Have you heard of companies that give their employees $100 (or more) and then tell them they have to do something charitable with it? Of course, many people just give the $100 away. But others use the $100 as “seed” money to make even more money… turning $100 into thousands of dollars in some cases.
So, I started thinking about this through my “real estate glasses”. If someone gave me $100 and told me that I had to get a deal or I would die, what would I do?
Direct Mail?
Well, first I would not do any type of direct mail. Letters and postcards are just too expensive. Also, you get your best results on multiple mailings. Obviously, with just $100 I won't be able to send out 1,000 letters for a total of 8 times. Second, I would not do bandit signs. Pretty much for the same reason I wouldn't do direct mail. I could buy about 50 bandit signs and put them up, but to get a deal you usually have to put up signs multiple times.
What About Car Signs?
I can get a set of car signs for $50. Still, I wouldn't do this either. Yes, you can get deals from car signs but they are few and far between. For example, you know that if you send out 1,000 letters on Tuesday, you're probably going to get several calls on Friday. However, with car signs you never know when you're going to get a call.
So What Would I do?
Flyers. Let's say it costs me 8 cents a flyer to get printed. That means I can get 1,250 flyers printed. And on these flyers I would put together an awesome marketing piece with the following: I would choose a subdivision that I wanted to invest in. And on the flyer I would name the subdivision. Instead of saying “We want to buy your house in Chicago, Illinois”, I would say “We want to buy your house in Broad Run Mills because we love this neighborhood”. Also, I would have a special report on the flyer such as “How to sell your house in 11 days or less no matter your current financial situation”.
Next, on a Saturday afternoon I would head out and start putting my flyers on people's door steps or sticking them in the door. (You thought I was going to make you knock on the doors didn't you? No, all you have to do is leave the flyer at the door). I would do that until I had passed out all 1,250 flyers. Also, you should already know this but I'm going to say it anyway: The neighborhood you choose should have bread and butter houses and be on the low end of the housing values for your area.
And that my friends, is what I would do with $100 bucks. Then, I would hopefully get a deal and I could donate some of it to a worthwhile charity. By they way, I just gave you an almost fool-proof way to get a deal. But I know most people are too lazy to pass out 1,250 flyers… which means more houses and more money for you and me!
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