Article by Simon Volkov

An expired listing letter is a valuable asset for realtors and investors. When properly structured these marketing letters can help professionals secure new realty deals and earn income.

The expired listing letter is sent to sellers whose real estate contract has ended. Most contracts extend for six to twelve months. When property goes unsold during the listing period and the contract ends, sellers can extend the agreement terms; locate a new realtor; list the property as for sale by owner; or take the property off the market.

Realtors and investors locate expired listings by searching the Multiple Listings Service database consisting of nationwide homes for sale. When contracts expire, agents and investors send an marketing letter to the seller in attempt to gain their property listing.

Investors new to expired listings marketing can locate sample letters via the Internet or through other realtors. Investors should adapt letters to accommodate the situation. For example, a marketing letter sent to homeowners would include different verbiage than letters sent to business owners selling commercial properties.

Good sources for learning marketing strategies is through networking groups clubs and online investment forums. To become successful in this field, investors should create a marketing plan and utilize various strategies to locate investment properties.

While expired listing letters are normally sent to sellers, investors occasionally use letters to contact real estate agents whose contracts have ended. When investors can orchestrate a sale they can earn commission from closing the sale while realtors do most of the work. Using this strategy can help investors generate solid leads and develop good working relationships with realtors.

Investors may want to consider using the services of a marketing company or copywriter to create marketing materials. Realtors often use a variety of prospecting tools such as postcard marketing, direct mail campaigns, flyers, cold calling, and word-of-mouth referrals.

The primary goal of expired listing letter is to locate motivated sellers, purchase real estate below market value, and earn profits by closing realty sales.

Investors must stay abreast of changing market trends and develop marketing strategies which make them stand out from the crowd. Sellers are often bombarded with advertisements from realtors and investors when property listings expire. Those who develop unique marketing materials and a solid plan can capitalize on this niche.

Professionals who specialize in expired listings usually work with sellers that are anxious their property did not sell during the contract period. Most are distraught, stressed out, and feel let down by their listing agent. The last thing they want is more empty promises. What they want is to find someone who can sell their home and place money in their pocket.

Investors who can solve sellers’ problems will earn their business. When developing marketing materials it is crucial to focus on sellers needs and not on the investment business being promoted.

Expired listing marketing is a competitive market. Investors and realtors must be committed to their clients and provide results. Those who take time to create solid marketing plans and develop a strong network will improve their chance of locating motivated buyers and build a reputation for being the go-to-guy for closing realty deals.

Find More Sample Marketing Plan For Real Estate Articles

It can feel overwhelming when you first decide that you want to take more listings. Regardless of economic challenges you will always find competition when targeting sellers to list their home. For many agents getting to 1-2 listings a month never happens. They provide the excuse of “that’s just sales” or “hey it’s feast or famine”. Instead of approaching the business like every other agent and struggling to take 1-2 listings monthly I invite you to consider a different approach.

Before diving in to making calls, sending letters, door knocking, or even setting up a new website, consider what your overall real estate marketing approach. To help you start in the right direction consider asking yourself the following questions.

1. What is my marketing personality?
2. Have I tried any seller marketing in the past with some success?
3. What can I put into action daily that will bring me leads?
4. What am I willing to pay to get a single listing? (consider having a rule such as 7% of your gross commission)
5. How can I make it easy to track my results?
6. How long will I stick with a marketing program before I make a change or cut it entirely?
7. How can I develop systems that will have automatic follow up to compliment my active marketing?

Before launching any marketing where you want to take more listings consider answering the above questions. Once you have the answers to those questions then you can put a marketing system into action. To take a serious volume of listings (30 or more a month) will require a minimum of 4 systems working for you all of the time. Most real estate professionals run one, referrals, which will tram them in survival mode.

Although each system can be different depending on your personality, consider a minimum of the following rules as you create your system.

1. Consistency – What can you have done daily (or do yourself) that will run your marketing? Can you send out postcards each day? Can you send out emails to prospects daily? Can you write an article? To bring in consistent leads requires consistent action. Have a system that allows you to put marketing into action each day of the week.

2. Active Marketing – While it would be nice to send out a few postcards or emails and wait for listings to come to you, that isn’t realistic. Part of your system should involve phone calls. You can call off of those who have requested information, the key is to set time aside each morning to call AND… you better call every morning.

When you can answer tough questions and create a real estate marketing system that has consistency and active marketing you will be on your way to taking 30+ listings monthly.

Get my power-packed free Real Estate marketing book today and start taking more listings now.

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Effective… Effective… Effective… I have been extremely captivated by this niche of real estate investing ever since the first time I was introduced to it back in 2003. Since that I have given probate investing a shot a few different time times… the first couple times didn’t result in any deals and ultimately left me frustrated and wondering why in the world anyone would want to pursue this not so glamorous niche. But on my third run at it I finally got some traction and ended up landing a “subject to” deal after running my first direct mail campaign… and since then I have gone on to do a whole bunch of probate deals, all of which have made my company large sums of money. In fact today the main focus of my business is on effective (REO’s are a close 2nd) mainly because the potential profit margins can be huge and the competition is extremely limited.

So what is it that allowed me to achieve success the third time around that I could not find on the first two tries? Well in hind site there were a number of things and all of them were small detail, but those small details are what can make or break your business when it comes to probate investing. With that said I am the going to go over a few of the smaller details to probate investing that are often overlooked or not focused as much as they should be:

# 1. Some people are not going to have nice things to say about the fact that you want to buy the house of their deceased family member. This is one aspect to probate investing where you just need to have thick skin and get over it I do not like to deal with these types of people as much as any one, but you can actually set up your marketing systems to limit any interaction with them. By doing this it will make your life much much easier and make probate investing a heck of a lot more enjoyable for you. It’s amazing how getting bitched out by on angry seller can really affect some people…I used to absolutely hate it, but now I have learned to embrace it. In fact we save all of our angry messages from perspective best-sellers and we call them “direct mail’s greatest hits” around the office… its a good way to make light of it. In fact maybe someday I’ll put them on our membership site so that everyone can have a laugh at what comes out of some peoples mouth over a non threatening letter. Anyway the bottom line is that you need to set up a screening system for your leads so that these angry best-sellers do not of steal your motivation to invest in effective.

