Did you know you have fresh prospects, every year, who are ready willing and able to not only sell, but buy another house, sometimes in the same town or area?

We have three teens. One is a junior, the other two are seniors in high school. Yes, the seniors are twins. But, please, don’t call them twins. They hate the label because most people treat them as if they’re the same – they’re not. Teen drama, right?

The other day, as I’m thinking of our seniors going off to college next year, with the third following them in two years, I thought about how huge our house will feel. (At all costs, I avoid thinking about the whole empty nest thing!) Even now, with a full house, it’s “roomy”. With all the kids gone, it will feel like a small mansion. So, following that line of thinking I ask myself, “Do we downsize?” I like our small, cozy town, and I really don’t want to leave. But this house will be huge with them gone. I view it like this: if you were to lose weight and go down three whole sizes, you’d probably go out and buy yourself a new wardrobe, otherwise you’d be “roomy” in all your clothes. But, yes. The kids will return home during the holidays. And there’s a small chance they’ll move back home after college. But in the meantime, it’ll be just us and the cats. Sure, the cats are territorial, but they don’t really fill in the empty space. Then I think of all my friends and neighbors who have seniors in high school. Are they thinking of downsizing? Will they leave our town?

Then I had this amazing idea…

Then I had this amazing idea, and I’m thinking of our real estate partners. This is probably not a new idea. I’m sure some within our nationwide real estate group have already thought about this, because I’m not a genius, and I’m not a real estate broker, I’m just a numbers and mortgage guy. And sure, it seems obvious – after – someone mentions it. (Isn’t that always the case?) What if our real estate partners were to get a hold of a student roster, say from the PTA or other creative means, and use that list as a highly targeted segment to send their marketing material, offering them help in downsizing? What if instead of receiving the same old letters or postcards from our local real estate agents, I were to receive a postcard that said something like, “Congratulations on (insert son/daughter’s name here) graduation. You must be a proud parent. Now that most of the hard work is done, if you’re considering downsizing to help pay for college or take that dream vacation, or do something you’ve dreamt of doing, I’d like to help. And if you’re not quite ready yet, maybe you know someone who is. Please let me know.” Sure, it might sound plain, simple, folksy even, but it sure would be a great icebreaker, warm, friendly, and a great point of connection. (you’re also asking for a referral) I might think, “Hey, this person ‘get’s it.’ They understand our situation. They can ‘relate’.” I would be more likely to call them instead of another agent. And if we were to downsize in the coming years, we would most likely stay in town or the general area, and that would mean two deals for our agent, the sale and purchase. Nice!

               So, for our real estate partners, this is exclusively for you. If you find this idea useful, and if you get at least one new client because of it – You’re Welcome! (I am open to receiving referral fees. Haha)