The Real Reason Your Postcard Response Rates Keep Dropping with Brett McCollum
Brett McCollum spent years as a wholesaler, coach, and investor running heavy direct mail campaigns, sending hundreds of thousands of pieces, and now heads up efforts at PropertyRadar. He is a self-described direct mail junkie who learned the hard way what old data costs a business.
This episode gets into why fresh, targeted property data beats blasting 20,000 mailers, where AI actually belongs next to your sales floor, and why follow-up drives most of the deals investors ever close. If you run outreach, manage a sales team, or you're deciding what to put in your tech stack, this one is for you.
Timeline Summary
[0:46] – Brett opens with a candid take on ego and pride in the real estate investing space
[2:02] – Why a CRM is only as good as your ability to use it, the Ferrari and stick shift problem
[3:23] – His contrarian case for direct outreach over outsourcing your lead generation
[4:45] – Postcard response rates fell from 1.5% to half a percent, and what that means
[5:42] – The ListSource era, and why "refreshed daily" lists are already old at the source
[7:12] – How PropertyRadar runs a data "bake off" for the freshest probate and divorce leads
[10:37] – AI in real estate is extreme love or extreme hate, and who fights it hardest
[11:31] – Augment, don't replace, why AI works best side by side with your team
[13:08] – The five minute speed to lead rule and where AI covers the gaps
[14:38] – Why repeat callers now hit a human before the AI agent picks up
[16:53] – If he rebuilt his tech stack today, the automations he would never skip
[19:20] – Follow-up drives 78% of deals, and the inconsistency that quietly costs money
[22:39] – The vibe coding trap, saving $200 a month while leaving deals on the table
[23:43] – The hidden cost of building your own software, and why 14 engineers matter
[27:36] – Rapid fire wisdom on when to adopt AI, the best time is today
5 Key Takeaways
Fresh Data Beats Big Lists — Targeting the people most likely to sell with current data outperforms casting a wide net. You can mail far less and get the same result.
Augment, Don't Replace — AI is at its best working alongside your sales floor, catching the leads your team can't answer in the first few minutes instead of letting them go cold.
Follow-Up Is Where Deals Live — Around 78% of deals come from follow-up, and consistency is the whole game. Most money left on the table is a follow-up problem.
Buy Beats Build for Most Investors — Spending days vibe coding a tool to save a couple hundred a month ignores the real cost of maintaining software, and that time could have closed deals.
Progress Over Perfection — Doing something on your tech stack now beats waiting for the perfect answer, especially if you learn from someone actually operating a business, not a social media act.
Links & Resources
PropertyRadar — https://www.propertyradar.com
PropertyRadar on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/propertyradar
PropertyRadar on Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/propertyradar
PropertyRadar on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/propertyradar
Lead to Close Health Check — https://leadtoclosetest.com
Claude — https://claude.ai
Less Annoying CRM — https://www.lessannoyingcrm.com
ListSource — https://www.listsource.com
Enjoyed This Episode?
If Brett's point about follow-up hit home, that 78% of deals come from staying in touch, take it as your sign to fix the leaks in your own process this week. Share this one with the partner or acquisitions rep who keeps letting leads go cold. And if you got something out of it, follow the show, drop a rating, and leave a quick review so more investors can find it.
