Nancy Wallace-Laabs (00:04.546)
Have you ever wondered how investors find off-market deals? I always thought, well, how do they find them? Did they just go off of the MLS? And before I learned how to find and market for my own off-market deals, I was using realtor.com, Zillow, them MLS. And even though I still use the MLS because I am a Texas Realtor.
I have found that the majority of my deals come from my own marketing using a special pre-probate list. What? So there's probate and pre-probate. And what I'm going to share with you today is how I actually market to pre-probate leads. And I'm going to show you the exact results that I got from one month of targeted marketing and show you the results. So let's get going.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (01:16.526)
So you may already know this, but most investors do rely on wholesalers, they rely on the MLS, the Zillow, the Realtor.com. And unless they're doing their own marketing or they have a source of off-market leads, they are not finding the deals that I'm finding. And what I'm doing is I do market to distressed sellers. That's who I'm targeting. So
Yes, foreclosures, but I don't door knock. That's not what I do. In fact, I don't door knock anymore. I used to, but I don't do that anymore. And then there's probate leads, and I don't cold call those leads anymore. I used to, but I don't do that anymore. So I focus on pre-probate leads. So pre-probate, what does that mean? That means that someone in the family has passed away and I'm actually able to contact the family before they file probate.
And yes, that works in any state, regardless of where you're at. Some states, like Florida, they require that every property sale go through probate, but in Texas, we can buy and sell properties without with the family not actually having to go through probate. So it doesn't matter what state you're in and whether what the probate laws are or are not, you could still reach out to these families before they file probate.
And that gives you an advantage over everyone else who's waiting for that probate list to come out.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (03:00.589)
Now I can share with you that in my business I've been marketing to pre-probate leads since 2018. I actually stumbled across those types of leads and I really cut my teeth on getting bad phone calls about you know the way I used to market to them. So I've refined that process so it's very consistent and we get good returns on what we're doing now.
But in the beginning I was like, okay, I just threw it out there. I had a dialer. I would call up people and I never had so many people yell at me in my entire life.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (03:39.64)
But the reason that probate and pre-probate leads work is that if you put yourself into a position of being a consultant, you know, these families are not looking for an investor to buy their property. In fact, a lot of times what happens is when they do call, they'll ask me if I'm an investor, and I almost have to immediately say yes, but and tell them how I work as an investor because most people in their mind already have
have the idea that you're gonna lowball them on their property and it turns them off even b before they didn't had a chance to talk with you. So when you get someone who's talking to you about selling their property, you know, you have to come at it as more of a guide and a consultant and that this can be an opportunity for you, but you have to first figure out what it is the family is looking for before you start jumping into I buy your property and that kind of thing.
And you have to figure out what the family is looking for before so you have to find out what the family wants before finding out if this is a good deal or not.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (10:15.103)
Many times a family will look to you to help them determine if they should sell the property and at what price, if they should take the time and money to fix up the property, should they rent it.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (10:35.767)
Should they keep it and rent it? So they will look to you to help them with that decision. So it's not always about, you know, can you buy the property? How can you help and give value to what they're trying to do? And yes, sometimes that is purchasing the property.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (11:01.623)
So now I want to take you, now I'm going to take you through one month of my marketing campaign to pre-probate families. So in this campaign, we had 304 names in our list.
I like to personalize all my contact. Remember, I said I don't cold call. So what I do is I write hand, we send first class mail handwritten note cards with a very simple message. It's very simple, it's very efficient, and we keep it consistent. And my message is: I'm interested in the property at 123 Main Street. If you're interested in selling, please call me. And then I sign it with my name and my phone number.
That's it.
Then we use a return. A lot of people ask me about this, so I'll just share with you. My return address is my I have a business address that I use for my business. And so I use that. It's a UPS store, but it has a street address with a box number. So that's what I use for the return mail, not my home address. And that's it. We send the letters out. I get the list every week and I send the list out or I send the mailing out a few days after I get.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (12:26.847)
So, as far as what it takes to get this done, so we had the 304 names, addresses.
