Strategy Adjustments

Well, I just rolled past the one year point as a corporation. Which is good. What a crazy year it has been too. Things really seemed to be trucking along there in June/July last year, then slowed down as 08 came to a close.

With the changes in the market, I have been forced to take a hard look at what is working and what is not working.

Based on the last deals I have done, PROBATE is working... There is equity AND motivation (which are the key elements in this investing game.)

While Free and Clear/High equity mailers get lots of calls, the appointments haven't been as frequent and the resulting deals have been non-existant in the last 6 months.


Absentee owners/landlord mailers also generate lots of calls, but in this crazy market, there is just too big of a gap from where I need to be and the lowest they will take. I can't justify the expense when I'm not sure I'll be able to convert the calls to cash $$$...

So...

1. I'm putting the mass mailers on hold. Going back to the old-school. Probate mail and knocking doors...

2. Continuing my Probate method of gathering info at the courthouse each month, mailing a nice letter and now, (2b.) adding a follow up component by designing an executor follow up post card.

3. Door knocking motivated lists. I have a researcher knocking expired listings for me right now and am going to have him add probates to the list. We knocked 7 doors the other night (expired listings) and bumped into a probate executor and I was able to schedule an appointment for the following week. Quick results and little cash outlay. (gas money.)

4. Get licensed. I have heard/read many conflicting opinions about whether or not to get my RE license, but I was successful finding buyers for that property that went into short-sale and have so many potential listings and short sale leads, I can no longer keep giving the business away as referrals to my agent. I need the income and love the thought of keeping myself in the RE game during this market downturn.

We're making the same changes in Virginia as well, with emphasis on follow up with current leads and continuing to mail probates.

It's baby steps at this point, returning to the things that originally brought in dollars for the dollars spent and on making money through the market change so that when the shift comes I can be ready to jump and make cash again.

Keep watching.

-Taylor