Why We're Falling Back On Mailing for Land (Podcast Ep#169)
Dave Denniston discusses how his land investing business has evolved over the past two years, focusing on subdivides and messy title properties while maintaining smaller holdings for recurring revenue. He explains why he's returning to targeted mail marketing after testing PPC, and shares strategies for reducing costs through geographic specialization and refined list targeting.
Summary
Dave Denniston returns to the podcast after two years to discuss significant changes in his land investing business since 2017. He operates a financial planning business alongside his land ventures and has transitioned from small properties ($1,000-$6,000 acquisitions) toward medium-sized deals, subdivides, and messy title opportunities, while maintaining a portfolio of notes for recurring income.
Dave describes challenges in the current market environment. He accumulated an inventory of 160 properties by October 2025 after aggressive marketing campaigns spending $50,000 in monthly mail volume, but struggled to move inventory as market conditions changed post-COVID. He attributes this partly to rising acquisition costs and property price increases that outpaced his ability to find profitable deals. One property from two years ago remains unsold, though other recent acquisitions are moving quickly.
Regarding PPC (pay-per-click advertising), Dave explains this channel involves sponsored ads on Google, Facebook, and Gmail for search terms like "sell my land now." While PPC provides access to more motivated sellers and unusual properties (including those with structures), it scatters acquisition efforts across multiple states and counties, creating operational complexity. Dave spent $6,000-$7,000 monthly plus $2,500 in management fees through Bateman Collective, totaling $9,000-$10,000 monthly. He found that PPC requires significant scale to find quality deals among "coal" leads and increased the risk of fraud, though title insurance provided protection. He ultimately abandoned PPC because it prevented geographic and operational specialization.
Dave has shifted strategy significantly. In October, he stopped all marketing to focus on selling accumulated inventory. Starting in July, he's implementing a sniper-targeted mail approach, identifying very small lists of 2,500 properties in specific counties and states. Rather than sending mass mailings at 60 cents per piece, he's willing to spend $3-$5 per piece to test different formats (handwritten letters, premium materials) targeting off-market subdivides. He's also exploring on-market subdivides and messy title acquisitions through cold calling, though recognizing the difficulty and legal risks of cold calling and texting compared to mail.
Dave emphasizes specialization as his new operational philosophy. Rather than maintaining presence in 25-30 states, he aims to focus on 4-6 core states with dedicated teams, title companies, and realtor relationships. This reduces overhead and enables deeper market knowledge. He's testing various mail pieces to determine what generates responses, planning to analyze performance metrics and ROAS (return on ad spend) to optimize future campaigns. His goal is to reduce inventory levels and operate more efficiently while shifting toward higher-value subdivide deals that can replace smaller volume-based income.
About this episode
<p>essey catches up with Dave Denniston, a returning guest last on the show back at episode 96, two years and a lot of changes ago. Dave has shifted his business toward subdivides and messy title deals, but along the way his inventory ballooned to over 160 properties and he had to shut off all marketing just to sell through it.In this episode, Dave breaks down what happened, why he's pulling back to a smaller, more focused footprint, and what he learned testing PPC through an agency for a year. He also shares why, after exploring on market subdivides and cold calling, he's returning to mail with a smaller, more targeted list and a willingness to spend more per piece to get a response.If you've ever wondered whether PPC is worth it, or why mail keeps pulling investors back no matter how many new channels show up, this conversation lays out the real tradeoffs.What You'll Learn:- Why Dave shut off all marketing after his inventory grew past 160 properties- What PPC costs and what it's actually good and bad for in land investing- Why staying geographically and product focused is changing how Dave operates- Why Dave is going back to mail with a smaller, more targeted list<br />Connect with Dave Denniston:🌐 landunconference.com🌐 leadershipinland.com📧 [email protected]</p>
Key Insights
- Dave's business inventory swelled to 160 properties by October 2025 after spending $50,000 monthly on mail marketing, but properties stalled selling as market conditions changed, forcing him to pause all marketing to focus on liquidation.
- PPC advertising spreads acquisitions across 25-30 states, requiring $9,000-$10,000 monthly spending to generate quality leads, but the geographic scatter prevents operational specialization and increases fraud risk despite title insurance protection.
- Dave encountered a near-fraud situation at closing where a $500,000 property with $1.2 million resale value was flagged by title insurance for identity issues moments before wire transfer, demonstrating systemic fraud risks in PPC-sourced deals.
- Dave's new mail strategy shifts from volume (50,000 pieces monthly at 60 cents) to precision (2,500 pieces monthly at $3-$5 each), accepting higher per-piece costs because a single subdivide sale can generate 20x return on $10,000 marketing spend.
- The land investing market has shifted from mail being the only acquisition channel to having 5-10 viable channels (mail, PPC, cold calling, texting, etc.), creating competition for the same sellers and reducing the 'needle in haystack' advantage of early mail adopters.
- Dave acquired a Wisconsin property for $550,000 in February, subdivided it into four lots, and has one lot under contract with others selling quickly, demonstrating that his transition toward subdivide deals is beginning to produce results.
- Dave personally made thousands of cold calls for messy title deals but found the effort grueling and is exploring safer alternatives like targeted mail to reduce legal and reputational risks compared to cold calling or texting.
- Dave's strategy now prioritizes reducing overhead through geographic specialization (4-6 core states instead of 25-30) and maintaining consistent teams, title companies, and realtor relationships rather than rebuilding relationships in new markets continuously.
Topics
Transcript
Hey, how's it going? It's Jesse here from the Land Investing Business Secrets Podcast. I've got an amazing guest, Dave Denniston. I mean, I've had him on the show a couple of years ago, and man, have things kind of grown and changed. And Dave has just been a huge impact in the community of land investors as well. So you're going to love this episode because he's really getting into the thick of things with marketing. And we're going to be talking about what channels that he's tapping into and which ones he's going back to. And, you know, even dollars and whatnot. So it's one of those juicy episodes. I hope you get as much as you can…
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