Renovations on The Rookie House are picking up now that the mold has been remediated and things are moving along quickly…
Last week, we passed all rough inspections, got insulation installed and sheetrocked the entire house. Over the weekend, we did some landscaping and cleaned up the exterior of the house. This week, we expect much of the finish carpentry to be completed (doors, trim, baseboard, etc) and the painting to be done. Then, next week, we’ll install cabinets, electrical and plumbing fixtures. Finally, the following week, we’ll install flooring, appliances and finish up the house.
So, I expect that we’re about 3 weeks from getting the house completed and on the market.
Here are some pictures of the current progress:
wow. really coming along isn’t it. almost a brand new house now. do you have to mention flooding as a disclosure? does that mean you ‘built in’ a discount in your eventual listing price? I always follow your blog, it’s really great.
Hey Kirk,
Thanks! Yes, we definitely disclose the fact that the house flooded to all potential buyers; on the bright side, FEMA never reclassified the area into a flood zone after the 2009 floods, so the buyer is not required to have flood insurance and we can honestly say that FEMA believes this was a once in a lifetime event (statistically speaking, since it’s not in a 100 year floodplain).
And yes, we build in a discount into our listing price — this house (as well as House #19 which was in the same neighborhood) will sell for about 10% less than if it had never been flooded.
Hey J,
I need a little advice and I know you are the perfect person to go to. I have a friend from work who is willing to partner with me on a direct marketing campaign I plan on setting up. He is basically the silent partner/money guy.
The campaign will be through direct mail. I am having a problem of choosing the prospects for the mailing. Should I choose to mail to the list of equity homeowners who almost have their houses paid off or absentee owners. I am leaning towards the absentee owner list but I am afraid because I mailed to a list of 230 absentee owners and was only able to get one lead.
You are 1 of the 3 websites I love following and learning from. Your updates and posts are truly helpful to newbies like me. Please keep up the great work J! Thanks for your time.
Hey Chris –
There is no right or wrong answer to your question, but here are some things to keep in mind:
– The absentee owners are likely going to be landlords, which means they may have more motivation to sell (if they’re not enjoying being landlords), but also means that they are probably a bit more savvy about real estate, so it may be harder to convert them to sales;
– The absentee list will probably contain houses that are more geared towards rentals than flips while the homeowner houses will probably be better flip candidates — are you looking to rent or flip?
– Whoever you mail to, the key is going to be repetition — you’ll start getting calls when you convince owners to call you, and that can sometimes take 2, 3 or even more mailings. Your letter needs to be in front of them the minute they decide to call, whether that means your letter is what convinces them or whether you just happen to have a lot of letters in front of them;
– Try a couple different mailings/letters/envelopes and see what gets the best response rate — different tactics will work with different types of owners, so don’t expect that the same letter that works for absentee landlords will work for homeowners;
– Lastly, the biggest key to direct mail success isn’t the letter but closing the sale once you convince them to pick up the phone and call you. Make sure you answer the phone, build a rapport, figure out what their core problem is, and then solve it for them.
Thanks for getting back J.
My plan right now is to wholesale until I find a property that only needs cosmetic fix that will eventually get me prepared for bigger rehabs but first I definitely need to work on my marketing game.
I am using yellowlettermail.com and have drafted 3 letters that follow one another. I was planning on spreading the letters to every 3-4 weeks.
I guess its all about trial and error and understanding that its a numbers game. I was planning on sending out letters to about 2400 prospects but now I am considering sending out letters to maybe 800 but make sure I follow up with another marketing piece whether a letter or post card every 3-4 weeks.
I appreciate you taking the time to help J!