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Few questions:
1. Do you give closing gifts?
2. If yes, what?

Would a closing gift consisting of a gift basket to present at closing that contained move in neccessities like: shower curtain, light bulbs, Advil, first aid kit, laundry detergent etc.. interest you?

Price point would be $25 (small) or $50 (large)

Thanks for your help!

Wendy

I gave one customer an outrageous closing gift, and will never do it again.

I really don't think I'm going to do it though I may spend money keeping in touch with them after the closing, mailings, etc.

If you do your job right they should be giving you the gift. My wife just got a gift basket from a client with 4 bottles of wine.

...and your wife can't even drink wine. Re-gifts! (but the thought was very nice)

^^ One of my customers sent me a lovely fruit basket - I was not expecting it and couldn't believe it!

Candles and Brownies are great closing gifts.

Self-promotional post deleted.

We buy all of our condo or house buyers a one-year home warranty after closing. It has more value and lasts longer than any other gift we could give them.

Trush,

That's a great closing gift!

What is with a subscription to like a Angie's list or maybe a consumer report magazine?

I usually give a gift card to Home Depot

That is exactly what I do. I give them a gift card to Lowes or Home Depot for $100. Everybody loves it.

I do give gifts sometimes. Sometimes I just get too swamped to do it at closing so I will send something later. If a client asks for a reduction in commission and I give it, that's the gift. If they are great to work with and like friends then they get a gift, subject to me not getting swamped.

Joe
www.affinityproperties.com
www.joecline.com

I usually give a gift card to a nice restaurant, or pay for their home warranty. I think it's a thoughtful thing to do!

Wow, that's pretty generous - home warranties are around $350 here...or do you get them much cheaper?

Morning Perky,
Yep--they're $345 each and we get a $60 rebate back on each one. It's steep but Bigtoe advertises that we do it, so I'm stuck doing it!

I add the swimming pool to homes with pools, too, which jacks it up even further but pool pump motors take a beating here with all the blowing sand and general vacationer abuse.

In four years we've been offering them, I've had three or four owners need and use them that I've known about, which feels good.
(Of course, I dread hearing the "gory details" afterwards when a vendor doesn't do things exactly perfectly for the owner...!)

Well, if the commission is good then I guess I wouldn't have a problem doing it. I might do that if I get both sides of a typical deal.

I pay to install a swimming pool in their yard. j/k. I haven't kept up on the closing gifts as much as I should be.

I like the response if you do your job right, you'll be the one with the gift

I think if you give a gift, it should be something useful...if you don't give a gift, you should stay in touch with them afterwards - I always called my clients one week later to see if they found any idiosyncracies with the house - many i still talk to today.

Here is a thought and it is free, VERY useful to the new homeowner and it will keep YOUR NAME and contact information in front of the homeowner until they sell.

Go through the house and note the make, model#, serial# of all appliances, if new, include name and number of company who installed it. Ask the seller for name and number of local services - snowplow company, house cleaner, handy man, trash collector etc.
- note important telephone numbers for schools, animal control, take-out delivery whatever is useful to your area

Place all information in easy to read format, leave room for notes in appliance section.

Create a "banner" with your picture, logo, contact information and put it on top of each page. Place it in an attractive binder of some sort and give it to the buyer at closing.

You can call it their "Household Information Kit" with all their info in one nice handy binder.

Will they save it and use it? I would, wouldn't you? Best of all they will see your info every time they look at it.

Five years later when they are ready to sell, will they remember the name of the person who bought them a gift card or they name of the person who created the household information kit?

Here are some additional thoughts the Members posted a few months ago under "House Warming Gifts at:

http://www.agentsonline.net/forums/ubbth...html#Post230593

Wow, paying for their home warranty is a great gift.


Compete Realty Team
Compete Realty
http://www.competerealty.com

I've taken the keys to the new home and made customized copies using either their favorite team or some character that epitomized their character. For a few dollars, you've given them a personalized gift that they will hopefully use everyday. I've also had a great deal of success with hosting small house warmers. If you get the loan officer to pitch in, you can really control costs. The benefits are great with this gift.

My company hosts customer appreciation events where all the money we might spend each on our individual clients is pooled into a nice quarterly picnic or brunch with an open bar.

I've done a lot of different closing gifts...but by far my favorite is to have a customized kitchen cutting board made. The top will say "The Anderson's" or Bob and Carol and the bottom I usually put "Home Sweet Home" or "Bless this Home". It ends up being about $40 each and it's something they will keep forever. The best part is that I order them on line immediately after closing and they are shipped directly to the client. No worries about delivery, etc. They always call to thank me. Many display them in their kitchen...I know friends/family ask where they got it from. Try to make your closing gift 1 - personable 2 - something they will keep and remember you by. Dont forget that you still have to stay in touch with them. I laugh every time I see a realtor gadget in a home like a key hanger and it's another agents name on the sign in the yard.

In the past I've received a basket with several household items (dish towels, candle, shower curtain, a pack of 9 volt batteries for the smoke detectors, etc...), a home depot gift card, and one agent even bought my home warranty.

