When we think of technology, thoughts of government agencies don’t instantly pop into our head. There is one government agency, however, that is quietly making it easier for real estate investors to grow their businesses – the US Postal Service.
From receiving rent checks, keeping your home address anonymous and sending out direct mail campaigns, the Post Office is indispensable to real estate investors. However, recent improvements in technology have really improved the Post Office and their operations.
And the Post Office is still the only game in town when it comes to mailing letters. So why fight them? After all – your tax money funds the Post Office whether you use it or not.
Today we thought we would give you a rundown of all the services the Post Office offers that might come in handy to grow your real estate business. We’d love to hear of any others you find that could help out other investors on the site. Please leave any suggestions in the comments below.
Text or Email Alerts – Ever hear ‘Checks in the mail’ from a tenant? Well in the past if you had a PO Box, you had to keep driving down to the Post Office and check to see if the check arrived. You may have made several trips until it arrives (or the tenant actually mails it). With text or email alerts, you don’t have to visit your PO Box until you receive an alert that mail has been delivered. Don’t worry – they don’t alert you about junk mail – only when real mail shows up. Just walk into your local post office and sign up for free.
A Real Address – It looks much more professional if your mailings, leases, and other documents show an actual physical address instead of a PO Box. With the actual address, you can also receive certain packages and mail from some vendors who do not like to deliver to a physical address. Check with your local post office, but generally the format you can use is to put the PO box number after the street address of the post office as in “123 Main Street #1234, Anytown, STATE, Zip code”. Make sure not to put anything like ‘Apt.’ or ‘Suite’ after the street.
Pre-Cancelled Stamps – All you bulk mail wholesalers out there may have trouble with leads opening your mail pieces. When your bulk mail piece has just a barcode and no stamp, they may think it is just junk and throw it away.
If you want stamps on your letters, don’t you have to pay regular first class rates? Well the USPS has come up with a solution – pre-cancelled stamps.
Pre-cancelled stamps are stamps that already have a postmark on them and will never be used by the post office for regular postage. They will, however, let you buy these stamps in quantities of 500, 3000 or 10,000 piece lots. You can buy them at your local post office for various amounts, but there are no bulk discounts for purchasing the higher quantities.
In order to be able to buy these stamps, you will need a bulk mail permit (currently $200), so make sure you are sending out enough letters to make it worthwhile. You will also need to fill out the Post Office’s Form 3615, to be eligible.
Make sure to specify you want the self-adhesive kind (licking – yuck!). You’ll stick the stamps on your letters, bring them into the Post Office, and just pay the difference from what you paid for the stamps and the bulk mail rate.
Voila. Regular looking letters at bulk mail rates.
Click2Mail – This is a ‘must have’ service for sending out large amounts of direct mail these days. Many of our staff investors swear by it. Click2Mail is a partner of the US Post Office. The website offers the ability to print, stamp and mail postcards and letters at bulk mail rates. With Click2Mail you can:
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Personalize the post cards or letters by uploading your list
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Choose from a variety of options for color or black and white
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Add pictures
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Track your mailings so you know when to mail again
Click2Mail is practically your online Virtual Assistant for doing your mailings for you. They send the cards and letters out at bulk mail rates also so your cost is barely over the first class postage rate for all their services. You can go on YouTube to see many videos from real estate investors on how to use the website most effectively.
Look more into your local post office. The folks there are really trying to keep up with the times. Their technology is improving and prices for services are coming down (other than stamps that is unfortunately). Knowing everything the post office can do for you can really save you time and money. It can also give you an edge over your competition who are not so well informed.
Go – Down to your local Post Office. Talk to the folks there about all the options they offer. Maybe set up a PO Box for your real estate business.
Learn – About all the services the Post Office offers. You can learn from other mogul lessons, discussing it with the Post Office employees, browsing the USPS website, or discussing with other real estate investors.
Organize – Your advertising. ‘Mogul’ type real estate investors are always looking for the next great deal. Many investors give up after a few days/weeks/months of looking. Stick with it by becoming organized using services like Click2Mail to see who you have contacted and when. Then keep following up.
JP Moses
is a real estate investor in Memphis, TN, with experience ranging from land lording to note buying, rehabbing, and wholesaling. However, wholesaling is the area that he enjoys most and where he bring the most experience and expertise to his students.