Tag: Real Estate Investing

Kathy Kennebrook Discusses Marketing To Senior Home Owners

One of my favorite techniques for locating motivated sellers for your real estate investing business is to create direct mail campaigns targeting Senior Home Owners. These homeowners are a good source of leads for a variety of reasons.

After having bought and sold hundreds of my own properties through our real estate investing business that senior home owners may be interested in selling a property for many reasons, and most of the time these homes are in nice neighborhoods where people want to live. One reason for example, would be that a spouse has passed away and the remaining home owner doesn’t want to continue living in the property alone. Or perhaps the senior homeowner wants to move in with a relative or relocate to another state and sell their home. The homeowner may want to move into a smaller home or an assisted living facility. The home they have for sale may also have been a vacation property they owned and now they either don’t want to or are unable to visit it any longer.

I believe there are many reasons a senior home owner may want to work with a real estate investor to get a property sold as opposed to listing it with a Real Estate agent. Maybe they need to have the property sold quickly because they need the funds to relocate to another state or perhaps move into an assisted living facility or a nursing home. Because they are senior home owners, the home may need repairs that the owner is no longer able to do in order to get the home sold. Many end users are unwilling to purchase a home that needs a lot of repairs and these are ideal properties for the real estate investor to purchase for their real estate investing business.

For more information on Marketing to locate motivated sellers, check out my website at www.marketingmagiclady.com. While you are there take a look at Marketing Magic III which specifically addresses marketing to Senior Homeowners.

Kathy Kennebrook Discusses Building Your Dream Team As A Real Estate Investor

Putting your “dream team” in place while establishing your real estate business is one of the key steps to developing a successful real estate investing business quickly and efficiently. Your dream team is going to consist of those people or vendors who can help you find deals, provide funding, get your deals closed and then sold quickly. Having your dream team in place and being able to close deals quickly will give you a distinct advantage over your competition by allowing you to complete deals they simply won’t be able to finish in a timely manner.
The first element you need to think about is your marketing team. Your marketing dream team will include the people who can help you locate good deals, such as “bird dogs”, Realtors, mortgage brokers, promotional companies who will supply your business cards, signage, t-shirts and whatever advertising materials you need, and people who will do your direct mail campaigns for you. You also need to add to the mix the account representatives who will handle your classified and display ads in your local newspaper and shopper guides. The more you can automate this part of your business, the more deals you’ll be able to do more quickly.
Next, your dream team needs to include a title agent and/or a real estate attorney. These people are going to insure your deals close smoothly and with a clear title. A real estate attorney can help you to solve a lot of problems that can arise during a closing, such as a title glitch, a survey problem, or estate and probate issues, just to name a few. As you develop a relationship with your title agent and/or real estate attorney, they will become a major asset to your business by being better able to work one-on-one with your sellers and you to make sure all your deals close as smoothly as possible. You also need to make sure that your title agent and/or real estate attorney are bi-lingual so they will be able to work with your Spanish speaking sellers as well. This part of your team is one of the most important. If any part of a deal is going to fall apart it is going to be during the process of closing. Make sure you choose the best in the industry to close your deals from the very beginning, even if it costs a little more!

For More information on developing your dream team visit Kathy Kennebrook’s website at www.marketingmagiclady.com

Kathy Kennebrook’s Marketing Tip for The Day for the Real Estate Investor

Kathy Kennebrook personally loves direct mail because it is unique in that there is no other marketing technique out there where you have the kind of control that you do with direct mail. For example;

1. You can cultivate the exact type of lead you are looking for in the
specific area or price range you are looking for.

2. You can control the number of pieces going out, when they go out,
and specifically to whom they are targeted.

3. You can create a response mechanism within the body of your
letter so that you get the specific response you want from the seller or customer.

4. It is very easy to “crank up” your mailing machine or pull it back
depending on what your personal situation or goal is.

5. You can create more solid leads using fewer of your marketing
dollars thus leaving you more dollars for other marketing you might want to do.

6. You can create a solid successful direct mail campaign even if you have a very limited budget to work with.

7. It is very easy to track the success and response rate of the direct mail campaigns you have created.

8. These mailings are very residual, potential sellers or customers
will hold on to them until they need your service.

9. You will reach prospective sellers or customers who might not
ever learn about you otherwise.

Investing in Commercial Real Estate by Kathy Kennebrook

Kathy Kennebrook does invest in commercial real estate to a small degree. The way she does this is by investing in multi-unit properties such as apartment complexes. While it makes a lot of sense to invest in commercial buildings, Kathy Kennebrook does not invest in commercial buildings or lots.

