Posted by AWWMi. on January 17, 2003 at 21:33:25:
Vacant properties = possible motivation
Vacant trashed, run down properties = more motivation
vacant condemned ‘bag nasties’ = …well you get the picture 
OUT OF TOWNERS - Posted by MARK
Posted by MARK on January 17, 2003 at 18:44:47:
Okay, I now have a huge list of out of state home owners for Virginia. What are the suggestions for the next step?
All are welcome.
Thanks!
Mark
Re: OUT OF TOWNERS - Posted by Ronald * Starr (in No CA)
Posted by Ronald * Starr (in No CA) on January 17, 2003 at 21:54:43:
Mark–(VA)-----------
Wrap it up and send it to me. I will solicit property owners to sell to me. For every house I buy, I will send you $500. Easy for you, no work.
Was that one welcome?
Well, what do you want to do? Buy properties at bargain prices? Or on real good terms?
I’d suggesd then that you want to get to them a message about what you want them to do: sell their proprety to you at a good price. So, you send a letter or postcard that says:
“Will you be foolish enough to sell me your house here in VA for way below market value? If so, call me at 877-Easy Sell.”
Now, you won’t even have to answer the phone, as that is my number and I’ll answer the phone and pay for the call to boot. And, for every house I buy, I’ll send you $500.
Was that welcome?
Hmmm. Might wonder if people will actually respond to a solicitation worded that way? Only one way to find out, send you the message and see.
Seriously, you MIGHT consider revising that solicitation writing a bit to make it seem to you to be more appealing to people. Just write up something friendly and nice, telling them the benefits to them of doing what you want: contacting you and selling you the property. Then mail it to their tax-bill addresses.
Only a few will respond, maybe between 1/100 of one percent to 2 or 3%. Most of those who respond will want: more than market value, all cash for their properites, both. You need to quickly get to the point in talking to them and ask what they are selling and what price they are thinking of, and possible terms of the sale.
When you find somebody whose price seems much better than market, then you start doing some serious investigating. Check out the property itself, either in person or having somebody knowledgeable about houses in the area tell you the condition and value, send you a couple of photos, and so on.
Then get a purchase contract signed and buy the property.
When you are at that stage, write agains and ask any questions you have about it.
Now, I wonder if a lot of the addresses are actually their addresses, or might they be the mailing address for the mortgage servicing company, because the mortgage servicing company may be paying the tax bill.
If you have a computer-manipulable file, sort on the tax bill mailing address and see if there are several bills going to the same address with different owner names. You might want to elimate those, as it is doubtful that all of those different owners live in the same house.
I like to sort on property and sales characteristics that are important to me and and thus not mail to everybody. For instance, it seems to me that few people who have recently gotten a deed to a property will be able to sell to me for less than market value and still receive more than they paid and get money coming in to them after the mortgage(s) are paid off. So, I mail to people who have owned the property for a while–at least (about) a dozen years. Here in CA, that usually assures me that the property is worth a lot more than they paid for it and probably is more than their loan balance.
If I am looking for rentals, I also sort on things like square foot of the house, bedroom and bathroom count, age, and so on, so that I can get properties that would make suitable rentals for me. No 6000 square foot, 18 bedroom properties, please. They are hard to rent for a positive cash flow, I would guess.
Decide what kinds of houses you want to buy and solicit only owners of those types of houses.
Good InvestingRon Starr**