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SOTW: How much does it really cost to buy a home?

Social Shareables
Social Shareables

SOTW: How much does it really cost to buy a home?

Introduction

This Instagram Story series is a simple yet effective way to engage your audience by answering a question many buyers have: How much does it really cost to buy a home in [AREA]? Using the Canva templates provided below, you can easily tailor this campaign to your market.

Here’s how to make the most of it:

  1. Choose 3-4 areas in your market to highlight. Select neighborhoods or towns where you see strong interest or growth.
  2. Pick a photo or video background of homes or listings that represent each area. You can also include local landmarks, popular streets, or scenic views to make the content feel personal and relatable.
  3. Customize the text with localized down payment and monthly payment estimates for homes in each area.
  4. Add a poll at the end, asking viewers which price range they’d like listings for.

Once the story is live, make sure to follow up immediately with anyone who engages with the poll. This is an extremely simple campaign to execute and can help you identify serious buyers who are ready to take the next step.

Before you get started

For best results with direct mail, you’ll want to have these core lists ready.

Before you send a text, make sure you have these three things in place:

Before you send an email, make sure these three things are in place:

This is your core mailing audience—used for general awareness and market education. Build your list using the following filters:

  • Homeowners who’ve owned for 10+ years
  • 50%+ equity
  • Areas with strong total commission opportunity (transaction volume × average price)

Start with 1,000 homes. Expand if it’s working. Need help pulling the list? Ask your title rep or use tools like PropStream or Breakthrough Broker.

Used for campaigns like Just Listed, Just Sold, Magic Buyer, or Pre-Appointment letters.You’ll need the ability to quickly pull 100–200 nearby homes around a specific property.

Used for targeted campaigns like Expired Listings, Silver Tsunami, and FSBOs.
Pull these from platforms like RedX or similar.

1

An Email Tool

You need a platform that lets you send mass emails to your database. Use what you have—FUB, Follow Up Boss, Mailchimp, KVCore, Constant Contact, etc. If you’re not set up yet, get that handled first. You can’t send if you can’t hit send.

2

Three Simple Lists

You need three lists:

Prospects

Recommended Audience For This Campaign

People you haven't done business with.

SOI/Past Clients

Recommended Audience For This Campaign

People you have.

Entire Database

Recommended Audience For This Campaign

All contacts.

These lists let you send smarter without overthinking.
3

A Plain Text Format

These emails are written to feel personal, not promotional—so keep them clean. Paste them as-is, with a short signature (your name, number, maybe your site). That’s it.

1

A CRM That Can Send Texts

Most modern CRMs can do this—Follow Up Boss, Lofty, Brivity, Real Geeks, etc. Use your CRM before buying anything new. You’ll want tracking, history, and batch-sending capabilities.

If you do need a mass texting tool, here’s what we recommend. But start with manual sends if you have to.

2

Three Simple Lists

Texting is for follow-up. And smart follow-up starts with the right filters.

Set up three lists:

Prospects

Recommended Audience For This Campaign

People you haven’t done business with.

SOI/Past Clients

Recommended Audience For This Campaign

People you have.

Entire Database

Recommended Audience For This Campaign

All contacts.

Apply two filters:

Engaged Recently

Opened an email or visited your site in the last 7 days.

Not Contacted Recently

No outreach in 30 days (for prospects) or 90 days (for clients).

That overlap—engaged but untouched—is your sweet spot. That’s who you text.
3

A Plain Text Format

These aren’t spam blasts. They’re timely, value-based follow-ups. Use their first name. Skip the signatures.

How to Execute

Step 1

Customize Canva Templates to Match Your Brand

Personalize postcard using:
or
Canva Template
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Step 2

Post to Instagram

Send

Start a New Story: Open Instagram and create a new story. Upload Images (Slides) one by one and on the last slide add Poll.

Target Audience
Instagram and Facebook
Step 1

Record the Video

Show Flow
Guided narration script for the video.
Hook
Audio Transcription of Show Flow
AI-generated representation of the intended sound flow.
Step 2

Customize Template

Canva Template
Canva Template
Step 3

Post Your Video

Video Title & Description
Copy 
Copied to Clipboard
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Video Walkthrough

Examples

Video Guide
Video Guide