There are several reasons for this. While commercial buildings obviously mean bigger paychecks, in our current economy they also mean a lot more carrying costs and less cash flow unless you are able to turn them quickly. To be really successful in commercial real estate, you really need to be an expert and invest a lot of time in these properties. In fact Kathy Kennebrook knows of several investors who are “stuck” with commercial properties they can’t move in the current market.

Now Kathy does like to invest in storage units and small apartment complexes since these are much easier to manage and the cash flow is greater even in a depressed economy. Plus you end up with several rental units in the same location which makes managing them much easier and the cash flow even greater.

With storage units the “eviction” process is much easier and with small apartment complexes, even if you have one or two units empty the rest will carry your payments and continue to cash flow. To Kathy’s way of thinking this makes perfect sense.

While Kathy Kennebrook does not currently own any storage units, she has in the past and these buildings create really great cash flow and are very easy to manage, so if you are interested in commercial real estate this might be the way for you to go. Kathy Kennebrook’s greatest love still continues to be single family homes since everyone needs a place to live and these properties offer excellent long term benefits. Kathy currently lives in a smaller community and there just aren’t that many storage units or apartment complexes available for sale so Kathy is working primarily in the single family home market.

For more information on all the resources you need for your real estate investing business, visit Kathy Kennebrook’s website at www.marketingmagiclady.com. While you are there be sure and sign up for Kathy’s free monthly newsletter. When you do you will receive an additional 149.00 in relevant real estate information absolutely FREE

Create A Solid Direct Mail Campaign for Real Estate Investing

Creating A Solid Direct Mail Piece
By Kathy Kennebrook (The Marketing Magic Lady)

One of the most important aspects to a marketing campaign that is going to work is to create a solid direct mail piece for your business. These are key points for creating a solid direct mail piece that folks will respond to no matter what business you are in including Real Estate Investing.

1. The first thing you’ll want to do is to “touch” your prospective customer or seller with “the dream”, or “the solution” to their problem. You’ll want to touch the basic emotions and the needs of your client or seller within the body of your letter, whether that is fear, relief, greed, pride or vanity.

2. Keep it simple. The grammar doesn’t necessarily have to be perfect. You want to reach this person at their comfort level. Keep your letter relaxed, personal and conversational.

3. Use simple language; don’t fill your letter with big words or technical words or “industry jargon” that your seller or your customer might not understand.

4. I also use paragraphs in my letters so that there is a specific break between thoughts and so the letter just flows better and is more pleasing to the eye.

5. Even though this is a personal letter, I still begin with a powerful headline or first sentence to make sure I have their attention so that they read the rest of my piece.

6. I also list the benefits to the seller of choosing to work with me the investor, as opposed to perhaps listing their home or trying to sell it themselves. You always need to list the benefits of whatever it is you are selling and why they should buy yours.

7. In any piece you send out you need to have your USP (Unique Selling Proposition). For the Real Estate Investor this is going to be the ease with which you can help the seller solve their problem and/or debt relief. For every business the USP will be uniquely different.

8. Always include a strong P.S. In my case the P.S. is “contact me immediately since we budget to purchase a certain number of homes each month.” This motivates them even more to contact me right away.

9. Create residual mailings so that your seller/customer sees your message over and over again. By doing this you create credibility with your prospect and when they need your services they will contact you first.

When you are creating direct mail pieces or letters no matter what business you are in remember to think about writing your letter as though you are writing to just one person.

For example, you wouldn’t begin your letter “Dear Neighbors” you would begin it “Dear Neighbor” or “Dear Friend”. Within the body of the letter you should write as though you are writing to just one person, so you wouldn’t say something like “all of you” within the body of your letter.

Always remember that if you are handwriting the letter make sure it’s easy to ready, printed might be best. If you are using a computer or printer generated letter be sure and use a font that is easy to read such as 12 or 14 point. And use a type set that is easy to read like Times New Roman.

These few points will help you to create direct mail campaigns that will continue to net you excellent results just as ours have over the years. For specific information on how to create direct mail campaigns to find motivated sellers visit Kathy Kennebrook’s website at www.marketingmagiclady.com