How much does it take to get a deal?
TL;DR
- Budget the whole mailing sequence and the time to handle replies. Eight neighborhoods with a $197 first send and two $149 repeats total $3,960 in mail, not a guaranteed purchase.
- Compare groups with the same counting rules and time allowed for outcomes. Separate mailed pieces, responding people, booked visits, held visits, signed agreements and closings.
- Inspect the transition where work stops. Missed visits need a different investigation from visits that produce no workable offer or signed agreements that never close.
- Use the numbers to choose what to examine, not to declare a cause. More postcards do not repair an unanswered call, an unsupported offer or an unresolved closing problem.
Budget for a sequence, not a promise
The plan in the video is eight neighborhoods mailed three times. At $197 for each neighborhood's first send and $149 for each repeat, the first round is 8 × $197 = $1,576. Each repeat is 8 × $149 = $1,192. The three-round mailing budget is $3,960.
Those prices are shown in Homebase's current neighborhood checkout copy. Confirm the order you are actually placing before committing. Purchase money, renovation money and any coaching are separate. Twenty-four neighborhood sends does not mean twenty-four different neighborhoods, and spending the budget does not buy a guaranteed deal.
Plan the repeats before spending everything on the first round. Also reserve time to answer owners, visit houses and investigate the offer. A marketing plan that exceeds your response capacity can create loose ends instead of purchases.
Give each step one definition
For this worksheet, count a responding person once within a defined mailing group. Link their repeat calls and texts to that person. Count stop-contact requests as responses, record them separately and honor them. Keep anonymous website visits outside the responding-person count.
A booked appointment is not a held appointment. A signed agreement is not a closed purchase. Record dates as well as totals so a recent agreement is not mistaken for a failed closing.
These are manual acquisition-workbook definitions, not instructions for changing Homebase's reports. Homebase's Qualified label counts lead records not currently marked Do Not Contact; it does not mean a house has passed your buying criteria. The response-rate guide explains the reporting and attribution distinctions.
Work the two-group exercise
Fictional exercise, not a Homebase result or market benchmark. Assume two separately identified mailing groups each received 1,000 actual pieces. Count each responding person once within their group. Both have had 90 days since their last send, and the stage totals below refer only to people in that group. Do not assign an unmatched caller to a group just to complete the table.
| Stage | Group A | Group B |
|---|---|---|
| Responding people | 20 | 20 |
| Stop-contact requests | 4 | 4 |
| Appointments booked | 8 | 8 |
| Appointments held | 4 | 7 |
| Signed purchase agreements | 2 | 2 |
| Verified closed purchases | 1 | 0 |
Both groups have a 20 ÷ 1,000 = 2% response rate. Both booked visits with 8 ÷ 20 = 40% of responding people, using all responses as the stated denominator. Neither percentage tells you which group produced the better purchase economics.
Group A held 4 ÷ 8 = 50% of booked appointments. Group B held 7 ÷ 8 = 87.5%. That difference tells you to inspect appointment records: Were times confirmed? Was access arranged? Did the owner cancel, or did you? It does not prove that a reminder or a different postcard would have changed the result.
Of signed agreements, A closed 1 ÷ 2 = 50% and B closed 0 ÷ 2 = 0% so far. Open B's two records before blaming the mail. One might still be proceeding; another might have ended. The shared 90-day observation window does not give every contract the same time to close. Record contract age, expected closing date and the actual unresolved issue.
With only two agreements in each group, one outcome moves that percentage sharply. Treat the comparison as a prompt to read the files, not proof of a superior campaign.
Inspect the work behind the count
Use a short diagnostic note for the stage you are investigating:
| Where progress stops | Question to examine | Evidence to save |
|---|---|---|
| Response to booked visit | Did the owner want a visit, did the house fit, and did we agree on a next step? | Call note, property facts, next action and date |
| Booked to held visit | What prevented the visit? | Confirmation, access arrangements and actual cancellation reason |
| Held visit to agreement | Was there a supported offer, a price mismatch or an unanswered property question? | Scope, comparable-sale evidence, offer and seller's stated answer |
| Agreement to closing | Is it pending, ended or completed, and what remains? | Contract dates, verified closing status and responsible next owner |
A decision not to buy an unsuitable house can be good work. Do not inflate appointment or contract counts by pursuing purchases you cannot responsibly make. The seller-response lesson covers the conversations; this exercise identifies which records deserve attention.
Finish each review with one action, an owner and a date. Then decide whether you can fund and handle the next send. If you are still choosing an area, start with your first neighborhood analysis free. Mailing is paid.
Next: here's how Homebase works.
Direct mail to the neighborhoods where you want to buy
Homebase handles direct mail to property owners in the neighborhoods where you want to buy. Enter one address to find your neighborhood and get your first neighborhood analysis free. No card required.
Analyze a neighborhood free