15 Eye-Catching Real Estate Postcards That Actually Work

Finding a real estate postcard that works can be a challenge if you don’t know what to look for. Our mailboxes are jammed every day with flyers, ads, and junk mail that we don’t give a second look to, and bad real estate postcards end up in the recycling bin before they make it through the front door.

We reviewed the most effective real estate postcards out there and compiled a list of 15 you need in your mailer arsenal. If you’re looking for an easy solution to your postcard problems, check out ProspectsPLUS!. They have a wide selection of affordable and professional templates, some of which you’ll see below, that will make a great impression on your recipients.

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Let’s check out the 15 real estate postcards you can use to up your mailer game in 2019:

1. Just Listed Postcards

Best For: Generating buyer leads for your subject property and additional seller leads from the surrounding neighborhood
How Often to Send: Every time you send a new listing live

The Just Listed postcard is the perfect place to start because it’s a mainstay of the promotional strategy for any successful Realtor.

This Just Listed postcard serves two purposes: The first is to alert buyers in your network of a property they might be interested in. The second is to alert the neighbors that you, the local area real estate rockstar, just listed a great home. And if they’re interested, they could be next.

Circle prospecting, or the act of sending out media to the homes surrounding your existing listings and past sales, is a great place to use the Just Listed postcard. This technique gets more efficient over time if you are consistent with it too; the more the neighbors hear about your success, the higher your return rate will be on each communication.

2. Just Sold Postcards

Best For: Generating new seller leads from the surrounding area
When To Send: Every time you close a property

Similar to the Just Listed postcard, the Just Sold postcard is all about making your presence in the neighborhood known, and specifically, your successes. Every time you sell a property, get the word out about it. Having your sign in the yard is great for visibility, follow up that visibility with a message that tells everyone you’ve finished the job, and you can do the same for them.

Once again, your results from this sort of circle prospecting will improve dramatically when you get consistent with this practice, so build it into your process of closing out a file.

3. Expired Listing Postcards

Best For: Generating new seller leads from expired listings
When To Send: Every time a property expires

Expired listings are fertile leads if you know how to convert them. Many Realtors who are frustrated with a low success rate when it comes to expired listings don’t have the right message or the right timing.

As far as messaging goes, this postcard is a great place to identify the seller’s pain points, let them know that you are aware of how frustrating an expired listing can be and that you are here to help.

4. FSBO Postcards

Best For: Generating new seller leads from FSBO properties
When To Send: Whenever you find a FSBO listing

FSBO sellers are also great candidates to receive a postcard. A FSBO seller has announced to the world that they want to sell their home, it’s just up to you to show them why you’re the perfect person to help sell it.

Your postcard’s messaging should focus on addressing what you can do to eliminate the challenging aspects of selling a home. Identify the problems, but don’t dwell on them. Instead, focus on your solutions.

5. New Agent Postcards

Best For: Generating new buyer and seller leads
When To Send: Any time in your first year at a new office

Early in your career, getting the word out about your new business is critical, and having a postcard to help in that is a great idea. Be cheerful and optimistic, make sure to mention what is important to you as a Realtor and why that’s important to your community.

For this type of postcard, a bigger mailing list isn’t always better. While it may be tempting to pepper the entire city with new agent postcards, keep in mind who the most receptive audience will be: people who already have a rough idea of who you are. Perhaps this could be the first point of contact in your new neighborhood farm campaign?

6. Offering a Service – Seller CMA Postcards

Best For: Generating new seller leads
When To Send: Once just before the start of the busy selling season, once as the busy season is wrapping up

Sometimes all a property owner needs to start the selling process is some verification that what they’ve been hearing about the market is true. Creating a postcard that details your offer of a free, no-obligation market analysis is a strategy that gets postcard responses.

Try this postcard when you’re testing new potential farm areas. Find a neighborhood that has been HOT in recent months, and customize the message just for them by offering a free CMA.

7. List of Homes – Potential Buyers Postcards

Best For: Generating new buyer leads
When To Send: Up to once a quarter

Many Realtors overlook the fact that the rental communities in or around their farm areas are perfect places to prospect for buyers using a postcard. Quite a few of the residents of these communities are potential first-time home buyers, so marketing specifically to them can offer a decent ROI.

You’ll get a much better response rate when you tailor your message to the community itself. Here’s an example:

Say you want to farm an apartment complex where the average rent for a two bedroom is $1,200 per month. Use a basic mortgage calculator and determine what that sort of monthly payment would allow for in terms of a purchase price, and customize your message with this information. Obviously, everybody’s situation and capability is different, but many renters are unaware of what their rent payment could get them, so tell them!

8. Fence Sitting Seller Postcard

Best For: Generating new seller leads
When To Send: Up to once a quarter

We’ve all got prospects that have been hovering in the lead funnel for months now, people that just can’t seem to pull the trigger. Delivering a message of encouragement using a postcard directed at the soon-to-be sellers who need a little nudge can be a very effective.

If you want to maximize your ROI, you need to personalize your message to the town you’re working in. Add some text about the median Days on Market for your particular area, make your postcard recipients feel like the market isn’t just good, it’s good for THEM.

Roll this postcard out to property owners who have demonstrated their interest in selling, but haven’t moved much past the interest phase of the funnel.