# 2 This niche has very little to do with the actual property and a lot more to do with the rapport you build with a seller! When I first started going out to probate appointments I what striking out constantly because I was so focused on the actual property and not nearly as focused on my relationship with the seller or their attorney. Nowadays I always go out to view properties with my marketing manager so that while one of US is building rapport with the seller the other can thoroughly check out the property. Recently we just purchased a property from a seller who also showed the property to the “phoenix redevelopment” guy in our city, and we ended up with the property even though our offer which offered less than what Phoenix. The only reason this happened is because I took the time with talk with the seller about his situation and what he as the personal representative has had to deal with… and in return, we ended up building a solid friendship through the purchase process. Now I’m not saying you need to become friends with every seller, but remember whenever you go check out a property it’s like a sales call, so build some rapport and start selling yourself… but make sure to ask questions and listen! If you do this I guarantee you will like the results.

# 3 You have to create a system for getting your marketing letters out on a weekly basis! In my business I have actually hired and trained someone to research all of the new probate listings as they come out so that we can market to them on on weekly basis. If you don’t have a system in place that makes you (or someone you hire) accountable for getting your marketing letters out every week then your chances of success will decrease dramatically. I believe momentum is the most important factor in real estate investing (and in life for that matter) so if you loose your momentum with effective marketing it’s extremely hard to get it up and going again… trust me I know from personal experience! Just make sure you create a marketing system before you start and stick with it! This is probably the biggest reason why people fail at probate investing… remember 75% of success is just showing up.

# 4 Don’t rely on just one way to generate probate leads! It has been taught in every probate home study course that you need to mail the staff representative… and this is true, but that doesn’t mean you need to stop with just mailing PR’s. I am a huge fan of marketing one time and getting deals from that source for a long time to come, so with that said we put the same amount of effort (if not more) into marketing probate attorneys as we do marketing staff representatives. Once you get a good relationship with a probate attorney they can send you great deals with NO COMPETITION for years to come! I just purchased a probate deal last month from an attorney who was the sole decision maker for accepting offers on a property that needed a good amount of work. I made an offer that I knew what ridiculously low, but since nobody really cared how much money they got for the property (since what it in bad shape) they accepted my offer. I was then able to wholesale that particular deal for a 15 k profit in under an hour from the time I singed the contract. As you would suspect I will be continuing to build my business relationship with that attorney (through marketing) and many others in order to keep growing the probate side of my REI business.

Buying probate properties has become absolutely my favorite way to get deals for my real estate business… but it wasn’t always this high on my list that’s for sure. However by making a few small changes to the way I approached probate investing it dramatically changed the amount of the success of my business what having.

Keep an eye out later this year for our educational marketing product that is dedicated entirely to generating more effective leads than your business can handle. We have spent the time in the trenches perfecting the best forms of marketing for this niche and very soon we will be making all of this valuable money making information available to you! I hope you enjoyed this article, and hopefully it will help you future with your probate investing.

Tucker Merrihew is the creator of my investing mentor education and the website http://www.myinvestingmentor.com/.

My investing mentor is a real estate education company that provides our students with the most up to date investment strategies that work in today’s economy and real estate market. We not only teach our highly effective & up to date investment strategies, but we also use them within our own real estate business each and every day. Over the past few years we have created and reflect many different strategies for making huge profits buying and selling real estate….and now we are making all of those secret money making strategies available to you! Check out our website today for great real estate investing tips!

Real estate newsletters which are powerful real estate marketing tools are publications issued by a specific real estate firm or real estate association. It is geared towards a specific readership population, of a certain State, buyer preference or for the general real estate consumer. Such publications contain various information about the industry and its related fields, as well as about new products and services that the specific firm or association is promoting. Here are the top seven reasons why you should use the real estate newsletter to find good real estate leads.

1. Free Information

Newsletters are free. For that reason alone, active real estate buyers and investors should be on the mailing list of major real estate firms and associations. Most newsletters will definitely have sections on “free tips” in the intent of firms to show that they have a genuine concern to help consumers and in a way, demonstrate their company’s expertise in the field. Such free articles are also a way to attract readers, and get them hooked to read on to the sales pitches, which is the primary intent of issuing the newsletter. Nevertheless, anything that is free and informative at the same time should always be the searcher’s first stop.

2. Credibility

In general, newsletters have more credibility than the usual ads. The real estate firms that publish newsletters use it as a venue to establish their company’s leadership and authority in the profession. Thus, they most likely will publish reliable, well-researched and relevant real estate market information, geared towards the benefit of the consumer, in order to maintain their credibility. Get historical real estate market trends, sound predictions and reliable leads through information in the newsletters.

3. In-depth Information

Real estate newsletter articles provide more in-depth information than real estate ads. The intent of real estate newsletters is to have a venue to better educate consumers about real estate details that are not covered in advertisements like construction quality assessment, safety, after move-in support, etc. Having such information will allow you to look into more details about the property that you intend to buy.

4. Financial Information

Aside from real estate leads, newsletters also provide other information that are related to the industry. Financial information such as mortgage rates, mortgage calculators and bank or lending institutions contact information are among the additional information that you can get from a newsletter. Occasionally, real estate newsletters will publish full-length articles on financial information such as “How To Compute Amortization” or “The Benefits of Refinancing.” Watch out for those articles and make sure to clip them for future use, unless you are into the habit of compiling the newsletter itself.

5. Locations

Aside from financial information, real estate newsletters also feature full-length articles and facts on hottest real estate locations as well as uncharted lands that have yet to join the boom. Depending on the profile of the property you intend to buy, such information will be beneficial for your search.

6. Seminars and Viewings

Information on real estate seminars and property viewings are also in newsletters. As a buyer, this is your opportunity to have first-hand experience on the property or the real estate firm without any financial commitment from your end. Most seminars and viewings are free, transportation and meals included and at times, discounts are handed out for the select who signed up. Now that’s one opportunity you should not pass up!

7. Testimonials

Testimonials are an essential part of real estate newsletters. Use such actual consumer experience to understand the capabilities and extent of service of the real estate firm. If, based on the published first-hand experience by actual customers, their profile or the rundown of their properties fit the portfolio of service you are looking for, then the company should be able to support you and give you good leads.

