Real estate direct mail in La Jolla:
a farming plan for realtors

The Village and the Barber Tract (92037)

The streets around Prospect Street, Girard Avenue and the Cove mix condo buildings, older cottages and bungalows from the first half of the 1900s, and homes rebuilt on small lots. Just south, the Barber Tract has a quieter mix of cottages and newer homes a few blocks from Windansea and the water.

• Who sells: condo owners who used the unit as a second home and now use it less, retirees moving closer to family, heirs, and investors selling a rental. Many owners don't live in La Jolla at all.
• What to mail: building-by-building sales. Condo owners compare their unit with others in the same building, by floor and by view. A card that lists recent sales in their building, with your take on what made the difference, is worth more to them than a market average.
• How to mail: a homeowner mailing list rather than routes. The routes here include many renters and units used part of the year, and the owners who decide often live elsewhere. Ask us about a list of owners whose mailing address is somewhere else.

Bird Rock (92037)

At La Jolla's southern end, next to Pacific Beach, Bird Rock was first subdivided in 1906 but filled in mostly after the 1950s. Homes range from small mid-century houses on modest lots to recent rebuilds, with shops and cafes along La Jolla Boulevard. It feels like a neighborhood of its own, and owners see it that way.

• Who sells: long-time owners of original homes, families moving up to a bigger lot, and owners who are choosing between a rebuild and a sale.
• What to mail: "rebuild or sell?" cards that compare what original homes and rebuilt homes nearby sold for. Many buyers here plan to rebuild, so the lot, the view and the permits can matter more than the house. Owners want an agent who understands that.
• How to mail: EDDM® on the routes that are mostly houses, and a list for the blocks with more condos and apartments near La Jolla Boulevard. Bird Rock is compact, which makes it a good size for a first La Jolla farm.

La Jolla Shores (92037)

Between Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Village, La Jolla Shores was planned in the 1920s, but most homes went up after World War II, many of them single-story houses from the 1950s and 60s on flat streets near the beach. The area has its own planning rules, the La Jolla Shores Planned District, with an advisory board that reviews many projects.

• Who sells: original owners and their heirs, owners downsizing from a family home, and families moving on as children grow up. Homes held for 40 or 50 years are common here.
• What to mail: calm, helpful cards: how Proposition 19 works for owners 55 and older, how a trust sale works, and what original homes sell for compared with remodeled ones. Owners here are in no hurry, and they remember the agent who was useful before they were ready.
• How to mail: EDDM® on the routes of houses, with a list for the condos and apartments near Avenida de la Playa. A steady monthly card for at least a year matters more than any single design.

Mount Soledad, the Muirlands and the hills (92037)

Above the Village, the hills hold custom homes and estates on larger lots, many with ocean views, along curving streets that climb Mount Soledad. Homes here are one of a kind, so there are few true comparable sales, and pricing takes local knowledge.

• Who sells: empty nesters trading a large home and garden for a single-level home or a condo, owners relocating for work, and estates.
• What to mail: cards about how you price and market unusual homes: the view, the lot, the photography and the buyers you reach outside San Diego. On the hillsides, buyers also ask about geology. In 2007 a landslide on Soledad Mountain Road damaged homes, and buyers and their lenders still ask about soils reports. A card on preparing a hillside home for sale, with the reports to gather early, answers a real worry.
• How to mail: a list of owners in the streets you want, often printed on heavier stock. Fewer, better cards fit this area better than a large EDDM® drop, and many owners have a second address.

La Jolla Farms (92037)

On the bluffs north of Scripps and next to UC San Diego, La Jolla Farms began as a horse ranch. Its owners started selling bluff-top lots for homes in 1949, and today it is a small enclave of large estates, some directly above the ocean. It is one of the smallest and highest-priced farms in the county.

• Who sells: estate owners, heirs and trusts, and owners with homes in several places. Many sales happen quietly, and some never reach the open market.
• What to mail: a few well-made pieces a year rather than a monthly card: a letter-style card about your experience with estate homes and private sales, and a note after each sale nearby.
• How to mail: addressed mail to the owner's mailing address, which is often not the home itself. With so few homes, the cost is small and the care you put into each card shows.

Condos near UC San Diego and La Jolla Village Drive (92037)

In the part of 92037 east of the Village and near the university, condo and townhome complexes sit close to campus, Scripps hospital and the job centers around UTC. Turnover is higher here than in the rest of La Jolla, and prices are lower, which makes it the La Jolla address many first-time buyers can reach.

