Market To Market: Real Estate
From Picket Fences To Parking Lots
Promotional products help real estate agents close deals with flair
From the first walk-through to the final paperwork, real estate deals are fraught with anticipation, anxiety and a sense of impending ownership. Promotional products can make a real estate transaction memorable and more positive for agents, sellers and buyers.
Shirley Ho, co-founder of Garuda Promo and Branding Solutions (UPIC: G620267) in Los Angeles, California, says, “The real estate business is a people business. Its success is not only based on hard work, but also on making connections.”
Real estate agents are always out meeting new clients, networking and making contacts, adds Ho, and leaving a good impression is the key to being successful. Promotional products can help facilitate this.
“Real estate agents have two different types of gifts that they will hand out,” says Cheryl Gallagher, director of marketing for Starline. “There is the need for everyday/all year handouts that are used in the office, at shows or as part of a mailer. The second is the more personal gift that most will give upon a deal closing, or in corporate real estate as a holiday gift.”
On her business blog, Ho offers several product recommendations for real estate clients, each with a particular tie-in.
“When setting up an open house, why not leave some pens and notepads for potential home buyers to take? House hunters will take away your pen and notepad, and can use it to jot down notes on houses they see that day. At the same time, they will be remembering you.
“Breath mints or custom candy work similarly to pens: they are inexpensive items that you can give to new clients or potential home buyers and sellers,” she says. “Breath mints can be packaged in full-color cardboard boxes, tin cans and other customized packaging.”
Ho adds that completed transactions are a prime opportunity for premium gifts such as wine accessories. “One great way to say thanks is to give a toast,” she says. Wine openers with stoppers, packaged in an imprinted box, are “classy and elegant, and the client will surely appreciate it.”
Eight Products Agents And Potential Homebuyers Are Sure To Love
Give a budding real estate agent a great conversation piece for their new office. Zillow Talk: The New Rules of Real Estate is a hardcover book that shares the science behind where and how we live now and reveals practical, data-driven insights about buying, selling, renting and financing real estate.
The Book Company UPIC: BOOKCO www.thebookco.com
The 16-ounce Persona™ Silo Vacuum Tumbler is a great gift on its own or as an addition to a gift basket. Made of FDA-compliant materials, the tumbler features stainless steel dual-wall construction with copper-lined vacuum insulation to provide optimum heat retention. A patented lid design features finger and lip grooves that allow users to position the drinking spout without looking. Choose from black, white or stainless steel with 16 accent band color options.
Starline USA UPIC: STAR0009 www.starline.com
Bundle up clients on cold days in an alternative Eco Fleece slim scarf. The 72-inch woven scarf is made of 50-percent polyester with recycled content, 46 percent cotton with organic content, and four-percent fabric-washed rayon. Choose from red, black and gray.
Kati Sportcap UPIC: KATI www.katisportcap.com
In the highly competitive real estate industry, especially for properties near the water or with swimming pools, beach towels are a very effective tool for agents or homebuilders to get their name out to the public. These “walking billboards” make great house-warming gifts at closing or thank-you gifts for a referral. With the largest imprint area of virtually any promotional product, beach towels are a surefire way to please clients and their prospects.
Towel Specialties UPIC: TOWLSPEC www.towelspecialties.com
Boost a client’s incentive program with a 2200mAh power stick that charges iPhones, iPods, Android phones and more. The power stick comes with a USB to Micro USB cord, instructions and a pouch. Customize it with one-color, two-color or full-color imprinting.
WOWline UPIC: MANY0002 www.wowline.com
Mortgage companies can garner attention for their brands with an imprint added to this adorable home decoration. The bird whistle keychain is a small white birdhouse with two mounting options on the back—an adhesive to stick to any surface, or a hole for a nail—plus a small bird figurine and an attached key ring.
Essef Distributors UPIC: 7414140 www.lincolnline.com
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Protect sensitive documents and valuable devices in a mahogany leather tablet holder. The interior has a gusseted compartment for different size tablets, as well as a full zip pocket. Two open pockets grace the exterior, and the holder comes with a shoulder strap.
Scully Leather UPIC: S174962 www.scullyleather.com
Deliver a powerful one-two punch with a high-definition full-color print on a durable 32-ounce plastic cup. These cups are crafted with 18-20 mil polypropylene that will not shatter or crack.
Visstun UPIC: VISSTUN www.visstun.com
2016 Real Estate Trends
Return to Normalcy – healthy growth in home sales and prices, at a slower pace than 2015
More Millennial Buyers – majority of buyers expected to be between ages 25 and 34
Affordable New Homes – new construction moves toward projects that appeal to first-time buyers
Higher Mortgage Rates –interest rates on 30-year-fixed notes expected to be 60 basis points above 2015 levels
Skyrocketing Rental Costs—more than 85 percent of the U.S. rental markets have monthly rents exceeding 30 percent of renters’ household incomes
Source: Realtor®Mag
Real Estate Reign
Bisnow, an online news site dedicated to commercial real estate, recently compiled its Richest In Real Estate Top 100 list. See the 10 moguls who lead the rankings in 2016.