Modern day newsletters are already issued electronically; the e-newsletter, sent via e-mail or downloaded from the publication’s website, but offers the same useful real estate information without the hassle of piling paper. Whatever form you prefer, real estate newsletters are definitely real estate marketing materials of the informative kind. As a consumer, you should take advantage of all the available information, which can help you in the search for real estate leads.

Return to Real Estate Marketing and Real Estate Leads

Is there anyone in your town that doesnt know that you buy houses or that your are a real estate investor? If so, you arent performing as well at marketing or supplying real estate investing information about your real estate investing business concern as well you should be. I see real estate investors stating all the time that they arent getting seller calls and subsequently arent acquiring the leads they need to find the real estate deals they need to earn a living. I say increase the marketing and the sellers will call. Not only that but if you are saturating the world (or at least your area) that you buy problem real estate properties, eventually you will be acknowledged for what you do and sellers will telephone you strictly on your reputation. this is what is called cost effective marketing.

One real estate investor was in a home, garden and hardware store a few weeks ago and passed by a couple of Guys in an aisle. A conversation was heard as he walked by, I overheard one say, That is the real estate man. Now I had never seen either of those guys and have no idea who they are but that experience lets me know that I must be doing my job at letting the world to know my business is buying real estate in that area. There are many ways to let the world know that you are in the real estate investing business and getting information out there that helps people understand you buy foreclosures, distressed real estate, do real estate short sales and have a lot of real estate information and experience to flip properties. Some ways are cheap and some are more expensive. You are going to have to try many things and get a feel for what brings about for you the best results in your area to get the calls you need to transact real estate deals. I have tried many kinds of marketing techniques for real estate business concerns of all kinds and have come back to a few that constantly produce enough results for me to buy the 2 or 3 real estate properties and homes I want to buy every single month. They are as follows:

Classified Ads

The classified advert in the largest paper in the area is by far the biggest producer of leads for local real estate investors that I have found. I know it is expensive and I acknowledge there are times it doesnt generate calls but if you are going to remain in the real estate investing business just put it in there and leave it. Get used to it being part of the cost of doing the real estate business. You may pay about $300.00 a month for my 4 line ad and that is the commercial rate. I’d recommend running it 365 days a year to constantly remind everyone that you are a real estate investor and you buy real estate in their area.

Over the past five or so years I have witnessed many real estate investor ads come and go. Most folks put them in for a few or even just a couple of weeks and then pull them or try just putting them in on the weekends. Real Estate Marketing just doesn’t work this way. Put your real estate ad in the paper and leave it. It will more than pay for itself, believe me, and you’ll discover after you close your first deal. If you are concerned because there are real estate investors ads from several investors in there, dont be. They are there because they are getting calls. Just be sure to and actually answer your phone and keep it on all the time otherwise you’ll be wasting money.

When a new ad for real estate investor information pops up in my paper, I will always call on the ad. 9 times out of 10 I get a message recorder or answering machine. This is a big turn off to someone who needs a solution to their real estate problem now. They want to talk to someone who can calm their anxiety over their current issues with their property and tell them everything is going to be alright. Your answering machine wont do that, they need a human being. As for what to put in the advert, you will have to work on this one. I have tried several idea and the one I have now hasnt changed for over 2 years. I havent altered it because I get phone calls. My ad is:

I Pay CASH FOR HOUSES s
In 48 Hours!
Any area, price or condition
Call Today xxx-xxx-xxxx

Now I have had other real estate investors jockey for position and alter their ad copy to be ahead of mine in the column but it hasnt made any difference, at least as far as I can distinguish. Dont worry about those things, just get the advert out there and leave it. It could possibly take some time, perhaps a few weeks to get going but sellers will call. Once you have your classified advert running, then you should start working on your other methods right away. If you only implement one idea a week, within a couple of months you will have a tremendously powerful real estate buying machine.

Ads in the Freebie Papers

You may also run ads in the freebie papers in your local area or the area you want to transact real estate investment business. These are the Thrifty Nickel, or whatever they are called in your area. I run both a column ad and a display in this paper and spend about $200.00 or so a month for these. They pull in seller leads fairly well and have always justified the costs. Remember that these guys are usually open to negotiating on your rates and you’ll probably get a better rate if you commit to a longer advertising contract.

Bandit Signs or Road Signs

Bandit signs are great. They are some of the best lead generating tools around. I have yet to put out a bunch and not be bombarded with calls right after I did my marketing. I just dont put them out that often. I might put out a few to a half dozen or so a month and the ones that remain and don’t get taken down continue to pull in calls. At an average cost of less than $2.00 per sign, they are one of the best real estate marketing and advertising values around. Check the internet for sign companies for discount signage prices. . I use 18 x 24 signs and place them at high traffic intersection points around the town I want to buy property in.

You may place a sign in the front yard immediately after buying any house. I have bought several homes in the same neighborhoods as a result of marketing this way.

You can either use wood stakes or the wire stakes with your signs. I like the wood stakes because they dont bend like the wire ones, in addition, they are cheaper and you can find just about any reasonablly sized stick of wood or stake at your local hardware store for a really good price. Just get long lengths and reduce to fit. Then just nail the sign to it with the roofing nails with the orange or green plastic tops or you can use screws. There are many variations on what the wording on the sign can say. Keep in mind that traffic will be moving so you want to keep your message short and simple so it can be read. Plus your number must be big, large and easy to read.

If you look the sign advertisement content, you’ll notice that it is the same as my newspaper ad. I like to brand my advertising because I think that helps with recognition that is probably why the two guys noticed me as a Real Estate Investor..You want to have contrast, so a white sign with dark blue letters usually is the best draw. Some folks swear by black on yellow or black on orange. Again, I say its not what or how you say it rather simply that you’re out there marketing and putting out signs that counts. You’ll build a ‘brand image over time if you stay consistent with your real estate marketing efforts. When dealing with bandit signs, be sure that your local code enforcement laws are tolerant of them. In some areas or counties they can lax on them but a few miles down the road in another county or city, they can be super strict and will fine you in a minute, pull the signs down and start looking for your next postings to go after you again. Some retailers in high tax areas can’t put out any A board signage without getting them sized and then fined.

