Direct Mail Campaign Efficiency is Not a Goal (LA 1345)
Transcript:
Steven Butala:
Steve and Jill here.
Jill DeWit:
Howdy.
Steven Butala:
Welcome to the Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I'm Steven Jack Butala.
Jill DeWit:
And I'm Jill DeWit, broadcasting from sunny Southern California.
Steven Butala:
Today, Jill and I talk about how direct mail campaign efficiency is not a goal.
Jill DeWit:
What? I would think that is.
Steven Butala:
You send out-
Jill DeWit:
I'm kidding, of course.
Steven Butala:
... 1,000 mailers. You buy a property, you make 10,000 bucks, your mailer costs us $500. You do everything wrong, you send out 3,000 mailers instead because you made some mistakes, it costs $1500 now to make $10,000. That's the whole show.
Jill DeWit:
And you will explain more, I am sure.
Steven Butala:
Before we get into it, let's take a question posted by one of our members on LandInvestors.com online community. It's free.
Jill DeWit:
I imagine people are scratching their heads right now. I thought more was better. I'm so confused.
Steven Butala:
No. You know what it is? And this begs the ... there's always a bigger ... what's really underneath the whole thing. Number one, people don't like to outlay money to make money. That's just human nature, unless you're on Wall Street, then you love doing it. And, number two, I don't understand what it is about ... there's this whole culture, and Jill and I have been talking about this for years on this show, this culture of negotiation and getting stuff cheap.
Jill DeWit:
Right. I understand. Thank you. All right. Greg wrote in our online community, "Hi, fellas. I've got a slick deal out East on 10 acres, but I was checking the deed and it's in an HOA. I searched and searched, but it sounds like the subdivision was divided 15 years ago, but few of the lots were sold and the HOA never started collecting fees. They were $300 annually in the HOA declaration. Most of the lots seem to be owned by a bank and are not for sale. I want to call the HOA and ask if the fees are active, what the future looks like for access, etc., there's a private road leading to the property, but I can't find any contact information for the association, if there is one. My concerns are, number one, are there back fees that the seller hasn't paid, I can't seem to verify, two, can they put up a gate across the private road and further restrict access either now or in the future-"
Steven Butala:
Yes.
Jill DeWit:
"... three, hold me hostage for other fees, etc.?"
Steven Butala:
Yes.
Jill DeWit:
"Should I be concerned? Is this just a good old junk property now, the kind I like, and how can I find out more about the HOA? Thanks," and then we have a little follow-up here.
Steven Butala:
Yeah. A lot of people answered in Land Investors and then he finally said this.
Jill DeWit:
This is the result of his digging?
Steven Butala:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jill DeWit:
All right. Then he said, "I called the county and they indicated the HOA is still valid on record, but the subdivision went bankrupt. I called the bank and they told me that the rest of the properties in the subdivision are under contract to buy. It looks like someone beat me to this pile of properties, but I might still buy one from the private party after I discuss with the current owner about the HOA fees. The question is what is the new owner of the rest of the subdivision going to do with the parcels, sell them cheap or make something more valuable out of them?" This is a really good question.
Steven Butala:
That's what I thought too.
Jill DeWit:
For me, I have to take a step back and think about ... what is his name, Vic, Vic or-
Steven Butala:
Greg.
Jill DeWit:
... Greg, okay. Greg, I got to take a step back. I'm wondering do I want to get involved in this mess, potential mess? And I love that you're thinking about, "If this guy bought them all up, yeah, and he sells them really cheap, great,
