How to Sell or Occupy Your Empty Houses Fast (Part 2)
by Richard Roop
#1: NO MONEY NEEDED or NO MONEY DOWN with Down Payment Grant
I had the honor of sharing the stage with Ron LeGrand in September at both his
marketing boot camps for buying and selling houses. Ron shared some new
information on Neighborhood Gold, a non-profit organization providing down
payment grants for buyers. This program, was also the subject of Ron's September
TeleSeminar for his Prosperity Partners Network (AKA Millionaire Mastermind
Group) which I am a member. This is a strategy for making your ads, flyers and
signs compelling AND getting cashed out.
Here's an example of how you can use this program. If you have a buyer who
qualifies to borrow 95% to 97%, but does not have any money, you can:
- Pay their closing costs, and
- Get them a grant for their down payment.
The grant is an expense to you, the seller. If the grant is for 3% of the
purchase price, then 4% (3% plus 1% fee) will be withheld from your proceeds at
closing. If the grant is for 5%, then the cost to you is 6%.
Another example. Buyer is approved for 90% first, 5% owner carry second, and
lender requires 5% down. You can use Neighborhood Gold for the 5%, again costing
you 6%. I just got around to looking up their web site and I'm now looking to
use this program on a few current deals to see how well it works. For details go
to
www.neighborhoodgold.com.
#2: ADS TO DRIVE TONS OF CALLS AND BUILD A BUYER'S LIST
With a good buyer's list, you can occupy a new property without running a new
ad. This "vague" ad below was revealed by an active investor on Bill Barnett's
"Broke No More" Conference Call...
NO BANK QUALIFYING: Owner must sell.
Two homes available. Call John, 719-555-1234
I have a similar long running classified ad appearing in EACH issue of my local
daily and weekly newspapers...
OWNER FINANCING or rent-to-own. 3 nice mountain homes
to choose from. 24 hour recorded list 1-888-555-1111 Box 1234
I may have 1 house or I may have 7 but I keep running the same ad without
changing it. I just update the recorded list.
#3: SEND POSTCARDS TO THE SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOOD
My title company will give me mailing labels of homeowners near my houses for
sale. I can select subdivisions or zip codes to target the area. In many areas,
you can get these names on labels through your tax assessor.
Thanks to my friend, Jeff Kaller (www.mrpreforeclosure.com), I was reminded of
the effectiveness of this tactic while listening to his Pre-foreclosure course.
I decided to add this technique to our arsenal of marketing tools to sell houses
fast.
The cost will be about $.25 per mailed postcard. Printing and mailing 500 cards
is only about $125. Unconverted prospects can go on your buyer's list. Here is
an example of the post card content (a personal message, description of the
property, no photo needed):
LEFT FRONT PANEL-------------------------
Dear Neighbor, Thought you'd appreciate knowing about the home for sale near you
at 248 Elfin Drive. It just became available and I was wondering if you had any
family members or friends who might be interested. We own the home and can offer
flexible no bank-qualifying owner financing. We can even help finance the down
payment!
If you, your immediate family, or your referral purchases this home, we might be
able to pay some or all of the closing costs. Be sure to mention this postcard.
Do you know a nice family who might be interested? Please call Martha or myself
at 687-6885. I'm also writing to all your neighbors... so call right away while
this home is still available.
Sincerely,
Manager Bottom Line Results, Inc.
RIGHT FRONT PANEL-------------------------
Buy this home with little or no money down!
This 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom modular home has great views to the north west and
easy access being close to the Divide intersection (Sherwood Forest). There's
extra space for parking a boat, RV or building a garage. It has 1,272 square
feet, newer carpet, new kitchen floor. Affordable living in a nice location.
Vacant, call to see inside.
Very flexible owner financing or rent-to-own terms.
248 Elfin Glen Dr.
Divide, Colorado ................$119,500
Free 24 hour recorded info,
call 1-888-499-1051, box 5056
REVERSE SIDE-------------------------
Bottom Line Results, Inc.
743 Gold Hill Pl. #239
P.O. Box 220
Woodland Park, CO 80866-0220
Call our 24 hour Real Estate Hotline at 1-888-499-1051, then:
Box 6996 for current list of homes for sale by owner with flexible owner
financing, or
Box 6206 to learn more about how our owner financing programs work, or
Box 6051 to learn how we might buy your house in as little as 9 days at a fair
price
RECAP:
1) Check out Neighborhood Gold so you can offer NO MONEY DOWN or NO MONEY NEEDED
in your marketing.
2) Build a buyer's list with generic ads.
3) Hit the surrounding neighborhood with hundreds of postcards.
Bio:
Full-time investor Richard Roop has been called The Marketing Consultant for
Real Estate Entrepreneurs. He is the President of Bottom Line Results, Inc., a
real estate acquisition company located in Woodland Park, Colorado since 1996.
As a successful marketing consultant since 1984, Richard specializes in
providing innovative business and marketing advice to real estate entrepreneurs.
He is the author of the "How to Sell Your Home in 9 Days" book. Richard Roop's
articles have appeared in various entrepreneurial, real estate and marketing
newsletters across the nation.