Extending a gift to clients after closing is a time-honored (though certainly not mandatory) real estate practice. Another person to consider giving a gift to is the individual who connected you and your client in the first place. A referral often only comes about because of a relationship you’ve built, so make sure you maintain that relationship.
The first step involves checking your state bylaws to ensure you follow the rules about any gift-giving to referral sources so that you don’t unintentionally create the appearance of a quid pro quo exchange. The last thing you want when trying to make a kind gesture is to instead create an easily avoidable headache and trouble for yourself and the other person.
Luckily, there are plenty of non-extravagant gift options that fit the occasion.
Write a note with sincerity
A thank you note to the referral source is the most direct way to show your gratitude, and it won’t cost you a dime. (At most, a few cents’ worth of a postage stamp.) A common way to ensure these notes feel authentic is to handwrite them, but that’s not the only way to show your appreciation.
Have you ever opened your email inbox to some good news, or a true and kind message from someone you hadn’t been expecting to hear from? Great feeling, right? An emailed thank you to your referral source could give someone that feeling. No matter which medium you choose, speak from a place of honesty with your own voice (i.e., this may be a letter not to let ChatGPT take a pass at, and instead generate it purely from yourself).
Give a gift card
A small, non-extravagant but very useful gift that won’t create the appearance of any kickback schemes? Gift cards, especially in the $20 to $30 range, anywhere from Amazon to Starbucks and anything in between depending on what you know about the kind of gift they’d buy themselves. If they’re an avid reader, then a Barnes & Noble gift card, for example.
Gift cards have often been dinged as an unimaginative gift, showing a lack of care to get the gift receiver something more specific and personal. But the flipside of that is a lack of presumptuousness. It puts the choice of the final gift in the receiver’s hands.
Invite them out
If you’re in real estate, you likely have a keen sense of just how valuable time is. Following a lead while it’s hot, using your clients’ time most efficiently, getting the house sold at the price they want…are all tasks that often extend outside the typical nine-to-five, so sharing your time with someone is one of the most authentic ways of showing them you care.
If your referral source is a friend, you’ve got even less of an excuse not to make time for them. Share a golfing day with them, a lunch, a hike or some other meet-up activity.
Pop open the bubbly
There are few celebration techniques more classic than popping open a bottle of champagne. Maybe you’ve bought such a bottle and intend to share such a moment with your clients to celebrate their new home.
If your budget permits, crack open another bottle with your referral source by your side. And remember, it doesn’t have to be champagne either; if they’re a friend and you know what their drink of choice is, go with that to make the appreciation extra well-felt.
