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Yellow Letters in Small Towns......oh la la!

MarkOnaba

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I did the yellow letter campaign in my small town. It was word for word Ron Le Grand`s. The results for leads (mostly suspects) were well over 50%. But, there is a problem.

1) someone thought this was the work of a scam artist and contacted the police who are now investigating to see if i am a scam artist.

2) Most of the real estate agents in town are boiling with hatred and expressing it.

3) It just happens my local number that i just got installed for this purpose is very similar to another resident`s phone number. i.e 1 not a 7. and that has got their home phone ringing off the hook...and they are also mighty pissed off.

Knowing the community is small i`m making a point to return all the calls (and they are endless) to explain who I am and that I`m an investor etc....most people have already talked to someone who talked to someone who said i`m a con artist (how they got that impression is beyond me)

I`ve created quite a stir in this little town and I thought i`d share my experience with you.
 

cmattric

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This is black-comedy


You can even write a script about this. I bet in community centers and churches, they are talking about you...

If you do one deal though you can become legend.
 

tonypeters

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Mark, sounds like you are having some fun. Have you made plans to move yet?

QUOTE (MarkOnaba @ Nov 25 2009, 06:48 PM) I did the yellow letter campaign in my small town. It was word for word Ron Le Grand`s. The results for leads (mostly suspects) were well over 50%. But, there is a problem.

1) someone thought this was the work of a scam artist and contacted the police who are now investigating to see if i am a scam artist.

2) Most of the real estate agents in town are boiling with hatred and expressing it.

3) It just happens my local number that i just got installed for this purpose is very similar to another resident`s phone number. i.e 1 not a 7. and that has got their home phone ringing off the hook...and they are also mighty pissed off.

Knowing the community is small i`m making a point to return all the calls (and they are endless) to explain who I am and that I`m an investor etc....most people have already talked to someone who talked to someone who said i`m a con artist (how they got that impression is beyond me)

I`ve created quite a stir in this little town and I thought i`d share my experience with you.
 

ZanderRobertson

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Mark,

This is an amazing story. Being from a small town myself, I know exactly how rumours spread and how anything slightly different can be thought of as a scam or somehow illegal.

The sad thing is that in my hometown a few years ago a genuine scammer came through town and nobody figured it out until all the money was gone.

And yes, I concur with cmattric, this has the makings for a hilarious movie.

Good luck calming things down.

Best Regards,
Zander
 

ToddStokowski

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I have read many posts about the "yellow letters", but have no idea what they contain. I would sure be interested in seeing one.
Should I give you my postal code
?
Todd
 

CarrieKoch

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This is hilarious!!! I have to remember to change our last name on the next batch so I don`t get people egging my house or something.
 

MarkOnaba

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QUOTE (tonypeters @ Nov 25 2009, 07:37 PM) Mark, sounds like you are having some fun. Have you made plans to move yet?

Ron did say it wouldn`t work where I live... Anyway, to make things even more exciting, we dropped another 200 letters in the mail! Thank God for PatLive!!

So far we`ve gotten only one prospect. We constructed and presented the offer to them, signed documents and we were ready to close quickly, when everything came to a screeching halt! Their lawyer got wind of how they were going to sell their house to us and raised every red flag in the book. So we`re slowly working through that. Hopefully we can close on this one, because we already have a tenant/buyer lined up to move in.

Their lawyer is standing between me and my shut up check!!
 

marcp

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You may want to be proactive and get your lawyer ready to defend the deal and its merits. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense.

Pardon these "fighting" words if you will...

Cheers.
 

JohnSoucie

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QUOTE (MarkOnaba @ Nov 25 2009, 08:48 PM) Knowing the community is small i`m making a point to return all the calls (and they are endless) to explain who I am and that I`m an investor etc....most people have already talked to someone who talked to someone who said i`m a con artist (how they got that impression is beyond me)

I`ve created quite a stir in this little town and I thought i`d share my experience with you.


Great heads up!! I ended up getting a UPS store PO box to hide my address after the previous reports of people looking you up and calling. But then there is always 411 on my name. I`m definitly going to be mailing to a small town or two. I live within a few km of two. If they have my name, they`ll just easily look me up in the local phone book....and maybe even stop in for a chat
....making the PO box a waste of time. So now I "thought" the plan would be to also not put my full name on the letter and just use my first and middle. John Roberts and then explain the situation to the sellers later. I can deal with bozos who hunt you down to talk but it`s unacceptable to involve my wife in this with people calling my home directly.

But then I`m wondering, a false name plays right into the scam artist perception....what if the poilice do want to have a chat with me in person? Any opinion on this anyone?

