Real estate direct mail in Imperial Beach:
a farming plan for realtors

Seacoast Drive and the beachfront (91932)

Along Seacoast Drive, around the pier and on the streets just off the sand, there are condo buildings, small apartment buildings, beach cottages and a few newer homes. Many owners here live elsewhere and rent their units, and some units are second homes.

• Who sells: owners of condos and cottages cashing out, out-of-area owners tired of managing a rental from far away, and owners trading up from a condo to a house.
• What to mail: building-by-building sales. A Just Sold card to every owner in a condo building is one of the most effective cards you can send, since every owner has a unit just like the one that sold. For rentals, add what similar units rent for.
• Coastal rules: close to the beach, homes are in the coastal zone, where additions, new units and some rentals have extra rules. A card that explains what a buyer can and can't do with a beach property shows you know the area. Check the city's current rules on vacation rentals before you mention them.
• How to mail: a list of owners, not EDDM®. Many units are rented or empty part of the year. Ask us about a list of owners whose mailing address is somewhere else.

Central Imperial Beach (91932)

Between the beach and 13th Street, on both sides of Imperial Beach Boulevard and Palm Avenue, most homes are small single-family houses and duplexes from the 1950s and 60s, with apartments along the main streets. Many are rentals, and many owners have held them for a long time.

• Who sells: long-time owners and heirs, landlords selling a rental house or duplex, and owners deciding whether to add an ADU or sell to someone who will.
• What to mail: "what is your home worth?" and "thinking of selling your rental?" cards, with recent sales of similar homes nearby. Owners of older rentals often want a quiet sale with the tenant in place.
• How to mail: a homeowner mailing list on the rental-heavy blocks, and EDDM® only on the routes where most homes are owner-occupied.

North Imperial Beach, near the bay (91932)

Toward the bay and the start of the Silver Strand, the streets north of Palm Avenue have single-family homes, townhomes and condos close to the Bayshore Bikeway and the salt ponds of the South San Diego Bay. This is the part of town nearest the Navy bases on the Strand.

• Who sells: military owners with orders, owners moving up, and landlords who bought while stationed nearby and kept the home as a rental.
• What to mail: "sell or rent it out?" cards, with what the home would sell for and what it would rent for. For Navy owners, timing matters more than anything else (see below).
• How to mail: EDDM® on the routes with the most single-family homes, and a list for the condo and townhome complexes.

East Imperial Beach and the landing field (91932)

East of 13th Street, toward the Tijuana River Valley and the Nestor area of San Diego, there are more single-family homes with yards and more owners who live in their homes. Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach, where helicopter squadrons from North Island do much of their training, sits on this side of town.

• Who sells: long-time owners downsizing, families moving up, and owners relocating out of the area.
• What to mail: a steady monthly farm card with recent sales and a free home value estimate, and a Proposition 19 card for owners 55 and older. Near the landing field, buyers notice helicopter activity, so sellers appreciate an agent who explains the disclosures plainly and prices with it in mind.
• How to mail: EDDM®. These are some of the most owner-occupied routes in the city, and the best place in Imperial Beach for a classic neighborhood farm.

South Imperial Beach, near the estuary (91932)

South of Imperial Beach Boulevard, the streets run toward the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, with single-family homes, duplexes and condos, some with views over the marsh. This is also the part of the beach most often closed when sewage from the Tijuana River reaches the shoreline.

• Who sells: long-time owners, landlords and owners who simply want to move on.
• What to mail: honest, useful cards rather than glossy ones. Owners here want an agent who will help them sell with clear disclosures and realistic pricing. A card about how you prepare and market a home, with your recent sales nearby, works better than slogans about the beach.
• How to mail: a homeowner list on the mixed blocks and EDDM® on the routes that are mostly owner-occupied houses.