1. Sheldon Adelson – net worth $25.2 billion
Known for: Building the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas
2. Michael Dell – net worth $18.3 billion
Known for: Founding Dell Computer
3. Paul Allen – net worth $18.1 billion
Known for: Co-founding Microsoft
4. Donald Bren – net worth $15.2 billion
Known for: Designing Mission Viejo, California
5. Charles Butt – net worth $10.7 billion
Known for: Running H-E-B, a Texas-based chain of grocery stores
6. Eric Schmidt – net worth $10.3 billion
Known for: Serving as CEO of Novell and Google
7. Tony Malkin – net worth $10 billion
Known for: Owning the Empire State Building
8. Steven Schwarzman – net worth $9.7 billion
Known for: Launching Blackstone Group, a buyout firm
9. Philip Anschutz – net worth $9.7 billion
Known for: Owning a one-billion-barrel oil field in Utah
10. Stanley Kroenke – net worth $7.7 billion
Known for: Owning several sports teams, including the St. Louis (soon to be Los Angeles) Rams and the Arsenal soccer club
Home, Swanky Home
These are the world’s 10 most expensive residences
1. Buckingham Palace
Place: London, England
Current Owner: The British Sovereign
Value: $1.56 billion
2. Antilla
Place: Mumbai, India
Current Owner: Mukesh Ambani
Value: $1 billion
3. Vila Leopolda
Place: Cote D’Azure, France
Current Owner: Lily Safra
Value: $736 million
4. The White House
Place: Washington, D.C.
Current Owner: National Park Service
Value: $320 million
5. Fairfield
Place: Sagaponak, New York
Current Owner: Ira Rennert
Value: $248 million
6. Kensington Palace
Place: London, England
Current Owner: Lakshmi Mittal
Value: $222 million
7. Ellison Estate
Place: Woodside, California
Current Owner: Larry Ellison
Value: $200 million
8. Hearst Mansion
Place: San Simeon, California
Current Owners: Trustees of William Randolph Hearst
Value: $165 million
9. Franchuk Villa
Place: London, England
Current Owner: Elena Franchuk
Value: $161 million
10. The Pinnacle
Yellowstone Club, Montana
Current Owners: Edra and Tim Blixseth
Value: $155 million
11. Hicks Estate
Dallas, Texas
Current Owner: Tom Hicks
Value: $135 million
12. Bran Castle
Transylvania, Romania
Current Owners: Archduke Dominic Habsburg; sisters, Maria Magdalena and Elizabeth
Value: $80-152 million
REAL-WORLD SOLUTIONS
Use these proven campaign ideas to boost sales in the real estate market:
Driving Brand Awareness
As a golf tournament sponsor, the regional office of a national real estate company wanted to gain the most exposure for its sponsorship dollars without utilizing traditional promotional items such as golf balls, caps or can coolers.
Working in conjunction with the golf course and tournament coordinators, the local real estate team and its promotional products distributor designed a series of fun and informative vinyl graphics to be placed directly onto each golf cart. Additional concrete graphics were developed for placement on cart paths featuring specific benefits of working with the company.
The high visibility and placement of the concrete graphics ensured the real estate company’s hospitality tent was constantly filled. The local office saw an immediate spike in business and attributed over 60 percent of that to the sponsorship investment. The distributor repeated this campaign on several subsequent occasions, with equally impressive results.
Source: Hadrus Vinyl Graphics (UPIC: HADRUS)
Building Better Incentive Programs
A Minnesota-based construction leader wanted to highlight employee achievement in safety hours, years of service and peer-to-peer recognition through an awarded point system. The program supports the company's inclusive and empowering culture by offering quality hard-good and apparel gifts in exchange for redeemed points. Committee members, split up by region, share the responsibility of item selection and order fulfillment. Only items with the company logo are allowed in the program, to promote the company brand while providing incentive for employee greatness. The result has been an efficient program that places orders directly with production, maintains records of points earned and spent, and saves thousands on freight costs by combining shipments to each branch/location.
Source: Associated Market Products (UPIC: A656595)
Sealing Deals With Custom Branded Folders
A real estate company was looking for custom printed branded folders to use as a welcome packet for new clients, along with a special gift to give them as a value-add. The distributor selected a standard four-color pocket folder and mini flip-pad jotter. The folder was customized with the real estate company’s logo, and the tagline Welcome Home on the front cover, along with color photos of sample properties from their portfolio.
The company paired the welcome folder with a branded mini flip pad jotter for their clients to take down important notes during property showings. Inside each folder, the real estate company included its business card, property listing fliers, an informational FAQ sheet for buyers and sellers, and other key paperwork. The welcome packet folders and flip-pad jotters were distributed to clients in person at meetings and open house events. As a result, the company saw increased engagement with their brand and higher customer retention.
Source: Warwick Publishing Co. (UPIC: WARWICK)
Jen Alexander is associate editor for PPB.