Real Estate Marketing Blog

Key Mailing Dates, Surefire Contact Lists and Real Estate Thank You Notes

Strategies for Real Estate Postcard Prospecting

In the blink of an eye, we’ll be looking at another 365 days of possibilities. That’s why, before the clock begins, we want to talk about strategies for real estate postcards prospecting – from which contact lists to use to the reason why real estate thank you notes are a staple for new realtors.

It’s All About Who You Know

When you’re just starting out in real estate, you likely don’t have an abundance of contacts. But what you do have are friends and family.

These are contacts.

Send monthly real estate postcards to these individuals before prospecting for new business. This way, you can work on generating referrals, which typically convert to new business faster than farming.

(And, if you do get a referral, remember to send the referring party a thank you note.)

Acknowledge Referrals with Real Estate Thank You Cards

And Knowing When to Send

As a fledgling realtor, you want to be prepared at all times. A good way to do so is by sending postcards on these key dates:

• Spring Time Change (March)
• Independence Day (July)
• Calendar for Next Year (August/September)
• Fall Time Change (October)
• Thanksgiving (November)
• Holidays (December)

In addition, you should consider mailing a Just Listed or Just Sold (depending on circumstances at the time) postcard every month to the area and to your contact list.

Again, real estate thank you notes are a kind gesture for those that list their property with you or when you sell the property down the line.

That Make the Difference

Once you grow your personal contact list to 400 people and you mail them monthly, you could easily be enjoying a six-figure income.

We’ve seen it happen, and we want to encourage you to be successful in 2014 with strategies that are realistic and attainable.

There’s something about the holiday season that elicits a quiet moment of reflection. For many of us in the real estate industry, these moments are filled with gratitude over the continued rise of the housing market. As such, we feel the need to thank those who helped us succeed – namely, our clients – and a natural way to do that during this time of year is with a real estate holiday calendar or postcard.

For real estate agents, the holidays are a popular time to send calendars and postcards not only to celebrate the season but also to give buyers and sellers another 365 days – and reasons – to keep the agent’s name front and center.

With real estate holiday calendars, agents can personalize with a photo and contact information. A real estate holiday postcard can also be customized with an image of the realtor and their personal details.

Want to take it a step further?

Consider a holiday postcard magnet with a magnetic calendar and postcard all in one.

Clever idea: real estate holidays calendar and postcard in one.

With this direct mail approach, you use the postcard to send holiday greetings and the removable, magnetic calendar as a year-round marketing tool.

It’s the perfect time of year to get in the homes of buyers and sellers, and with holiday postcards and calendars you can also express the sentiments that are on your mind and in your heart.

Happy holidays!

Real Estate Marketing in the Winter Season Has Its Merits

According to a survey by Realtor.com, 26 percent of respondents said that they are looking to buy a home in the winter season because sellers are more motivated and willing to negotiate.

This is certainly a number that real estate agents can warm up to considering the colder months are traditionally a slower period for home sales.

But what is the best way to reach out to both sellers and buyers?

Think about Realtor Promotional Tools

There are a myriad of options when it comes to real estate promotional tools, but in this case a realtor postcard is your best bet.

Capitalize on winter real estate marketing with Our Neighborhood postcards.

Besides communicating that you serve both buyers and sellers, the postcard above is also a bit unexpected.

As we stated earlier, winter is historically a time when real estate sales go into hibernation. If you use postcards as your realtor promotional tools, it’s most likely that you are not going to have a lot of competition for mailbox space.

In other words, your real estate marketing approach is going to stand out.

And with motivated buyers and sellers out there, right now is a smart time to get in front of both.

Consumer data aggregate programs are some of the most powerful online marketing tools for realtors. However, the true results are shown when you can use that data to connect offline with potential clients.

The Power of Custom Postcards

Imagine that you log in to your realtor data software and see that the same person has been on your website at 3:30 p.m. every day for the last month. Finally, they log in using your Facebook application and provide you with their name and address.

This is a prime opportunity to reach out to that consumer, and an ideal way to do so is with custom postcards designed specifically for real estate agents.

Whether you want to announce an upcoming open house or a listing that you just sold, custom realtor postcards are an excellent means of communicating your relevancy as a real estate agent.

It shows that you invest the time and money to market your clients’ listings, and it gives the potential client the confidence they need to move forward with selecting you as their agent.

Best of all, by utilizing offline marketing tools like postcards you create more ways capitalize on your online real estate data. You take advantage of leads and you start realizing greater opportunities for success.

Did you know that an estimated 41% of home purchases in 2008 were made my first time homeowners? Renters are an excellent target market and if you are looking for buyers, you need to be mailing apartment buildings and non-owner occupied residences on a regular basis. ReaMark makes it easy with our Real Estate Renter Postcards.

ReaMark’s Real Estate Renter Postcards are written to target renters and open their eyes to the financing options that may be available to them. Renters are a great demographic to zero in on because most realtors don’t market to apartments, most renters have to renew their lease or move every 6 to 12 months, and with renters you don’t have to worry about selling their current home. And with home affordability as its highest and interest rates near historic lows, now is a great time to buy. Get the word out with ReaMark’s Renter Postcards!