• Who sells: parents who bought a condo for a student who has now graduated, owners who rented out a unit and are ready to cash out, and owners moving up to a house.
• What to mail: to investors, rents, HOA dues and what similar units sold for. To parents, a card about selling once the lease ends, or about selling with a tenant in place. To owners who live there, "ready for a house?" with what a move up would look like.
• How to mail: a list that uses each owner's mailing address. Many units are rented, so EDDM® would reach more tenants than owners. For Just Listed and Just Sold cards, mail the whole complex.

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 cards reach owners rather than renters or empty second homes. La Jolla has one ZIP Code, so the table gives you one row, but it still says a lot:

• Owner-occupied tells you how much of La Jolla is lived in by its owners. It counts renters, but also second homes and units used part of the year, which are common here. The lower it is, the more of your farm should go to owners at their mailing address, not to the property.
• Owners there since before 2010 are your long-time owners. In La Jolla many have owned for decades, have large gains on paper and low property tax bills, and think hard before they sell. They are also the owners most likely to sell in the next few years.
• Owners 65 or older points to downsizing, estate sales and moves closer to family. A high share rewards a patient farm with useful, quiet cards.
• Median home value shapes the budget. At La Jolla prices, one listing can pay for years of mailing, so a nicer card on heavier stock is usually worth it.

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. Condo complexes near the university turn over more often than the hills or La Jolla Farms, where years can pass between sales on a street.

La Jolla sellers worth their own mailing

Beyond your neighborhood farm, a few groups of La Jolla 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 La Jolla 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 card that explains it simply, and suggests a talk with you and their tax adviser, fits La Jolla Shores, the Muirlands and Bird Rock especially well.

Owners who live somewhere else

Second-home owners, owners who moved away and kept the house, and landlords make up a large part of La Jolla, especially in the Village and the condo buildings. A card mailed to the property never reaches them. Ask us about a list of owners whose mailing address is somewhere else, and send them what they can't see from afar: recent sales in their building or street, and how you would handle a sale while they are away.

Vacation rental owners

Since 2023 the City of San Diego licenses short-term rentals. Whole-home rentals for more than 20 days a year need a Tier 3 license, and those are capped at 1 percent of the city's homes outside Mission Beach, with a waitlist. A license belongs to the host and the home and does not pass to a buyer. Some owners who lost a license, or who are tired of managing guests, are ready to sell. Others need to hear that a buyer cannot count on short-term rental income. A card that explains what the rules mean for a sale is useful to both. Check the current rules with the city before you mail.

Owners near UC San Diego

Parents and investors who own condos near campus think in school years. A card in late winter, before leases renew, about selling at the end of the lease or with a tenant in place reaches them while they decide.

Renters ready to buy

Some renters in La Jolla would rather buy than leave. A buyer card, with what it takes to buy a condo here and the neighborhoods within reach, can go by EDDM® to apartment-heavy routes. It is a different business from farming owners, but it fills your buyer pipeline.

Just Listed and Just Sold cards in La Jolla

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

• Condo buildings in the Village and near the university: every owner in the building or complex, at their mailing address, plus similar buildings nearby.
• Bird Rock and La Jolla Shores: the surrounding blocks, usually 200 to 500 homes. Owners here compare by street and by distance to the beach.
• The hills, the Muirlands and La Jolla Farms: a wider radius, or every home of similar value, since fewer homes fit in each block and the buyers for a view home come from all over.

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 La Jolla 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 La Jolla owners actually decide:

What a La Jolla farm costs

A farm of about 1,000 homes is a common start in La Jolla: most of Bird Rock, a large part of La Jolla Shores, or a group of condo buildings plus the streets around them. 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 La Jolla prices, the commission on a single listing is usually many times the yearly cost of the farm, so it can make sense to spend more on each card for the hills and La Jolla Farms.

EDDM® or a mailing list in La Jolla?

On the routes of houses in Bird Rock, La Jolla Shores and the hills, many homes are lived in by their owners, and EDDM® reaches them for less than a list. In the Village, in the condo buildings and near UC San Diego, routes reach renters, guests and empty second homes, and a list that uses each owner's mailing address wastes far fewer cards. For La Jolla Farms and the estates, addressed mail is the only approach that fits. Tell us the areas you want and we'll recommend the right mix.

What every La Jolla 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 La Jolla 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 La Jolla 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.