How Realtors Get Leads? Where to Get Leads for Real Estate Business  

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You have finally got your hands on your much-coveted real estate license. You have also been accepted to your dream company, and some new clothes are sitting in your wardrobe waiting for you to wear to your first client meeting.

Sadly, your job as a realtor isn’t always as simple and easy as sitting at your desk and waiting for leads to fall into your lap. Learning how realtors get leads and where to get leads for real estate is the first step to marking the beginning of your journey in this field.

Leads in real estate are basically the potential sellers or buyers who might become your first clients. You will earn your commission after you help your clients close the deal. You will likely become more successful if your real estate business also has more leads. This way, you don’t have to put all your hopes on working with some clients at a time.

Continue reading this short guide on how you can generate more leads as a realtor so you can get started on your road to success.


How Do Realtors Find Buyers?

female-realtor-showing-family-interested-in-buying

For realtors, finding the right home buyer goes beyond snapping a few photos or listing the square footage of every room. Realtors need to get their listings right in front of all the right audience searching for the right property to form a connection.

Every buyer demands specific things from the realtor they are working with, and these include the following:

  • Broad knowledge about the house, its features, amenities, characteristics, and how the property compares to the rest of the houses in the area.
  • Quick response to phone calls and emails, especially if they have some queries regarding a particular property.
  • Understanding the process of buying a house and what is considered reasonable when negotiating the terms and price.

In today’s modern world of selling residential and commercial real estate properties, much of the prospecting of a realtor for the buyer is carried out online using their personal websites, listing sites, and different social media profiles.


How Do Realtors Find Sellers?

Realtors find sellers in pretty much the same process as finding buyers. These professionals offer excellent service and connect the right buyer with the right property.

A seller’s agent also operates mostly on referrals, which means that previous clients refer the realtor to their family or friends who are planning to sell soon.


What is a Real Estate Marketing Strategy?

Every realtor is expected to have a solid and effective real estate market strategy in place to look for clients.

This particular strategy must involve not just marketing the client’s specific property for sale but also marketing yourself as a realtor. Clients want to work with someone they feel they can turn to and trust and someone who will also do the best possible job. Conveying this to potential clients is the key aspect of a robust real estate marketing strategy.

However, what does this strategy look like in the first place? To attract a seller’s attention, you have to present a solid case on how you will be able to assist them in selling their house and offer better service.

You can provide updates on the local market and market analysis of the property. Realtors also need to conduct consistent follow-ups and answer important queries. All of these can help build better relationships with the sellers.

Every seller wants and needs help in the sale of their home. At first, however, they may be a bit distant, particularly if their previous experience was a negative one because their previous realtor wasn’t able to sell their property.

These conversations can be tough and tricky, and this is exactly where it is vital to have a good real estate marketing strategy. A major factor in what you can achieve when talking to leads every day is to set and review your prospecting and marketing goals regularly.

The following are some of the key elements of an effective real estate marketing strategy:

Branding

All realtors need to become their own unique brand that can help establish name recognition with prospective clients. Branding must also include a tagline, color scheme, professional photo, and logo. When you join a brokerage as a realtor, some of the brandings might already be done on your behalf. However, make sure you personalize your brand to you as a realtor is important.

Social Media

There is no denying that social media is an excellent way to forge relationships and build name recognition with your potential clients. You can create profiles on several social media platforms to get started. These include Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can then add other platforms as you become more comfortable with the posting process.

Never attempt to tackle several platforms at the same time just because you feel that you should. Doing so will only end up overwhelming you and might not be that effective at any specific platform.

Traditional Media Channels

Despite the rise of digital channels, print advertising continues to be very effective when it comes to the real estate market. This is also true of other forms of traditional advertising such as TV and radio ads.

As your real estate business grows and generates more profits, you can try to add a few of these channels to your marketing arsenal as this is how realtors get leads.

Website

If you are wondering where to get leads for real estate, every modern realtor must remember the importance of having a strong and solid web presence. It includes a well-designed and easy-to-navigate website.

Your website will serve as the virtual business card that will help prospects learn more about you and all of your current listings.

To make things even better, you can even post some informative pieces of content that will attract website traffic and follow up with users through ads and email marketing.

Some of the things that a real estate website should include are the following:

  1. Your name
  2. Your phone number
  3. Your email address
  4. Your high-quality photo
  5. Informative blog posts related to your business
  6. Your existing listings or link to the site where your listings can be found
  7. The zip code or area code where you offer your services

As mentioned earlier, your brokerage might handle most of the information and design on your site so make sure you check and confirm before you create one.


Real Estate Leads: The Basics

real estate lead generation

In 2020 alone, the National Association of Realtors revealed that 5.64 million existing houses were sold, and the numbers are expected to increase in the future years as more and more people leave urban areas and cities.

As the housing market hits an all-time high, realtors need to compete to get more potential leads in their pipeline. A lead is someone who has already expressed an intent interest in the particular service you are offering. The pipeline is a representation of the set of stages that a consumer moves through before a transaction is completed.

