Donna DeNicola recently managed to purchase a Portland, Oregon, home that received four offers by tacking an unusual inducement onto hers: free pizza for life.

That’s one of a number of ways that pizza has helped buyers, sellers and real estate agents get what they’re after. Here are three use cases for pizza in real estate.

1. Sweeten an offer

Buyers can get a leg up on the competition in inventory-starved housing markets by slipping incentives into their offer.

DeNicola, the owner of a pizzeria, offered $26,000 above the home’s asking price, plus two months’ free rent to the sellers, KPTV reported. Her offer of a free pizza every month was the icing on the cake.

If the sellers take full advantage of the pizza inducement for 40 years, they’ll get 480 pizzas valued at $10,000, KPTV said.

2. Make a listing delicious 

In a market with plenty of homes to choose from, sellers may have more use for pizza than buyers.

Two years ago, Doug Miller offered a free pizza to anyone who would buy a listing that had idled on the market for six months in Lancaster Township, Pennsylvania, WGAL reported.

Inman wasn’t immediately able to find out whether the marketing ploy paid off, but we do know that it won the listing quite a bit of publicity.

3. Be an ambassador of yumminess

tyler-photo

Tyler Smith

Tyler Smith, CEO of transaction management platform SkySlope, used pizza to burnish his brand.

Smith, who was a top-producing real estate agent before founding SkySlope, regularly bought pies from a local restaurant in exchange for exposure on pizza boxes.

Smith explained the marketing technique in a recent blog post:

  • I would purchase a pizza from him for every property I closed. That’s 230 pies a year.
  • When I bought a pizza, he had to match me by contributing one free of charge.
  • With each pizza I purchased, and he subsequently gave away, it had to include my branding on the packaging — essentially a giant sticker of my face on the box.
  • Lastly, attached to each one of the boxes I would have a sheet of personally branded pizza coupons that included the free pizza for which Mr. Giovanni was responsible.

Email Teke Wiggin.

Show Comments Hide Comments
Sign up for Inman’s Morning Headlines
What you need to know to start your day with all the latest industry developments
By submitting your email address, you agree to receive marketing emails from Inman.
Success!
Thank you for subscribing to Morning Headlines.
Back to top
×
Log in
If you created your account with Google or Facebook
Don't have an account?
Forgot your password?
No Problem

Simply enter the email address you used to create your account and click "Reset Password". You will receive additional instructions via email.

Forgot your username? If so please contact customer support at (510) 658-9252

Password Reset Confirmation

Password Reset Instructions have been sent to

Subscribe to The Weekender
Get the week's leading headlines delivered straight to your inbox.
Top headlines from around the real estate industry. Breaking news as it happens.
15 stories covering tech, special reports, video and opinion.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
It looks like you’re already a Select Member!
To subscribe to exclusive newsletters, visit your email preferences in the account settings.
Up-to-the-minute news and interviews in your inbox, ticket discounts for Inman events and more
1-Step CheckoutPay with a credit card
By continuing, you agree to Inman’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

You will be charged . Your subscription will automatically renew for on . For more details on our payment terms and how to cancel, click here.

Interested in a group subscription?
Finish setting up your subscription
×