What’s the best way to contact transfer property sellers?
What even is a “transfer property” and why should you care about it?
I got you covered.
Ready to swipe and deploy?
Get yours for only $0.
Seriously!
And it’s not just a stock template you can get anywhere. This one’s the exact transfer property letter I’ve been using for years to contact sellers.
Why I’m giving it away? Because one of the big complaints I hear is from investors who are having trouble finding deals that aren’t way over-leveraged. Fret not. We’ll tackle that in a moment.
But before that…
We’ve handed you goodies like our assignment of contract, simple real estate contracts, an agreement for subcontractors, 47 MLS keywords for REI, one of our favorite real estate investor postcards, & option agreement.
It’s all there.
Ready for the taking.
No strings attached.
We’re awesome, just like that.
And I’m adding an even better one just for you.
Here’s the million-dollar question…
There are often short sale opportunities in every neighborhood… but what about deals that don’t require the headaches and hassles of negotiating with banks?
Well, one of my newer investor friends, James S., emailed me saying that finding motivated sellers has been difficult because they usually list the property with a Realtor or broker. He wanted to know:
“How do you find deals in today’s market that have plenty of equity AND that aren’t already listed?”
So, before I share the one strategy with you that consistently generates more high-equity home leads from motivated sellers than any other I’ve ever found, check out my marketing plan first…
- “We Buy Houses” ad in our local newspaper (yes, they still exist) in the “Housing Wanted” section on the weekends
- “We Buy Houses” bandit signs… I was super aggressive and put out around 50+ signs per week
- Pre-foreclosure properties — I researched the list of properties that were facing foreclosure and went door-knocking (not much fun, but effective)
And since then, I’ve tried many other strategies… from billboards and TV commercials to all kinds of direct mail — out-of-state owners, foreclosure leads, expired listings, targeted farm neighborhoods, burned-out landlords… you name it.
But this one stands out…
It’s actually one of my best sources of high-equity homes that other people aren’t finding these days… and it’s…
Properties that show a sales price of $100 bucks or less on public record — aka transfer properties.
What Are Transfer Properties?
Many of these properties are inheritance or divorce situations, and the most important thing to the sellers, oftentimes, is not price — it’s getting rid of the problem property. And it just so happens (from my experience) that these leads typically have lots of equity.
For instance, we got a lead on a property in Goose Creek, SC that was a divorce situation. The sellers, Richard and Diane, owed $107k, and it was worth $180k. As soon as we got the lead, I set up an appointment and my partner in my investment biz rushed to the property.
When he got there, Richard was on one side of the living room and Diane on the other. They wanted to be as far away from each other as possible and just wanted to sell the property quickly, so they never had to see each other again.
The sellers could have cared less what they sold the property for. They just wanted out.
So, we offered to take this problem off their hands for what was owed, and they enthusiastically said, “YES!”
Now you’re probably wondering:
“Ok, Patrick, sounds great. How do I get my hands on this transfer list and what’s the best way to contact ‘em?”
Great questions.
Transfer Properties: How I find them…
There are a couple of different ways you can get the list…
1. You can buy a list through a list broker company.
I’m talking about companies like:
2. Or, you may be able to get a list through your county courthouse.
In Charleston County, in the tax assessor’s department, you can get the transfer list (or any other list you want) for only $50 bucks. Any time I want a new or updated list, I just call that office, tell the lady who works there exactly what info I want, and she emails me the list in Excel in a few days.
I ask for the owner’s name, the property address, the mailing address, tax-assessed value, and the last sale price on record (which, for transfers, I target prices less than $100).
Contact your county courthouse to find out if you can get your list through them.
Reaching out to sellers…
Well, to answer your next question about the best way to contact these sellers…
You could search a site like Whitepages.com for a phone number and cold call ‘em — but my preference is to send a letter in the mail.
And that’s where your next “Swipe and Deploy” resource comes in – your transfer property letter template.
Keep going—you’ll find how on the page below. ッ
First, some keep-in-minders…
Before kicking off your mailer campaign, it’s important to remember that marketing is all about consistency.
Anything new has a learning curve, and most things worthwhile take patience.
So, do yourself a favor and commit to consistency with this:
- Determine how many letters you’re going to send out per week/month.
- Then commit to hitting that goal for at least 3 months.
- At the end of 3 months, you’ll have enough data to measure its success.
- Then, if you want more motivated seller leads, simply raise your weekly/monthly goal.
And to increase the response rate you get from your letters, here are a few tips for ya…
- Use a standard, white, number 10-size envelope
- Hand write the seller’s name/address and return address
- Use blue ink
- Use a live stamp
Btw, yes, this ⇈ is more expensive than bulk-rate postage but your letter will get a higher open rate for sure.
If you’re thinking, “You know Patrick, I don’t have the time nor the patience to do these letters myself. Is there a way that I can get someone else to stuff, stamp, and hand address these for me?”
Yes, there is!
First, put the word out to your network—friends, family, work colleagues, a teenager, a college student, or anyone who you think may be interested in earning a little extra cash or who may know someone who would be interested.
And if you don’t find someone through your network, put an ad on Craigslist.
Seriously, you’d be surprised how many people would LOVE a little more income from something they can do wherever and whenever they want.
Buy the supplies needed and offer to pay $50 bucks (or whatever makes sense to you) for every 200 letters.
Alrighty, time to download your copy of my transfer property letter—the very same one that I’ve had great success with for years now…
Transfer Letter: Get Mine Now 😊
Ready to just grab mine yours, and start making money with it?
Awesome, just remember: You might want to have your local attorney and/or real estate pro—someone who knows the specific legal stuff for your state—review it before you go start making it rain dollar bills.
How to download my assignment of contract…
First off, I’d like to ask a small favor:
Would you please “Like” our Facebook page if you haven’t done so already?
Doing this will most definitely make you awesomer and probably better looking, too.
Next, do this…
Ok, so how do you get your little paws on my transfer letter? Easy peasy. Just download the document here… No strings attached.
Lastly…
Leave a comment below and you’ll get to download my transfer letter — easy peasy, macaroni-and-cheesy.
And don’t forget to be awesome.