A prospective seller or buyer marks the start of a pipeline. When a person completes a purchase or sale, he will officially become a customer who has already moved through the pipeline. Attracting leads to the pipeline has a significant effect on the success of your business endeavor.


Importance of Leads for Realtors

Leads represent your potential clients as a realtor. You can increase your chance to close a deal when you get a lead soon into your system. The truth is when you follow up with your new lead in a matter of 5 minutes, you will likely land their business up to eight times. A successful strategy for lead generation will help you move prospective clients through the sales pipeline.

Generating new leads might be a bit tricky and painful when you are just getting started with a small number of qualified leads that can be converted into sales. However, once you learn where to get leads for real estate and how realtors get leads, it also improves your chance to boost your sales and grow your business in the process.


Best Way to Generate Real Estate Leads

As far as generating leads as a realtor is concerned, there is no such thing as a single best way to ensure that you always have enough clients. What you should do instead is to use several channels in balance so you can generate the best results.

While one channel can help you succeed better than the other, putting all your eggs in a single lead generation basket may only end up quickly drying up your realtor leads.

How do you get more real estate leads, then? Should you fully embrace modern technology, or can you resort to the traditional way of knocking on doors?

Realtors traditionally favored the process of going around their neighborhood and knocking on doors to introduce themselves to prospective customers. Others buy lists of contacts so they can pick up the phone for some cold calling.

Although nothing bad can be said about these traditional forms of outbound marketing, there are still more ways in which realtor leads in this modern digital era.

Realtors can always turn to social media, search engines, videos, blogs, and other forms of online channels to nurture, attract, and engage with leads.


Key Pillars of Lead Generation System for Realtors

real estate leads

As stated earlier, lead generation is the marketing term that refers to the process where the prospect is attracted and converted into someone who shows genuine interest in your services or products.

For a realtor or real estate business, your lead is someone who expresses a keen interest in using your specific services to sell, buy, or rent a house. If you are wondering where to get leads for real estate, there are actually two primary categories you can try, and these are outbound and inbound.

Outbound marketing begins with a few basic knowledge regarding your target audience. It is also what some people may call traditional marketing. Good examples of typical activities for outbound marketing include event marketing, email marketing, direct mail, and telemarketing.

Inbound marketing, on the other hand, refers to the way of attracting more people to your business through creating and promoting related incentives and content. This is the digital and modern way of marketing. Some of the common inbound activities include advertising, SEO or search engine optimization, social media marketing, and content marketing.

It doesn’t matter which way you are generating leads; you must tailor your specific activities to every prospect as they move and advance through the three primary phases of their customer journey. These stages are the following:

1. The Awareness Stage or Top of Funnel

This is the stage when a prospect has already identified their problem but has no idea how to solve or address it.

2. The Evaluation Stage or Middle of Funnel

It is the stage when a prospect learns about your existence and that you offer a solution to their specific problem. However, the prospect is still in the process of considering the available options at this point.

3. The Conversion Stage or Bottom of Funnel

The last stage is when a prospect is almost ready to pay for your solution but might still have a few final queries.

There are many different ways to capture leads depending on your specific marketing activity. For example, people may fill out the printed forms distributed during events such as open houses. They can also complete the online form so they can request additional information about a specific property or your services in general.

It doesn’t matter what the situation might be. It is a must for a realtor to consolidate all the leads into a single system that can help track the progress more easily. Realtors can consider using a real estate CRM or Customer Relationship Management tool that will allow them to follow up and manage leads under one roof.


How Realtors Get Leads Through Inbound Marketing

Inbound Marketing for Real Estate

Thanks to the rise of the internet age, inbound marketing is now the number one method for most realtors today.

Inbound marketing is all about making sure that the right people will come to you just at the right opportune time.

Rather than rolling out all of your information in a single mass-produced way such as through a newspaper ad and then hoping that you will attract some potential leads from it, the process of inbound marketing for real estate will bring leads to the realtor as people look for houses to buy or expert realtors who can assist them in selling their current home.

With the help of inbound marketing for realtors, searchers type in some keywords such as homes for sale in your specific area. The search engine results will then direct the searchers to a realtor who can help them out.

Inbound marketing for real estate agents requires establishing an online presence and completely optimizing it for the best results. For realtors who want to try inbound marketing, here are some ways of doing it:

  • Content creation like blogging
  • Pay-per-click advertising
  • Search engine optimization
  • Social media marketing
  • Website

Learning how to use these different channels properly to your advantage or finding someone who can do so will pay off in the form of more qualified leads and as a result, more clients.


How Realtors Get Leads via Referrals

referrals real estate

Referrals continue to be one of the best bread and butter methods that realtors can use to attract more potential leads. By offering excellent service to every client, you can increase your chances of getting a glowing recommendation if your client knows someone who is looking to sell or buy a property.

An easy and simple way to help boost your leads from referrals is to set up a solid real estate referral program. Through this referral program, you can offer incentives to your clients every time they tell their family and friends about you.

