Choosing the right gift
Real estate agents are amongst many professional who like to thank their customers by giving gifts, in this case it is usually thanking sellers for the listing or celebrating the sale, or a house-warming gift for buyers.
Pat Hiban, the author of the NYT bestselling book, 6 steps to 7 figures: A Real Estate Professional’s Guide to Building Wealth and Creating Your Destiny, suggests in his article, 6 housewarming gifts buyers will actually use, that modern consumers want gift cards over other types of gifts.
In a 2015 US survey by the National Retail Federation, 58.8 per cent of consumers said they would prefer gift cards over other types of gifts.
Hiban suggests the following popular gift cards, which are easily transferrable to local neighbourhoods:
- An Amazon gift card
- A Home Depot gift card (Think Bunnings or the like). The buyers will certainly remember the agent fondly if they bought with plans to renovate.
- A gift card for a local restaurant
- Costco membership (or a Co-op in the area)
- A Best Buy gift card (Think JB Hi-Fi perhaps)
- An Ikea gift card
So, unless you know your customer really well and can choose something more personal, it seems that a good gift card may prove to be the safe bet.