Flyers and Bulliten Board Postings

Flyers and related collateral are another inexpensive way to get the word out that you are a real estate investor buy houses, foreclosures or distressed properties. Just create a flyer with any one of the free online flyer software sites telling people that your are a real estate investor and how to get in contact with you. Make copies for few cents apiece and you have some reallyy inexpensive real estate marketing and advertising. It reallyy is that simple. Then place these flyers on every bulletin board in your town or area you would like to buy your property, foreclosure or distressed home.. I also recommend that you place some of them in those plastic sheet protectors so the rain wont destroy them and put them up on telephone poles around neighborhoods I like to purchase property in.. While not as large as the bandit signs, on poles actually in the vicinity they still attract calls. I carry a file with me in my vehicle and place them up whenever I stop at a grocery store or major discount store or reallyy wherever. Some of the other places to put them are:

Laundromats

Taped to the inside of Phone Booths.

On the counter of any business that will let you place them at.

Bulletin boards at any local or major discount store (lots of traffic)

Grocery store bulletin boards

Fax to Mortgage Brokers, call first

Fax to Real Estate Agents, call first and they may get a lot of these.

Take them Door to Door in target neighborhoods

Employment Center Bulletin board

County Courthouse or public office Bulletin board

These are just a few examples. Any place that will allow you to put one is a good place. You can never let too many people know that you are a real estate investor and are in the foreclosure market.

Imprinted and/or Promotional Items

Optimum Real Estate Investor Marketing Ideas – These no miss ideas are sure to get you top hits on leads and calls for your Real Estate Investing Business.

These are some of my favorites and most fun. While they are not the top producers of leads or the least expensive, they will sure set you apart from the average investor.

Pen Knives – These tiny Swiss army knives are the coolest. They are actually key chains engraved with your message, mine being: WE BUY HOUSES- All cash or take over payments within 48 hours! Call xxx-xxx-xxx I guarantee if you give one of these to someone they will keep it and if they think of selling, they will think of you. They are about $1.50 apiece.

Key Chains – I give these to all my buyers with the keys to their new house on them and leave them all over the place. They come in the shape of a house or #1 or whatever style you like and have your message on them. You can guess what mine says. Cost – about $. 25 cents apiece.

Pens – I use these all the time. Whenever I sign a sales receipt or anything I leave my pen. I cant tell you how many calls I have gotten off of these things and since I always need one, I always have one to give away. My attorney even has a supply on his closing table. I have two types printed. One for sellers says We Buy Houses! and one for buyers says Everyone Qualifies. Cost – about $.21 cents apiece.

Coin Holders – These you hardly find anymore so everyone is surprised when I have them. I leave these things everywhere. Mine are bright yellow with blue letters and my message. Cost – about $.30 cents apiece.

I leave all of these promotional items everywhere, on the top of gas pumps, on end-cap displays in grocery stores and in department stores. I look at it this way, if I give away 100 pens, 50 knives and 50 coin holders a month, that is only a little over $100 bucks a month. That is still cheap advertising. And with the money you can make in a real estate deal, it is ‘no cost’ marketing strategy. You can get any of these promotional advertising products at many major promotion marketing manfacturer, and you can find companies online as well.

Business Cards

I order business cards by the 1000s and you should as well, there are a lot of great places online that can print up nice (and cheap) cards for you and that specialize in real estate as well. As for business cards, well, they are cheap, mine are about $50.00 for 2000, and I pass them out and leave them everywhere I possibly can. I leave my cards everywhere, in pay phones, on restaurant tables, my kids even have their own supply to pass out. Try to get a box a week out. The card doesnt have to be fancy, in fact the simpler the better. My card is bright yellow with blue letters and says:

WE BUY HOUSES
Foreclosure? Need Repairs? Bad Tenants? Divorce?
CASH IN 48 HOURS!
OFFERS MADE ON ALL CALLS!
XXX-XXX-XXXX

Car Magnetics

Magnetics are one of those things where you spend once and get use for a long time. Mine cost about $75.00 and are yellow with blue letters. They say:

WE BUY HOUSES!
FA$T CA$H
XXX-XXX-XXXX

SELL YOUR HOME FAST
WE PAY CA$H
XXX-XXX-XXXX

I have gotten several deals from these signs. Remember to order a smaller set for the back of your car/truck. People have more of a chance to read the message when they are riding behind you.

Clothing

I like golf shirts and oxford dress shirts with my logo on them. There’s plenty of advertsing houses that will help you design a logo if you dont have one or use the one you already have. There is no charge for set up and all items ordered include your embroidered logo free.

I pass custom imprinted hats out to everyone I know who wears one and have given away many shirts as well. They reallyy look nice and present a nice image for your business.

Other Advertising Tools

There are many other forms of advertising, some I have tried in the past such as billboards, door hangers, yellow pages, television and radio advertising. I even have a traveling billboard, an old SUV painted bright yellow with blue WE BUY HOUSES! and my phone number that I drive around and park overnight at different places. It gets the calls! Get the marketing going and let the world know who to call when they have a house to sell, a pre-foreclosure, distressed property or someone who just wants to get out of their house.. If that phone isnt ringing, you arent making money so you need to get a good marketing strategy going and stick with it!

I sincerely hope these tips will help you in your next real estate marketing efforts and get you the real estate investing deals you’re after.

In almost every real estate investing seminar I’ve ever attended, a lot of time has been invested in teaching real estate investors and potential real estate investor on how to find good deals. Because deal-finding is so crucial to ones investing success and longevity in the real estate investing business, I recently decided to chat with a real estate investment friend and look back and see which methods have generated the most deals and the best deals for him.. In reviewing the 200 properties he has bought or flipped over the last 5 years, I was surprised to find that many of the “traditional” sources of great deals haven’t worked for him, while some less obvious methods have been great lead generators. I’d like to share with you the results of my study.

The Multiple Listing Service. The MLS is essentially a catalog of all the properties listed for sale by brokers. Needless to say, some of them are good deals for investors, and some aren’t. Sometimes there is a great foreclosure in there, sometimes not. The trick is to ferret out which properties have motivated sellers without making offers on all of them. I’ve honed this skill through years of translating agent lingo like, “Handyman’s special” (looks bad, smells bad, has at least one major system that doesn’t function), “needs TLC” (ugly, but not smelly, and everything works). What you’re going to find is a lot of cost, markup and competition has set the price. As an investor, you really want to find ways around the ‘traditional real estate sales’ databases if at all possible.

