Using Email Marketing in Real Estate

Email marketing gets second billing when it comes to real estate marketing. Instead, the push is for postcard marketing to everyone in a neighborhood who may be interested in moving or potentially selling their homes. Marketing via postcards and physical letters to everyone who shows up as owning two or more homes according to the property tax database is standard. However, the very low cost of email marketing makes it an invaluable resource for real estate agents.

Which markets should you target when engaging in email marketing for real estate? And how can you build up these real estate marketing email lists or gain access to existing real estate market email lists?

Real estate investors are an incredibly valuable resource for a real estate firm. These individuals are in the market to buy homes, often with cash, and they tend to buy fixer-uppers that most home buyers don’t want. Those who buy homes to fix up and flip will use your services to find the deals, and then they are likely to use the same agent to sell the fixed up home. If they choose the rent the property out for cash flow, they are likely to ask you to keep an eye out for other affordable properties or distressed sellers.

You can work with real estate investor clubs like Lifestyles Unlimited to gain access to these email lists. Pairing with real estate law firms to include your information with their legal content sent to these email lists is another option.

Gaining access to email lists of landlords is useful for a real estate agent. You may be able to make money finding them tenants; the standard fee is one month’s rent for filling a vacant property if the lease is good for one month. If your real estate business offers property management services in addition to real estate transactions, helping those who can’t afford to buy a house or don’t have the credit score to secure a mortgage makes an email list of landlords invaluable. The standard property management fee is 10% of the annual rent, and it can be a good stream of steady income for real estate companies that take on this task. Landlords who own multiple single family homes for rent are also likely to consider you to help them buy another investment property if you’ve helped them fill several other homes with renters.

Magazines and content providers focused on landlords are the best resource for building up email marketing lists for this real estate market.

An email list of existing tenants is easily utilized by a real estate firm. Tenants who don’t like being tenants will contact you to help them find a new home. Those who are renting and need to find a new home quickly will contact you if they know you can help them find another rental that meets their needs, such as a family being evicted desperate to stay in the same school district. When their credit has improved or they are ready to settle down into a house, the person who helped them find their current home is first on their list for finding the next one.

You can build a relationship with this community by offering content on how to build up your credit score, what should be included in your renter’s insurance, what you should look for when buying a home and whether a condo, townhome or detached single family home is right for them.

Combining your real estate email marketing with financial newsletters on how to save money and invest money can put you front and center with those who may need to sell a house due to financial problems as well want to buy one after they've gotten their financial house in order.

New parents are among the best demographics to target when you’re trying to find potential home buyers. A married couple is usually happy in a one or two bedroom apartment, but a new baby or toddler running around the place causes them to want a house with a yard. Real estate marketing to growing families puts you front and center with those who want to buy a home or move up to a bigger one.

Pair up with parenting newsletters and locally focused Mommy blogs to reach this demographic. Don’t forget to advertise in the local parenting magazines, too, to build your brand recognition.

Location based marketing is essential to real estate. Email lists tend to be focused on interest groups, existing customer relationships and prior business relationships. If you can gain access to an email list that includes many people in the real estate market you work in, you can use this as a potential source of clients. An even better email list to receive access to is an email list of relocation service, since they have information of people relocating to your area and interested in buying homes. This sales channel shouldn’t be underestimated, since those relocating from other areas typically lack the personal referrals to other agents and are thus more likely to rely on the first real estate agent they are introduced to by a reputable source, in this case, the relocation service.

It is challenging to gain access to location based email lists, but a good starting point is lists of people associated with the PTA. If they attend the local schools, they live in the area. However, you shouldn’t just send an email promoting your real estate firm in response to a school email blast.

Another option is gaining access to location based deal and coupon services, like the email distribution list of those who want deals in your zip code.

One often overlooked real estate email marketing channel is the list of who is looking at selling their home when retiring or downsizing.

Whether you develop a list of people attending seminars on planning for retirement or gain access to email lists of existing retirees, these email marketing lists can put you prominently in front of those who will be selling a family home to move into something smaller or requiring less maintenance, often a condo.

If you can combine your email marketing with content of interest to this group like estate planning, reducing property taxes when you reach retirement age or tips on downsizing, you’ll build up a business relationship with people who will then refer their friends and relatives to your real estate firm.

One of the most common problems faced at the end of life is what to do with the family home. While some families may argue over who will inherit the home or whether a caregiver living there should inherit it, most heirs will want to sell the home in order to distribute the money between the heirs. Some are forced to do so in order to pay medical bills for the deceased and other debts.

You cannot use email lists that have the email address of the deceased. Instead, gain access to email lists with those engaged in estate planning, placing family members in nursing homes and planning for the end of life. The person handling Mom’s affairs while she is in the nursing home for the last year or two of her life is probably the one who will sell her home when she dies or be looking at selling it now because she won’t be returning to it.

You can offer relevant content to this market by pairing up with an estate law firm that gives legal advice, geriatric medical practices and retirement planning services.