I had note cards that I get off of Amazon and I hire a mom to write my cards for me. Not my mom, but a mom. In my neighborhood, she writes the cards for me. And then we put a stamp on it. I have a stamp with the return envelope and we just put it in the mailbox and that's how we start our marketing campaign. So it's very simple. And to do that many cards in a month is about 17 hours. And if you break that down, that's 4.25, a little less.
hours per week that from start to finish we handle those cards going out. So the 304 is actually broken down into weekly increments because I don't get that many all at once. The 304 is the number for the month.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (13:23.669)
Now that might like seem a lot to you, but think about this. If it's consistent and it's generating leads for you, then is that 4.25 hours, is that worth your time and energy? And since I'm not writing the cards, then I'm actually freeing up some of my time to go do analyze, meet with sellers, and things like that.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (13:51.138)
But the main thing about our marketing, it is simple, it's efficient, and it's consistent. So month after month, I have been doing this since 2018. And this is how I find off-market properties.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (14:30.689)
will share with you the actual numbers so you can kind of
Put it in perspective of what I'm actually talking about. So we had 304 names that went out. We mailed that many. However, I did have 15 that got returned because of undeliverable or no one lives there. It doesn't really matter. It got returned from the post office. So that means I had a total of 289 potential opportunities. Now, of course, all 289 people aren't going to be calling me, but we did get several callbacks.
And referrals from our mailer, and I have the exact numbers broken down for you, but we were actually very pleased with this campaign. We ended up having a 3.29 conversion rate. Now that doesn't sound like much, but if you think about direct mail, the average, the national average on response rates from direct mail is about one to two percent. So I'm thinking three percent is pretty good. I'm actually happy when I get two percent as well. So this just happened to be a really good list.
But I also think it's because of our consistent, efficient, and simplistic system, we're able to actually get our marketing out the door and that way we have quicker response from the folks that we're mailing to.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (15:54.368)
I look at it this way. Every mailer I send out is an opportunity to have a deal or to make a connection. It's an opportunity and that's what we're creating when we do our deal pipeline.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (16:14.475)
So here's what we actually got from this mailer. Remember, this was one month, and I want to emphasize it was one touch, meaning I did not mail to people a second time yet. I will, but I didn't do it yet for this month. So number one, we had four appointments. So out of all of those cards that we got, I was actually able to schedule four, and these are seller appointments where I'm actually going to the house to look at the property and to determine if this is a deal or not. So four
Four appointments, so four opportunities, if you will, at bat. So we had two active negotiations out of those four sellers. three were already listed and or we needed
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (17:11.551)
Let me break down what our results were from this one month of mailers that we did with these three hundred and four postcards. Now I've already said that two hundred and eighty nine of them re were were
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (17:30.389)
Now I want to share with you the actual results of what this campaign for one month we actually got from this one one campaign of mailing.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (17:45.548)
Now I want to share with you the results of this marketing campaign. So the first thing up, we got four appointments to go meet with sellers, you know, look at potential deals. So this was really great. We were very excited about that.
Of those we're in active negotiations with two of them. So 50% rate, if you want to look at it that way. So we had four opportunities to look at properties. And of those, two of them look like they could be new deals. So as of today's date, we're still negotiating on the price. Then we had three properties that we made listing referrals. So I typically do not list properties and I have partnerships with realtors in different areas where I will refer them.
And then if they sell the property, then I get a referral fee for referring out those properties. Then we had
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (18:59.245)
Okay.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (19:10.027)
Okay, now I want to share the actual results from this one-month marketing campaign where we reached out to 304 names on our list. So first off, we got four listing appointments, or I'm sorry, not listing appointments, we got four appointments to actually go see the property and talk with the seller.
We are in one active negotiation with one of those four sellers. So we're very excited about that. I was able to refer out one of the listings, one of the sellers where they're going to be better served by having their property listed. So I am still monetizing that lead because I have partnerships with other realtors that do listings. So I refer them, refer people to them when the listing makes more sense, and then I get a referral fee for that.
We had one of our sellers was very motivated and they were actually not only are they motivated but they are on a time crunch and financially they need to sell the property as soon as possible. So we're still working out the numbers on that one. we found two people are already listed, which I don't consider that a fail because generally I will talk with the homeowner. So one I talked with the homeowner and he let me know that his property was already listed and I said, Great, and
Sometimes the realtor will call me as well, which I'm all open to because it's just another way to build connections. And then on the other one, the realtor did call because their client got our marketing piece. So he called and then we talked about would I be able to purchase the property? And they they were high-end property, so we weren't going to be able to purchase it. But again, it's just one of those things where we're reaching out and we're making connections. And then I want to share with you a memorable voicemail.
