An Overseas Landlord, a Christmas Closing, and Two New Buildings

Brock Agamaite is a buy-and-hold investor in the Northeast Wisconsin market. He started building his portfolio in 2021 with a mix of on-market deals and off-market deals sourced through cold calling. Since committing to direct mail marketing with Ballpoint, he added 10 units to his portfolio in just 8 months.

Here's the story of his first two buildings, bought through a single direct mail campaign.

The Problem

Brock wanted to break into multifamily in his market. He targeted an entire Wisconsin county with an absentee-owner mailing aimed at owners of 3+ unit properties, hoping to find a motivated seller with underperforming assets.

The Plan

Brock mailed a BPM Greeting Mailer to 3,306 absentee multifamily owners in the county.

The Execution

The seller he landed was based in Poland — all communication happened by email, often at 2 AM Brock's time. The seller had owned the buildings for only a few years and relied on a local property manager who wasn't acting in his best interest: rents were priced well below market, and maintenance was being billed back to the owner at inflated rates.

The seller had arranged for a local power of attorney to sign the closing documents remotely. But the closing landed right before Christmas, and the seller made the trip home to sign in person, giving Brock the chance to meet him face-to-face at the closing table for the first time.

The deal: two 4-unit buildings and a vacant lot, all in a B-class neighborhood filled with long-term tenants.

The Results

• Purchase price: $400,000 (two 4-unit buildings + vacant lot)
• Current rents: $4,100/month
• Market rents: $5,080/month
• List size: 3,306 addresses
• Touches: 1 mailer, 25 email exchanges, 1 property visit by a property manager

With rents currently $980/month under market across both buildings, there's meaningful room to grow income simply by bringing existing units up to market rate as leases turn over.

The Lesson

Some of the best deals come from sellers who are disengaged from day-to-day management. In this case, an absentee owner overseas who wasn't getting a fair shake from his own property manager. A single targeted mailing and a lot of patient email follow-up turned into a two-building portfolio addition, with built-in upside already sitting in the rent gap.

Want a portfolio like Brock's? Schedule a call with our team.