Mason Bridges
Mason Bridges has been a guest on Collecting Keys, the real estate investing podcast hosted by Mike DeHaan, Dan Austin and Dylan Koch, 2 times.
Direct Mail Marketing: Who to Target & How To Monetize Return Senders w/ Mason Bridges
Mason Bridges, one year into full-time investing in rural Thomaston, Georgia, breaks down the direct mail approach behind roughly two deals a month as a solo operator. He explains his "core four" monthly mail list, the weekly probate/divorce/inherited data he buys and automates into handwritten mail, and how he has financed 20+ transactions through a local bank and a family HELOC without ever using hard money. He also covers the unique difficulties of wholesaling in a small town where everyone is connected, and the personal cost of grinding with a 15-month-old at home.
Key takeaways
- Mason's "core four" direct mail list goes out monthly across three counties: absentee owners, liens, bankruptcies, and vacants. Targeted mail to pre-probate, divorce, and inherited leads runs on a four-month cadence using data a vendor pulls weekly (about $1,800/year) and a Tampa handwriting company.
- He has done 20+ deals without a hard money loan. His local bank offers 12-month interest-only financing floating with prime (currently around 8%), one point origination plus a $200 desk appraisal, and will fund 100% including closing costs on strong deals; longer-term holds go on a 20-year amortization with a three-year balloon.
- In a small, relationship-driven market you can't pre-wholesale or advertise deals openly. Mason lost deals that way and has had dispo blow up when a buyer turned out to be related to the seller, so he underwrites every contract to work as a worst-case buy-and-hold.
- Dispo is his weakest link; the last six or seven wholesale assignments came together only four or five days before closing, well past due diligence.
Arresting Developments: A Deal Case Study w/ Mason Bridges
Dan Austin talks with SCALE community member Mason Bridges about his first wholetail deal in a small Georgia market. Mason walks through a direct mail lead that took roughly two months of follow-up, why he overpaid to keep the deal alive, why he couldn't wholesale it, and how a contractor's helper getting arrested with the house keys nearly derailed the renovation. The deal is projected to net about $30,000.
Key takeaways
- Direct mail from a "core four" list pulled through PropStream generated the lead; the seller appeared on about five lists (lien, absentee), which usually signals higher motivation.
- Follow-up matters: the first call was September 9 and the contract was signed in mid-November, roughly 60-90 days of persistence, including a stretch where the seller went dark.
- Mason came up to the seller's $90,000 number instead of holding at his $75,000 offer; he then sent it to about 75 cash buyers and got seven verbals, all at his contract price, meaning no wholesale spread. He believes he should have trusted his own comps.
- When a wholesale won't work, a wholetail can still produce profit. He projects netting about $30,000, helped by shorter-than-expected holding costs.