Tada! There is a new cheap real estate postcard available for February. This month we are playing off of Groundhog Day coming up on the 2nd. These postcards are .12 per card and we will add your information to the backside. With a minimum order of only 50 cards, this is a steal! Need addresses? Let us know – we can add those, too, for .06 each address.

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Running out of farming ideas? Try a few of these and get your business jumpin’!

1. Memorial Day/4th of July – stick a miniature flag in your neighbors’ yards near their mailboxes with your business card attached. Maybe some sparklers on the 4th of July would bring some spark to your business!

2. Host a neighborhood garage sale – pass out a flyer or mail a postcard telling your farming neighborhood that you are hosting a neighborhood garage sale (don’t forget to mention “sponsored by YOUR NAME, YOUR COMPANY). Let them know the dates & times and ask that they let you know if they will be participating and what items they will be selling – not only will this get them to contact you but you will also have more information for the ads.  Inform them that you will put out signs and run a newspaper ad – also put the ad on Craigslist if available in your area. The week before the sale, place garage sale signs, balloons & other markers. On the day of the sale, show up! Walk around & meet your neighbors. Pass out business cards. Ask them if they are cleaning out their home because they are considering moving!

3. Seed packets – they are cheap & simple. Buy them from .20 and up. Stick on a business card label and pass them out to your neighbors. Lily of the Valley smell great and wildflowers can always brighten up a long-forgotten area of any yard.

4. Facebook community page – Start a community page for your neighborhood. Send out a postcard letting your farm area know you have done so and invite them to join. Post things such as market updates, listings for sale, average neighborhood selling price, garage sales, area events. Set up a discussion page for neighbors to connect. Don’t forget to mention that this page is sponsored by you!

5. Host a market update open house at your home. Invite your neighbors. Give them the run down of the current market conditions, a print out of homes on the market, recently sold, etc. Make sure to have marketing pieces there for yourself but don’t push it. This should strictly be a meet & greet informative open house.  Some ways to entice people to show up may be an ‘instant value analysis’ for their home, free food, door prize (if allowed).

BONUS idea: Have a website? Create a neighborhood page focused on your farming area – show all listings for sale, market information, sold homes in the last 6 months, photos, etc.

It has to be said and I am sorry if this makes you uncomfortable.  As someone who reads a lot of listing marketing remarks I find many of them are just the same as all of the others. Boring.

‘Easy to entertain’, ‘move-in ready, ‘fresh paint’, ‘gourmet’..everyone says that and since everyone does, it has become cliche.

Rarely do I come across remarks that make me FEEL what it is like to be or live in that home and neither do buyers. When I do, that home stands out.  Think about it, the remarks are one of your listing’s first impressions. Don’t you want it to stand out from the crowd? As real estate agents, you know homes better than anyone else!

Some of you know that I have a strong love for mid-century homes. My heart starts beating faster when I see chrome edging on kitchen counter tops. This only happened because I started learning about my own mid-century home. When I started learning about it, I loved it. So when I read remarks that only point out the new items in the house it feels as if the agent is trying to strip away what makes the house so great in order to make the house new – to help it complete with newer homes on the market.

Guess what? It won’t…unless you show how it is wonderfully unique.

Why not mention the arched doorways or the well-maintained original subway tile in the bathroom? What about the classically simple landscaping?  In my experience, KNOWING about a home can help LOVE a home…its history….its charm. Yes, I would love to have my morning coffee in the sunny breakfast nook! For inspiration take a gander at ModCloth.com’s clothing descriptions. These are not your everyday descriptions. Compare them to this. Can you FEEL the difference?

Each home is unique. Don’t try to make it cookie-cutter.

Discount real estate postcards are here again this month and this time we have designed 2 postcards from which you can choose. The first is a sort of new spin on the Thanksgiving postcard.

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The second option is a winterization tips postcard with 10 tips to help your clients protect their real estate this winter.

These real estate postcards are 10 CENTS EACH with only a 100 minimum order. Send us your mailing list and we can print it right on the card for you as well.

Order yours today!

Fall colors are all around us. Are your real estate listing pictures still showing summer scenes? If so, you know those photos can date your listing immediately and home buyers think they can grab a deal since the sellers may be getting a bit desperate. It might be time to consider having new exterior pictures taken of your listings for use on the MLS and in your listing marketing materials. Updating your photos is easy, especially if you have help from your real estate virtual assistant. We can schedule a day to take all new photos of your listing exteriors and upload them to the MLS and real estate websites as well. If you would like us to update your pictures, let us know!

We have just set up a page where you can find our current discount real estate postcards.

These are 1/4 page (5.5″x4.5″) postcards.
$.10 each! with only 100 minimum order!

Have a mailing list you’d like to include?
We can imprint your addresses right onto your card to save time labeling.

Need addresses? Just ask.

Do you live in a neighborhood/apartment complex/house?

If so, you owe it to yourself to become the neighborhood expert. Having been a personal assistant to a top producing agent, I know that heavy neighborhood marketing can nearly carry your business. Dominate your neighborhood with these simple and low-cost ideas:

• Grab your business cards & take a walk. Meet your neighbors. Be prepared to talk about what you do for a living and it can’t hurt to have some neighborhood info on the latest sales & prices.
• Get virtually social. Build a Facebook page for your neighborhood. Invite your neighbors remember that walk I just mentioned? or send a postcard) to join the page and keep everyone up to date with neighborhood memories, photos, classifieds and more!
• Send out a quarterly neighborhood market update (could also include this on your Facebook  page). Everyone wants to know what is happening to their neighborhood and home value—especially in this market.
• Host a free Market Analysis day just for your neighborhood. Ask people to sign up for time slots. The fact that it is neighborhood-wide is less threatening and seems like a softer sell.

A glimpse into our to-do list today.

1. Prepare Broker Open email flyer
2. Create Facebook fan page
3. Print postcards
4. Add brochures to website
5. Client bi-weekly newsletter
6. Complete a new listing’s marketing steps
7. Begin work on a small business website

With what can we help YOU?

We know that you have been meaning to call or email your contact list, but
something keeps getting in the way.  You are busy.  Time is tight.  We understand.

Introducing Monthly Real Estate Newsletters!

Now, my| assistant will write and format a monthly real estate newsletter that YOU can send out to your contacts.  We will personalize the email with all of  your personal information, so all you have to do is forward the email to your contact list.  Actually, my| assistant can do that for you too!

Read January’s Newsletter Here

Prices:

Print Version only $20 (my| assistant can also print for an additional charge per page)

Email Version only $20

Email and Print Version (delivered in pdf format) $25

Email on your behalf to your contacts via Constant Contact add $5

Word or Publisher editable version $25

If you would like to order a newsletter, simply email us and we’ll get it started for you!

with my | assistant, it’s done!
www.myassistantcan.com

Renee Crabtree
renee@myassistantcan.com
574.855.1238

Jennifer Kukla
jennifer@myassistantcan.com
574.520.2022