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

The condo buildings on the bluffs (92075)

Before Solana Beach became a city in 1986, the county allowed dense condo complexes on the sandstone bluffs above the beach. They are still a large share of the city's coastal homes, with ocean views and beach access, and many are second homes, long-term rentals or vacation rentals.

• Who sells: second-home owners, investors, retirees moving closer to family, and heirs.
• What to mail: a Just Sold card to every owner in the building or complex each time a unit sells, with the view, floor and size. Owners compare unit by unit. A card about what buyers ask on bluff-top condos, from the HOA's reserves to bluff and seawall work, shows you know the property type.
• How to mail: a list of owners at their own mailing address. EDDM® here reaches many guests and tenants, and many owners live elsewhere.

Fletcher Cove and the coast west of the 101 (92075)

Colonel Ed Fletcher laid out the town in the 1920s, and Fletcher Cove opened as its beach in 1925. The streets around it and along the coast have older beach cottages, mid-century homes and newer custom rebuilds, a few minutes' walk from the sand.

• Who sells: long-time owners and heirs of older homes, second-home owners, and owners who rebuilt and are moving on.
• What to mail: lot-value cards for the older homes, with what cottages and rebuilds nearby sold for. Owners who bought decades ago often don't know what builders pay for their land.
• How to mail: a homeowner mailing list, with the owner's mailing address, so second-home owners get the card where they live.

Central Solana Beach and Cedros (92075)

Between the 101 and the freeway, around the train station and the Cedros Design District, there are smaller single-family homes, duplexes, condos and townhomes. It is the most walkable part of the city, and the homes range widely in age and condition.

• Who sells: owners of duplexes and small rentals, condo owners moving up, and long-time owners downsizing.
• What to mail: "thinking of selling your rental?" cards to small landlords, and Just Sold cards to condo and townhome complexes.
• How to mail: a homeowner list. Routes here mix owners and renters.

La Colonia de Eden Gardens (92075)

One of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, La Colonia de Eden Gardens was founded in the 1920s by Mexican families who worked on the ranches around Rancho Santa Fe. It has small lots, older homes and many families who have owned their homes for generations, alongside new infill homes.

• Who sells: heirs, long-time owners, and families deciding together what to do with a home that has been in the family for decades.
• What to mail: respectful, useful cards: how selling an inherited home works, how a trust or probate sale goes, and what the home is worth today. Offer a conversation, not a pitch.
• How to mail: EDDM® on the routes that cover the neighborhood, or a list of owners if you want to skip the apartments nearby.

Lomas Santa Fe and east of the freeway (92075)

East of Interstate 5, around Lomas Santa Fe Drive and the country club, the neighborhoods have larger single-family homes, mostly from the 1960s and 70s, on bigger lots, with high owner occupancy. Many of the original owners are still here, and some homes have never been updated.

• Who sells: long-time owners downsizing, heirs, and families moving up from the townhomes and condos nearby.
• What to mail: "remodel or sell?" cards with what original and updated homes sold for, and a Prop 19 card for owners 55 and older (see below).
• How to mail: EDDM®. Most homes are owner-occupied, so routes reach the people you want at the lowest postage.

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. Solana Beach has a single ZIP Code, so the table shows the city as a whole. Here is how to read it:

• Owner-occupied tells you whether EDDM® fits. For the whole city it is pulled down by second homes, vacation rentals and rentals near the coast. East of the freeway it is much higher than the average, and on the bluffs much lower.
• Owners there since before 2010 are your long-time owners. They have the most equity and the most freedom to sell. In a city where many owners bought decades ago, that is most of your future listings.
• Owners 65 or older points to downsizing, moves closer to family and estate sales in the next few years. A high share rewards a patient, helpful farm.
• Median home value shapes the budget. At Solana Beach prices, one listing a year more than pays for a farm of several hundred homes.

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 750 homes that means 35 to 40 sales a year to compete for.

Solana Beach sellers worth their own mailing

Beyond your neighborhood farm, some groups of Solana Beach 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 Lomas Santa Fe and near the coast 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 who bought in the 1970s or 80s, the savings can be large. A card that explains it, and invites them to a free consultation with you and their tax adviser, starts conversations a market update never will.

Bluff-top owners

Bluff erosion is a fact of life on the Solana Beach coast. Bluffs have collapsed onto the beach, and many properties rely on seawalls and other protection that need Coastal Commission permits and ongoing upkeep. Buyers, lenders and insurers ask about all of it. A card that shows you know how to present the geology reports, the permits and the HOA's plans for a bluff-top home or condo speaks directly to these owners.

Second-home and vacation rental owners

Solana Beach doesn't allow rentals of seven days or fewer in its residential zones, and longer rentals of up to 30 days need a city permit renewed every year. Owners who rent their homes or condos this way, or keep them as second homes, often live elsewhere. Cards about what the property would sell for, and how a sale works around rental bookings, reach them when mailed to their own address.

Heirs and families

In a city where so many owners bought decades ago, many sales start with a family decision after a parent moves or passes away. A card about selling an inherited home, with how trust and probate sales work and a list of trusted local estate sale companies, cleaners and handymen, is one of the most useful things you can mail.

Just Listed and Just Sold cards in Solana Beach

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

• Bluff condo buildings and complexes: every owner in the building, plus the other buildings on the bluffs. A sale is news to all of them.
• Lomas Santa Fe and the neighborhoods east of the freeway: the neighborhood plus the nearest streets, usually 200 to 400 homes.
• The coast, Eden Gardens and central Solana Beach: a radius of a few blocks, since homes vary from lot to lot. In a city this small, many agents mail every Just Sold card to the whole farm.

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 Solana 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 Solana Beach owners actually decide:

What a Solana Beach farm costs

In a city this small, a farm of about 750 homes covers a lot of ground: most of Lomas Santa Fe, or the bluff condo buildings and the coastal streets around Fletcher Cove. 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 Solana Beach prices, the commission on a single listing is usually many times the yearly cost of the farm.

EDDM® or a mailing list in Solana Beach?

East of the freeway, around Lomas Santa Fe, most homes are owner-occupied, and EDDM® reaches nearly the same people as a list for much less. On the bluffs, along the coast and in central Solana Beach, second homes, rentals and vacation rentals make up much of each route, and a homeowner list wastes fewer cards. For owners who live somewhere else, 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 Solana 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 Solana 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 Solana 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.