Many agents are scrambling to finish 2025 strong, but this simple educational campaign takes little time to prepare and yields year-long referrals, writes broker America Foy.
Inman Connect
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Current renters who are trying to figure out their first property purchase offer a huge opportunity for agents.
According to 2024 Redfin data, there are between 44 and 45 million renter households in the United States, representing a vast untapped niche for Realtors.
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That’s roughly one-third of all American families, and most agents don’t consider them viable clients. It’s time to rethink that. In this article, I will break down what renters can afford and how agents can begin connecting with this audience and, with simple strategies, help convert them to homeowners.
First, provide education
Even when clients have all their ducks (down payment, pre-approval, closing costs) in a row — remember, closing on a property costs on average about 1 percent to 3 percent of the purchase price — buying a house is a considerable expense.
You, as an agent, are going to have to do a little holiday research into mortgages because renters, some thinking they will never be able to purchase a home, sometimes don’t know the difference between ducks and chickens.
The expense may feel insurmountable. We need to educate renters on how mortgages work.
A 30-year fixed mortgage at 6.5 percent on a $400,000 home with 10 percent down ($40,000) means a monthly payment of approximately $2,465, plus property taxes, insurance, and HOA if applicable—where I live, the SF Bay Area, that total payment is about $3,200.
That sounds like a lot until you compare it to rent.
Show them the math: Their current $3,000 monthly rent builds zero equity, while that $3,200 mortgage payment builds $400,000 in equity over time. The payment is nearly identical. The outcome is entirely different.
Your job
This direct-mail campaign is my holiday gift to you:
- Create a deliverable, short and easy to understand, that explains how renters can become buyers.
- Create a landing page for the campaign, and ensure the page includes a contact relationship management (CRM) option to capture your leads — this is where your deliverable lives.
- Go to DownPayment Resource, and get familiar with all of the down payment assistance programs available to buyers locally and at the state level.
- Go to Apartments.com and find a large rental building in your area where the average rent is equal to or more than what a mortgage in your area would cost.
- Go to your title company (First American, Chicago, Fidelity) and ask them for a list of the addresses in the building you’ve chosen. Start small if you don’t have much money; it gets a little expensive.
- Budget between $0.70 and $1.25 per address for every postcard you plan to mail. You are going to want to do a traditional “seven touch” mail campaign, and it’ll cost roughly $1 for every piece.
- Create all seven of your deliverables, make sure they follow your state’s disclosure requirements, and create a QR code that people can scan, which links to your landing page.
- Begin your direct mail campaign.
Dos and don’ts
Do stay involved and interested in your campaign — occasionally post relevant information on social media. The people who receive your mailers will look you up on social media.
Do talk about what it is you are doing — specifically, you are educating people who are renters to opportunities to become homeowners for about the same money they pay in rent every month. Talk about it at least once a day to a stranger, and a group of strangers is even better.
Do not give up — you will not immediately see a return on investment. Real estate is about attrition; stay in the game. I have had people call me years after I have sent a direct mail piece.
A gift that keeps giving
The end of the year can get busy, and marketing campaigns may fall by the wayside. This is a simple marketing strategy to put together to set your pipeline up with some new homeowners for 2026.
America Foy is a broker associate at The Grubb Co. Connect with him on LinkedIn and Instagram.
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