Real estate direct mail in Coronado:
a farming plan for realtors

The Village (92118)

The Village, the grid of streets from the ferry landing and First Street to the Hotel del Coronado, has Craftsman bungalows, Spanish Revival homes and beach cottages from the early 1900s on, alongside newer homes and condos that replaced older ones. Many homes have been in the same family for decades, and some are designated historic resources by the city.

• Who sells: long-time owners downsizing, heirs selling a family home, owners of older cottages that a buyer may want to remodel or replace, and military families who bought here and got orders.
• What to mail: block-by-block sales and cards about how you market a home with history. For older homes, owners want to know whether a buyer will value the house or the lot, and what historic designation or a Mills Act agreement means for a sale. Check the details with the city before you put them on a card.
• How to mail: a homeowner mailing list works well here, since the Village mixes owner-occupied homes with rentals, second homes and condos. EDDM® fits the routes that are mostly owner-occupied houses.

Ocean Boulevard and the beach blocks (92118)

Along Ocean Boulevard and the streets just behind it, near the beach and the Hotel del Coronado, are some of the most valuable homes in the county, many of them large, custom and rebuilt in recent decades. Sales here are few, and each one is a big event on the street.

• Who sells: owners whose children have grown, families settling an estate, and second-home owners who live elsewhere most of the year.
• What to mail: fewer, better cards: heavier stock, strong photography and a quiet offer of a private valuation. Owners here respond to discretion and proof that you can market a home of this level, not to hard-sell headlines.
• How to mail: a list of owners, including those whose mailing address is somewhere else. A small farm of a few hundred homes along the beach can be worth more than thousands elsewhere.

Glorietta Bay and the golf course (92118)

Around Glorietta Bay, the municipal golf course and the streets toward the Silver Strand, homes are mostly single-family houses from the mid-1900s on, with some bay and golf course views, plus condos near the bay. Many owners have lived here a long time.

• Who sells: long-time owners downsizing or moving closer to family, and owners deciding whether to remodel a mid-century home or sell it.
• What to mail: "remodel or sell?" cards, with what updated and original homes nearby sold for, and a Proposition 19 card for owners 55 and older (see below).
• How to mail: EDDM® on the routes that are mostly owner-occupied houses, and a list for the condos.

Coronado Shores (92118)

South of the Hotel del Coronado, Coronado Shores is a group of ten 15-story condominium towers built between 1970 and 1978 on the site of the old Tent City, with the beach in front. Each tower is its own building with its own association, and owners include full-time residents, retirees and owners of second homes.

• Who sells: long-time owners moving to single-level living elsewhere or closer to family, heirs, and second-home owners.
• What to mail: tower-by-tower sales. Owners compare units by tower, floor and view, and a card that shows you know the difference is far more useful than a general market update. Buyers of older towers also ask about association dues and building projects, so a card on how you handle those questions in a sale helps sellers.
• How to mail: a list of owners, not EDDM®. Many owners live elsewhere part or all of the year, so mailing the unit misses them.

Coronado Cays (92118)

Further down the Silver Strand, the Coronado Cays was started around 1970 on the bay side and has ten residential villages, from waterfront single-family homes with private boat docks to townhomes and condos. Some villages are gated, each has its own association and amenities, and the Naval Amphibious Base is a short drive away.

• Who sells: boaters moving on, owners downsizing from a large waterfront home to a townhome, military families with orders, and owners who live elsewhere part of the year.
• What to mail: village-by-village sales, with the details Cays buyers care about: dock size, water frontage and views. A card about how you market waterfront homes, with your recent sales, wins more than a general Coronado update.
• How to mail: EDDM® on the routes that are mostly owner-occupied homes, and a list where the routes include many rented units or owners who live elsewhere.

How to read the table before you pick a farm

The best farm is one where homes sell often enough, owners stay long enough to build equity, and your cards reach owners rather than renters or empty units. Coronado has one ZIP Code, so the table gives you the city as a whole:

• Owner-occupied tells you whether EDDM® fits. In Coronado, homes that aren't owner-occupied include Navy rentals, second homes and units their owners use part of the year. Below about 60 percent, a list usually wastes less money than whole routes.
• Owners there since before 2010 are your long-time owners. In Coronado many have held their homes for decades, and their property tax base is far below today's values, which is why Proposition 19 matters so much here.
• Owners 65 or older points to downsizing, moves closer to family and estate sales. Where it is high, a patient, helpful farm pays off.
• Median home value shapes the budget. At Coronado prices, a single listing can pay for years of mailing, so you can afford better cards to a smaller farm.

One number the table can't give you is turnover: how many homes sold last year compared with how many homes there are. Check it in your MLS for the blocks, towers or villages you are considering. Many agents look for 5 percent or more. In a farm of 500 homes that means about 25 sales a year, and in Coronado even a few of them can make your year.

Coronado sellers worth their own mailing

Beyond your neighborhood farm, a few groups of owners in Coronado are likely to sell for a specific reason. Each deserves its own card, with a message about that reason.

