Closing gifts are given as a thoughtful gesture to thank clients for their business and to celebrate their new beginnings. Texas REALTOR® magazine asked members to share their most successful, creative, or memorable closing gifts.
Answers have been edited for space and clarity.
It’s important to factor in the client’s personality when choosing a closing gift. I think about the perfect closing gift on my first meeting with the client! During the buying/selling process, you cannot help but get to know your client on many levels. A truly personalized gift will resonate for years to come.
A high-quality, custom jigsaw puzzle featuring a beautiful photo of their home is an unexpected closing gift for buyers or sellers and is always welcomed. In a world of impersonal corporate gifts, a personalized photo puzzle tugs at the heartstrings of any client and becomes an instant heirloom.
–Brian Burka, Austin
It’s not about how much a gift costs but about doing something personal and specific to each client. My favorite part of real estate is getting to know my clients and their families. As one of my brokers always says, “Real estate is about relationships.”
I had a first-time homebuyer—a single, working mom—whose dad made a special trip to do the final walkthrough with us before closing. He had been undergoing cancer treatment and had just been released from the hospital, but he was so proud of her and wanted to know that she and his grandchildren would have a nice home. I took a moment and had them pose for a picture together, which I had framed and brought to her at closing the next day. Sadly, he passed away two weeks later, but she called to tell me how much she treasures the last picture of them together that I gave her.
–Christi Reese, Bridge City
Since my clients trust me to help them with the largest purchase of their lives and to find the perfect home, it is important to me to give a closing gift that will last. My clients are always surprised because they are not expecting to receive anything.
As a Texas REALTORS® instructor who teaches GRI, I tell REALTORS® that it’s good to give a gift to keep you top-of-mind with your clients. I give gifts like branded cutting boards and spreaders with my company information. That way, whenever my clients use them, they will see my information and be reminded of me. I want my clients to refer their family, friends, and everybody else when they hear the word real estate. That’s what branded closing gifts will do for you and your business.
–Kristen Price, Dallas
My seller was moving out of state to be closer to family and had been very active in the community. I made a scrapbook and included photos of the home, newspaper articles about them, and photos from their many years of service to the community.
–Cathy Harris, Rockwall
It is essential to get to know your client during the buying process. I always try to pay attention to what the buyer or seller likes, what their interests are, what sports, arts, or theater they are interested in, and how I can relate that to their sale or purchase.
My first home sale really pulled at my heartstrings. They had lost their previous home and son to a fire that injured them both. We found a house near the husband’s grandparents’ home from when he was a boy. There was a piano in it that he said looked like his grandparents’. He lifted the lid, and one ivory was missing, proving that it was actually his grandparents’ piano. The sellers were moved by this and left the piano for them. I gave them a few antique hymnals to go with the piano. She started crying and said she had a hymnal collection destroyed in the fire. Now she could start a new collection.
Another time I had a young couple that collected vinyl records. I gave them the Our House album by Madness. Two hours after closing, the client texted me an audio clip of the song and said I should play it at everyone’s closing.
–Gina Jameson, Brownwood
When a client has been at their home a long time and is really going to miss it, I like to give them a bound book of the professional pictures we take. It has been very heartwarming to see the folks receive it.
I also have given chicken feeders and waterers to clients who plan to start a backyard flock.
–Shelby Kimball, Aledo
I give personalized door hangers, but relationships are the greatest gifts. I practice the golden rule of always prioritizing my client’s needs first and foremost. I was told before I got into this business that I would not be in the real estate business; I would be in the people business.
–Paula Phillips, Odessa
I create a photo book of the home my clients are selling. Some are family homes they have lived in for years where they have watched children and grandchildren grow up there. Others are first homes where they started their families and are now moving into a bigger house.
One client had sold two homes with me, and their daughter says it’s her favorite book at bedtime because she loves to hear stories of her old home.
And I don’t forget the children, pets, and live-in family when buying gifts. They all love to be remembered as well!
–Kayla Click, McKinney
I ask my clients what they are passionate about and what they enjoy doing in their free time. That way, I can get them something personal and specific to them.
A recent client told me how much he enjoyed playing records. So, for the closing, I got him a new record player. He was ecstatic about the gift. He couldn’t stop thanking me. It was just the perfect gift and perfect timing because he had to leave his old player behind during his move to Austin.
–Ina Kail, Austin
I keep a standard closing gift for most clients to save me time and effort. I also keep on hand a welcome home gift basket for buyers and a new adventure basket for sellers that are specific to my company.
However, in special cases, I buy gifts specific to the family’s needs or wants, especially in more emotional transactions. For example, a family was selling their thousand-acre ranch to which they had a very sentimental attachment. I took their original survey and had it professionally framed.
The seller was the matriarch of the family. She loved the survey and was excited to have that memorabilia that she could pass down.
–Tracy Hollingsworth, Goldthwaite
I have pizzas, drinks, and snacks delivered to the buyer’s new home to make the busy move-in day easier for them. All the buyers I’ve provided the food and drinks for on their move-in day thought it was the best thing I could have given them. All the friends helping were happy too.
–Michael Zehr, Copperas Cove
I try to give my clients something meaningful, like a wooden sign with the family’s name and closing date, so they can remember the day they purchased their home.
It gets tricky putting the exact closing date, but I work with a local business and have always managed to get the sign in time for closing.
–Mariana Palacios, Corpus Christi
*Be sure to verify that you own the rights to any photographs you use in creating closing gifts for your clients.