I got so I always say, like, remember, I said when in the beginning I did use to cold call, and my gosh, I got so many name calling, and just it was very it's a kind of a downer. If you've never done cold calling before, it will wake you up to how people sometimes behave if you catch them on a bad day. But I have to say, even in all my 20 years of marketing, I've never ever received a message like this. So I just wanted to put it up there so you can see. But this is the exact
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (21:30.336)
Message that someone left for me when they got our card. Now remember, my card only says I'm interested in your property at 123 Main Street. If you are interested in calling, or I'm sorry, if you are interested in selling.
Please call me at. So it doesn't say anything else. You know, I'm I'm saying if you're interested in selling, call me. So this person picked up the phone and this is the voicemail that they left me. And so I had to chuckle. I think I was glad that I was busy and I wasn't able to answer the phone when this person called. But if I had, I would have just said, you know what, sir sir, I am so sorry. You know, we'll take you off the list or whatever. But
You know, sometimes people just need to vent. They are angry. So when I got this message, I didn't think, my gosh, and it ruined my day. What I thought was, this person is really hurting because this came off of a pre-probate list. So someone in their family passed away, and a lot of times with grief, you get anger. So that's what I saw with this person is that they were very, they're very, very angry. And will I be calling them or you know, circling back with this person? No.
No, we did take his name off of our list because, you know, sometimes you can't solve all the problems. And obviously he doesn't want to hear from me. But I just wanted to share it with you because, you know, if you don't get one of these messages every now and then, and again, I don't think I've ever gotten this
More. I have not gotten this type of message, I don't think ever, this strongly worded. So I just wanted to share with you. Don't let those kinds of things get you down. Just remember, they're angry.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (23:18.161)
And it's not doesn't have anything to do with you, right? You just keep on doing your own marketing. So and remember that was just one out of all the calls we got, that was just one. Everybody else was very nice, was like wanted to know how we could help them. So remember, out of 304, 289, and the calls that we got this past month, that was just one person. So I didn't, I just said okay, but I kept it because I knew I was gonna do this presentation and I wanted to share.
it with you to let you know that hey sometimes the sellers are really really mad and you just have to have a you know just let you just have to know it's not about you it's about their situation
But the the deal that I'm most excited about is we have been talking to a seller, we're still working out all the details, but they are open because of the pricing and the current market, they need to sell sort of quickly, and they have an assumable loan. And that loan is at 2.25 percent. So the numbers, when I run the numbers, it's not like the deal of the century by any means, but what
What is attractive is that I'm able to assume a very low interest rate on a property that's a great buy and hold property. So sometimes you need to look at the paper as well. And when I made the offer to the family, what I said is that I can't, they had a certain number in mind, and I said I can't even get close to that number unless this assumable part, you know, you're willing to talk about that. And lo and behold, they were. So you never know.
until you ask, until you start talking about what other options there are. So sometimes it's you know just looking at being a little bit more creative on the purchase price of the property.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (25:27.593)
No, when you're when you're marketing to distressed properties, whether it's pre probate, probate, foreclosure, when people are in financial straits or emotionally they are preoccupied, if you will, you know, it's not always about
Is this a deal? Sometimes the opportunity is about creating the connection, creating the opportunity to see if there is a opportunity. And sometimes the opportunity is that you're actually giving value to them and where integrity leads before you actually get to buy the property. And that in turn then pays off later on down the road when they remember that and they will refer you. As I mentioned before, about 75% of my business comes from my direct marketing.