Owners 55 and older, and Proposition 19

Many long-time Coronado owners stay put because a new home would mean a much higher property tax bill. Since 2021, Proposition 19 lets homeowners 55 and older move their property tax base to a replacement home anywhere in California, up to three times, if they buy within two years of selling. A higher-priced home adds only the difference to the tax base. For an owner moving from a Village house to a Shores condo, or out of the area altogether, that can make the move possible. A simple card that explains it, and invites them to a free consultation with you and their tax adviser, is one of the most useful cards you can mail here.

Heirs and inherited homes

Proposition 19 also changed inheritance. Since 2021, a child who inherits a parent's home keeps the low tax base only if they move in as their main home, and only up to a value limit. In Coronado, where values are high and tax bases are often very old, many heirs face a large tax increase and decide to sell. A card that offers a free guide to selling an inherited home, written with their tax adviser in mind, reaches them at the right moment.

Navy owners with orders

Naval Air Station North Island and the Naval Amphibious Base bring many Navy families to Coronado, and some buy, often with a VA loan. When orders come, they have a few months to sell or rent the home out. A card that compares the two, with what the home would sell for and what it would rent for, is useful. Summer is the busiest season for military moves, so mail it in late winter and spring.

Second-home and out-of-area owners

Many Coronado homes and condos belong to owners who live elsewhere, and some rent them out. Coronado's code doesn't allow rentals of 25 days or less in its residential neighborhoods, so owners who hoped to rent by the night often rent by the month or the year, or sell. Check the city's current rules before you put them on a card. These owners respond to cards about rents, management and what their home would sell for. Mail them where they live, with a list that uses the owner's mailing address.

Just Listed and Just Sold cards in Coronado

How far to mail around a listing depends on the property:

• Houses in the Village and along Ocean Boulevard: the surrounding blocks, usually 200 to 400 homes. In a town this small, word of a sale travels fast, and your card makes sure it carries your name.
• Condos in Coronado Shores: every owner in the tower, plus owners in the other towers, by list so the card reaches owners who live elsewhere.
• Homes in the Coronado Cays: the village plus similar waterfront homes across the Cays.

Send the Just Listed card in the first days of the listing, timed to arrive before the first open house, and the Just Sold card soon after closing. Draw a radius around the address in our mailing list planner, or pick the routes around it in the EDDM® route planner.

A 12-month Coronado farming plan

One card a month to your farm, plus Just Listed and Just Sold cards whenever you have them. Here is a year built around how Coronado owners actually decide:

What a Coronado farm costs

A farm of about 500 homes is a strong start in Coronado: a section of the Village, the towers of Coronado Shores, or a few villages in the Cays. Values are high enough that a smaller farm, mailed well, pays back. Here is what mailing it every month for a year costs, depending on how you print:

8.5 × 11 EDDM® postcards, printed and mailed, including USPS postage. Printing ahead costs less because the price per card drops at larger quantities; we store the extra cards and mail them on your schedule. See all EDDM® prices.

Most agents settle on the middle row: a few designs that rotate through the year, printed in batches, plus Just Listed and Just Sold cards as they come. At Coronado prices, one listing usually pays for many years of the farm, so it is worth spending a little more on design and photography.

EDDM® or a mailing list in Coronado?

Coronado has many Navy rentals, second homes and condos whose owners live elsewhere, so whole routes reach many people who can't sell the home they are in. A list of owners usually wastes fewer cards, and for Coronado Shores and second homes it is the only way to reach the owner at all. In the parts of the Village, Glorietta Bay and the Cays where most homes are owner-occupied, EDDM® reaches nearly the same people for less. Tell us the areas you want and we'll recommend the right mix.

What every Coronado real estate postcard must include

A farm postcard is usually the first time a homeowner hears from you, and California treats it that way. Under the Department of Real Estate's rule for "first point of contact" material (California Code of Regulations, title 10, section 2773), the card must show:

• Your name and 8-digit DRE license number, and the number of every other licensee named on the card, such as a team partner.
• Your responsible broker's name, as it is currently licensed with the DRE.
• The license number in type at least as large as the smallest type on the card. It can't hide in fine print.

Mailing as a team adds one more rule (Business and Professions Code section 10159.6): the responsible broker's name and license number have to be shown as prominently as the team name. A few more points keep the card out of trouble:

• The Equal Housing Opportunity logo, and words that describe the home, the street or the market, never the kind of buyer or neighbor it suits.
• Only your own sales on Just Sold cards, with the side you represented. A sale you only helped buy can't be shown as one you sold.
• Estimates labeled as estimates. "Find out what your Coronado home is worth" is fine; a promised price is not.
• REALTOR® in capitals with the ® mark, if you are a member of the National Association of REALTORS®.

We add your license number, broker and logo to every design and send a proof, but ask your broker to approve the final card. Your brokerage may have its own rules on top of these.

For more card ideas, the Just Listed and Just Sold basics and how to pick a farm, see our real estate direct mail guide.

Get a quote for your Coronado mailing

Tell us which neighborhoods and services you want to focus on. We'll reply with a price for printing and mailing, and the routes or list we recommend.