Properties listed in the MLS are for sale. To anyone, including the real estate investor. This may seem pretty profound, but some of the other methods touted as great ways to find deals involve locating owners, then finding out if they want to sell. Properties in the MLS also have the advantage that all of the information about the property is pretty much laid out for you – a major time saver. For the average real estate investor, time really is money. And, with the sophisticated, computerized access available to your agent, it’s a matter of a few keystrokes to view all of the properties that are handyman’s specials, or bank-owned, or in estate, or priced under a certain dollar figure – whatever youd like to concentrate on. The disadvantage is that if you’re after foreclosures, you may not find the deals here.

Another reason that the MLS has worked so well is that generally the market for really ugly properties is where real estate investors may want to be, otherwise the deals for good real estate investing values just won’t be there. Coincidentally, these are the same properties that most agents prefer not to spend a lot of time with. In many cases, they’re downright cooperative – particularly when I’m offering all cash and a quick closing.

Direct mail to real estate agents? At one point, we did a mail out to 1,200 agent names from the Board of Realtors and generated a 3-part mailing to send to every agent in town. For the real estate investor, this might seem like a respectable idea, however there are drawbacks.

The theme of this campaign was this: if you, Mr. Agent, have a property listed that fits a specific real estate investment criteria, I’ll make an offer and you get to keep the entire commission. Out rolled a brilliant campaign -all posted first class, incidentally – and in numbered the telephone calls. All 9 of them. Thats correct. The workweek after the 1st letters got out, we got 9 calls. We had already produced offers on 3 of the houses; 2 were out of our price range; and two were overpriced listings soon to expire. Not a beneficial take for the average real estate investor seeking to realise a living with real estate investment .

The succeeding mailing gave even more answers – about 16 replys – all basically in the same classes. The final mail out, a postal card, encountered no notice at all. Basically, we consumed close to $1700 on a campaign that gave nothing for our real estate investing concern.

I still guess that this idea has some merit, but if performed again, we would make some substatial shifts. Initially, we’ll target only the 350 or so brokers who name the kinds of real estate investment properties we would purchase. Then, we would do a better job of composing the marketing collateral, underlining how the broker and his seller could gain from doing work with our real estate investment business. Finally, we would make the campaign a continuous one throughout the next twelve months, trying out dissimilar letters for reception and sending the best to the same real estate agents over and over. And lastly, to personalise the campaign by following up with a telephone call to the 30 or so preferred candidates. Target marketing our real esatate investing marketing attempts.

Ads in the Yellow Pages. For half dozen years, we have featured an ad in the “real estate” section of the Yellow Pages. Each calendar year, the ad has possessed some variation of the phrasing, “We purchase homes – all cash. This advertising only yields 3-4 calls a calendar month, but for some grounds the caliber of the telephone calls is better than those that are produced by whatever other means we have ever practiced. The sellers incline to be incited, cooperative, and bear unlisted houses. All of these items are precisely what the real estate investor is wanting in investment properties.

What is great is that you get to look at with these ads once a calendar year, then leave em. While they usually are pricy – 1000s per 12 month time period – the telephone company will regularly charge you every month for the price. In addition, as one of the very few ads in the telephone directory that promises to buy investment properties, You have not got alot of competition. This works out, but getting connected with people that own the houses in hand: banks, any mortgage company that possesses (and does not want) foreclosures, key real estate agents, any one that recognises the market and recognises you embody the real esate investor that understands the marketplace. Both cases, you succeed. Yellow pages, you pay for the leads, the word of mouth, time is payment for the great real estate investing leads.

Advertised FSBOs? Properties For Sale By Owner,
a.k.a. FSBOs, are a preferent means for a number of real estate investors. For us, on the other hand, have never bought a holding from an owner who promoted his property for sale rather than ringing me. Sounds like a deal for the budding Real Esatate Investor who purchases homes for a living right?

We have found various issues with straining to purchase FSBOs. The 1st is that many are not actually for sale. Some FSBOs are just “trying out the market to ascertain what variety of offers he’ll acquire. Other FSBO sellers are very moved to sell, but do not list because they need to keep all of the money from the sale. They do not wish to pay a commission – but they do not desire to receive a lower price, either. And sometimes a seller opts to try to sell their holding by themselves because they owe too much to bear a 5%-7% commission, even if he sells it at full price. For the real estate investor, obviously there is no economic value here.

If you are purchasing expensive properties creatively, these sellers are ripe for the variety of answer you propose. A majority of real estate investors schemes is to buy ugly real estate cheaply and for immediate payment, and you just do not witness this type of deal in advertized FSBOs.

fFiers to Targeted Neighborhoods: Last calendar year, we delivered 14,000 double-sided “We buy real estate” circulars published. We employed an individual to set this flyer in the threshold of every single, two, or multi family residence they saw in the prospective region. Every three calendar weeks or so, 5,000 approximately of these flyers were delivered, and the reply from qualified sellers was first-class. For a price of less than $500, we gained 3 deals that clearred over $8,000. For a new region for the experienced real estate investor or just examining a dissimilar way to ‘farm’ the real estate investment outlooks in a given area, this is very good and popular way to find out if there are any sound real estate investment deals to capture.

Billboards in the same neighborhood? Here is a object lesson in messing up a beneficial thing: hot on the heels of our massively successful circular campaign, I settled to spring for 4 large billboards in the same vicinity. The trouble was that my marketing budget is only so large, and purchasing the billboards signified stopping the fliers. Still, I envisioned that the billboards would get more attention anyway, so I handed over the $1,800 and acquired…

No response.. Nothing……

The Point? Keep with What does work. This is the number one rule of obtaining good real estate investment properties.
.
Employing only one lead source at a time. In my experience, it is best to use at least a few dissimilar techniques of lining up deals at the same time: preferably 2 youve practiced before with some results, plus 1 that you are screening. Which takes us to:

Not understanding which of your deal-finding techniques are producing, and which are not. If you are going to expend money on fliers or ads or phone pole signs or whatever, it is very significant that you give attention to which methods are getting good leads, and which are not.. For any real estate investing occupation, and business in general, one needs to monitor and try out the outcomes of a marketing campaign. If you are not tracking your lead sources to expose which are producing leads and which you should give up, youre wasting away time and money that could be set to use giving you deals.

