Using the Golden Letter to Prospect for Listings

“Would you be interested in selling your home to a client of mine?” That’s pretty much the exact script for our ‘golden letter’ that we use to find seller clients. Maybe you’ve heard about it, maybe you haven’t. It’s a letter that we send to specific neighborhoods to target potential sellers. If your inventory is low like ours is, you know how desperate we are to find great homes for our buyers.

We implemented this with the help of Laura Hyatt, and it’s a pretty simple direct mail letter. Whenever we get a property that sells fast, over asking price, and for multiple offers, we’re sending 100 golden letters to homeowners who live around that house.

It’s a pretty simple script; you could get more specific in details if you want to, though. We hand address the envelope, stamp it, and don’t even put a return label on it. So far, we’ve gotten phone calls and appointments set just from sending out this letter. It’s a tedious process, but if you can generate just one new listing, it is worth your time and effort.

When someone reaches out to you after reading the letter, treat them like any other seller. You want to qualify them, get their contact information, and ask if they have been thinking about selling or are currently working with an agent. Finally, we’ll tell them that if our buyer is a match for their home, what does their timeline look like? Then we let them know we’re going to get back with the team and see if the buyer believes this is a good match for them.

This is another great strategy to find someone interested in selling. In this market, we need to do more of these types of things.

If you have any questions for me about the golden letter or the real estate business in general, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.