So, you’re a young realtor, and you’re representing your first client. Or maybe it’s client #100. Either way, you’ve planted that good-looking, slick aluminum sign in the lawn of a nice home. You’ve cemented that this is your client. Is that enough to get the house sold? Maybe. But you can definitely do more. Two words. Bandit Signs.
Bandit Signs:
What the heck is a bandit sign? You know the term yard sign. A bandit sign is the exact same thing, just with a different name. The saying came about years ago and isn’t as commonly used as yard sign. It comes from the fact that if a realtor places some of these signs out and about, they are fantastic ways to steal business from the competition. Hence, Stealing like a Bandit.
Many municipalities in the country treat the use of bandit signs as code enforcement violations, but they are seldom strictly enforced. Ironically, officials in those municipalities likely understand that they are actually breaking the law by trampling on the 1st Amendment right to Freedom of Speech. And just so you know, there is no national law prohibiting the use of bandit signs. Pretty crazy, right?
Effectiveness:
Getting back to that aluminum sign mentioned in the first paragraph, it’s undoubtedly necessary. But what if it’s not on a high traffic street? What if it’s in a decent size neighborhood, but house hunters simply don’t turn down that road when looking? You can greatly increase your chances of selling the place with bandit signs. You can place them on a corner where a main road leads into the neighborhood that simply reads, “Open House” with an arrow that will direct traffic to the home.
Put bandit signs in the grass by crosswalks of high traffic areas nearby. When drivers have to stop at a red light, they’ll notice your signs. You will have significantly boosted the eyeballs on that house you’re selling. Obviously the more people who see your ad, the better your chance of finding a buyer.
Bandit Sign Tips:
Keep the information on your signs brief. When people are driving by, there’s minimal amounts of time for them to read your message. Aside from “Open House”, a couple examples of what you could put on your signs are:
- “Home for Sale”
- “Beautiful House Available”
- “3/2 Home Cheap”
Be creative, but be concise. Your phone number needs to be on the bandit signs. You could put your website on there as well. Putting your name on there is good, as they know what to ask for when calling. You could even personalize it with your picture. People respond to imagery greater than with just words. We’re not saying to put all this on your bandit signs. It’s overkill. Two to three items max.
Choosing the right color scheme is critically important. Light-colored text on a white background, for example, doesn’t work. It’s too difficult for people driving to make out. The same holds true for dark on dark. Ideally in the world of real estate, you should use dark text colors like black, red, and blue on a white or light background, or vice versa.
Decide on whether it’s going to be you to canvass the town to distribute your signs. It might be best to hire someone to do it for you, so you have more time to do other things that could potentially be more important. This is especially a good idea if you’ve already put some out. Why? Read on.
Answer your phone when potential buyers call. It’s imperative. If they don’t get you on the phone, they’ll move on to another realtor. Remember that you got those bandit signs to attract buyers. There would be no point in doing that if you’re not going to be there for the second part.
If you’re selling a high-end home, place your bandit signs in high-end areas of town. They’ll be wasted in areas where those who see your ad can’t afford the house.
What to Expect:
Be prepared to have your signs stolen. It is inevitable. And not just by anyone. Realtors have been known to swipe their competition’s bandit signs. If they don’t get stolen, they’ll probably get vandalized. We’re not saying it’ll happen on Day 1, just be ready for it. With that, you’ll want to check on your signs fairly frequently to see if they’re still there.
Not every municipality has codes, but there are plenty out there. If you do live in a municipality where they have regulations that don’t allow the display of bandit signs, there are certain things you can do and certain things that can happen. Are you going to get arrested for putting real estate bandit signs up? Of course not. It’s simply a code infraction.
If you live in one of these regions, you can be fined $200 total. In others, you can expect to fork out $500 per sign. But we’d say not to let that trip you up. It’s more of a scare tactic than anything. We won’t tell you that fines are doled out zero percent of the time, but it’s pretty darn close.
Cities just don’t waste their resources going all around town to get business names off signs, then taking the time to follow through after that to hand out fines. What they will do is simply pull your sign and throw it away. Is that fun for you? No. But that’s truly as bad as it’s going to get. And there are things you can do to ensure your sign stays up.
You could do a little eyeball research. What that means is that first, you can drive around to locations you want to display your real estate bandit signs. If you see literally no signs at said location(s), it will tell you that there are officials enforcing the code and throwing the signs away. You could also do a test run. Place a sign in a single location where there are others. Check back every day for a week. The day your sign is gone says that the code was enforced the day before. What you can do then is put another sign out on the day you see it’s been pulled. A week later, drive back the day before it had been yanked. Put it in your trunk and place it back out the day you noticed it was gone. You’ve maximized its exposure for the week.
There are ways to get around having your sign yanked so that you can get the most out of your messaging.
In Closing:
Using bandit signs to advertise yourself is a guerilla marketing tactic that, while controversial, can have you reaping huge rewards. More commissions, more houses, and even more word of mouth.
And again, don’t be too worried about code enforcement. Just be smart and observant, using some common sense about when you can expect a potential plucking of your signs.
Good Guys Signs is here to take care of your needs when it comes to real estate bandit signs. Our signs are priced extremely competitively, and our turnaround time is unmatched. Reach out to us at (800) 614-8040 or (813) 447-4770 to see what bandit signs can do for you.