Picking A Home-based Office Printer

When it comes to the home office, you are always printing something. If you aren’t sending out brochure and fliers for various events, you are probably printing business cards. When you aren’t doing that, you are printing business letters and advertisements. There are a million things to print and all of them will use up valuable resources. Because of this, you want to choose your printer wisely.

Tips To Buying Home Office Printer

What are you going to use it for? Pictures, photos, copies, scanning, everyday light print jobs, big print jobs?

How much does the ink refills cost?

Are the cartridges refillable?

Do you need collating?

What kind of quality are you looking for? Laser is usually better quality.

Do you need color? Or will black and white do?

How much can you invest in a home office printer?

You will probably print both text and pictures. To do this, you want a printer that will be able to handle both without using up a ton of ink in the process. When shopping for a new printer, ask the salesperson how expensive the cartridges for the particular printers you are looking at will be and how soon they are typically used up. With average everyday printing, how many pages do you get per cartridge? This will be important information. If you have to replace the cartridges often and they are expensive, you will be paying for your new printer time and time again.

Don’t choose the most expensive printer on the shelf just because it promises to do wonders. There are plenty of great printers available that are very affordable. Before even shopping for one, work out a budget. Figure out how much you will be able to spend. It may help to come up with a price range. You can even price printers online before going to look at them. That way you will have a better idea of what you want and what you can afford before ever walking into the store.

Stay within your budget. Once you have priced printers and worked out a budget, there really is no need to stray from it unless you see something you just can’t live without. Know what features you desire and look at the printers that meet all of your criteria.

Oftentimes some of the printing needs a home-based business owner can be done more cheaply when they are outsourced to the printer or professional copy store. Pick a printer that meets your everyday needs and use the professionals to get your not so often print jobs done. If you only print color once a month, then getting those one or two sheets done at a copy store would be more to your advantage than putting money in a fancy printer that you do not use all the features of often. In addition the more features a printer has the more likely those features will develop problems. Sometimes a home-based business is best with a simple printer that will last a long time instead of extra fancy features you rarely use.

A new printer can be very affordable and will be a worthwhile investment for your home base business that will keep paying for itself over and over again. If chosen carefully, it will last you and your home business for a long time to come.

In earlier days, how difficult it was to communicate or stay connected with our loved ones, as in those days, except letters there was no medium available to share our feelings & thoughts. It eventually means that in that period of time all people had to struggle to talk and stay connected with their loved ones. Earlier it was really not easy for all people to hear the voice of their loved ones, who used to live far far from their family to earn their lively hood.

Then, one fine day Alexander Graham Bell invented the best way to make communication possible, with the people living far away from their family. It was March 3, 1847, when Alexander Graham Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. And, since telephone were introduced for the first time in the market, people had started to feel comfortable.

This invention in the entire history of life had really thrilled all the people made it possible for everyone to send and receive the voice of their dear ones, who were based or situated in different places. The invention of Telephone has really helped a lot to get stay connected with their relatives and friends.

There are currently various types of phones, which are easily available in the market. Some of them are Cordless Phones, Home Phones and Mobile phones, And, nowadays, as the technology is getting advanced and advanced day by day, it is playing a very crucial role in making home phones and with all this, home phones are being seen as the most effective device, which is used for communication purpose.

And, as these home pones are getting popular day by day, many corporate companies have come in to the business of manufacturing and supply of Home Phones. They are manufacturing home phones, which are fully equipped with perfect and desirable features.

These days many home phone manufacturing companies are introducing exceptional features like video and audio calling, facility to conference, wide LCD screen display and quality speakers, which eventually helping them to increase their sales of home phones and letting them make huge profits.

And, nowadays many home phones are also being made which have an inbuilt Bluetooth technology. And, to increase their sales further home phones manufacturing companies are providing numerous enticing deals.

All deals related to home phones and cordless phone are available on various online portals for 24 x 7, so if you want to get one for yourself, you can get it easily.

Most real estate professionals flunk within the first few months of trying to create a business enterprise out of real estate investing. The trick begins with a beneficial marketing plan and then practicing a disciplined effort to the marketing plan on a even basis. There is a lot more required to succeed, and you will encounter more tips, tricks and unique real estate marketing techniques in this article.

Is there anyone in your town that doesn’t recognize that you buy homes or that you are a real estate professional? If so, you aren’t performing as well at marketing or rendering real estate investing information about your real estate investing business enterprise as well you could be. I find out real estate investors telling all the time that they aren’t receiving seller phone calls and subsequently aren’t receiving the leads they need to find the real estate business deals they require to earn a living. I say increase the marketing and the sellers will Call. Not only that but if you are canvassing the world (or at least your area) that you buy problem real estate holdings, eventually you will be acknowledged for what you do and sellers will telephone you strictly on your reputation. this is what is called cost effective marketing.

One real estate professional was in a home, garden and hardware store a few calendar weeks ago and went past a couple of guys in an aisle. A conversation was heard while he walked by, I overheard one state, “That is the real estate man”. Now I had never known either of those men and have no idea who they are but that experience lets me acknowledge that I must be doing my business at letting the world to recognize my business is buying real estate in that area. There are many ways to let the area know that you are in the real estate investing profession and getting information out there that helps people realize you buy foreclosures, distressed real estate, do real estate short sales and have got a lot of real estate information and experience to flip properties. Some methods are cheap and some are more expensive. You are going to have to attempt many things and acquire a feel for what brings about for you the best results in your region to get the calls you require to transact real estate deals. I have tried many forms of marketing methods for real estate commercial enterprises of all varieties and have come back to a few that consistently create enough leads for me to purchase the 2 or 3 real estate holdings and houses I want to purchase every single calendar month. They are as follows:

Classified Ads

The classified advertisement in the most prominent newspaper in the region is by far the heaviest producer of leads for local real estate investors that I have determined. I understand it is costly and I understand there are instances it does not generate phone calls but if you are going to persist in the real estate investing business sector just place it in there and leave it. Get used to it making up part of the toll of performing the real estate business. You may expend about $350.00 a calendar month for my 4 line ad and that is the commercial range. I’d consider running it 365 days a year to constantly cue everyone that you are a real estate professional and you purchase real estate in their region.

