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Houston Real Estate Agent’s Tactics Become Taco-the-Town, So to Speak

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Tony Maples Photography

 

With a housing market that’s still just as competitive as it’s always been, real estate agents in Houston are having to constantly come up with new ideas to invite and entice prospective buyers. This is where realtor Nicole Lopez’s strong suits come shining through. By all accounts, she’s a creative marketing genius when it comes to the Texas housing market. Why? Because she’s known as the “taco lady.”

Jokingly referencing her nickname as she spoke to the local news outlets, Lopez stood next to a real estate sign she placed on the lawn of a home in Humble with the sales provision that said, “$250 in free tacos with the purchase of this home.” Selling homes across metro Houston now for eight years, Lopez is trying her utmost to get the word out about her incentives. “Let’s be honest, everyone in Texas loves tacos. And so, it’s really been the ‘taco the town,'” she explained with a smile. She began advertising the taco concept approximately four months ago. Since then, folks have taken pictures of her signs and shared them on social media, creating a boon of publicity for the agent. “Yeah, so kind of the farthest away that we’ve been requested for an interview is a Toronto, Canada radio station called me and was like, ‘please tell me this is real,'” she laughed.

Houston Real Estate Agent’s Tactics Become Taco-the-Town…So To Speak

Photo: Facebook/AQUTRAQ Background Screening Solutions

Her signs are the real deal, but is this Texas-based marketing concept working? According to Lopez, the home that was originally featured in the social media posts is presently “…under contract and they are super excited for their taco party at the end of this month.” Of course, this incentive comes with some fine print. Lopez explained that in Texas “…it’s illegal to offer anything above $50 in terms of a referral or a client gift. So what we’ve done, is we’ve actually partnered with our sellers and they’ve agreed to offer a $250 credit. So they can take it in terms of closing costs, or if they really want the tacos, we can make sure they have tacos at closing as well.” If the home buyer does request the tacos, she and the seller work to make an order through the closest Torchy’s Tacos location for $250 worth of these mouthwatering morsels! “People have really taken to the tacos,” she said. “We don’t plan on ending it any time soon.”