Summary4 min read

Podcast Summary: Your Daily Real Estate Podcast with Tristan Ahumada

Episode 675: The Handwritten Note Agents Forget
Date: October 5, 2025

Episode Overview

In this concise and actionable episode, host Tristan Ahumada urges real estate professionals to revisit a classic but often neglected tool: the handwritten note. Drawing from his own experiences and his recent "Purposeful Prospecting" challenge, Tristan illustrates how a daily handwritten note can deepen relationships, spread kindness, and set agents apart in an increasingly digitized world. He offers practical tactics for consistency and reminds listeners of the business (and human) impact of showing genuine appreciation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Enduring Value of Handwritten Notes

Handwritten notes have long been a staple in relationship-driven industries like real estate, yet are surprisingly underutilized.
Tristan admits even he has often overlooked them but has discovered renewed consistency and effectiveness through a recent challenge with his team.

2. The “Purposeful Prospecting” Challenge

Part of the challenge: write one handwritten note every day for 30 days to someone impacted by your work.
Tristan created his own custom card template via Etsy, making the process more personal and streamlined.

3. Choosing Who Receives a Note

Stay mindful daily of people you engage with, whether via phone, in person, or on social media.
Ask yourself:
- “Was this a good interaction?”
- “Did I learn something?”
- “Does someone need a little more love or a pick-me-up?”
- “Is this just to say thank you?”

Notable Example

Tristan shares sending a note to a friend always showing up with kindness and leadership, expressing gratitude and recognition for her consistent support.

4. Simple System to Never Miss an Opportunity

Throughout the day, if someone comes to mind, text yourself their name as a reminder (“Ooh, that person needs a note card.”)
If you haven’t interacted meaningfully with anyone that day, turn to your social media feed:
- Look for connections celebrating wins, going through hard times, or simply standing out.
- People mentioned: friends battling cancer, those facing loss, etc.
- Send notes not only for celebrations, but also encouragement or condolences.

5. Going Beyond Digital Interactions

It's not enough to like, comment, or send messages online:
- “It’s taking that extra step and making them know that you are important to them.” (Tristan, 04:30)
- Handwritten notes demonstrate time, attention, and personal investment.

6. The “Dopamine Dealer” Philosophy

Making people feel valued is foundational to the real estate business.
- “Our job every day is to deal dopamine. You’re making people feel amazing...And it’s legal.” (Tristan, 06:00)
Handwritten notes are a powerful form of spreading positivity and significance.

7. Consistency & Community

The challenge is nearly complete for the current cohort, but will run again in January—likely open to more participants.
Listeners are invited to participate or get templates from Tristan upon request.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

On Making People Feel Significant

“A handwritten note goes a really, really, really [long way]. Especially in our world that we’re in right now, it goes a long way because it sends a message to somebody that says, hey, I took a while here, 10, 15 minutes to write this note card...And I want you to know that you matter.”
— Tristan Ahumada (05:05)

On Process and Consistency

“The way that I’ve become a little bit more consistent with note cards is by knowing exactly who I’m going to send the note card to.”
— Tristan Ahumada (02:10)

On Purpose in Business

“All about significance, right? How do you make people feel? It’s all about the whole dopamine dealer thing that I always talk about...This is part of your process for building your business, for connecting with people, for making people feel amazing.”
— Tristan Ahumada (06:00)

Key Timestamps

00:00 — Intro to handwritten notes and their impact in real estate
01:30 — The Purposeful Prospecting Challenge explained
02:10 — Consistency trick: Know exactly who to write to
03:15 — Using self-reminders to note potential recipients
04:00 — Leveraging social media for recipient ideas
05:05 — The deep impact of a handwritten note in today’s world
06:00 — The “dopamine dealer” philosophy & emotional business building
07:00 — Wrapping up the challenge and next steps for listeners

Episode Takeaways

Handwritten notes, though “old school,” are a potent tool for nurturing relationships and standing out.
Consistently identifying recipients from daily interactions or social feeds makes the process manageable.
Taking the extra, tangible step of a note shows deep care—fueling both business growth and personal fulfillment.
Tristan’s challenge and newsletter offer concrete ways to infuse this practice into your regular routine.

