Finding Renters
It’s very easy to waste money when sending out mailings. Many agents feel they need to send information to a very large pool to contact the few people they really want to reach. Using Public Records, you can specifically target your intended audience: Renters who are likely to become First Time Homebuyers.
- Click the Public Records tab.
- Hover over Public Records and click Search.
- Choose the county you want to target.
- Choose the municipality or zip code.
- Under Owner Occupied, select No.
Keep in mind, there is no “find renters” button in Public Records. Not all of the properties returned will be rented, and some could be vacant. The purpose of this selection is to REDUCE the amount of wasteful mail that does not reach your intended audience, saving you a lot of time and money.
Example: Whitpain Township in Montgomery County
(Search date: 8/25/2011)
- Total Records in Whitpain: 6,546 x $0.70/mail piece = $4,582
- Total Non-Owner Occupied in Whitpain: 962 x $0.70/mail piece = $673 to reach your audience
Target Your Audience
Targeting renters is one thing, but how can you speak directly to them and their current life situation? Modern consumers want information that they care about, because in the end they care about themselves, not their agent’s credentials or branding.
Instead of just targeting renters, let’s target renters who may be the best candidates to buy now: Families. Then you can create mailers specific to their needs. Follow all of the previous steps, but add the following:
- Under Res Type, select Single/Det & Twin/Semi-Det.
- Under Total Units, enter 1 – 1.
Because they currently rent large homes with only 1 unit, you can be reasonably confident that many of the renters, or prospective buyers,will be families who might find today’s market very attractive. At the same time, you’ve saved yourself even more money by targeting your investment.
Example: Whitpain Township in Montgomery County
(Search date: 8/25/2011)
- Total Records in Whitpain: 6,546 x $0.70/mail piece = $4,582
- Total Non-Owner Occupied in Whitpain: 962 x $0.70/mail piece = $673 to reach your audience
When we target our audience even more, using steps 6 and 7:
- Total Non-Owner Occupied Single-Det/Twin/1 Unit in Whitpain: 322 x $0.70/mail piece = $225 to reach your audience
Compared to sending mail to all of Whitpain Township, you just saved $4,357 by targeting a specific market.
Don’t forget the last step: Export your mailing labels. When prospecting for renters, make sure to export the Property Address, and not the Owner Address. To learn more about exporting labels from Public records, please watch this
demo.
Now It's Your Turn
What would you send them to help get them off the fence? How will you make your mailings about “them” and not “you”? Now that you know what a few criteria can do for you, how else can you leverage TREND’s Public Records to build your business? You have a world of information in you hands, what will you do with it? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.