To request samples or to place an order, call us at 800-932-2957 and visit our website to see all of our Renter Postcards at http://www.reamark.com/catalog/renters.htm today!

2013 is well on its way and is shaping up to be much different than recent years in many ways, one of which is the real estate market. We at ReaMark wouldn’t be successful with real estate marketing tools were we not on top of the changes in the market from month to month and year to year. So what are the trends for the upcoming year and how can our products like real estate postcards help you in your goal of increased success?

One trend that’s been confirmed again and again is the lack of properties on the market. With fewer properties, realtors have less to work with making real estate even more competitive than it already is. Factoring into that shortage is the rush of potential buyers seeking out non-traditional approaches to buying a home such as going door-to-door to properties they are interested in buying, impatient to look through the lessened number of listings in real estate newsletters or through other publications.

Why do we mention the above changes in the market? One reason is that we feel it’s important to work together with realtors in ways to improve their success in a market like this with a buyer that has adapted to the changes. We need to adapt too. It’s of the utmost importance to continue sending out real estate door hangers and the like so that, should one of these enterprising buyers come knocking on the door of a home they like, the homeowner won’t need to think twice about who will help broker the deal or list their house to see if there might be better offers.

Being a household name in the real estate market these days is more important than ever to achieve success in listing and selling homes. Look through some of the products we have and see what would work for you. We wish you the best in the real estate market of 2013.

–The Team at ReaMark

We’re sure you’ve heard the saying, “You have to spend money to make money.” We’ve found through our own experience that you can in fact save money while contacting prospects and then boost your business in the process. Using real estate postcards is the most cost efficient way of staying in contact or furthering contact with homeowners.

When beginning the process, it usually takes about 6-8 months to start seeing results from a target area when mailing regularly. If ever the saying ‘patience is a virtue’ was applicable, this is the case.

Another factor to consider too when beginning the process of mailing postcards for real estate listings is this: are there other realtors or a realty company that dominate the listings in the area? If so it’s perhaps best to consider an area with less established realtors and find an area that’s suited for your new presence.

So remember that making money can also involve saving money, especially with real estate postcards. Best of luck to you!

As you can see, this idea as applied to real estate is worth repeating again. As was mentioned in the last post of just about the same name, homeowners often wait until the last minute to look for an agent with whom they can list. We’ve found that by sending repeat mailings there’s a greater likelihood of getting more business. Be a household name. If the homeowner sees your name whenever reaching for a pen or pad of paper, there’s a greater chance that they will think of you or when regularly seeing your newsletters for real estate listings.

Being trusted with handling something big like the listing of a family’s home is important. With mailings (real estate postcards perhaps), you are establishing yourself as someone worth trusting who is always ready to be helpful and friendly with the sale of a home.

The important thing to remember too is that sometimes it’s a slow process but having that extra patience when dealing with homeowners can really take you the extra mile. Best of luck out there!

Real estate is truly a numbers game. The more aware homeowners are of you and your business, the greater chance there is that they will turn to you when they are ready to sell their home. We have found that in sending one real estate mailer about our business (whether through real estate newsletters or perhaps real estate postcards) that there is often very little feedback. Others in real estate also have the same experience.

This is one reason why we advocate sending out many real estate mailers to homeowners. The more you send, the more likely they are to think of you when they are ready to sell their home and if they don’t have plans at the time the real estate mailer is sent out, it will remind them later on. And what better way to establish yourself as a successful realtor than sending them your information regularly to let them know you are always ready for the next listing?

Another reason is that many people wait until the last minute to really make decisions when it comes to finding someone to list their home. If they always see your information via real estate newsletters, there’s a greater likelihood that they will choose you for their realtor.
Try some of our solutions for getting your name out there and see how our real estate postcards and real estate newsletters can help you build your reach among homeowners looking to sell or thinking about selling. Happy listing!

While all of ReaMark’s real estate postcards are printed on the highest-quality, heavy 12 point, gloss stock paper, not all ReaMark postcards are created equally! What I mean is that some postcards generate better results than others. Here are the best rated postcards based on our customer’s feedback:

1. Recipes: Recipe postcards are a great way to build relationships with your clients and prospects by reminding them of your services through mail, while providing them with the gift of a delicious recipe. People love our exclusive recipes and are sure to save the postcard, along with your contact information. Your clients will use these recipes repeatedly, and each time they will be reminded of your real estate services.

2. Home Tips: Second to recipes, we get the best feedback on our Home Tips postcards.  Because each card features a helpful hint that any homeowner will appreciate, they are sure to keep them until they are ready to buy or sell. The longer someone keeps your information, they more likely they will be to use it!

3. Spot 6 Differences: These visual puzzles are irresistible to anyone! Young or old, people will pick up these cards and stare at them for 5 minutes or more! And because we put your name on the front and the back of each card, you get double the exposure! Just imagine how long people will be staring at your cards and contact information. No other postcard out there gives you that kind of concentrated attention for that long!

Add value to your marketing postcards by choosing a product that people are interested in or have a reason to hang onto. When people want to share the information that you send them, they also share your contact information. In these tough economic times, ReaMark wants to help you make the most of your marketing buck. For more marketing tips, to ask questions or place an order, call us at 800-932-2957 and visit our website at www.ReaMark.com.