Real estate direct mail in Point Loma:
a farming plan for realtors

La Playa and Roseville, on the bay (92106)

Roseville is the oldest settled part of the peninsula, once a town of its own and long home to the city's Portuguese fishing families. La Playa, along the bay south of Shelter Island, has some of the most expensive homes in San Diego, a few with private piers. Older homes sit next to large rebuilds, with condos and apartments closer to Shelter Island and the marinas.

• Who sells: long-time owners and heirs, often families who have held a home for generations, and owners trading a large bay-front home for something simpler.
• What to mail: quiet, personal cards. Owners here want to know you understand bay views, piers, coastal permits and the 30-foot coastal height limit, which shape what a buyer can build. A card on how you handle a trust or estate sale suits the long-held homes.
• How to mail: EDDM® on the routes of houses, and a list for the blocks with condos and apartments near Shelter Island. In La Playa, addressed mail on heavier stock fits better than a large drop.

The Wooded Area and Fleetridge (92106)

On the hills above the bay, the Wooded Area takes its name from trees planted in the early 1900s. It has large lots, no sidewalks and a semi-rural feel. Fleetridge, next to it, was built in the early 1950s along curving streets that follow the hills, with custom homes and views of the bay and the city.

• Who sells: owners who bought in the 1960s through the 90s and are now downsizing, Navy officers and other professionals moving for work, and families moving up within Point Loma.
• What to mail: "remodel or sell?" cards that compare what original mid-century homes and updated homes sold for, and Proposition 19 cards for owners 55 and older. Many owners here would stay on the peninsula if they could find the right smaller home, so a card about finding one before you sell answers their real question.
• How to mail: EDDM®. Most homes are houses lived in by their owners, and the routes are small because the lots are large. This is one of the most natural farms in Point Loma.

Loma Portal (92106)

North of Nimitz Boulevard, between Rosecrans Street and the hills, Loma Portal is a neighborhood of older homes on hilly streets, with streetlights standing in the middle of some intersections. It lies directly under the takeoff path of San Diego International Airport. Some streets run into 92107 as well.

• Who sells: long-time owners, families who outgrow a smaller older home, and owners who decide they have had enough of the noise.
• What to mail: cards that face the noise honestly. Many homes have had sound insulation through the airport's Quieter Home Program, and buyers ask about it, about the airport's plans and about the disclosures. A card on how you present and price a home under the flight path shows you know this neighborhood, not just the peninsula.
• How to mail: EDDM® on the routes of houses. Prices here are often lower than the rest of Point Loma, so Loma Portal is also where many buyers first get onto the peninsula.

Liberty Station (92106)

The former Naval Training Center closed in 1997 and is now Liberty Station, with shops, offices, schools, a large park on the water and a newer neighborhood of single-family homes, row homes and townhomes. Next to it, Navy family housing is owned by the government and is not for sale.

• Who sells: owners moving up to a larger home with a yard, owners downsizing into the townhomes, and owners relocating for work.
• What to mail: sales by home type: townhome, row home or house. Homes here are similar to one another, so owners compare closely. A Just Sold card to the whole neighborhood is one of the most effective cards you can send.
• How to mail: a list of the owner-occupied homes, so you skip the Navy housing nearby, which can fall on the same routes. Check the routes in the EDDM® route planner for 92106 before you choose.

Point Loma Heights and Sunset Cliffs (92107)

On the ocean side of the peninsula, Point Loma Heights climbs from Ocean Beach toward Point Loma Nazarene University, with older homes, newer rebuilds and many ocean views. Sunset Cliffs runs along the bluffs to the south, with larger homes, some right above the water, and a natural park along the edge.

• Who sells: long-time owners, families moving up, and owners of homes rented to students or used as rentals.
• What to mail: view-focused cards: how a view, a remodel or a rebuild changes value. Along Sunset Cliffs, buyers ask about bluff erosion, setbacks and coastal permits, so a card on what to gather before listing a bluff-top home shows you know the street. For rental owners, rents and what similar homes sold for.
• How to mail: EDDM® on the streets of houses higher up, and a list near the university and Ocean Beach, where more homes are rented.

