Real estate signs are essential for advertising your open houses, listings, and building brand awareness. We looked at the most popular options and rising stars and decided to review Dee Sign, Oakley, and Build a Sign. These companies covered the range for agents and brokerages in terms of pricing and features. Read on for our comparison and review of these three options, as well as our top recommendations.
Best Real Estate Signs for Real Estate Agents and Brokerages: Dee Sign
We chose Dee Sign as the best real estate marketing sign company for agents and brokerages because of their multiple shipping locations, low pricing and wide variety of sign materials to choose from. They’ve also been in business for more than 40 years and are still family-owned and operated.
Price per unit for 10 yard sign panels 30x24 (aluminum, double sided)Learn More | $61.75(slightly thicker material + custom design included) | $39.93 | $40.69 |
Price per unit for 10 Yard sign posts (colonial post 30” aluminum)Learn More | $62.10 | $89.42 | $66.25 |
Variety of sign materials availableLearn More | 9 different materials: Works for a variety of climates and aesthetics | 7 different materials: Works for a variety of climates and aesthetics | Aluminum and corrugated plastic only |
Where do they ship from?Learn More | Southern California & Ohio | Des Plaines, Illinois | Austin, Texas |
Turnaround Time Learn More | 5-10 working days, most ship in 5 | Ships no later than 6 business days for custom order | 2-12 business days |
Custom sign creation Learn More | Basic online designer + can upload artwork | Online designer+ can upload artwork | Online designer +can upload artwork |
Franchises supportedLearn More | Most large franchises & many smaller brokerages (for full list click here) | Most large franchises & many smaller brokerages (for full list click here) | Century 21, RE/Max, Keller Williams, ERA, Coldwell Banker, Exit, Realty Executives, Berkshire Hathaway, Prudential |
Reviews Learn More | 4.5 stars on Activerain 2.5 stars on Yelp | 3.8 stars on Activerain | 4.7 stars on Google Trusted Stores |
Customer Support Learn More | GreatPhone and email | GreatPhone and email | Great Phone and email |
Best Overall Real Estate Signs for Real Estate Professionals: Dee Sign
For 45 years Dee Sign has been doing one thing and one thing only: Manufacturing, printing, and selling real estate signs. As a result, they have an incredible variety of real estate marketing materials and sign options available specifically designed for real estate agents and brokerages. We chose Dee Sign as the best option for Real Estate Professionals for the following reasons:
Low Pricing
Dee Sign has great pricing for the majority of the sign products they offer. They are generally cheaper or comparable to any sign company we looked at. When they do come in slightly more expensive as they do with the aluminum sign panels mentioned in the table, it’s because they offer a higher quality product and include design services in the price.
Multiple Shipping Locations
Dee Sign was the only real estate sign company we looked at that has multiple shipping locations. They have several facilities on the West Coast, as well as a facility in Ohio. That means faster shipping times for the West Coast as well as the Midwest and East Coast.
Wide Variety of Sign Materials
Dee Sign offers real estate signs in a dizzying array of materials to suit every budget and every area of the country. This is important as heat, rain, cold, and snow can all affect real estate signs differently. Aesthetics and longevity also play a role here.
Check out their video on which sign materials work best for each region below. Very useful!
They also have other great videos explaining installation and other helpful topics on their website.
Family Owned and Operated
Even though they are one of the largest players in the real estate sign market, Dee Sign is still a family-owned and operated company. If this matters to you (it should) Dee Sign should be your first call.
Drawbacks
The only real drawback we found with Dee Sign is that some of their stock sign designs for franchises look a little bit dated. While you can very easily get a professional-looking custom design on Fiverr or 99 Designs, some agents just want something ready to go. To see what we’re talking about, here is an example of a stock design for Keller Williams from Dee Sign:
However, it seems design quality can be hit or miss. For example, their sign templates for Sotheby’s look great:
While their franchise templates seemed to be hit or miss, their custom signs look great. Here’s an example:
Best Real Estate Signs for Variety of Franchises Supported: Oakley Signs
Oakley Signs offered templates for the largest number of real estate brokerages and franchises. For many Real Estate Professionals, a simple template will get the job done. If you just want quick, signs that already fit your brand, then Oakley Signs may be right for you.
