Real estate direct mail in El Cajon:
a farming plan for realtors

Fletcher Hills (92020)

On the west side of the city, next to La Mesa and Grossmont College, Fletcher Hills takes its name from Ed Fletcher, who began developing it in the late 1920s. Most of its homes are single-family houses from the decades after the war, on curving streets that climb into the hills, with views across the valley from the higher lots. Most of them are lived in by their owners.

• Who sells: long-time owners who bought in the 1960s, 70s and 80s and are now downsizing, heirs selling a parent's home, and families moving up from a three-bedroom ranch to something bigger.
• What to mail: street-level sales. A view home on the hillside and a flat lot near Fletcher Parkway don't sell for the same price, and owners know it. Cards that show the difference, and what updated homes sold for compared with original ones, earn trust.
• How to mail: EDDM®. Most routes are owner-occupied houses, so whole routes reach the people you want for the lowest postage. Mail the same look every month for at least a year.

Granite Hills (92021)

East of downtown, Granite Hills rises toward the open hills along the city's edge. Much of it is unincorporated county land with El Cajon addresses. Homes are mostly single-family houses from the 1950s through the 80s, many on larger lots, some with pools or views, and a few streets with mobile home parks nearby.

• Who sells: owners whose children have grown and who no longer want a big yard or a hill to climb, and owners moving out of the county for a lower cost of living.
• What to mail: how you price homes that are hard to compare: larger lots, views, pools, additions and garages. On the streets next to open land, a card about selling a hillside home, including fire hazard disclosures and what insurers ask, answers a real worry.
• How to mail: EDDM® on the single-family routes. Because lots are larger, each route has fewer homes, so a Just Listed card needs a wider radius than in a tract.

Rancho San Diego (92019)

South of the city, Rancho San Diego is unincorporated, though most of it shares El Cajon addresses. Much of it was built in the 1970s and 80s, with newer tracts since, around Cuyamaca College and the shopping centers along Jamacha Road. It has single-family tracts, many with an HOA, plus condo and townhome complexes.

• Who sells: move-up families, owners trading a two-story home for a single-story one, and owners leaving California. Many original owners have held their homes long enough to build a lot of equity.
• What to mail: sales by tract, not one number for all of 92019. Owners compare their home with the same floor plan down the street. In the condo and townhome complexes, a Just Sold card to every unit is one of the most effective cards you can send.
• How to mail: EDDM® on the owner-occupied tracts; a list for the complexes with many rentals.

The El Cajon side of Mount Helix (92020)

The unincorporated slopes of Mount Helix use La Mesa, Spring Valley and El Cajon addresses. The El Cajon side has custom homes in many styles, from Spanish revival to mid-century modern, on large, irregular hillside lots and winding roads, with fewer recent sales to compare them with.

• Who sells: long-time owners, often retired, whose homes have outgrown their needs, and estates selling a family home held for decades.
• What to mail: how you market an unusual home: photography, staging, pricing a view and a large lot, and the hillside disclosures. Owners here pick an agent, not a brand, so put your face and your own words on the card.
• How to mail: a homeowner mailing list filtered by home value. Homes are spread out and routes cross into other neighborhoods, so a list keeps the farm tight.

Downtown and central El Cajon (92020)

Around Main Street, The Magnolia and the civic center, the oldest parts of the city mix small houses from the 1940s and 50s with apartment buildings, duplexes and new infill. Prices here are lower than in the hills, which is where first-time buyers and investors look first.

• Who sells: landlords selling a rental house or small apartment building they have held for years, long-time owners, and heirs.
• What to mail: to owners, "thinking of selling your rental?" cards: what similar rentals sold for, selling with a tenant in place, and the repairs buyers will ask about in an older home.
• How to mail: a homeowner list, not EDDM®. Renters make up a large part of these routes, and many landlords live elsewhere. Ask us about a list of owners whose mailing address is somewhere else.

Bostonia and north El Cajon (92021)

North of Broadway toward Gillespie Field and the Santee line, Bostonia and the neighborhoods around it mix single-family streets from the 1950s to the 70s with apartments and several mobile home parks. Part of it is unincorporated county land.

