Page 65 - Trump University Commercial Real Estate 101

Ho w to Become a Deal Magnet

If you had a 100 percent response from all your letters, but never did a
deal, I would call that a lousy ROI. On the other hand, let ’ s say you
only get one reply for 1,000 letters. That ’ s a one - tenth of a percent
response rate. But say that deal brings you $ 35,000 in profi ts. I ’ d say
your ROI is pretty good!

Consider the Source

The source of your list is one very important factor in your direct - mail
success. Go to your city assessor ’ s office, where all the tax rolls are

kept. By law, much of that information is open to public view. Ask for
a list of all commercial property owners.
Sometimes the assessor ’ s office will give you a difficult time about

getting the list. You might be the first person to have asked in a long
time, or your request means extra copying work for someone. Be extra
friendly but persistent. In my experience, most people at these offi ces
around the country are very friendly and have a helpful attitude.
Sometimes the offi ce won ’ t provide you with the list, but will refer
you to a list broker. These people make their livelihood from main-
taining lots of mailing lists for practically anything.
When I have a choice, I like to get my list from the assessor ’ s offi ce
because it is the most current.
I recently had a call from a student who was looking for help to
analyze an offi ce deal. She had sent out her fi rst direct mail campaign
and was surprised at the amount of response she got. She not only had

an interested seller for an office building but sellers for two apartment
complexes as well.
Some areas respond better than others, just as some letters work
better than others. The keys to success are to keep mailing, and tweak

your mailings until you find success. Try a different headline, use some
local news item in the letter to make it clear you ’ re a local investor,
and so on.

Sometimes I ’ ll ask a list broker to find people who have owned
their properties for 20 years or more. These people have used a large

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