Over the past few or so years I have watched many “real estate investor” ads come and go. Most folks put them in for a many or even just a couple of calendar weeks and then remove them or try just placing them in on the week ends. Real Estate Marketing just simply does not work this way. Put your real estate ad in the paper and leave it in there. It will more than make up for the price, trust me, and you will see after you finish your first deal. If you are distressed because there are real estate investors ads from many other investors in there, don’t be. They are there because they are getting responses. Just be sure to and actually answer your cell phone and keep it on all the time otherwise you’ll be squandering money.

When a fresh ad for real estate investor information shows up in my newspaper, I will always call on the advertisement. 9 times out of 10 I get a message device or answering service. This is a significant turn off to somebody who needs a resolution to their real estate trouble now. They want to speak to a person who can quiet their anxiety over their current issues with their home and tell them everything is going to be ok. Your answering device won’t do that, they need a human being. As for what to put in the advertising, you will have to work on this one. I have tried various idea and the one I have now hast not changed for over 4 years. I haven’t switched it because I get responses. My ad is:

We Pay CASH FOR HOMES In 24 Hours! Any area, price or condition Call xxx-xxx-xxxx

Now I have had other real estate professionals jockey for place and interchange their ad copy to be leading of mine in the column but it has not made whatsoever difference, at least as far as I can discern. Don’t worry about those things, just get the advertising out there and leave it. It could possibly take a bit of time, perhaps a several weeks to get going but sellers will telephone. As soon as you have your classified advertising running, then you should start working on your other marketing techniques right away. If you only go through one idea a week, within a few weeks or a couple of months you will have a significantly powerful real estate purchasing process.

Ads in the “Freebie” Papers

You might also run advertisements in the freebie papers in your local region or the region you want to conduct real estate investment deals. These are the “Thrifty Nickel”, or whatever they are named in your region. We run both a column ad and a display in this newspaper and expend about $175.00 or so a calendar month for these ads. They pull in seller leads reasonably well and have always rationalized the costs. Remember that these guys are usually open to talking terms on your rates and you will probably get a better rate if you commit to a longer advertising agreement.

Bandit Signs or Road Signs.

Bandit signs are great. They are some of the best lead producing tools around. I have yet to put out a bunch and not be bombed with calls right after I arranged my marketing. I just don’t position them out that often. I might place out a few to a half dozen or so a calendar month and the ones that continue and don’t get taken down continue to pull in phone calls. At an average price of less than $4.00 per sign, they are one of the greatest real estate marketing and advertising values available. Check the net for sign manufacturers for discount signage costs. I use 18 x 24 signs and set them at high traffic crossings around the town I wish to purchase houses in.

I also position a sign in the front yard immediately after purchasing any house. I have purchased several homes in the same regions as a result of marketing this way.

You can either use wood stakes or the wire stakes with your signs. I like the wood stakes because they do not bend like the wire ones, in addition, they are more less expensive and you can find just about any reasonably sized stick of wood or stake at your local hardware store for a really good value. Just get long lengths and trim down to fit. Then just nail the sign to it with the roofing nails with the orange or green plastic tops or you can use screws. There are many variants on what the wording on the sign can say. Keep in mind that traffic will be moving so you want to keep your message short and simple so it may be read. Plus your telephone number must be big, large and easy to read.

If you search the sign advertisement content, you will discover that it is same resemblance my paper ad. I like to brand my advertising because I believe that helps with identification that is probably why the two guys noticed me as a Real Estate Professional..You want to have contrast, so a white sign with dark blue letters usually is the best draw. Some folks swear by black on yellow or black on orange. Again, I say it’s not what or how you say it rather simply that you’re out there marketing and placing out signs that counts. You’ll build a ‘brand image over time if you stay logical with your real estate marketing endeavors. When dealing with bandit signs, be sure that your local code enforcement laws are aware of them. In some areas or counties they can lax on them but a few miles down the road in another county or city, they can be super strict and will ticket you in a minute, pull the signs down and lead off looking for your next posters to go after you again. Some retail merchants in high tax areas can’t put out any A board signage without having them sized and then fined.

Flyers and Bulletin Board Postings

Flyers and related collateral are another cheap way to get the word out that you are a real estate investor buy property, foreclosures or distressed properties. Just create a flyer with any one of the free on-line flyer software internet sites telling people that your are a real estate investor and how to get in touch with you. Make copies for few cents apiece and you have some really inexpensive real estate marketing and advertising. It really is that simple. Then place these flyers on every bulletin board in your Town or region you would like to buy your property, foreclosure or distressed home.. I also recommend that you place some of them in those plastic sheet shielders so the rain won’t ruin them and put them up on phone poles around neighborhoods I like to buy property in.. While not as prominent as the bandit signs, on poles actually in the neighbourhood they still attract phone calls. I carry a file with me in my automobile and put them up whenever I stop at a grocery store or major discount shop or really wherever. Some of the other area to put them are:

� Laundromats
� Taped to the inside of telephone Booths.
� On the counter of any business organization that will let you place them at.
� Bulletin boards at any local or major rebate store (lots of traffic)
� Grocery store bulletin boards
� Fax to Mortgage agents, call first
� Fax to Real Estate Agents, call first and they may get a lot of these.
� Take them Door to Door in target regions
� Employment centre Bulletin board
� County Courthouse or public office Bulletin board

These are just a few illustrations. Any place that will allow you to set one is a good place. You can never let too many people know that you are a real estate investor and are in the foreclosure market.

Imprinted and/or Promotional Items

Optimum Real Estate Investor Marketing Ideas – These no-lose ideas are sure to get you top hits on leads and calls for your Real Estate Investing occupation.

These are some of my favourites and most fun. While they are not the top producers of leads or the least costly, they will sure position you apart from the average investor.

Pen Knives – These tiny Swiss army knives are the neatest things. They are actually key chains etched with your content, mine being: WE BUY HOMES – All cash or take over payments within 24 hours! Call xxx-xxx-xxx I assure if you give one of these to somebody they will hold on to it it and if they conceive of selling, they will think of you. They are about $1.75 each.

