There are some very cheap ways to get your name in front of large groups of people and let them know you buy notes. None of them is magic. Together, done consistently, they make you known as the person who buys notes.
Use the mail you already send
How many pieces of mail do you send each month? Keep a tally and you’ll probably find it’s more than you think. I have a label that says I pay cash for mortgages, and it goes on the back of every piece of mail that leaves here except Christmas cards: the electric bill, the phone bill, business letters, notes to friends.
I also plan to ask out-of-town friends to put the labels on their mail, which may open up some out-of-town markets. If you pursue that idea, consider a toll-free number. A basic one can be inexpensive, but watch that your friends don’t start using it for long chats. Toll charges add up if the business isn’t there to support it.
The “I have money” slip
This is a small piece of paper that simply says I have money to invest in mortgage notes. On a weekend drive I stop at real estate offices and ask the receptionist if I can put one in each agent’s mailbox. I’ve never been refused, because I show her a copy and explain that I’m an investor who can help her agents close difficult transactions.
I also hand them out at real estate seminars, investment club meetings and anywhere else a group gathers. Several mortgage brokers’ receptionists keep them on their desks for customers to pick up; it doesn’t compete with the broker’s business, it helps him. I often use a slip instead of a business card.
Any time you or someone you know sends a mailing, the envelope, postage and labor are already paid for. Why not piggyback your slip on it? Ever notice the brochures tucked into credit card and gas company bills? It’s cheap and effective.
Here’s how I make them. I type four copies of the message on one sheet, take it to the copy shop and run 500 copies for about $20. Cut on the shop’s paper cutter, that’s 2,000 slips at a penny each. That’s darn cheap advertising. I’ve never tried them on car windshields in a shopping center lot, but they might work there too.
Work the professional groups
Estate attorneys, settlement attorneys and CPAs all know where notes are. Each of these groups has an association that holds meetings and publishes a newsletter. Get to know a member and arrange to attend as a guest, speak or advertise in the newsletter.
You might even piggyback a mailing on their newsletter and offer to chip in for postage. It doesn’t take many successful transactions to pay for that. Consider changing your copy to offer a “Free Quote” or “Free Consultation” to anyone with a note to sell.
The real secret is a plan of consistent activity and a commitment to carry it out. Commit to a set number of mailings and phone contacts per week, and a target number of found transactions per month. Your local directory lists the attorneys, CPAs and financial planners in your area. Call them. Mail to them. Have lunch with them. Network, network, network, and make yourself famous for buying notes. This is a build-your-business business, not a get-rich-quick scheme. Build it right and it pays off.
Should you advertise for notes?
Newspaper advertising has generally been unproductive and expensive for me. The successful advertising I’ve heard of is a repetitive campaign in the same publications, usually small local papers or organizational publications such as religious, fraternal and legal ones. How about a retirement-oriented publication, since many retirees hold notes?
One local mortgage broker advertises only in a Christian business directory distributed through area churches. He gets all of his business, with an implied endorsement, from that one ad, which costs about $250 a year and reaches about 70,000 families.
Editor’s note: Don’t advertise in any specialty directory unless you can honestly say you belong there. Doing otherwise is dishonest, and it will hurt your business when people discover they’ve been deceived.
The standard phone company yellow pages are not the place to advertise. They can be extremely expensive. Be careful with any advertising unless you can see a strong likelihood of a payoff.
The one sentence behind 25% of my business
End every conversation with: “By the way, did I ever tell you that I buy notes and mortgages?” Probably at least 25% of my business comes from that sentence.
An underwriter in my insurance agent’s office held a note, and so did an engineer I knew through business. Hers was on an estate property in Alabama and his on property in West Virginia. Both deals were very profitable, and the West Virginia note was bought and sold on the same business day. Try the sentence in every conversation.
Start a database and follow up
There are many more ways to get the word out: bulletin boards, T-shirts that say “I pay cash for notes,” bumper stickers, magnetic door signs and more. In an imperfect market, it’s up to you to let the public know you buy notes.
Remember that the note holder who isn’t motivated to sell today may be motivated next month or next year. Start a database of note holders and send them a reminder from time to time. Consistent follow-up belongs in every marketing plan.