If someone new becomes your client thanks to a referral, you can give a gift to your client as a part of your real estate referral agreement. This gift can be in the form of a fruit basket, a bottle of quality wine and a pair of wine glasses, and a gift card to a local restaurant.

The total costs of the gifts that you offer as a part of your referral program are quite small compared to the possible lifetime value of getting a new client. However, these simple gifts can make your clients feel more appreciated, thus helping continue your referral program.


How Realtors Get Leads Through Social Media

Social media is one of the most powerful tools for realtors today. It is especially helpful if you are curious to know where to get leads for real estate using social media.

Below are some of the most popular social media platforms right now together with a few tips on how you can use these channels to generate more leads as a realtor:

Facebook

Due to the series of changes to how Facebook shows users’ posts, realtors can no longer just trust and hope that they will show up in their fans’ newsfeeds. Instead, realtors should try to work a bit harder to make sure that people on Facebook can see you and your services.

Networking is one of the best ways to get seen by more people. Reach out to your clients on Facebook, respond to comments, and tag them in posts. This form of engagement will help increase your organic search significantly.

Facebook ads are also incredibly helpful tools if you are trying to get more traction on specific listings. If you are willing to spend more money, you can even target geographic locations, different age groups, and people with specific jobs with your newest listing.

Instagram

Instagram is a very visual social media platform under the ownership of Facebook. People searching for a realtor will be able to see you if you post videos and photos of new listings, share testimonials, and client stories.

Of course, don’t forget to use some hashtags. These hashtags are critical to your success on Instagram so make sure you add at least one hashtag complete with the location of the listing so that it will show up in the results or searches.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the network that targets professionals, which makes it especially useful for those in the retail office and commercial space niches.

People who might be looking for new office space, for example, will be able to see your posts if you post walk-through videos and photos and even links to new office property listings in your area.

Learn Next: Social Media Post Ideas for Realtors to Generate More Leads.


How Realtors Get Leads by Advertising on Trulia or Zillow

Trulia and Zillow

If you are an individual home seller or buyer, you can simply list your property for free on Trulia or Zillow.

But if you are a realtor, it will cost you money if you want to break through on these two platforms. The price of advertising a listing on Trulia depends on the specific market you are in and is also the secret to getting real estate leads on the platform. Trulia also charges more for hotter markets with higher property prices.

Zillow also operates on a similar model. The only difference is that the site also provides a Zillow Premier Agent destination. This is one of the secrets of how realtors get leads from Zillow.

Zillow Premier Agents can enjoy two primary benefits for a price per lead. First is that they will be the only agent listed on all the properties they list for sale. They can also advertise even on those listings made by those who are not part of Zillow Premier Agents.

The specific price per lead for you to be named as a Zillow Premier Agent differs according to the market you are in. However, it can range from as low as $20 per lead up to over $60 per lead.


How Realtors Get Leads from Real Estate Open Houses

open house

The fortune lies in the follow-up as far as real estate open houses are concerned. There will always be instances when your open house might attract some people who don’t have plans to buy at all. These can include people who are just looking for something to do in their free time or even curious neighbors and onlookers.

However, if there is one actual prospective buyer who comes through that door, you can boost your chances of getting new leads from your open house by doing two things:

1. Talk at the Open House

Not every potential buyer will be right for every home for sale, and vice versa. However, it doesn’t mean that just because they said no to one property, they will never buy at all.

As they are preparing to leave, you can approach the potential buyer and try to strike a conversation with them. Tell them that you are planning to give some feedback to the seller and that you would want to know the features that they liked or appreciated about the house.

After they have answered your question, their answers which should be written down, be sure to ask about the things that they didn’t like about the property.

You can then use the information you acquired to casually recommend some of your listings that may meet their criteria. Those who are really interested might grab the opportunity to personally visit a recommended property.

2. Don’t Wait for Too Long to Do a Follow-Up

Waiting for a couple of days before your follow-up can give buyers more time to look for other options. The best thing you can do instead is sit down later that day and send follow-up emails to the people who signed up. Don’t forget to add a personal touch to these follow-up emails to increase the chances that they will be opened and read.

If you recommended some properties to them during your open house, don’t forget to add links in your email. You also need to mention if they have expressed interest in a certain feature of the house or if they offered some feedback when you asked them.

Waiting for too long before you send your follow-up emails might lower your chances of getting a prospective sale.


The Bottom Line

You probably assumed that taking and passing the pre-licensing example was the most difficult part of your journey as a realtor. However, it only marks the beginning. Once you have passed the exam, it is now time for you to get your real estate business up and running.

There may be a learning curve on where to get leads for real estate and how realtors get leads. However, the moment you get the hang of the process, you will see the profits flowing in.

Don’t forget to brand yourself so you can stand out from the rest. Make the most out of your open houses, come up with a solid online marketing strategy, and expand your referral network so you can attract more potential leads your way.

Do all of these and before you know it, sellers and buyers will come flocking to you once they hear about your excellent reputation.

 


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