Email writing is a process, and there are always things that can be improved. Better email writing skills mean more success in your marketing, and from there, more profit in business overall.
The sender’s name and the email’s subject line are the first things the recipient sees, and these two determine whether they open the email, or send it to the trash folder. Consider these tips to write a great subject line:
The tone of the email should be casual but not overly familiar. Although you write a business email, if your tone is too formal or impersonal, it can come across as robotic, scripted, or phishing. The opposite isn’t good either — being too friendly while you are not that particular real estate professional’s friend or family makes it sound awkward and out of place.
❌Too formal:
“Dear Mr. Green,
In reference to your listing information in the local newspaper Times Daily, dated 13th January 2023, I am sending this email to apply for a viewing of a property located at 1234 Main Street.”
❌Too friendly:
“Hey there!
Wanted to pop up here for a sec to touch on 1234 Main. Let me check it out tomorrow, will you?”
✅Just right:
“Hi Alan,
My name is Ray, and I’m getting in touch to request a viewing of the property at 1234 Main. I’m hoping to find a stable longer-term tenancy and make a home I can be proud of.”
Many people do not read line by line, but rather scan through from top to bottom. Format your email so that it is skimmable:
All in all, make your email easy to read and understand even when real estate agents are on the go from one home to another.
Personalize by greeting your recipient by name — i.e., “Hi, Nick”. Then follow with more personalization to make the email tailored to that particular recipient. Make sure to apply that to all emails you write to agents.
How? Take some time to research their website and social media for clues on their interests. If there is something you have in common, consider mentioning it in the email.
Some examples of this could be going to the same school, having mutual acquaintances, or being fans of the same sports team. Alternatively, you could find something about their business to compliment or congratulate — moving to a new office, closing a deal, or closing a deal on a property.
Your email should be direct and get to the point quickly to avoid wasting the busy realtor’s time.
Get rid of words and sentences that are there for fluff. Provide the context. Add a few pieces of key information about your services or experience and if you want to share more, point your reader to where they can go to learn about it — i.e., your website or your home inspection report.
The unique value proposition (UVP) is what sets you apart from other competitors like fellow home inspectors or contractors. It drives home the benefit of working with you. Some industries (and businesses) can do fine without it, but you will have an advantage if you have a relevant UVP.
The UVP should state a direct benefit to the agent. It can be a service only you can offer, a type of work your competitors refuse to do, or convenience in interacting with you — i.e., an online scheduler to book a meeting without multiple back-and-forth emails to agree on the time.
Show the reader you can walk the talk — add a sample report, a portfolio piece, or a link to testimonials to demonstrate that you are good at what you do. If you are relatively new in the business and don’t have a big selection of cases yet, you’d want to offset that by showing off your most impressive one.
End your email with a call-to-action (CTA) to prompt the recipient to respond. CTA makes it clear what you want the real estate professional to do after reading your email, and that you do actually want them to do something.
An example of a CTA: “Just respond to this email and let me know what you think about my home inspection offer”.
Make it easy to connect with you — add all your contact info to the email, after or within your signature:
Read over your email to catch any email mistakes and typos before you send it out. The error-free copy gives off a better professional impression, so it’s well worth the effort.
If you’d like some help with the process, standard Microsoft Word and Google Docs spelling and grammar checks can catch most errors. To improve the text further, consider using software like Grammarly or Hemingway. Grammarly’s free version will detect most of the grammar and spelling mistakes and offer corrections. The Hemingway app would do the same plus suggest how the phrasing of your email can be improved.
The real estate market has its peak season during May, June, and July, and many regions have their local micro-markets with their own peaks and downtimes. During such busy seasons, buyers and sellers are very active and realtors are less likely to reply to an unexpected email from an unknown sender. On the opposite side are October and December, the two slowest months of the year.
The slowest months are a good time to send an email to an agent, but it will work in other periods as well — as long as you use the tips from this article and keep at it. Plan out and send your first email, then a follow-up email to agents with an interval of a few days between them. If there is no response, try again in 2-3 months.
Consider the time to send an email and the day of the week as well. Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday are all solid choices. The ideal time to send emails can vary from the start of the workday to lunchtime. Experiment with your strategy and test the results to find the most effective option.
Following up is an essential part of sending cold emails. That is because following up multiple times can double the response rate. Although the exact boost you get depends on many factors, the average response rate (how many answers you got compared to the emails sent, in %) would no doubt improve.
The email example below is from a general contractor to a real estate agent.
It applies most of the tips, and some of them in a creative way:
Strong relationships with realtors in their community help home inspectors stay top-of-mind when there is a need for their inspection service. The email below is an introduction from a new home inspector and aims to establish a relationship between them and a realtor.
A feature they have in common — they started their own businesses recently — is something both can relate to.
Networking with fellow real estate agents keeps you in the loop and updated on the current trends and workings of the industry. This creates connections and opportunities to meet other professionals like lawyers, reliable contractors, tax specialists, and so on. It also opens opportunities to cooperate with other agents to find buyers or sell homes faster.
The email sample below shows the agent promoting one of their properties on sale to a colleague.
If you want to rent a property, reach a real estate agent via email to make a good first impression and discuss the matters. And you’d want to start off on the right foot because the realtor might use your email inquiry as a pre-screening method.
Are you serious about renting, can you afford the cost, are there potential issues or reasons you might change your mind in the near future (which means looking for a new tenant and a new round of work) — answers to these and more questions would influence the real estate agent’s decision.
Below is an example of an email that answers some of the questions while applying the tips from this article.
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Emailing a real estate agent is a powerful way to engage, and it doesn’t need to be nerve-wracking and time-consuming. Use the tips and email examples in this article to get more responses from your recipients and leave a good impression:
