If you shop for the best email address for your Realtor business, you’ll quickly find that there are literally thousands of domain names to choose from. Thankfully, we’re here to help…
With our email address, you’ll get a personalized, professional-looking realtor email that’s unique to your business. Look like a legitimate real estate expert and be taken seriously by clients and prospects immediately.
Why do you need to have a proper email address?
Many things play a significant role in creating your image as a real estate professional. While you may concentrate mostly on the bigger stuff like launching a website or producing print materials like business cards, some of the smaller details like choosing the right email address might slip through your fingers. And while some realtors may think that an email address is just a formality, it can tell a lot about you as a professional and can serve as a first impression to your leads and prospective buyers. A well-thought email address increases credibility, open & response rates, improves brand recognition, decreases unsubscribes, and easily passes through spam filters.
Rules for creating a professional real estate email address
So now we provide you with a few simple rules for creating a professional email address for your real estate business.
Rule #1: Ideally, you need to use your own domain and then add a standard email format that looks professional.
By the way, a GoDaddy survey found that 75% of respondents think that having a domain-based email that matches a business website is a critical factor when trusting an online company.
Keep in mind that domain names should be short, simple, memorable, easy to spell and pronounce.
Rule #2: Go for .com domain extension
Although a traditional .com domain might look a bit longer than you would like, it remains the most popular domain extension and is well-known to all of your potential clients.
Rule #3: Test new domain extensions
Has someone already taken the .com version of your domain? With a pinch of ingenuity and creativity, you can find a domain that works even better than the traditional .com extension. If you’re a real estate agent, check out these domain extensions: .net, .house, .homes, .realtor, .forsale, .agency, .expert, .services, .solutions, .property, .properties, .sale, and many others. And if your target audience is located in a specific country, you might choose to go for a local extension like .dk (for Denmark), .au (for Australia), .de (for Germany), and so on.
Rule #4: It’s OK to use Gmail, but NEVER send from AOL, Yahoo, and Hotmail
If you need customers to take you seriously, do not use AOL, Hotmail, and Yahoo addresses. Firstly, your clients might think that you are behind the times and probably not-so-tech-savvy. And, secondly, people who use AOL, Yahoo, and Hotmail addresses generally have no company website. But if you are in the real estate business, it is crucial to launch a site and keep it up to date. If you have no website, you are missing out on opportunities.
Rule #5: Avoid nicknames or numbers
Besides your domain, another key element of your email address is your username. It is the “CameronDiaz” part of CameronDiaz@YourDomain.com. Since we are talking about business, brand, and professionalism, it’s needless to say that a simple username like “CameronDiaz” is more appropriate than “CoolGirl1988” or “cutelassie11.” You just need to decide whether you will use your first name only, your full name, company name, or some other combination like your initials, etc.
Choosing an Email Address
Early in the process of signing up for a Google Workspace account, it will ask you if you already have a domain or would like to register one.
If you already have a website, then you already have a domain! Hopefully, you chose your website domain carefully.
But I don’t have a website yet!
If you don’t yet have a website, and you don’t yet have a URL in mind, now is a good time to pause and choose your business name. Your domain will likely be the same, if possible.
There are some things about your brand that are easy to change (colors, mottos, fonts, etc). Your domain and email are not one of those. They are extremely difficult to change without disrupting your business and costing you time and money, so it is important to put some thought into them now!
Catchy Realtor Email Names
Just joking.
Don’t pick an email because it’s catchy. Pick an email because it reflects your brand and is easy to remember.
Presumably, your email domain will be your team, brand, or website name, like mine: brian@hoodhomesblog.com.
NAR Rules
Don’t forget, NAR has rules regarding the use of the word “realtor” in emails and URLs. You can use “realtor”. But do not add superlatives:
brian@BestKilleenRealtor.com
brian@TopRealtorInTX.com
susan@SnazziestRealtor.com)
Do not add possessives:
cooper@MyKilleenRealtor.com
bob@YourCenTexRealtor.com).
Probably just don’t use the word “realtor” in your URL.
State Rules
Most states have rules regarding agent names that might influence your email URL decision.
For example, the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) requires that team names include the word “team” or “group” at the end of the name. That doesn’t mean your URL or email needs to include that, but it is something to keep in mind when creating a name.
Words like “realty” are sometimes forbidden unless you are a broker yourself. But consult with your own state laws.
Things to Do After Getting Your Email
You’re set up and ready to go!
But keep reading to learn more about how to get the most out of your new email.
Update your Email Signature
From here there are an immense number of things you may want to explore doing. The most important is probably getting your email signature set up.
What you include in your email signature will depend on your State licensing laws. Below is an example of my own, as a Texas real estate agent.
My signature block includes:
- Agency Disclosure (the “IABS” in Texas)
- Consumer Protection Notice promulgated by TREC
- My contact information, designations, and website
- My brokerage
- My license information
- NAR Wire Fraud Email Notice Template
- A possibly unnecessary Confidentialty Notice
Note that while it might be a best practice to include links to agency disclosures and consumer protection notices in your signature, doing so probably does not constitute delivery of those notices for compliance purposes. Certainly, it does not in Texas.
Forward Your Old Email
If you are moving from an old email or have other emails that are not your primary email (e.g. your brokerage’s email), you will want to set them up to forward to your new email. This is pretty simple with most email providers, depending on what system you are in.
Update Everything and Everyone
MLS
The first place you will want to update your new email is probably the MLS. That way offers coming to your listings, and contact information on your MLS’s customer portal, printouts, and everywhere else is correct and current.
Associations and State
Next, you will want to update your contact information with NAR, State, and local associations, as well as the State real estate commission.
Social Media
Hop on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and anywhere else you need to update your new email.
Lead Sources
If you are getting leads from Zillow, your website, lead routing software like FiveStreet or Zapier, referral organizations, etc., get those emails updated.
Everyone Else
This might be the excuse you’ve been waiting for to message an old client, someone in your sphere, or a vendor you haven’t connected with in a while. Send out a brief message letting them know your new email.
Install Folio on your Gmail
Folio is a transaction management software that works within your Gmail. It automatically tries to figure out when you are corresponding about a transaction, and then automatically sets up folders to keep your transaction in one place.
If you have been looking for a simple transaction management solution doing fewer than 10 deals at a time, Folio is definitely worth trying. You can install it and do up to three transactions at a time for free.
Conclusion
The best email addresses for realtors are short and easy to remember, personalized, and contain keywords that search engines can easily rank.