For more insights or to join the next challenge, follow Tristan’s newsletter or connect directly as mentioned in the episode.

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[00:00]
A
Handwritten notes is one of the staples of industries like real estate, service industries, sales industries, because connecting with people is at the core of what we do. Building relationships long term. And I've often overlooked this one. I've done it, but I've never done it consistently. And we started this challenge for a brilliant tribe and for the brokerage. It's called Purposeful prospecting. And I don't know what episode that is where I broke down all the things. One of those things is to write one handwritten note every day for 30 days to somebody that you've impacted. And I want to outline this because it's been going so good for me. Now I created my own through Etsy. I created my own card so that I could have a template of it and then order them. They come to my house and I use those specifically. Anyway, let's get into this one. I'm Tristan. This is your daily real estate. It's a podcast, it's a show, five to ten minutes every single day for your real estate business. Please subscribe to the newsletter of this. It's called Real Estate Prospecting. It's in the description somewhere. It goes out once a week. No spam. Pure value. And if you need this, the notes aren't that big on this one. You're probably just going to be listening. This is episode 675. If you need it, let me know. All right, let's get right into this one. The way that I've become a little bit more consistent with note cards is by knowing exactly, exactly who I'm going to send the note card to. And now I'm paying attention who I engage with daily, whether it's phone calls in person or even on social media. I'm looking at situations that I've had where I can ask myself, hey, was this good? What did I learn from this? Does somebody need a little bit more love? Does somebody need a little pick me up? Somebody need a little bit more motivation? Or am I just going to send this out as a thank you? The one I did today that I sent out in the morning was to a friend. And she always shows up with kindness, always shows up putting other people first, always is extremely supportive. And I want to let her know in the note card that that's a form of leadership and I respect her for it and I'm proud to be her friend. So that one was a just thank you and lift somebody up postcard or handwritten note in that case. But the simple process that I want you to remember is this. As you have conversations in the day, text yourself and say, ooh, that person needs a note card. Right? That's it. Or if you go through the day and you're like, I didn't talk to anybody today. Interesting. Nobody deserves a note card from me today. If that's the case, then I want you to go to social. In social, you have friends there that you follow that follow you back. Those are the ones I'm looking for. Because if you reach out to them and you need their address, they'll give it to you. So go through those and go through your feed and check out people celebrating something. People maybe they're out to eat. Maybe they're going through a rough time. I've got a couple of friends that are going through cancer, right? And family members that have died. I had one friend whose mother died, and so we sent them a note card and we sent them flowers. But you have an opportunity just by paying attention to what's happening around you in person and also on social media. And the social media part is sometimes the one that we miss. So it's not just about liking it and commenting it and messaging it there, but it's taking that extra step and making them know that you are important to them. Because a handwritten note goes a really, really, really. Especially in our world that we're in right now, it goes a long way because it sends a message to somebody that says, hey, I took a while here, 10, 15 minutes to write this note card. I had to think about it, I had to write it, and I put it in the mail, and all of my thoughts are on here. And I want to know that you matter to me and this whole world that we're in. So all about significance, right? How do you make people feel? It's all about the whole dopamine dealer thing that I always talk about, right? Our job every day is to deal dopamine. You're making people feel amazing. You're dealing that thing every day. And it's legal. This is part of that. This is part of your process for building your business, for connecting with people, for making people feel amazing. Anyway, one handwritten note card. We're on day. We're about to finish this. I think there's only, like, five days left of this challenge. We're running it again in January if you want to be part of this. I think this January, I may be opening it up, so it's going to be free, and then we'll go from there. Anyway, if you need this, it wasn't a lot. It's just two little paragraphs that I wrote out based on what I do. Message me. It's episode 675. If not, subscribe to my My newsletter goes out every Friday, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern. Have an awesome day.