I also got one of those address stamps from my bank loan officer. Guess she wanted to make sure it would be easy for me to mail out my mortgage payments.

I've started asking a local hand crafted candle maker to create a small arrangement of her candles on a decorative plate - nicely wrapped in cello with a pretty bow. $20. Makes a terrific gift and helps promote her business as well.

I just ordered my first round of personalized moving boxes/sets ($60-100) to be sent directly to clients in the middle of escrow.

My thinking was that they will absolutely be used and appreciated, and some will most likely be kept for years - all with your information displayed prominently. And any friends helping them to move will see them, and hopefully your client will speak of you glowingly to them!

You can't beat getting advertising impressions everytime your client goes into their garage or storage area.

We give realtors FREE $25 GIFT CERTIFICATES that will allow their clients to make an educated decision when selecting a mover. Much like the Home Depot/Lowes idea, everyone will need to move things from one place to the next. Up till now, there wasn't one (1) place to go to find the right mover locally.

I am more traditional and completely agree with Pattecha, personalized gifts are the most effective. Here is a great website that I use quite a bit and I've never been disappointed. The company makes large personalized wall clocks and I also really like that the clock ships directly to the new homeowner, which saves me time. The clocks are so large they are a great conversation piece and the conversation inevitably turns to "where did you get it"? I also have several of these clocks that I made universal so I can use them in my demo homes. I have been so pleased with this company that almost all my house warming gifts come from them now. I'm not sure how much, but they also give a pretty good discount depending on how many you order and if you are a returning customer. I hope this helps you all out. Whatever you choose to give, make it personal, lasting, and so unique (but not too extreme) they will want to use or see it all the time.
April

This company has some great clocks but some of my buyers aren't moving into "big" homes.........have you found any for smaller homes?

give me a flat screen. I will use you

Make it personal, not self-promotional. If you did a good job, they will remember regardless if they don't have a calendar with you picture and phone number.

I always give a file folder sized Fire/Water Proof Safe as a closing gift. Walmart sells them for around $75.

Since they have their mortgage and real estate documents close at hand, I tell them to keep these documents safe along with other personal things like birth/marriage certificates etc.

I have yet to come across anyone who already had one and all my clients love and appreciate the gift.

Most people wouldn't go out and buy one for themselves so I truly believe it's a fantastic closing gift and one that lasts a lifetime.

haha this is hallarious - and true! lol

Nothing wrong with that!

Several times, I have received a Closing Gift in the form of Gift Baskets, Gift Certificates, Complimentary Meal Tickets to some of the best restaurants, a few $1000 Checks, and even one check for an additional 3% when we had to Co-Broke and the Seller thought we had done too much work for only 3%.

Some of these people become real friends . . . . that's the greatest gift.

I like receiving gifts even better than giving gifts.

me toooooooooooo

I usually give a gift certificate for a massage. I found a spa close to my office and they offer a one hour couples massage for a very reasonable price. I write a personal letter that talks about how much I enjoyed working them, funny things that happened, what made it enjoyable, etc. and send that along with the gift certificate. I usually get a call when they get it and a call after they use it. I've yet to have anyone not use it.

For those non-massage kinda people, a Lowes gift card.

I give a potted plant with a card and gift card of $50 to some where like Home Depot for an average sale.

A new combo lockbox is always welcomed by homeowners. I received a "thank you" call a year later regarding lost keys, as owner was able to get in because of that stashed lockbox with the spare key. A locksmith with a trip charge would have been way more costly.

I make it a point to give my clients good service and I usually give a free Home warranty at closing, which is on the contract. Seems to be a pretty good gift.

Also if they let me I throw a house warming and bring steaks and business cards.

The closing gift is as important, if not more than the marketing effort exert to gain new clients because it reminds your buyers of the service you provided them so that they can refer you to their friends and family. So make sure to always personalize the gift with your contact info. A fruit basket gets eaten and the business card tossed in the trash, something personalized that can be used on a daily basis will keep you at the top of mind. If you can find a product to give that becomes a calling card that makes you stand out all the better! Some ideas: personalized doormats with the families initials and your contact info somehow attached to the back or the hide a key product my company offers is launching customized messaging inside the key chamber so every time your buyer gets their key they are reminded of how much you care.

ha ha funny your company just happens to have a product for us. LOL

Hey - I like that lockbox idea. A few years ago, I locked myself out of the house and the danged cats were lazily laying on the screened porch (8 ft in the air) and the house doors were wide open to the porch (no exterior stairs to porch). They ignored me when I asked them to go around front to unlock the door and let me in. My house key wasn't on my car ring (I don't know why). Drove over to M-in-law's and grabbed a little step stool. When I propped it up against the porch, I stood on the handle, not the steps itself b/c stool was too short). I was able to grab onto the railings and I cut the screening to get in (no thanks to the cats I tell you).

Why did I do that? $90 charge the locksmith wanted and new screening was a heck of alot cheaper. Since then, there's a secure lockbox on the door now.

I like this idea - thanks!

Maybe items/things that can make that person to remember you.




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