Key Chains – I give these to all my buyers with the keys to their new house on them and leave them all over the place. They come in the shape of a house or #1 or whatever style you like and have your message on them. You can guess what mine says. Cost – about $. 25 cents apiece.

Pens – I use these all the time. Whenever I sign a sales receipt or anything I leave my pen. I cannot tell you how many outcries I have gotten off of these things and since I often need one, I always possess one to give away. My attorney even has a supply on his closing table. I possess two types printed. One for sellers says “We Buy Homes!” and one for buyers says “Everyone Qualifies”. Cost – about $.26 cents per unit.

Coin Holders – These you hardly find anymore so everyone is surprised when I have them. I leave these things everywhere. Mine are bright yellow with blue letters and my message. Cost – about $.30 cents apiece.

I leave all of these promotional items everywhere, on the top of gas pumps, on end-cap displays in grocery stores and in department stores. I look at it this way, if I give away 100 pens, 50 knives and 50 coin holders a month, that is only a little over $100 bucks a month. That is still cheap advertising. And with the money you can make in a real estate deal, it is ‘no cost’ marketing strategy. You can get any of these promotional advertising products at many major promotion marketing manufacturer, and you can find companies online as well.

Business Cards

I order business cards by the 1000′s and you should as well, there are a lot of great places online that can print up nice (and cheap) cards for you and that specialize in real estate as well. As for business cards, well, they are cheap, mine are about $50.00 for 2000, and I pass them out and leave them everywhere I possibly can. I leave my cards everywhere, in pay phones, on restaurant tables, my kids even have their own supply to pass out. Try to get a box a week out. The card doesn’t have to be fancy, in fact the simpler the better. My card is bright yellow with blue letters and says:

WE BUY HOUSES Foreclosure? Need Repairs? Bad Tenants? Divorce? CASH IN 48 HOURS! OFFERS MADE ON ALL CALLS! XXX-XXX-XXXX

Car Magnetics

Magnetics are one of those things where you spend once and get use for a long time. Mine cost about $75.00 and are yellow with blue letters. They say:

WE BUY HOUSES! FA$T CA$H XXX-XXX-XXXX

or

SELL YOUR HOME FAST WE PAY CA$H XXX-XXX-XXXX

I have gotten several deals from these signs. Remember to order a smaller set for the back of your car/truck. People have more of a chance to read the message when they are riding behind you.

Clothing

I like golf shirts and oxford dress shirts with my logo on them. There’s plenty of adverting houses that will help you design a logo if you don’t have one or use the one you already have. There is no charge for set up and all items ordered include your embroidered logo free.

I pass custom imprinted hats out to everyone I know who wears one and have given away many shirts as well. They really look nice and present a nice image for your business.

Other Advertising Tools

There are many other shapes of advertising, some I have tested in the past such as billboards, door hangers, yellow pages, television and radio advertisement. I even have a traveling billboard, an old SUV painted bright yellow with blue WE BUY HOUSES! and my telephone number that I drive around and park overnight at dissimilar places. It brings the calls! Get the marketing going and let the world know who to call when they have a house to sell, a pre-foreclosure, distressed property or someone who just wants to get out of their house.. If that phone isn’t ringing, you aren’t making money so you need to get a good marketing strategy going and stick with it!

I sincerely hope these tips will help you in your next real estate marketing efforts and get you the real estate investing deals you’re after.

Find out how to invest in Foreclosure Properties check out: http://www.RealEstateInvestingInformationSource.com

Online directories are today’s version of the traditional Yellow Pages. In fact, you’ll find YellowPages.com on the web along with industry-specific directories for every vocation from attorneys to zoologists. These directories differ in the amount of information they allow you to post, the search options they offer and the fees they charge. Costs for directories range from free to over $240 a year. Some are free with a reciprocal link exchange. Many real estate directories are actually lead-generation sites where a visitor fills out a “blind” form to ask for more information. Then the company contacts members of their directory to sell that lead or they sell it through other outlets.

Directory Listing-Pros: A directory listing generally is the least expensive way to place your contact information online. Popular directories may provide an opportunity for new business since they generate traffic. If your directory listing has the added benefit of a link to your web page or website, it could convert more prospects since they can “click through” to learn more about you. A directory listing is the bare minimum in web presence, but it’s a start, and the more listings you have, the better…”more needles in the Internet haystack.”Directory Listing-Cons: Directories typically limit your information and may charge extra for premium upgrades such as posting a photo or logo, being listed for more than one city, or having top-of-the-page placement. Also, if a directory depends on advertising for income, its pages may be cluttered with tiny ads and flashing banners, not exactly a professional image. AND directory companies often intercept customer inquiries to turn around and sell those leads to you and any number of other agents. If you want a web address you can add to your business cards, ads or flyers, a plain directory listing probably is not the answer. Most provide an address that’s long, unfriendly, and not suitable for marketing, such as: lottaagents.com/us/oh/785mcl28119v?asp.39071. Try putting that on a business card or typing it into your browser! Most don’t offer a search-by-name feature, so if a past customer wants to find you or refer someone, they can’t locate you without doing a search by city and state, then scrolling through the list until they find your name. Also, directories are frequently programmed in a format that doesn’t allow bookmarking “favorites,” which means a customer can’t return to your information without doing another search by city and state, then scrolling again.

Following are only a few of the companies offering online directories. (Costs quoted are subject to change.) These are not the highest or lowest fees but are typical of the industry:

Generic online directories: SuperPages.com, free. MagicYellow.com, free. Real estate online directories: ABCRealEstateDirectory.com, free with link exchange. REALS.com listing, $19.95/year. RealEstateABC.com, free with logo/link on your home page or $25/year.

About the Author:
Sharon Hassler was a loan officer and real estate agent in Southern California, then served as Communications Manager for First American Title-Arizona for 11 years. She specializes in affordable websites and search engine optimization for small businesses and is founder and manager of http://www.GoGetNotary.com, a nationwide directory for mobile notaries and notary signing agents.

Copyright Sharon Hassler. All rights reserved. Permission to reprint this article is granted if the article is reproduced in its entirety, without editing, including author’s information. When using this article in magazines or newsletters or online publications, please include the full URL or a hyperlink to http://www.SmallBusinessWebsitesOnly.com.