9. Fence Sitting Buyer Postcard

Best For: Generating new buyer leads
When To Send: Up to once a quarter

When a home buyer doesn’t feel any urgency in their decision making process, it’s easy for them to linger in or fall out of the lead funnel altogether. Obviously, you never want your clients to feel rushed into a decision they aren’t ready for, but sometimes a message of urgency is what it takes to get people thinking again.

The Fence Sitting Buyer postcard is perfect for any buyer prospect who is getting slower at returning calls and texts, who decided not to stop by the open house last weekend, who is considering “just renting for another year”.

10. Personal Sphere Postcards

Best for: Generating buyer and seller leads
How Often to Send: Twice a year

As an active Realtor, your sphere knows that they’re going to hear from you. Whether it’s in the form of text messages, phone calls, email, or lively conversation at the local watering hole, the longer you do this job, the more your social circle comes to expect it.

Do the unexpected and include them in your postcard mailing too. Since they know you, they will be more likely to save that postcard longer.

Your messaging can be a little lighter and a little more familiar, but make sure it is deliberate and has a well defined call to action.

11. Referral Solicitation Postcards

Best For: Generating new seller leads
When To Send: Once or twice a year

Some of the most valuable communication with your prospective clients doesn’t come from you; it comes from buyers and sellers you’ve already closed with. A postcard you can use to actively solicit referrals pairs really nicely with a phone call 24 hours after the postcard has been received to see what business your past clients can provide you.

12. Home Purchase Anniversary Postcards

Best For: Generating new buyer and seller leads
When To Send: Once a year, on the closing day anniversary

Keeping in contact with satisfied clients is the best way to keep top of mind when they, or even better, someone they know, is considering a new transaction or just needs real estate advice.

An easy way to stay top of mind is to send a closing day anniversary postcard to every one of your closed sales. Since these are one-off postcards, consider an image that you can use for multiple clients, include a short hand-written note, and make sure you put your send date on the calendar so you don’t miss the day.

13. Farm Content Postcards

Best For: Generating new seller leads
When To Send: Up to once a month

Part of working a farm area is providing content that shows you’re a part of the community and care about its long term growth. This means occasionally your messages need to be about more than just buying and selling homes.

Recipes are an easy way to stay on the fridge, especially if they are seasonal and sought after. Your farm area should hear some community-oriented content from you at least once a month, a recipe postcard is a great option for checking this box.

14. Special Occasion Postcards

Best For: Generating new buyer and seller leads
When To Send: Special occasions, up to once a quarter

Special occasions are great times to connect with your entire sphere. Major holidays are awesome chances for communication, but don’t forget important but overlooked times like back to school, daylight savings, or Earth Day. These are relatively universal themes that your entire contact list will identify with.

Do your best to time the delivery of a piece of mail like this for maximum effectiveness. For instance, a daylight savings reminder won’t do any good if it arrives two weeks early, and certainly won’t work if it arrives late.

Make your message positive and concise, and include an invitation to connect as well.

15. Special Event Calendar Postcards

Best For: Generating new seller leads
When To Send: Once or twice a year

Take advantage of your local area’s major events by creating a calendar of can’t miss happenings that you can send out to all your contacts once a year. Major sporting events, concerts, local festivals, even school calendars can be permanent fridge additions, along with your name, face, contact information and a call to action.

Special event postcards are great in part because it gains effectiveness if you are consistent in delivering it. If someone gets the football schedule from you one year, they’re more likely to accept it and make it a fixture in their kitchen again and again. Just make sure you pick a theme that is timely and appeals to a broad audience.

Real Estate Postcard Design Must-Haves

• Big, Bold Imagery: The postcard is a visual medium, and even if your message is delivered in the text, you need to catch your recipient’s eye as your postcard is being pulled from the mailbox.
• Headshot: For the same reasons that the main image of a postcard is so important, including your headshot is important too. Make sure you leave no doubt who is behind the message that your audience is enjoying
• Relevant Contact Information: The response rate on your postcard is guaranteed to be zero if you don’t include ways that people can reach out to you. Name, phone number, email at the minimum.
• A Call To Action: What do you want the audience of your mailer to DO after they have read your message? Make sure you direct your audience, whether that’s to call you and discuss home prices or put their football game schedule on the fridge.
• Brokerage Information: Many states require a return address for unsolicited mail pieces, and in the case of real estate related marketing, your brokerage information. Make sure you include somewhere your brokerage name and address.

Don’t Forget: Real Estate Postcard Disclaimer

The NAR code of ethics prohibits the solicitation of business from buyers or sellers already exclusively represented by a Realtor. When you’re sending out larger mail pieces, you may inadvertently mail to addresses currently on the market, or to buyers already represented by an agent. To avoid the headaches of potential ethics complaints, include the following somewhere on your postcard (we suggest in very fine print).

“If your property is currently listed with a Realtor and/or you are currently represented exclusively as a buyer by a Realtor, please disregard this notice. It is not our intention to solicit the offerings of other Brokers.”

Create Your Own Real Estate Postcards

Real estate postcards are powerful tools for marketing, brand development, and lead generation. While you won’t find any top producers out there that rely SOLELY on postcards to get the word out about their business, postcards are still impactful if you have a purpose behind your sending strategy.

If you’re looking for a great resource for designing, printing, and sending postcards, check out ProspectsPLUS!. They can help get your postcard strategy in motion with professional and affordable direct mail services.

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