I also had the same fears about calling FSBO`s. There were a couple of them about 7 minutes away from me down the road...so if I call them asking about loan balances and they take offence...they read my name right off the callerID....and the gossip starts. So I was also planning on blocking my callerID info. I`m not calling them myself anymore, but same difference if I get a local person to do my calling...they may be known and get in the gossip loop.

This is getting interesting!
John Soucie
 

marcp

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John, calling with a cell phone wouldn`t show your name, just your cell phone number, which are hard to reverse lookup.

And calling them through Skype (Skype-to-phone) would show your Skype username, and a phone number of your choice.
 

gkeary

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Just weighing in here on the response to yellow letters.

My first two batches I sent out with my full name and return address to the town I live in.

I have also had people look me up in the phone book even though I`m using Patlive and call my home to express displeasure. Not a lot of fun. It has helped me to see though that the letter is just a letter, it`s the individuals that receive it that give it meaning. That has helped me to not personalize the occassion nasty response.

And I`ve come to the conclusion that I will only use my first name and a postal address. The cell phone is a good idea too.

gk

QUOTE (marcp @ Nov 26 2009, 02:24 PM) John, calling with a cell phone wouldn`t show your name, just your cell phone number, which are hard to reverse lookup.

And calling them through Skype (Skype-to-phone) would show your Skype username, and a phone number of your choice.
 

MarkOnaba

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QUOTE (ToddStokowski @ Nov 26 2009, 02:34 PM) Hmm, and people are upset about getting that?
Thanks
TS
Yup!
However, I did speak to a realtor today (she`d called PatLive and left a message to call her back). She actually listened to what I had to say... compared to the last one I talked to. Apparently the yellow letters sound like I`m trying to buy houses behind the realtor`s backs and cut them out of their commissions, which is what is upsetting them (is what I got out of the conversation, I could be wrong though). So I set the records straight and let her know that if a house is listed I definitely would buy it through the realtor.

Hopefully that calms the waters a little.... but we`re obviously off to a rocky start!
 

MarkOnaba

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QUOTE (MarkOnaba @ Nov 26 2009, 06:52 PM) Yup!
However, I did speak to a realtor today (she`d called PatLive and left a message to call her back). She actually listened to what I had to say... compared to the last one I talked to. Apparently the yellow letters sound like I`m trying to buy houses behind the realtor`s backs and cut them out of their commissions, which is what is upsetting them (is what I got out of the conversation, I could be wrong though). So I set the records straight and let her know that if a house is listed I definitely would buy it through the realtor.

Hopefully that calms the waters a little.... but we`re obviously off to a rocky start!

And by rocky start I mean I`ve already had someone come to my house to sell me their house (yes, i put my return address on the envelope thinking it would look more credible). I`ve had someone call my work trying to get a hold of me- they googled me, I`ve had people approach my wife at her office, random people start adding me to their Facebook list, letters being written back to me by people who want to sell their homes, not to mention the whole RCMP thing. Certainly have to have thick skin for this stuff.

FYI my target market was anyone who had their address listed in the whitepages in my town. (not foreclosures.
 

Thembi

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Thats so funny Mark but remember every no brings you closer to a yes and maybe the wave will turn around for the best,Imagine people lining up to give up their houses-
.You and ur wife are great people and definitely no scammers(i think-lol),the people will soon find out and this will work well for you from wat i see.
 

Aneta

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QUOTE (marcp @ Nov 26 2009, 03:24 PM) John, calling with a cell phone wouldn`t show your name, just your cell phone number, which are hard to reverse lookup.

And calling them through Skype (Skype-to-phone) would show your Skype username, and a phone number of your choice.


In Ontario, *67 before dailing a number from landline blocks call display, and it is free.
 

Shaieus

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QUOTE (MarkOnaba @ Nov 26 2009, 08:20 AM) Ron did say it wouldn`t work where I live... Anyway, to make things even more exciting, we dropped another 200 letters in the mail! Thank God for PatLive!!

So far we`ve gotten only one prospect. We constructed and presented the offer to them, signed documents and we were ready to close quickly, when everything came to a screeching halt! Their lawyer got wind of how they were going to sell their house to us and raised every red flag in the book. So we`re slowly working through that. Hopefully we can close on this one, because we already have a tenant/buyer lined up to move in.

Their lawyer is standing between me and my shut up check!!


Thank you Mark for sharing your experience!
Wow, it`s really amazing how people reacts
and can quickly jump into conclusion to judge others.

We are just about to send our yellow letters
from Ron LeGrand and this is a pretty good heads up.
Mark, for sure the shut up check will be all worth
for all your efforts!

Cheers!
 
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