The Official Guide to Realtor & Loan Officer Closing Gifts

We're asked by a lot of realtors and loan officers what they should use for housewarming-inspired settlement gifts to give their real estate clients if they wish to stand out, increase their listings and loans, and encourage referrals. Since we have this conversation with our clients so frequently, we wanted to take some time to pull our list of suggestions together and share it with everyone who might be looking for help in this area! By the way, these tips can also apply to title company closing gifts, real estate staging gifts, and anyone who works in the field of real estate. 

DON'T FORGET REFERRALS

Our first piece of advice is to establish two different gifts in your arsenal. The reason for this is because you'll want to gift your clients at closing but the ultimate goal is for your clients to refer you to others after their positive experience with you. In these cases, if you only have one gift box in your rotation, then you risk having to gift them the same gift twice or you're scrambling at the last minute to figure out what to gift, neither of which are ideal. We recommend having a different gift for each occasion - gifts for settlement and gifts for referrals.

ANTICIPATE REPEAT REFERRALS

Then if you find that you're getting multiple referrals from the same clients, you can come up with additional gift box options to avoid repeat gift types. Or, you can even convert over to a handwritten thank you note or simple bottle of wine. Not each referral needs to get it's own full blown curated gift box. You can alternate to keep things interesting! We recommend the following sequence to our clients: full-blown curated gift box at closing, a slightly scaled-down curated gift box for the first referral, a handwritten notecard for the second referral, then another gift box with different contents than the first two, then a scaled-back gesture gift such as a candle or bottle of wine, and so on and so forth. 

FEATURE HOME-INSPIRED CONTENTS

The natural direction for contents for realtor closing gifts is obviously home-inspired items, mainly items that are reusable in nature. Sure, food baskets are a nice gesture, but we think keepsake items are much more special. Think throw blankets, tea towels, candles, decorative tins of tea, wooden snack bowls, kitchen soap sets, and so on. These are items that are very on-brand for realtors and more importantly, will be items that last a while around the house and as a result, recipients are more likely to keep you top of mind. 

FEATURE LOCALLY-SOURCED CONTENTS 

Another great direction to go in for realtor settlement gifts and even realtor referral gifts is focusing on locally-sourced items. This is a great way to make food-based gifts a whole lot more interesting, especially if you try and feature small artisan brands that perhaps your clients have yet to discover! They'll feel intrigued by each and every item that they discover inside the gift set and will likely appreciate that you're supporting small local businesses at the same time!

CREATE A CELEBRATORY VIBE

Closing on a home is a big deal and often the culmination of some fairly stressful weeks and months! Another direction to consider for realtor gifts is a celebratory vibe. Think a bottle of bubble, champagne flutes, and some really nice chocolates. This is a little more traditional, and some might even say expected, but if you focus on presentation and quality over quantity, your gifts are sure to have an impact!

SHOW OFF YOUR BRAND

There is such thing as too much branding and there is such thing as too little branding when it comes to client gifts. We always advise our clients that upon receiving the gift, the recipient should immediately know who the gift is from before even opening the card if there is one. This means showing off your brand front and center. Whether it be a logo gift tag or a branded belly band, you should absolutely show off your branding in your settlement gifts. It will pull the gift together and add the last finishing touch of polish that you're looking for. Plus, always a bonus, people are usually sharing anything and everything on social media, including gifts they receive. This is awesome advertising for you! Whatever you do though, please know that we're not proponents of adding your logo to every single item in the gift. That's overkill and not necessary except in rare circumstances. If you brand a gift too much it can lead to the gift looking sterile, impersonal, or dare I say like "cheesy corporate swag". For specific tips on making your corporate gifts more personal, visit here. 

INCLUDE A HEARTFELT NOTE

A branded notecard with a sincere heartfelt note of gratitude is an absolute must. This is what takes the gift to a whole new level. It's really THAT important. When you take a well-curated, intentionally-designed gift (which shows you care) and then pair it with the words to match (which also shows you care), you're creating a actual experience for your clients that will stick with them for months and years to come. Don't miss an opportunity and simply include a card with "to & from". Take the extra moment to write a note of thanks. It can even be the same note across the board for all of your real estate clients and those who send you referrals. The key is that it's expressive and from the heart. 

We hope these tips are useful in curating impactful real estate settlement and  referral gifts. If you're ready to outsource your gifting from design all the way to delivery, we'd love to hear from you! We offer a fully Custom Gift Design Service, inquire here. Or, we offer a collection of quick and easy, yet luxury, housewarming gifts in our Ready-to-Ship Collection. If you wish to add your logo to any gift boxes in our online shop, read more about our Add-Your-Own-Logo Program here.  

Images: Lissa Ryan Photography