{"id":8061,"date":"2009-04-27T15:42:22","date_gmt":"2009-04-27T22:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=8061"},"modified":"2009-04-28T09:40:04","modified_gmt":"2009-04-28T16:40:04","slug":"the-perfect-re-investment-vs-a-million-monkeys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/8061\/the-perfect-re-investment-vs-a-million-monkeys\/","title":{"rendered":"The Perfect RE Investment vs A Million Monkeys"},"content":{"rendered":"

I write this note as a quick reminder. Investors in buyers’ markets as extreme as we’re currently experiencing will sometimes fall victim to what I’ve called ‘Million Monkey Syndrome’<\/em>. I suffered from it when I was young and thought nothing was impossible for me in a market full of highly motivated sellers. It was through a marketing experience of all things, that I learned to recognize the signs of MMS. <\/p>\n

Back in the day, one of the ways I used to market was through very narrowly targeted mail. Only investment property owners were on the list. I quickly found out what generated calls and what didn\u2019t. The problem? It was a tad difficult to always have the \u2018perfect\u2019 small income property for sale. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

A solid response rate according to direct mail pros would be 1\/2%. Back then my average mailing wasn\u2019t large, maybe 1,500-3,000 letters. The average response rate was almost always at least 1\/2%, and many times 1-2%.<\/p>\n

Then I sent The Letter<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It generated just over a 4% response rate for 3,000 pieces mailed. The calls started on Tuesday, and by Thursday I\u2019d developed a love\/hate relationship with my phone. \ud83d\ude42 By Friday my assistants were afraid to answer it. <\/p>\n

What magic words caused this embarrassment of riches? Turns out I\u2019d discovered what made the East County (EC) small income property investor get very excited. The letter told them of a La Mesa (most desired area in EC) duplex that could be purchased with 10% down. Also, the owner would carry secondary financing. And the duplex needed some TLC, because it was a \u2018cosmetic fixer\u2019.<\/p>\n

A light fixer in the most desired area, with owner financing and only 10% down! I\u2019ll take a dozen to go please.<\/em><\/p>\n

There hasn\u2019t been one of those available since the year I sent that letter \u2014 1999.<\/p>\n

For the record that very letter generated over $250,000 in commission income. It remains the all time best producing letter I’ve ever sent. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m taking the out-of-the-way scenic route in order to say this:<\/p>\n

Stop wasting your time and therefore your money looking for the perfect property or situation. The stars don\u2019t Read more<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I write this note as a quick reminder. Investors in buyers’ markets as extreme as we’re currently experiencing will sometimes fall victim to what I’ve called ‘Million Monkey Syndrome’. I suffered from it when I was young and thought nothing was impossible for me in a market full of highly motivated sellers. It was through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-real-estate","no-featured-image"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2395,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2395\/the-perfect-real-estate-investment-vs-a-million-monkeys\/","url_meta":{"origin":8061,"position":0},"title":"The Perfect Real Estate Investment VS A Million Monkeys","author":"Jeff Brown","date":"December 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear Real Estate Investor: Times are tough. Did you think sooner or later they wouldn't be? Is that why you're spinning yer wheels searching for the perfect property in the A+ location, priced under the market? Are ya leaving milk and cookies on the table for Santa next Monday too?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Investment"","block_context":{"text":"Investment","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/investment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2418,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2418\/florida-first-certainly-california-next-nevadaand-absolutely-arizona\/","url_meta":{"origin":8061,"position":1},"title":"Florida First, Certainly California, Next Nevada,and Absolutely Arizona","author":"Brian Brady","date":"December 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Lenders don't love us no' mo'. Want a vacation crib in Miami? How about an investment property in Orlando? Show up with 40%, no seller carry-backs allowed, thankyouverymuch. This e-mail came in this morning from IndyMac Bank : Florida Guideline Restrictions Transactions securing properties located in the state of Florida\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Investment"","block_context":{"text":"Investment","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/investment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":645,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/645\/home-buyer-always-liable-for-mortgage\/","url_meta":{"origin":8061,"position":2},"title":"Home buyer always liable for mortgage . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"November 17, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"This is my column from today's Arizona Republic (permanent link). No fireworks, today, just real estate. Home buyer always liable for mortgage I got a great question by e-mail. It's really a lender question, but it introduces a number of interesting topics. \"Are homeowners personally liable for their mortgages? If\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask the Broker"","block_context":{"text":"Ask the Broker","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/ask-the-broker\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18146,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/18146\/overnight-news-what-does-exclusive-mean-it-means-make-your-own-rain-cowbird\/","url_meta":{"origin":8061,"position":3},"title":"Overnight News: \u201cWhat does \u2018exclusive\u2019 mean?\u201d It means make your own rain,\u00a0cowbird!","author":"Greg Swann","date":"May 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"MLS fights are always about Residential listings. Nobody is claiming to have lost sleep (or money or jobs or opportunities) over Land and Lots or Multi-Family or BizOps. No one at Redfin is tasked with tracking underperformance by Patagonian buyers competing for Industrial properties. You might from this conclude that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Group Therapy"","block_context":{"text":"Group Therapy","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/group-therapy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ya think it's easy?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/BHBNewTopImage-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1439,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1439\/ask-the-broker-discrimination\/","url_meta":{"origin":8061,"position":4},"title":"Ask The Broker — Discrimination based on price range?","author":"Jeff Brown","date":"May 16, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Can a prospective buyer be discriminated against because of the price range of home they are looking to purchase? For example I feel that an agent I recently visited would not help me because I was looking for a low-priced home. I am a young, single, first-time home buyer and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask the Broker"","block_context":{"text":"Ask the Broker","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/ask-the-broker\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7308,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/7308\/brief-links-todd-carpenter-at-rebarcamp-virginia-active-rain-versus-move-and-why-the-kindle-iphone-app-is-too-little-too-late\/","url_meta":{"origin":8061,"position":5},"title":"Brief links: Todd Carpenter at REBarCamp Virginia, Active Rain versus Move and why the Kindle iPhone app is too-little, too-late","author":"Greg Swann","date":"March 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Daniel Rothamel made a UStream video of Todd Carpenter's appearance yesterday at REBarCamp Virginia. Todd acquitted himself fairly well, only now and then sounding like an oily, evasive politician. His mien was perfect: Middle-management nerd, which is his newly-assigned role. His boss, Hillary Marsh, also spoke, and she was a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8061"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8097,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8061\/revisions\/8097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}