Ocean Beach (92107)

Ocean Beach is small beach cottages, duplexes, apartments and newer homes on narrow lots. A large share is rented, and many owners are landlords who live somewhere else or have owned for decades. The 30-foot coastal height limit and small lots keep it feeling like a beach town.

• Who sells: landlords selling a cottage or duplex they have held for years, heirs, and owners who used a home as a vacation rental and are rethinking it under the city's license rules.
• What to mail: investor cards: rents, what duplexes and cottages sold for, how to sell with tenants in place, and what a buyer can add, such as an ADU. Owners of older rentals often want a quiet sale.
• How to mail: a homeowner list, not EDDM®. The routes here are full of renters. Ask us about a list of owners whose mailing address is somewhere else.

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. The table above shows how differently the two Point Loma ZIP Codes look:

• Owner-occupied tells you whether EDDM® fits. Compare 92106 with 92107: Ocean Beach pulls 92107 toward renters, so a list does more of the work there. Below about 60 percent, a homeowner list usually wastes less money than whole routes.
• Owners there since before 2010 are your long-time owners. On the peninsula many have owned for decades, with large equity and low property tax bills. A high share means many homes are "due", but these owners take time to decide.
• Owners 65 or older points to downsizing, estate sales and moves closer to family. Pair it with a Proposition 19 card.
• Median home value shapes the budget. One sale in La Playa or the Wooded Area earns far more than one in an Ocean Beach condo, 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. On the long-held streets of the peninsula it is often lower, which is why consistency matters more here than in a newer suburb.

Point Loma sellers worth their own mailing

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

Military owners with orders

Naval Base Point Loma sits at the tip of the peninsula, with Naval Base San Diego and Naval Air Station North Island across the bay. Many Navy officers and civilian staff own homes here, and orders to move come on a schedule they don't control. Moves peak in summer. A card that explains your plan for a sale on a deadline, or for renting the home out and managing it from afar, reaches them in spring when orders arrive. Owners who have already moved and kept the house as a rental are in the next group.

Owners who live somewhere else

Ocean Beach, Point Loma Heights and the condos near Shelter Island have many landlords, including service members who kept their home when they moved. A card mailed to the property reaches only the tenant. Ask us about a list of owners whose mailing address is somewhere else, and send them what they can't see from afar: rents, recent sales and how you would sell with a tenant in place.

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. On the peninsula, where so many owners have held their homes for decades, a card that explains it simply is one of the most useful things you can mail.

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, capped at 1 percent of the city's homes outside Mission Beach, with a waitlist, and the license does not pass to a buyer. In Ocean Beach and Point Loma, some owners without a license, or tired of the rules, are ready to sell. A card on what the rules mean for a sale, and for the price a buyer will pay, reaches them. Check the current rules with the city before you mail.

Owners near the airport

In Loma Portal, owners weigh noise against location. Some sell once children leave or work changes. A yearly card with what homes under the flight path sold for, and how you market them, keeps you the agent they think of first.

Just Listed and Just Sold cards in Point Loma

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

• Loma Portal, Point Loma Heights and Roseville: the surrounding blocks, usually 200 to 500 homes. Owners compare within a few streets.
• Liberty Station: the whole neighborhood, since homes are similar and owners compare closely.
• The Wooded Area, Fleetridge, La Playa and Sunset Cliffs: a wider radius, since lots are large and views vary, and buyers for these homes come from all over.
• Ocean Beach: a list of owners around the address, rather than routes full of renters.

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 Point Loma 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 Point Loma owners actually decide:

What a Point Loma farm costs

A farm of about 1,000 homes is a common start: most of the Wooded Area and Fleetridge together, Loma Portal, or the streets of houses in Point Loma Heights. 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 Point Loma prices, the commission on a single listing is usually several times the yearly cost of the farm.

EDDM® or a mailing list in Point Loma?

In the Wooded Area, Fleetridge, Loma Portal and the upper streets of Point Loma Heights, most homes are lived in by their owners, and EDDM® reaches nearly the same people as a list for much less. In Ocean Beach, near Point Loma Nazarene University and in the condo blocks near Shelter Island, renters make up much of each route, and a homeowner list wastes fewer cards. Around Liberty Station, a list skips the Navy housing. For landlords and service members who have moved away, 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 Point Loma 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 Point Loma 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 Point Loma 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.