If you’re willing to put in the legwork, off-market property can represent huge profit potential. The hard part, of course, is getting in touch with the current owners using a message that’s short, sweet, and memorable. The fact is, these owners are cold leads and they will not hesitate to toss your post card away if it fails to grab their attention. So, doing your research–like understanding the best practices established by these 10 real estate post card designs–will help you find more success on the first try.
#1 “Free Market Analysis for Your Home”
This first post card idea is proven to be highly effective because it entices sellers with a no-risk, free offer. You are giving them the opportunity to utilize your expertise and begin tossing around the idea of listing their home. A potential seller is very likely to reach out to you regarding your services, at which point you can begin explaining the local market and getting them interested and excited about the idea of selling their home.
The free market analysis they receive is usually the deciding factor. They want to know how much they can list their home for and how much they could potentially earn, so prepare the report in a very professional manner and offer to go over with them–perhaps over lunch if you think they will be very inclined to list with you after seeing the report.
#2 “Just Sold! It’s A Seller’s Market In Your Neighborhood”
This postcard idea can be used again and again. Every time you sell a home in the local area, make a postcard design centering around that home. This helps you prove your reputation as a listing agent while helping to reinforce the idea that the potential seller lives in a “hot market” where a lot of properties are being bought and sold.
In the postcard, tactfully explain how you got the house sold and, if you did quickly, share those figures as well. You can display the listing price, square footage, and the best photo you took of the home to help showcase how your professional services and expertise could help the recipient sell their home fast, too. At the end, your call-to-action (CTA) can be “Get a free market analysis for your home” or another offer to entice them to reach out.
#3 “Ready to Get Results?”
The next postcard idea is all about targeting recently expired listings. For this postcard, you must tap into the seller’s frustration in not being able to sell their home. Perhaps point out the unserious offers they have likely dealt with and all of the time wasters who are ultimately “just looking” and trying to get a feel for the market. Meanwhile, the seller is sitting on their home, anxiously waiting to downsize, upsize, or get away to a new location.
This postcard should feature your professional headshot and agent information along with a message along the lines of: “When you’re ready to get serious about selling your home, give me a call…” Try to pull in quantifiable statistics to make the statement even more powerful, like: “Over 82% of my clients accept a full-price offer within 45 days.”
#4 “Sell Your Home for $60,000 More”
In 2017, one study found that For Sale By Owner (FSBO) properties averaged a $190,000 selling price. Meanwhile, agent-assisted homes averaged $250,000. These numbers are a great selling point when using your postcard marketing to reach out to home owners who have their homes listed as “For Sale By Owner.”
This postcard is all about emphasizing how much more money you could potentially make the seller, which can be a tough point to get across since most people who list as FSBO think they are going to earn more by not having to pay for an agent.
#5 “Let Me Do The Legwork”
Since FSBO are a major opportunity for real estate agents, here’s another idea that can help you get new sell leads. When mailing to owners of FSBO properties, use a postcard that emphasizes how you get results. Tap into their pain points, like the hassle of scheduling showings and trying to market their home on local websites without being able to utilize the MLS and other agent-only platforms.
Try messaging like: “How many hours have you wasted showing people your property only to reach a dead-end or a bad offer? As an agent, I can help bring in the serious buyers you’re looking for–and I can do it in less time, without you having to lift a finger.” Having a strong call-to-action here and, again, including quantifiable statistics (like how long it takes your average client to close or how much your homes sell for) is highly effective.
#6 “The Family is Growing”
This postcard works to generate both buyer and seller leads, and you can send it anytime within your first year in office at a new agency. The entire postcard is dedicated to introducing you to the local community and to potential sellers. By sending this postcard, you won’t so much be convincing a person to list, but rather getting your name in front of someone who may already be thinking about it.
Introduce your background, qualifications, and what makes you the best agent to sell their home. Emphasize any past experience so they know you aren’t new to the real estate game or, if you are, try using words like: “Fresh market knowledge and a new approach allow me to utilize the most effective forms of local and digital marketing to get your home sold fast.”
#7 “You’re Running Out of Time”
This postcard is meant to target potential sellers who are sitting on the fence. They may have expressed some interest in selling in the past but they have not yet listed. The goal of this postcard is to tell them why now is the ideal time for them to put their home on the market. For instance, you might point out that: “Home buyers know interest rates will rise soon, and they’re looking to lock in a property just like yours.”
You can also bring in local market statistics, speaking to how recent listings have been selling for more and why you think waiting to list would be a bad move financially for the lead. The more localized knowledge you can bring in, the more likely the lead is to reach out to you for more information.
#8 “Happy Anniversary”
You already know that referrals are one of the top sources of business for real estate agents, so keeping in touch with your past clients is key. By sending a “Happy Anniversary” post card to home buyers on the one-year close date of their residence, you can check in with them and perhaps even generate some leads of people they know in the area that want to buy or sell.
#9 “Help Your Friends Find Their Dream Home”
Another way to receive referrals is to simply ask for them directly, which is something you can do once or more a year from past clients. In the referral request, be certain to thank the client first and focus on showing them how much you appreciated their business.
For the best results, offer a reward. For instance, consider awarding a $25 gift card to the recipient for each referral they send to you. Advertising this reward will help promote new leads but you can also keep it a secret, only sending it to the clients who go the extra mile on their own to give you a great referral.
An excellent postcard design will have a space on the postcard itself to turn it into a referral card, which the recipient can fill out and then send back to you or give to the person they want to send your way. When the person meets you, they simply have to bring the postcard and you know who sent them.
#10 “Here’s What’s Happening”
This final postcard idea is a type of “farm content” that encourages leads to keep the card and perhaps post it on their fridge or share it with friends. The content itself is not real estate related. Instead, it may include a recipe or even a calendar of local events. The idea is to offer something valuable to locals that also features a brief introduction to your work in the community and your contact information.
Hopefully, recipients will find the information valuable and keep it for future reference. Every time they look at it, they’ll see your friendly face and that will help improve recognition while also making it more likely that they’ll call you should they ever think about listing or know someone who is. You can send these postcards out monthly or annually to your list.
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