Relatively Affordable Pricing
Oakley came at a lower price than the other two companies for sign panels at $39.93 and feather flags at $104, but at $89.42 their colonial posts were significantly more expensive than either Dee Sign or Build A Sign. This put them at the highest price for our sample order at $1813.50.
Drawbacks
Oakley is significantly more expensive for colonial posts and has a slightly less diverse selection of sign materials than Dee Sign.
Other Sign Companies
Build a Sign had relatively low prices for our sample order (10 yard sign colonial posts, 10 30”x24” aluminum sign panels, 5 open house feather flags), high ratings on Google Trusted Stores, and online sign designer.
Drawbacks
The only real drawback with Build A Sign is that they are a generalist sign company rather than a real estate-specific company. While you can still very easily get great signs for a great price on Build A Sign, they don’t yet have a large number of built-in franchise stores offering sign templates for popular brokerages that Oakley and Dee Sign have. While this isn’t the end of the world, some agents and brokerages just want branded signs quickly and don’t want to worry about custom designs.
In-Depth Review: Dee Sign vs. Build A Sign vs. Oakley Signs
Pricing
Probably at the top of any newer agent or boutique broker/owner’s list, pricing was fairly similar across all companies. Slight variations in materials and sizes meant we would never be able to get an exact price match, but we feel our example order is representative of a first order for a newer agent or brokerage. Here’s how the three companies stacked up for pricing.
Pricing for same real estate signs order
Price per unit for 10 Yard sign posts (colonial post 30” aluminum) | $62.10 | $89.42 | $66.25 |
Price per unit for 10 yard sign panels 30x24 (aluminum, double sided) | $61.75(slightly thicker material + custom design included) | $39.93 | $40.69 |
Price per unit for five open house feather flag w/ pole (8’ custom) | $91.80(7’ only) | $104 | $131.74 |
Total for 10 post, 10 panels, and 5 open house feather flags | $1697.50 | $1813.50 | $1728.10 |
Variety of sign materials available
Choosing the right materials for your real estate signs is always a toss-up between cost and needs. More durable materials are always more expensive, but sometimes there are happy mediums that will work for most situations. Here’s how the three companies stacked up for a variety of sign materials available.
Here’s a quick video from Dee Sign explaining the relative merits of each of their sign materials.
Where Do They Ship From?
Since your real estate signs have to be loaded into trucks and shipped to your location, the location of your sign company is crucial for fast shipping. Here’s where the three real estate sign companies we looked at are located.
Turnaround Time
After shipping distance, turnaround time is another important factor for many Real Estate Professionals. Of course, anticipating future growth and ordering in well in advance is recommended, but this is not always possible.
The only problem with measuring turnaround time accurately is that there are a lot of variables that can affect how long your order takes to finish. The size of the order, the materials used, and the season can all mean faster or slower turnaround times. Generally speaking, you should expect slightly longer turnaround times in the spring and summer when the market is busiest. In the fall and winter on the other hand, turnaround time should be faster. If you need a quick turnaround time, always confirm timing with the company before placing your order.
Custom Sign Creation
Let’s face it, even though some Real Estate Professionals will be perfectly content with stock templates, many will want totally custom designs. This is especially true for teams and boutique brokerages who will have more flexibility when it comes to branding.
Custom signs are handled three ways by most real estate sign companies.
- They offer an online design tool that lets you design or customize your real estate sign
- They allow you to upload custom artwork designed by your team or a graphic designer
- They offer their own in-house design services to create your custom sign
Here’s how the three companies handled custom sign creation.
Also like Dee Sign, Build A Sign offers in-house design services to help create your sign. However, they are not included in the sign price and start at $19.95 for basic design assistance. That means color matching, converting files, background removal etc. They also offer full custom layouts that start at $59.95.
Franchises Supported
If you’re an agent or team working for a national franchise like Keller Williams, then it might make sense to go with a real estate sign company that supports your brokerage. That said, all this support really entails is offering templates that are on-brand and will work well for the franchise you work for. Since your sign will need to be customized with your name and contact information anyway, many Real Estate Professionals opt for a fully custom sign design. This makes franchise support much less important. For boutique brokerages, it’s a moot point.
