Then I simply go door-knocking and ask people if I can place a small directional sign in their yard. I intentionally do this during day to miss folks because I'd rather not get involved in lengthy discussions about property and I've got many doors to get to. Once I'm sure no one's home, I leave a letter in screen door or someplace where it will be easily seen. I drop this letter at all four houses on each corner on route.

What Does Letter Say?

I've found it's important to NOT come across as a real estate investor or a company. I use an informal style and simply ask for help in finding someone to buy or lease my property. Points that I include in letter are:

 It's just a small directional arrow sign  I'll put it right by corner and not really in their yard  I'll make sure I don't damage any sprinkler systems  They get a $20 gift certificate once process is done  They get to choose store, restaurant, etc.  Please call me to replace sign if it gets removed  The first person who calls me wins  This technique has never failed. Frequently, I'll have two or more people from each corner call me, but I've always had at least one person call to agree to arrangement. Some of them have even taken serious offense to do-gooder neighbors who remove signs as property owner is concerned they might not get their gift certificate. I'll describe signs in more detail below, but I started adding "Placed With Permission of Owner" on top of signs and this reduced my losses.

The end result of this effort is that perhaps I pay out $160 to $200 in referral fees, but I have to run my $50 to $150 worth of weekly newspaper ads many, many fewer weeks. It definitely pays off from a monetary standpoint. The other benefit is that I now have a list of folks near each property (whom I've never even met) who think I'm great. Every single person will call me back after receiving their gift to thank me and large majority volunteer that I'm more than welcome to do this anytime I need.

What Do Signs Look Like?

The signs I use are basically standard bandit signs cut in half. A normal size bandit sign is 18" x 24" and I use 9" x 12" signs for my directional arrows. I have a red directional arrow that takes up about 5 inches of sign, leaving bottom 4 inches blank. Within red arrow I ask sign company to put my message which could be "Owner Finance" or "Lease Purchase" or whatever you prefer. The message is easy to read.

In blank space I use a large marker to write property address. It's important to leave enough blank space below arrow to write address in large numbers and letters. Also, as I mentioned above, I include "owner permission" tag line on top of arrow. I buy 36" wooden stakes from Home Depot and attach an arrow sign to each side of stake so information can be seen coming and going.

If you don't have a source for these signs, please contact BanditSigns.com to get some. They're inexpensive and well worth cost.

I hope you'll add this tool to your marketing techniques and discover same success I've had in using it. You may find that you abandon many other advertising tools you've been using in past.

Sincerely, Tim Randle

http://TexasRealEstateClub.com

(c) Copyright 2003, All Rights Reserved.

Honorees were chosen for making significant contributions to society. Uthairat was chosen for selecting alternative women made Thai products to resale in USA & working with women's groups in Thailand such as BanHun's Village Housewife Weaving Association in rural Issan, Thailand to create an export market for their hand woven products thus reviving Delaware's lost Thai Silk importing heritage first started by Jim Thompson a Delaware native after World War II.

My Thai has been featured in numerous articles including

-Out & About Magazine December 2002 http://www.webspawner.com/users/mythai3/article3.html

-Ultimate Guide to Delaware 2002 & 2003

-Wilmington's Brandywine Valley "Finest Tax Free Shopping List" January, 2002

-Visions Today, Style Fall 2001

-Delaware Today Magazine "An Old Thai to Delaware" September, 2001 http://www.webspawner.com/users/mythai3/article2.html

-News Journal-Business May 23, 2001 http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/business/2001/05/23asian.html

-Art Matters, Philadelphia's Regional Art Magazine April 2001

-Delaware Today Magazine-Arts on Town April 2001

-Prime Life March 2001 -www.delawareonline.com March 2001 http://www.delawareonline.com/primelife/issues/2001/march reasures.html

-Expression, Boston March 2001

-www.office.com February, 2001 http://www.webspawner.com/users/mythai3/article.html

-Delaware Today Magazine January 2001

-The News Journal Sunday December 3, 2000

-Esperanto, IWC Newsletter September 2000

-Delaware Today Magazine-Arts on Town September 2000

-Greenville Community News-Business News August 2000

-Also well as sponsoring "Del-Thai" Delaware's Thai Culture Newsletter

CONTACT: Joel Wilson My Thai, Direct Importers 21A Trolley Square Parkside at Gilpin Ave Wilmington, DE 19806 USA Phone: 302-428-1040 Email: mythai_2000@yahoo.com Web site: http://www.webspawner.com/users/mythai3/