• Who sells: long-time owners, landlords, owners of homes in mobile home parks, and families who bought their first home here and are moving up.
• What to mail: "what is your home worth?" cards with the sales on their own streets. Values here have moved a lot since many owners bought, and many don't know their equity.
• How to mail: EDDM® only on the routes that are mostly houses; a homeowner list everywhere else. Check the owner-occupied column in the table first.

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 the routes reach owners rather than renters. In El Cajon the three ZIP Codes are very different, and the table shows how:

• Owner-occupied is the first number to check here. El Cajon has a large share of apartments, mostly in the valley, so a ZIP Code with a lower figure is a signal to use a homeowner list rather than whole routes. Below about 60 percent, a list usually wastes less money.
• Owners there since before 2010 are your long-time owners. In the hills, many have owned since long before 2010. They have the most equity and the most freedom to sell when they choose.
• Owners 65 or older points to downsizing, moves closer to family and estate sales over the next few years. Where it is high, a patient, helpful farm wins.
• Median home value shapes the budget. A sale in Rancho San Diego or on Mount Helix earns more than one downtown, so a higher-priced farm can pay back with fewer listings.

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 exact streets you are considering. Many agents look for 5 percent or more, and in a farm of 1,000 homes that means about 50 sales a year to compete for.

El Cajon sellers worth their own mailing

Beyond your neighborhood farm, a few groups of El Cajon owners 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 owners in Fletcher Hills, Granite Hills and Mount Helix 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. A plain card that explains this, and invites them to talk it through with you and their tax adviser, is one of the most useful things you can mail to the hills.

Heirs and family sales

In a city that grew so fast in the 1950s and 60s, many homes are now passing to the next generation. Heirs often live out of town and want a simple, honest process: clearing the house, repairs or selling as-is, and working with a trust or probate. A card that says you handle these sales with care, sent to long-held homes and to owners with an out-of-area mailing address, reaches them when they need it.

Mobile home owners

El Cajon and the unincorporated areas around it have dozens of mobile home parks. Some are senior communities and others are open to all ages. Most homes in parks sit on rented spaces and are sold under state rules that are different from those for houses, with park approval of the buyer and the space rent to explain. Check with your broker before you take these listings. Agents who learn the process can build a steady niche, park by park.

Landlords and out-of-area owners

The valley has many rental houses, duplexes and small apartment buildings, and their owners often live somewhere else. They respond to cards about rents, repairs, selling with tenants in place and what their property would sell for. Mail them where they live, not at the rental, with a list that uses the owner's mailing address.

Renters ready to buy

With so many apartments in central and north El Cajon, a first-time buyer card, with what it takes to buy and the down payment programs available, can reach renters by EDDM® on apartment-heavy routes. It is a different business from farming owners, but it fills your buyer pipeline, and El Cajon prices give many renters a real path to owning.

Just Listed and Just Sold cards in El Cajon

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

• Tracts in Rancho San Diego and Fletcher Hills: the tract itself plus the nearest streets, usually 200 to 500 homes. Owners compare within their tract.
• Larger lots in Granite Hills and on Mount Helix: a wider radius, since fewer homes fit in each block and the neighbors who matter may be half a mile away.
• Condo and townhome complexes: every unit in the complex, plus similar complexes nearby.
• A house in central El Cajon: the owners within a few blocks, from a list, so the cards skip the apartments around it.

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 El Cajon 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 El Cajon owners actually decide:

What an El Cajon farm costs

A farm of about 1,000 homes is a common start: a slice of Fletcher Hills, a few tracts in Rancho San Diego, or the owner-occupied streets of Granite Hills. 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. Even at El Cajon prices, the commission on one listing usually covers the farm for the year several times over.

EDDM® or a mailing list in El Cajon?

In Fletcher Hills, Granite Hills and most of Rancho San Diego, homes are mostly owner-occupied, and EDDM® reaches nearly the same people as a list for much less. In downtown, central and north El Cajon, renters make up a large part of each route, and a homeowner list wastes far fewer cards. On Mount Helix, where homes are spread out, a list keeps the farm tight. For landlords and heirs who live elsewhere, only a list with the owner's mailing address reaches them at all. Tell us the areas you want and we'll recommend the right mix.

What every El Cajon 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 El Cajon 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 El Cajon 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.