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. Imperial Beach has one ZIP Code, so the table gives you the city as a whole, and the routes inside it differ a lot:

• Owner-occupied tells you whether EDDM® fits. Many homes in Imperial Beach are rented, so the city-wide share is lower than in most suburbs. Below about 60 percent, a homeowner list usually wastes less money than whole routes. Compare individual routes in the EDDM® route planner for 91932.
• Owners there since before 2010 are your long-time owners. Many bought when Imperial Beach was far more affordable than other beach towns and now have a lot of equity.
• Owners 65 or older points to downsizing, moves closer to family and estate sales. Where it is high, a patient farm built around Proposition 19 pays off.
• Median home value shapes the budget. Values near the beach and on the bay are higher than inland, so a farm that includes some of each balances fewer, larger sales with more frequent ones.

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 and buildings 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.

Imperial Beach sellers worth their own mailing

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

Navy owners with orders

Naval Air Station North Island, the Naval Amphibious Base on the Silver Strand and the landing field in town put many Navy families in Imperial Beach, and some of them own, often with a VA loan. When orders come, they have a few months to sell or turn the house into a rental. 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. Owners who already moved and kept the home as a rental get the landlord card below, at their new address.

Landlords and out-of-area owners

Many houses, duplexes and condos in Imperial Beach are rentals, and many of their owners live elsewhere. They respond to cards about rents, repairs, tenant-occupied sales and what their property would sell for. Mail them where they live, with a list that uses the owner's mailing address.

Owners 55 and older, and Proposition 19

Many long-time 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. A simple card that explains it, and invites them to a free consultation with you and their tax adviser, suits the east side and the older central streets.

Owners worried about the beach closures

Sewage flowing across the border in the Tijuana River has closed parts of the Imperial Beach shoreline for long stretches in recent years. San Diego County declared a local emergency over it in 2023, and federal agencies have been working to expand the international treatment plant near the border. Some owners are thinking about selling because of it, and many are unsure what it means for their home. Don't make promises or predictions on a postcard. A card that offers a straight conversation about pricing and disclosures, and points to the county's official beach water quality updates, builds more trust than one that ignores the issue.

Renters ready to buy

Imperial Beach has many renters, and condos here are among the lower-priced homes near the beach in the county. A first-time buyer card, with what it takes to buy and the down payment and VA loan options available, can reach renters by EDDM® on apartment-heavy routes. It is a different business from farming owners, but it fills your buyer pipeline.

Just Listed and Just Sold cards in Imperial Beach

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

• Condos on and near Seacoast Drive: every owner in the building, plus owners in similar buildings nearby. Use a list, so the card reaches owners who live elsewhere.
• Houses in the central and east side neighborhoods: a radius of a few blocks, usually 200 to 400 homes.
• Duplexes and small rental buildings: owners of similar properties across the city. Investors compare with other rentals more than with the house next door.

Imperial Beach is small, so a Just Sold card to a wider radius also tells the whole town you are active there. 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 Imperial Beach 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 Imperial Beach owners actually decide:

What an Imperial Beach farm costs

A farm of about 1,000 homes covers a real share of Imperial Beach: the owner-occupied routes on the east side, or a list of owners across the central neighborhoods and the beach condos. 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. In a town this size, an agent who mails the same farm for a year quickly becomes the name owners know.

EDDM® or a mailing list in Imperial Beach?

Many homes in Imperial Beach are rented, so EDDM® spends much of a mailing on tenants, who won't list a home they don't own. A homeowner list is usually the better start, especially near the beach. On the east side, where most homes are owner-occupied, EDDM® reaches nearly the same people for less. For landlords, condo owners who live elsewhere and Navy owners who have moved, only a list with the owner's mailing address reaches them at all. Many households here also speak Spanish at home, and a card with English on one side and Spanish on the other, or a Spanish version of the same card, reaches every owner in one mailing. Tell us the areas you want and we'll recommend the right mix.

What every Imperial Beach 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 Imperial Beach 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 Imperial Beach 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.