Is Every Door Direct Mail worth it for real estate investors?
By Josh MillerUpdated 4 min readEvery Door Direct Mail postage is cheap, 26 cents a piece at retail since July 2026, but it goes to every address on a carrier route, including renters and owners with no reason to sell. For most investors a targeted letter to owners with a recent filing, at about 70 cents all in, reaches far more real sellers per dollar; EDDM fits brand-building in one neighborhood, not finding motivated sellers.
Every Door Direct Mail looks like a bargain. Postage is a fraction of a First-Class stamp, and you don't need a list. The catch is in the name: it goes to every door.
What it costs
EDDM Retail postage is 26 cents a piece on the USPS price list since July 12, 2026, before printing. Add a large postcard and you're often at 40 to 50 cents a piece all in, against about 70 cents for a targeted First-Class piece. Every price.
What you're buying
EDDM delivers to every address on the carrier routes you pick. You can't choose owners, let alone owners with a reason to sell. On a typical route that means:
- Renters, who can't sell the house
- Owners who just bought
- Owners with no reason to move
- And, somewhere in there, the few who are selling
In the middle county we measured, about 1.4 of every 100 homes sold off-market in a year. EDDM reaches roughly that mix. A list of owners with an expired listing reaches owners who sold off-market at about 12 of every 100 within a year.
The math, per seller reached
| EDDM to a route | Letters to expired listings | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per piece, all in | About $0.45 | About $0.70 |
| Cost of 1,000 pieces | About $450 | About $700 |
| Of every 100 reached, sold off-market within a year | About 1.4 (any house) | About 12 |
| Sellers among the 1,000 | About 14 | About 120 |
Source: GoForClose count of off-market, arm's-length deeds in county records. EDDM reaches renters too, so its real figure is lower.
When EDDM does make sense
If you buy over and over in one neighborhood, EDDM can make your name familiar there, so owners recognize you when your targeted letter shows up. Use it as a branding layer on top of targeted mail, not instead of it. Work out how much to mail in your market.
Questions investors ask
How much does EDDM cost?
EDDM Retail postage is 26 cents a piece on the USPS price list since July 12, 2026, before printing. Retail lets you mail up to 5,000 pieces per ZIP code per day.
Is EDDM good for wholesaling?
Usually not as the main channel. It reaches every door, so most of it goes to renters and owners who aren't selling. A targeted list of owners with a recent filing reaches more sellers for the money.
Can I target homeowners with EDDM?
Only by picking routes. You choose carrier routes, not people, so you can't mail only owners, only absentee owners or only owners with a filing.
When does EDDM make sense for investors?
To build a name in one neighborhood you buy in often, so owners recognize you when your targeted letters arrive.