Help Center · Outreach

Using Email Templates

Deal Run's template system lets you send professionally formatted emails without starting from scratch every time. Templates use dynamic variables that automatically fill in property data, investor names, and deal metrics, so each email feels personalized even when you are sending to hundreds of investors at once. This guide covers the built-in template catalog, dynamic variables, custom templates, and how to get the best results from your outreach.

The template catalog

Deal Run includes several pre-built templates designed for common wholesale outreach scenarios. Each template has been tested across thousands of sends and optimized for open rates and click-through rates in the real estate investor audience. You can use them as-is or as a starting point for your own customizations.

Deal Blast

The flagship template for marketing a new deal. It includes a hero photo, property specs bar (beds, baths, sqft, year built), financial metrics (asking price, ARV, estimated repairs, projected profit), a property description, and a prominent call-to-action button linking to your marketing page. This template works best for initial outreach when you are introducing a property to your buyer list for the first time. It is visually rich and data-heavy, designed to give an investor everything they need to decide whether to click through for more details.

Follow-Up

A shorter, text-focused template for re-engaging investors who received your initial blast but did not open or click. The follow-up template drops the hero photo in favor of a brief, direct message: "I sent you a deal last week that I think matches your buying criteria. Here are the key numbers." It includes the property address, price, and ARV in a simple text layout with a single CTA button. Follow-up emails perform best when sent 2-4 days after the initial blast.

Price Drop

Used when the asking price on a deal has been reduced. This template highlights the price change prominently -- "Price Reduced: $195K to $175K" -- with the original price struck through and the new price emphasized. It re-states the deal metrics with the updated numbers and recalculates the profit spread. Price drop emails have some of the highest engagement rates because they create urgency and signal that a deal is negotiable.

New Deal Alert

A notification-style template for investors who have opted into deal alerts for a specific area or property type. It is lighter than the full deal blast -- a compact card with the address, key specs, price, and a "View Deal" button. This template is designed for speed: investors who subscribe to alerts want to be notified quickly, not read a long email. It works well in automated sequences triggered when you publish a new deal.

Custom

A blank canvas. The custom template gives you a subject line field and a rich text body editor. You can format text (bold, italic, headers, lists), insert images, add links, and use any of the dynamic variables listed below. Use this when none of the pre-built templates fit your situation -- for example, sending a market update, a personal introduction to a high-value investor, or a deal recap after a walkthrough.

Dynamic variables

Dynamic variables are placeholders wrapped in curly braces that get replaced with real data when the email is sent. They pull from three sources: the deal record, the recipient's contact record, and your account profile. Every variable resolves per-recipient, so {buyer_name} becomes the specific investor's name on each individual email.

Property variables

These pull from the deal you are marketing:

{property_address} -- Full street address (e.g., "23606 Rollinford Lane, Katy, TX 77493")
{city} -- City name only
{state} -- Two-letter state abbreviation
{zip} -- ZIP code
{beds} -- Number of bedrooms
{baths} -- Number of bathrooms
{sqft} -- Square footage, formatted with commas
{year_built} -- Year the property was built
{lot_sqft} -- Lot size in square feet
{property_type} -- Property type (Single Family, Duplex, etc.)

Financial variables

These pull from your deal analysis and pricing:

{asking_price} -- Current asking price, formatted as currency
{arv} -- After Repair Value from your comp analysis
{repair_cost} -- Estimated repair cost from your repair analysis
{profit} -- Projected profit (ARV minus asking price minus repairs)
{equity_spread} -- Difference between ARV and asking price
{cap_rate} -- Capitalization rate for rental analysis
{monthly_rent} -- Estimated monthly rent from ARR analysis
{cash_on_cash} -- Cash-on-cash return percentage

Recipient variables

These pull from the investor's contact record:

{buyer_name} -- Investor's full name (or entity name if no individual name is on file)
{first_name} -- Investor's first name only. Falls back to "Investor" if no first name is available.
{buyer_email} -- Investor's email address
{buyer_phone} -- Investor's phone number

Sender variables

These pull from your Deal Run account profile:

{sender_name} -- Your display name
{sender_email} -- Your email address
{sender_phone} -- Your phone number (from your account settings)
{company_name} -- Your company name (from your account settings)

Link variables

{marketing_page_url} -- URL to the deal's public marketing page
{offer_form_url} -- Direct link to the offer submission form on your marketing page
{unsubscribe_url} -- Opt-out link (automatically included in footer, but available for custom placement)

How variables auto-fill from deal data

When you select a deal and compose an email, Deal Run loads all available data from that deal's record in the database. The resolution follows a priority chain:

User-entered values -- If you manually entered or overrode a field (like asking price or ARV), that value is used first.
Analysis-computed values -- If no manual override exists, the system uses values calculated by Deal Run's analysis tools (comp-derived ARV, AI repair estimate, etc.).
Property record defaults -- For basic property data (beds, baths, sqft, year built), values come from the property data source.
Blank fallback -- If no value exists for a variable, it renders as an empty string rather than showing the raw variable name. The preview screen highlights any unresolved variables in yellow so you can fill them in before sending.

This priority chain means your emails always use the most accurate data available. If you ran a comp analysis and determined the ARV is $260,000, that number appears in the email -- not an automated valuation model estimate or a stale public record.

Creating custom templates

To create a custom template, go to the outreach dashboard and click "Compose Blast", then select "Custom" from the template picker. You will see a subject line field and a rich text editor for the body.

To insert a dynamic variable, type the opening curly brace { and Deal Run will show an autocomplete dropdown with all available variables. Select the one you want, and it will be inserted at your cursor position. You can also type the variable name manually if you prefer.

Custom templates can be saved for reuse. After composing your message, click "Save as Template" and give it a name. Saved templates appear in your template picker alongside the built-in options. You can edit or delete saved templates from the outreach settings page.

AI-generated content

If you are not sure what to write, click the "Generate with AI" button in the template editor. Deal Run's AI will analyze the deal data -- property specs, location, asking price, ARV, repair estimates, and investor type -- and generate a complete email body tailored to the property. The AI considers the property's strengths (location, size, equity spread) and crafts a message that highlights the most compelling aspects of the deal.

AI-generated content is a starting point, not a finished product. Always review and edit the generated text before sending. You can click "Regenerate" to get an alternative version if the first draft does not match your voice or emphasis. See AI Message Generation for more details on how the AI works and how to get the best results.

Template preview with real data

Before sending any template, Deal Run renders a full preview with all variables replaced by actual data from the selected deal. The preview shows exactly what the recipient will see in their inbox, including formatting, images, and links. You can toggle between different recipients in the preview to verify that per-recipient variables (like {buyer_name} and {first_name}) are resolving correctly for each contact.

The preview also flags potential issues:

Missing variables -- Highlighted in yellow. These will render as blank in the sent email.
Long subject lines -- Subject lines over 60 characters are flagged because they get truncated on mobile devices.
Missing CTA -- If your email does not contain a link to your marketing page, a warning suggests adding one.
No hero photo -- If the deal has no primary photo and the template expects one, you will see a placeholder with a prompt to upload a photo.

Best-performing subject lines

Subject lines have the single biggest impact on whether your email gets opened. Based on aggregate data across Deal Run users, here are the patterns that consistently produce the highest open rates for investor outreach:

Address + price -- "123 Main St, Houston -- $185,000" (28-32% open rate). Simple, specific, and immediately tells the investor what the deal is.
Neighborhood + equity spread -- "Spring Branch deal: $75K equity spread" (30-35% open rate). Leads with the financial opportunity.
Price drop urgency -- "Price reduced: 4bed Katy SFH now $175K" (35-40% open rate). The highest-performing format because it signals a better deal than before.
Question format -- "Looking for a rental in Heights?" (25-28% open rate). Works well when you know the investor's buying criteria.

Subject lines that consistently underperform: "Great investment opportunity" (generic), "Exclusive off-market deal" (overused), anything in ALL CAPS (triggers spam filters), and lines with excessive punctuation or emojis (professional investors find them unserious).

For a complete walkthrough of the sending process, see Sending Your First Email Blast. To track how your templates perform after sending, see Tracking Delivery, Opens, and Clicks.