired by your success, though!  And I need some inspiration right now.  If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost you to do it from your computer as you did?  (And how many did you send out)
Thanx,
Immy

[rhm76384]

Hey,
     Hi, Immy. You have been kinda quite for a while. I sense you are a little down. Be assured that everything sown will some day bring a harvest. You either haven't sown enough or haven't waited long enough for the harvest. It will come, hang in there. We are all pulling for you.
     Each post card from USPS site is 87 cents for a customized glossy postcard with your message and postage. I did about 6 streets, sent out about 40 cards and got 4 responses, three properties to make offers on.
I carefully chose the neighborhood for having a lot of rentals, relatively cheap houses (duplexes abound, which I especially targeted). This mailing was just out of town owners (those more than 50 miles away.) Next mailing will target all those that have non-resident owners. This is my little niche that apparently no one else in town is doing.
     Again, hang in there, develop the virtue of patience, keep your passion and good things will happen. God bless.
Peace,
Richard

[Immy]

Richard,
Yes I have not been that active lately; I kinda made a deal with myself that I would not post until I could announce my first success.  But as you can see, I can't keep away completely!  I am still hanging in there.  Running my daily newspaper ad and trying some out of the box techniques.  I have a mentor now and that helps alot.  I know it's going to happen. . . Just coming up on my 90 day short-term goal (oct. 31st) to get something under my belt and other than the learning experiences (which I'm not discounting) it hasn't happened yet.  So I am blue :-[ and it's been raining here a lot which is not helping my mood!
THanks for the info and I have a question.  I was mailing to out of town owners - literally not in the same state - but I will go back and look at mileage as well (50 miles).  What is a non-resident owner and how is that different than an out-of-towner?  The tax rolls here in Md have an H for owner, and N for non owner occupied, and sometimes a D - though I haven't figured that one out yet.

[rhm76384]

Hey,
     A non-resident owner can be either out of state, out of town and in state, and owns it, does not live in it and lives in town. I targeted outside a 50 mile range because it might be a hassle to have a rental and live that far away. Those that own rentals and live in town obviously have less hassles due to their proximity. Just guessing, the "D" might stand for delinquent. Ask the tax office and, if so, another good lead. Glad you have a mentor. Keep in touch on the posts if for nothing else to further strengthen your belief and resolve. I know that a lot of people will tell you to set concrete goals ( one house in one month, etc.) and that is all good, but at the end of your time period you are liable to become a desperate buyer and make a mistake. Rather, and having a mentor or someone to hold you accountable helps with this, ask, at the end to your time period, am I doing all the right things to accomplish my goals.
Peace,
/richard

[Propertygirl]

Richard,
I love the netpost premium idea. I can't wait to try it.
I would love to have a service that does the mailing for me.
How does it work. Do I upload the addresses in a database and then pick a card and they do everything for you?

[rhm76384]

Hey,
     You can upload your mailing list and are able to pick and choose from within that list who you want to mail to. Pick your card, write your note, check your addresses, pay online and it is done. You have your own account that saves everything so that you can do it again, etc. Not the cheapest, but very easy.
Peace,
Richard

[NoMoneyDown]

hello, group.
I was thinking if you have any ideas of what kind of marketing campaign one can do for $50 a month (besides business cards, flyers and car magnets)?


your input is appreciated !!!

Hmmmmm ...  How about a marketing campaign for under $1,500 and charge it to a credit card (or some other people's money [OPM]), whose payments are <$50/month?

[hutch1962]

$50 bucks. Wow that is not very much.

If I only had that little, I would do one of two things.

1. I would find a bird dog and pay them $1 for each vacant house that does not have a for sale sign in the yard for you.
You would also give them $500 more for each one you bought.

2. If you had a web site and did not live in a real big city I would set up a google ad sense account.
I would then buy the following key words for $0.52 each and set the limit for $50 per month. This should bring you about 10 good leads.

Cash for (your city name) homes
Cash for (your city name) houses
sell (your city name) house fast
sell (your city name) home fast

[SoCal Investor]

Hey,
     Here is what I've done this month for less than $50 and have three offers to purchase out. I went to the tax appraiser's website (off the investors resources link to right). I knew what neighborhood I wanted so looked up the various streets. This neighborhood has a high number of rentals so I looked for out of town owners and got thier addresses. Went to USPS.com and went to the NetPost premium postcards, picked one, typed in a suitable note about isn't it tough being an out-of-town landlord and my being an investor, addressed and mailed all from my computer. So far about a 10% response rate from motivated sellers. Am going to do more of the same. Couldn't be much easier, much cheaper and I've prescreened my callers.
Peace,
Richard

Richard -
This is interesting. Can you elaborate a little more on the steps you do for this? Are you actually able to search by street only? The ones I've tried require an address (i.e. 4 digit number). Thanks much.

[rhm76384]

Hey,
     The tax appraisal district's website that I use has a search function entitled "like" which allows me to just put in the street name and I get all the info on each address. Also, the site description contains the neighborhood name which I can type in also and get all addresses in that neighborhood. You might just need to experiment with the site that you use. Good luck.
Peace,
Richard