Real Estate Mailings - Get More Expired Real Estate Listings

 

Over the course of their careers, every real estate agent has used some type of postcard marketing. Many of these agents are wasting thousands of dollars each year by not making smart decisions about which real estate agents to send their mailings to, and what they should contain.

Since the beginning of my career as an agent, I have been making a great living using real estate mailings for expired Sedona Real Estate For Sale listings. This article will show you how I do it, and how you can use postcard marketing to outperform your competition in your area. These steps will save you thousands of dollars each year and help you sell more houses than ever before!

Step 1: Target Your Real Estate Mailings

Agents make the biggest mistake when they start a marketing campaign. They make it too large. Agents believe that more people will send them business. Although this is true, very few agents are able to mail to smaller lists and still generate the same business. My mailing list has steadily decreased over the years while my revenue has dramatically increased. These are my top tips:

 

• Except in rare cases, I no longer mail entire neighborhoods or "farms" to any extent. I only target expired listings or those that have been removed from the market.
• After identifying the homes that have been withdrawn or expired, I can identify the homes I wish to market. If the home is located in a depressed or slow-moving area, I remove them from my list. Homes with a high likelihood of selling are the ones I target. I am able to quickly identify these homes based on my market knowledge, although some homes require more research. This may only take 5-10 minutes for each home but it will save you time and money when sending out real estate mailings (see below).
• I look through each expired listing for the word "Short Sale." It is almost never worthwhile for me to add them to my list if the homeowner needs to negotiate a short-sale with the bank.

 

Although it may seem tedious, these steps will help you identify the homes that are worthy of your full attention in your local market. A targeted list of just one to two hundred houses is more valuable than a large number of houses that are not looking for a buyer.

Step 2: Smart Real Estate Postcard Marketing

You're now ready to market your competitors after you've spent time researching and identifying expired and withdrawn real estate listings.

The rest of your market agents will have spent their entire money sending one postcard out to thousands of people. You can spend less money now sending multiple postcards to the targeted, small list you've built. Here is a list of the items I send to my small mailing list.

 

• A jumbo, full-color postcard is sent to the homeowner on the day that the listing goes off the market. Because many agents will be sending their postcards to the home the day it is taken off the market, this postcard must be large and striking. Make sure yours stands out.
• The second day I send another postcard. This is usually a smaller full-color 6x4 postcard. This postcard should look the same as your first one (i.e. same logo, colors, etc). This postcard is part of my real estate postcard marketing campaign. It tells the homeowner that I truly want to sell their house and that I will never stop trying.
• I sent another full-color jumbo postcard on the third day. It has the same logo and colors as the first one, but it says "See, I promised you that I will never give up."
• Two days later, they get another postcard asking if they want to sell their home. Why haven’t you called? My competitor gave up after day 2. Four marketing materials have been sent to the homeowner. The homeowner knows me and is aware of my desire to sell their house.

 

This campaign has received amazing responses. I send out four full-color postcards and sometimes follow up with five more. However, because I am smart about my list, my expenses are much lower than my competitors. My real estate postcard marketing campaigns also have an incredible rate of return.

Step 3 - Save even more money on your real estate mailings

Follow my steps and you will save thousands on your real estate marketing, while still making more money. Here are some ways to save even more money on real estate postcard marketing

 

• Print online and get a coupon There are many online printers that offer postcard printing, and they often offer discounts or promotions.
• You can order your postcards bulk at once. I use the exact same postcards for each home so I order all my real estate postcard marketing materials simultaneously. They are mailed to me without the need for postage. For each mailing, I print labels and attach the postage. Orders over 500 pieces are eligible for discounts from most suppliers.