Reviews
While taking online reviews should be taken with a grain of salt, social proof is still a pretty good way to get a thumb in the air reading of a company. Here’s how the three companies did with online reviews.
Customer Support
Since real estate signs are often a custom (not to mention expensive) purchase, great customer service is a must. Here’s how the three companies stacked up for customer service.
All Real Estate Sign Options with Sample Pricing
Company | Colonial Post Signpost | Sign Panel (30x24) | Feather Flags | Directional Open House Signs |
---|---|---|---|---|
(10 aluminum) $62.10 | (12 hardboard) $31.60 | (7’ custom 12) $68.90 | (25 custom w/ stake) $16.50 | |
(10) $87.09 | (10) $37.29 | (8’ custom 10+) $68.79 | (25) $6.37 each | |
(12 aluminum) $73.14 | (5 aluminum) $37.95 | (8’ custom 10+) $149.99 | (25 custom) $12.44 | |
LowenSign.com (DA 32) | (5+ aluminum) $67.55 | (10 steel) $33 | (9’ custom 10+ ) $73.55 | (25 custom w/ stake) $13.35 |
(10 PVC) $95.99 | N/A | N/A | (25 custom) $12.34 | |
N/A | N/A | N/A | (20) $5.49 |
The Bottom Line
While there are a lot of places to buy real estate signs, we chose Dee Sign as our top pick because of their multiple shipping locations, low pricing, wide variety of sign materials to choose from and the fact that they have been in business for more than 40 years.
Joe Underwood
In your review process you made some really GREAT pathways to the Real Estate Community. The comparing of the three was again GREAT but the real comparison for the LOCAL Realtor should be how the THREE can be far better than the LOCAL printer (albeit better to buy local when possible for the local economy).
I have had dealings with all three of your selected companies. And our satisfaction level leans to Build A Sign for creative genius and offered pricing. Now for the delivery aspect our experience once again leans to Build A Sign.
Just a hint for better service/delivery/pricing use Build A Sign on EBAY and when you talk with Chris (E-Commerce guy) you will not go anywhere but Build a Sign.
Again, all three were good selections to offer………..a little more weight should have been given to the Google Praise of Build a Sign.
Emile L'Eplattenier
Hey Joe,
Thanks for the tip and glad you found the article useful.
Jamie Simon
We found very nice signs (actually bundled together in a set of 4) on Amazon. They’re plastic not cheap paper Dollar Store ones.
Not sure if I can put a link on here but if you just search for Open House Signs they are the ‘Amazon’s Choice’. The manufacturer is WDS.
Have lasted for a year now and still hold up strong. Good buy.
Emile L'Eplattenier
Hey Jamie,
Thanks for the tip.
Orlando
I think George Baker is referring to A-frame yard signs. The ones that are fold out versions of H-frames which do not require being pushed into the ground.
I think more info is needed on what type of advertising. For instance, is it for advertising an open house? Or advertising a house for sale? Or advertising your business in general?
It sounds like George is in a very restrictive town. So it will be easier to come up with solutions with first knowing what the restrictions are.
So here is a general group of advertising suggestions (without knowing the restrictions, or for what purpose)
H-frames instead of fold out A-frames; Walk the neighborhood (of the open house) and drop off flyers on the porch or doors the day before….and let them know you will be having refreshments available; Invest in Adopt-A-Highway road signs which shows your business name. Magnetic car sign; Feather flags at an open house; Business cards and flyers placed in local businesses; Create your own news-letter event list flyer along with local business names around the letters border and leave those in businesses on a monthly basis; Find mixers or any type of events that will give you the chance to pass out business cards and let people know what you do; Pay to have a sponsorship banner placed in local community center-Veteran building-clubs, etc; Attend and supply refreshments and info at subdivision meetings. Some of these suggestions can also help you to obtain email addresses to allow you to start doing email marketing.
George Baker
Hello –
Do you have any recommendations for advertising aside from, mailings, postcards, etc…in a town that does not allow for A Frame Boards?
Thank You,
George Baker
Marc Prosser
Hi George, Can you be more specific about what you mean by the word “frame”. Would “for sale” vinyl side on the outside of the house be allowed? How about a sign from inside the house in the window? How do other real estate brokers deal with this issue? Best, Marc Prosser