I currently own a 38 space park in California and on occasion I have needed to mail out a notice to all tenants. i.e utility bill back, rent raise, compliance with community conditions, reminders etc.
So far I have taken care of this myself and it takes about an hour to print out, label and package and mail all envelopes.
What systems or companies can any of you recommend so that I simply send the letter or document along with park address and applicable lot #'s so they or the system can label, package and send off the mail.
You are already doing the easiest and cheapest method. With such a small investment of time as you now have you are only going to complicate your life by outsourcing the job. When you get so big you need to outsource use your park manager.
When you want something done right do it yourself.
Hi Bryce!
If you can figure out their system, letterstream.com could take care of this very easily and cheaply. I’ve used them for hundreds of mailings and almost never touch an envelope anymore. Their system can be a bit confusing to figure out the first time, feel free to shoot me an email or give me a call if you get stuck.
Thanks Guys! It does seem pretty easy for now, although I’m setting all of my business up to be automated, therefore I’m always looking to outsource and leverage my time so I have more free time to find new investments.
I will look at letterstream.com and see how it all works. Thanks for the referral Noel.
I would evaluate your manager to be sure you can’t have them do what you are looking to do. In a nut shell, it is nothing more than:
A spreadsheet
Merged into a Word Template (mail merge)
An envelope format (mail merge)
Stuffing & Mailing
If you could train them to do this, then you save the service charge per month in perpetuity. If not, a local print shop/online print shop should work out fine too. I usually prefer local on these types of tasks. It may also be worth looking around within your immediate friends or family for a teenage aged person who could do this for 20-25 cents an envelope + you pay for materials. Most younger teenagers are competent enough to handle this and would appreciate $10 for an hour or so of work.
What CharlesD said… Excel and Word are very powerful tools. With a few clicks of a button you can print labels, letters, etc. directly from a spreadsheet (assuming you have your tenant info on a spreadsheet). Google ‘how to print lables’, etc and you’ll have plenty of input.
I’m just a tenant, however, is it normal to have everything mailed? With the exception of one time, we always get notices put in our door handle, handed to kids outside, etc. Thanks.
What is normal is however it has been done in the past in your community but it is subject to change.
I do not go door to door handing out notices as it is faster and less work for me to send by mail. Time is money.
Thank you. I guess we aren’t sure if the notices are being created by the manager, who is here, or if they are actually from the new owner. (We don’t know who the new owner is or where they are located. Is that normal?)