How many letters a month does a new wholesaler need?
By Josh MillerUpdated 5 min readEnough to reach every owner on the lists that sell in your county, as many times as their window calls for, and no more: that's your ceiling, and it's set by your county's filings, not your ambition. Your floor is the amount below which a month of mail is too small to produce a deal you can learn from, and it depends on your profit per deal and what mail costs.
New wholesalers usually pick a mail budget from what they can afford. It works better the other way: start from how many owners in your county are worth a letter, then see whether you can afford to reach them properly.
The ceiling: how many good owners your county has
Every county produces a certain number of new filings each month on the lists that sell. Here's what that looked like in four counties, averaged over October 2024 to March 2025:
| County | Expired or cancelled listings | Foreclosure filed | Lien filed against the property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harris County, TX | 2,412 (15.3 sold) | 167 (8.5 sold) | 582 (7.0 sold) |
| Duval County, FL | 456 (9.2 sold) | 128 (18.6 sold) | 261 (8.2 sold) |
| Franklin County, OH | 191 (9.9 sold) | too few to measure | 80 (4.0 sold) |
| Knox County, TN | 108 (6.9 sold) | too few to measure | 46 (11.4 sold) |
Source: GoForClose count of off-market, arm's-length deeds in county records.
Mail every new owner on those lists three times and Duval County comes to about 2,500 letters a month. Knox County comes to about 460. Past that, you're mailing owners on lists that sell at about the rate of a random house.
The floor: enough to learn something
Below a certain amount, a month of mail is unlikely to produce even one deal, and a month with no deal teaches you nothing. Your floor depends on two numbers: your profit per deal and what each piece costs. A wholesaler making $10,000 a deal can afford a lot more mail per deal than one making $4,000. Work out your floor and ceiling.
Plan for three months, at least
The honest window before a first deal from mail is 60 to 90 days, and plenty take longer. Sellers decide over months. A budget that only lasts one month stops right before it would have started working. How long mail takes.
When the budget falls short
If you can't afford to reach your county's good owners properly, narrow the list, not the touches. Mail the one list that sells best in your county, every owner, every touch. Or call and knock that list instead of mailing it. A narrow list done right beats a wide list done once.
Questions investors ask
How many direct mail pieces should I send a month?
Count the new owners each month on the lists that sell in your county, multiply by how many times you'll mail each, and that's your number. In Harris County, Texas, that's thousands; in a mid-size county, it can be a few hundred.
How much should a new wholesaler spend on mail?
Enough to stay above your floor for at least 3 months, since the honest window before a first deal is 60 to 90 days. Work out the floor from your profit per deal and mail cost.
Can I mail too much?
Yes. Past the owners who are likely to sell, more mail reaches people who aren't, and the cost per deal climbs. Every market has a ceiling.
Should I start with a small test?
Start small on the list, not on the touches: mail a narrow list that sells, fully, rather than a big list once.