Finding My Marketing Mo-Jo

To be perfectly honest I haven't done very much in the way of marketing since I started on my own with REstore Property Group a couple months ago (my former business partner and I spilt for those of you who didn't know). I've been contacting FSBOs, for rent signs and others that are already interested in selling. I've posted some "buy your house" ads on Craigslist since its there and so easy and free, but the leads off those ads are really no good from my experience. Aside from being busy, broke and sometimes just lazy (hey, I'm enjoying my freedom right?), I've really not done much marketing because I've been thinking about what properties I want and how I want to get them. I don't want to waste time, money and energy marketing for properties that I end up not wanting. Been there, done that.

So I have finally come to a decision of what I'm going to try next. In the past I've used "bandit" signs and they certainly did get results, the phone rang off the hook for weeks after each placement. I was never very pleased with the quality of those leads either, though. Lots of homeowners just fishing for an offer without really being motivated. Granted, you'll get these kind of leads just about anywhere, but with the signs I think there was a disproportionate amount of these casual inquirers.

I'm going to go two routes that I haven't tried before. First is that I'm going to try some direct mail. I've never been a fan of direct mail since I feel the 99% of it that goes directly into the trash is a real waste of resources. But a friend of mine suggested I use greeting cards with hand written addresses on the envelopes. He says he gets a much greater response from those. Sounds brilliant to me! Second I'm going to have either fliers or door hangers that I can leave at houses when I'm driving around neighborhoods. I think I'm leaning towards door hangers since I don't know anyone else doing them.

The direct mail will target out of town owners of houses in my prime rental areas, as well as houses and multifamily properties with long term owners that would have a lot of equity. My focus is still to acquire more cash flowing rental properties with little to no money down and no bank financing (what bank would lend to someone with no income?). They're out there, now I just have to make them know that I'm out here too!

So I'm ordering greeting cards and probably door hangers today. Once they come I'll be spending my evenings watching TV and hand writing addresses. Then with any luck, my phone will be ringing instead of me searching for numbers to call. I'll keep you all posted on how these strategies work out. I'm crossing my fingers that it goes better than my bandit signs did!