Hi everyone! I earned my agent's license earlier this year in February, married my husband in April, and we moved into our first fixer-upper home the end of July! I'm jumping into real estate agent work full-time, and would love some input on marketing to our neighborhood.

We have moved into a neighborhood in southern Redford Charter Township (south of I96/Jeffries Fwy, and west of Telegraph Road). There's about 500 houses in the neighborhood. We would like to find off-market properties to either 1) purchase and turn into rental properties, or 2) I can serve as their agent when they want to sell their home, and grow my personal contact network. 

What advise do you have about marketing to your local neighborhood? Is doorknocking/talking on their porch the way to start? Or is it more considerate to leave doorknob fliers as your first contact in your neighborhood? Mail out "neighborhood updates" once a month? 

Do you throw a party at your house and give everyone cookies you baked from scratch??? (my husband can confirm I have a crazy sweet tooth, and I do love cooking!)

I know the sky's the limit with self-marketing, and I'd love some experienced insight. :) Let the chatting begin! 

Let's take a look at door hangers / door knockers. They are time consuming, most get thrown in the trash, they may not be in the market to sell at that time, and the person who throws it in the trash is the only one in the house that sees it. EDDM is the same except you do get to touch multiple homes in a single mailing. And then you have to do it again - one time - next month or however often you decide to print up flyers and hang/mail them. Door knocking - they have to be home and receptive to listening to you so if either scenario doesn't take place, you have wasted your time. And time is money.

Now this might not be for you, but there is a far better way to reach this people relentlessly month after month until they are ready to sell. Plus the same platform can put you in front of BUYERS before your competition even knows they exist as well as poach clients from their open houses. If you want more details to see if you are a good fit for the program, let me know and we can set up a phone call to discuss. 

Thanks for the information, Dale! I did go through with the doorhangers for first contact. They had the basic message of, "hi! I just moved to your neighborhood, and I'd love to help you in your next real estate transaction." I received a bundle of 500 hangers for $60 ($70 plus tax and shipping) from Vistaprint.com It was a great purchasing experience.

Out of 450-ish hangers, I received 2 calls. Granted, I'd say about 8% of the neighborhood doors had some sort of "Do Not Solicit" sign posted, so I respected their desire for privacy. (I myself have gotten 5 or so solicitations in one form or another, so I understand how some folks could find it bothersome.) One homeowner was returning from a dog-walk, and saw me pass her house which had a DNS sign. She thanked me for my respect. And I still got to hand her a hanger in person! ;)

I will try a postcard next month, and see if keeping consistent contact and message proves effective in the future. Good stuff!