But the other 25% is all about referrals, and a lot of them come from families that I have assisted with, and I've been able to partner with different funeral homes because of my reputation in helping families through this very stressful time and very sad time, angry time. So, a lot of times, you know, it takes a little bit more than just knowing what numbers you need. It also talks you also need to look at are there other ways that the family can benefit? Because usually it's the
financial goal that they're trying to achieve for the person left behind in terms of the the family member that's left behind or the children.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (26:58.007)
So I like to think of it as long term thinking because there will be another deal. And with the way we do our marketing to pre probate, you can see that that those those numbers that I share with you, that's month after month since 2018, constantly having conversations with sellers. And sometimes the seller, like we had one that says that said, you know, I'm not ready today, call me in two weeks because they are trying to clean out the house. So there's different phases. So even though I don't get a
today I'm thinking long term and I'm creating a pipeline of opportunity for myself to make money as a real estate investor.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (27:46.774)
And even on those 15 returned pieces that we had, now we'll skip trace those. And I will personally call. So I'll do a couple things. I'll skip trace them. And if I can find a valid phone number, I'll go ahead and make the phone call. So I still do a little bit of cold calling, not as much as I used to, but on skip calls I will because I have an opening where I'll say, I mailed, you know, I mailed you this letter, it came back, and you know, I'm reaching out to see if you have an interest in selling your home. Or if I don't have any numbers, but I'm able to find a
Another address, then I will send out a second piece, and those I usually just handwrite myself, or we have postcards that we'll you know slap a label on and send it out that way. So we do have opportunities even from the skip trace because a lot of times the follow-up is the gold is in the follow up. A lot of times, and and I used to be guilty of this myself, I would just throw those away when they came back. I didn't have time to do it. Now I make the time to follow up with anything.
that came back as return mail and I have found some really good deals and properties that no one even knew the seller was looking to sell their property.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (29:16.653)
So, what you have to remember is this is a process. So, we start with a very simple process where I'm using blank note cards to send a very simple message to my list, and I'm doing that every month. I am having cons consistent
I am having consistent follow up
With either the people who reach out because I sent the card or the skip tracing, so that I have a constant stream of opportunities. And again, not every opportunity is going to turn into a deal for me, but what it does turn into is long term business because people are going to remember when you take the time to give someone comps. Recently, I just helped a family where I could have purchased the property, but I just asked them because they weren't getting as much.
as they really wanted to or they were hoping for and they didn't have the money to really fix it up to get retail but I just asked them why didn't they just keep the property as a rental and I was able to help them get their first rental property off of the ground I got them in touch with the property manager so you know I didn't really gain any money if you will but what I gained was the seller's trust and the ability to help them solve a problem and that was my
worth more to me because I was able to h help them meet their financial goals and then they in turn actually will probably refer business to me down the road.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (30:54.091)
So really what our marketing campaign does and continues to do is it's self st self.
It is self st s it is self st it sustains itself. So we
Continually market, we're sending out cards, we're doing follow-up, we're skip tracing, and that's what I devote my time to when I'm looking for distressed properties. So people just like you and me who are looking for distressed properties, they are out there. You just have to know where to look. And looking on realtor.com and Zillow and the MLS is not where I find the majority of my deals. And I
I think if you do the same, you probably will find that you would be more successful in marketing and finding a niche to find off-market deals.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (32:15.819)
So here's what I wanna leave you with. Most investors
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (32:24.501)
Aren't just lucky when they find deals. They are looking where no one else is looking. They're taking this kind of uncomfortable steps at time to talk with sellers that are in distressed situations.
and they're staying consistent. So they're giving value and staying consistent and this is kind of what
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (32:54.325)
As a real estate investor, I don't find myself lucky, nor do I find other investors lucky. What we're doing and what we help other people do is look where no one else is looking. That is the key to finding distressed off-market properties.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (33:15.839)
And in addition, we lead with service. We look at what is the financial goal of the family with the property and really what can the prop the family do to either obtain the highest amount that they can get for the property or the quickest sale, or are there other terms that you can introduce to the family that they may not have thought about, but in the end will get them closer to their financial goal.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (33:47.371)
And lastly, you have to stay consistent. So the investors that are finding deals, they are consistently looking, talking, marketing for those off-market properties. And you can do the same.
Nancy Wallace-Laabs (34:14.923)
Now, once you f have found a deal
You're going to need to know how to analyze the deal. And just for you, we created in our resource center how to analyze a real estate deal. And you can find it with the link below. You can also reach out to me anytime if you'd like to schedule a strategy call or find out more about how to market to pre-probate leads. I'd be happy to talk with you. So thanks again for watching. And remember, staying consistent.
lead with service and you will find those off-market deals.
