Tips for Direct Mailing to Mortgage Note Holders

This video will cover Tips for direct mailing to mortgage note holders.

By the way, if you haven’t seen my other videos that explain why direct mailing to note holders offers the greatest “bank for buck” as the most efficient way to reach the people we’re after, be sure to check them out because you’ll then be exposed to a lot of insight.

Now, While the tips I’m going to give you are geared towards private note holders, I want to point out that direct mailing in general, no matter what the industry, is a science unto itself which yields relatively predictable results over time in that a 2% response rate is considered good. This does not mean that 98 out of a hundred have no interest in your message; it only means that 2% is a generally accepted benchmark as a number of people who are actually compelled to respond at a particular point in time because they have a need.

(It is certainly possible to achieve response rates of, say, 5% or greater, but generally that can be achieved with time and experience.)

You have between 4 and 7 seconds to grab the prospect’s attention with your message. This is why an ATTENTION GRABBING HEADLINE is paramount. “I will buy your note for cash” is a simple example. I like post cards because the prospect can’t avoid seeing your message as they hold the card in their hand.

Make sure you give the note holder more than one reason to call you; for example “Receive cash quickly”, “No more waiting for future payments”, “Eliminate risk of default”, etc, etc.

Be definitive and use shorter terms rather than long ones.

You should also give them a sense of urgency to call you now. One way to accomplish this is by offering something free for a limited time (say, if they respond within X number of days after they receive your mailing). A “free no obligation quote for your note” is an excellent option. You could also offer them something of value like a “note management handbook’ or even a smaller booklet such as “10 things every note holder must know”. These giveaways can also serve as marketing tools to further convey a sense of urgency like, for example pointing out the possibility of default, just to name one point to touch on.

Or, you can offer “cash back” at closing in addition to the quoted purchase price if the note holder requests a quote within a given timeline.

I give you these ideas just to stimulate your thinking.

Make sure you put your phone number in bold in at least two prominent spots on the card. I like red bold because it jumps out at you. You might state that they can “text or call you” You have to make it easy for them to contact you and you want your message to be as simple and straightforward as possible.

Above all, you want to make sure to convey that there will be no obligation on their part by contacting you. Remember, they don’t know you and you want to project maximum credibility and trust. Act like the bank. You want to exude the utmost level of professionalism and your materials need to be on par with what a Fortune 500 company sends out. This is easy to accomplish in today’s digital world.

Keep in mind that the quality of the note holder list you’re using is vital. You want bona fide private note holders who are carrying notes secured by owner occupied single family residences with loan to value of 90 percent or, ideally. less secured by properties in the states that you specify.. You also want the list to exclude notes that are already paid off or notes in second position. You also want to ensure that you are mailing to the note holder’s current address, as 15 percent of people mote every year.

Vet your list supplier accordingly so that your list is highly targeted and you are not wasting a single mailing. You want to be reasonably sure that when you get responses, they will be regarding transactions that you can make money on.

Another thing I want to point out is that the “law of large numbers” applies here, in that the larger the sample size, the more consistent and predictable results you will get. To illustrate, if you send out only 1,000 mailings, you might get 2% response, but you might not. But, by contrast, if you send out , say, 3,000 mailings over several months, you will start to notice relatively predicable trends… if your response rate is under 1% or worse by that time, then you will want to change up or “split test’ your message.
This is how experienced direct mailers improve their response rates to, in some cases, as high as 5% or greater by constantly honing their approach. Continue to monitor your direct marketing budget. Every $500 spent should return $2,000 or more into your pocket.

And, be sure to follow up by mailing to your list more than once. As an experienced note investor, I can tell you that the bulk of my business comes from note sellers who did not respond to my initialo mailings but continued to receive my mailings over a period of time.

So, my message is always be learning and improving your skill level.

OK, that’s it for today; be sure to check out my other videos where I really get into the nuances of finding note sellers.