It goes without saying that the real estate profession is an exceedingly competitive industry. To successfully compete, realtors must think about several elements such as real estate website design and marketing. In addition, being seen by potential buyers is integral to the success of any real estate professional. Seeking effective and professional logo design and branding services are also imperative components for real estate professionals to elevate themselves above competitors. In this article, real estate experts discuss 7 ways to make a real estate ‘For Sale’ sign stand out.

The Design Of The Sign Should Serve The Purpose Of The Sign

“Sign Design best practices: 

“Start with what you want your sign to do. Do you want it to direct people to call you, go to your website, or something else? The design of the sign should serve the purpose of the sign.

A sign that tries to do everything will fail to do anything. If you want people to call you, ensure that the phone number is emphasized and the other elements are de-emphasized. If you want to build awareness of your personal brand, ensure that your name or personal logo is emphasized. Only include your professional photo if it’s an important part of your brand.

If you aren’t a well-known agent, you should lean on your franchise’s brand (Re/Max, Keller Williams, etc.). As your reputation grows, you can transition to a more balanced treatment of the two. To avoid your personal brand competing with your franchise brand for emphasis, you can make use of different visual queues. For instance, if you’re a Re/Max agent, you might use your franchise’s signature red, white, and blue colors while predominantly displaying your personal logo.”

John Castle, Real Estate Agent, Keller Williams Integrity Realty

My Biggest Tip With Designing A For Sale Sign Is Simplicity

“My biggest tip with designing a for sale sign is simplicity. If there is anything on your sign that doesn’t help a potential customer in a moment’s glance, get rid of it. Remembering that the sign is most likely to be seen from a moving car, there is not enough time for details. It might be tempting to use the same design as your flyer but a customer has more time to read a flyer. So the details need to be different. It is worth paying more money for a different design to use for your for sale sign. 

What are some ways to pass on information at a glance? A pretty standard approach is using icons or symbols to quickly explain the house’s amenities. We all know the bed means bedrooms. So at a very quick glance, seeing the bed symbol and the numeral 4 next to it we know it has four bedrooms. Or a car symbol with a numeral 2 means a two-car garage. Use these symbols to get your message across quickly. In terms of image, consider using just one, the best one. If the house has a pool and this is a selling point, make sure the pool is in the photo. As a potential buyer is driving around, they can’t see into backyards to know if there is a pool or not. Don’t forget, your sales sign needs to be seen and understood in less than a second and from far away.”

Kassandra Marsh, Graphic Designer

Choose A Single Color That Locals Will Begin To Associate With Your Company And Name, And Make Your Name And Website As Large As Possible

“The best real estate signs include great design, as well as a level of simplicity.

Real estate signs need to stand out by someone who is driving by in their vehicle at the speed limit, but also be legible so the viewer can quickly read the name and number associated with the realtor. Good real estate signs will include both of these factors, but it’s not as easy as you may think.

I recommend choosing a single color that locals will begin to associate with your company and name. Red or yellow on top of black or white are great choices, but they are used so often today that I recommend trying to find another combination. Try and find a unique shade of green or blue that stands out amongst a crowd.

The color of your text should also pop from whatever color you choose and aren’t affected by the shine of the sun or when it begins to get dark.

Make your name and website as large as possible – as they are most important – and the rest of the text can be smaller and only readable once stopped. If someone is interested in a property, they will go to the website and, if your sign can give them that much, it has done its job.

Once you’ve found a combination of colors and fonts, you should roll with it in all of your branding and signage. People will begin to relate it to you and the business you do in the real estate industry. Once you’ve become a well-known realtor in your area, you’ll know your real estate signs have done their job!”

Chris Gold, CEO and Owner, Chris Buys Homes in St. Louis

A For Sale Sign That Shares More Information About The Home Than Expected Always Stands Out From The Rest

“A real estate for sale sign that shares more information about the home than expected always stands out from the rest. Include a photo of the interior of the home or view from the backyard to catch attention! That will be much more likely to get people interested than just a typical ‘For Sale’ sign with a phone number.

Personalized real estate for sale signs can be much more costly than the average bulk options, but they look so much better. Just make sure any photo you do include is high-quality and crisp. A blurry or grainy photo will turn potential buyers off. If you are going to go the extra step, make sure it is worth your investment.

Having a URL to a website with even more photos and information is also a good idea in this technological age. It is a hassle to have to call or email for more information, just offer it up for interested parties to look over on their own.

Also, make sure anything you include can stand out to someone driving by. Small details won’t get noticed by a passing car. Make sure you use a photo with features that will pop and text that is easily readable from a few feet away.”

Jesse Silkoff, Co-Founder and President, MyRoofingPal

It’s Important That The For Sale Sign Isn’t Too Big, And Doesn’t Dominate The Lawn Or Space In Front Of The Property

“There are a couple of different approaches to designing an eye-catching ‘for sale’ sign and different people prefer different ways to make them.

For me, it’s important that the For Sale Sign isn’t too big, and doesn’t dominate the lawn or space in front of the property. I would say an ideal size is the one that can easily be read from the road.

Another thing that I like to focus on is giving enough information for any potential buyers. This includes the website of the seller or the company that’s selling, but also email addresses and in some cases social media profiles.

This makes it more likely that an interesting party will connect with you in some way, and that’s something that we should aim at.

Last but not least is the actual design. I like it when it’s professional, crisp, and not overly detailed. The color palette should be limited, and the most important information must be highlighted in some way, mostly by color.

Some For Sale signs I’ve seen had photos of agents on them, and that’s a good choice too. It makes the agents more recognizable, and to me, it seems people are more likely to reach out to human figures that look good and are smiling, or are having a good time.”

 Bryan Stoddard, Homewares Insider

To flourish in this highly competitive marketplace, real estate professionals must understand that there are multiple elements to creating a strong and trusted brand identity. Everything for social media management to business card design is vitally important. The ‘For Sale’ sign is an integral component of your brand, and thus, contributes to the overall success of your real estate business.

Sarah Bauder

Sarah Bauder is a senior content specialist at Little Dragon Media. Sarah has a degree in journalism and has a decade of experience writing content at numerous renowned publications. She enjoys writing about digital marketing, business, entrepreneurship and more.