10 lead Generation Ideas for Real Estate Agents
Real estate is a big business, and there is lots of money to be made. At the same time, it is volatile. You don’t really get repeat customers. After all, people tend to buy only one home and not much more.
You need a constant flow of new leads in order to turn a profit. This is why lead generation is really important. So, here are ten lead-generation ideas to ensure an influx of new leads for your real estate business.
The ideas we will discuss are quite varied. This is because real estate is not just a game of money but also wit and social skills. Utilizing everything together is the path to success. So, let’s check them out.
1. Networking
Networking is a large part of real estate. Networking allows an agent to expand their reach and learn about more properties that are up for sale.
Trade Associations
Fortunately, for real estate agents, there are plenty of opportunities to expand their network. One of the easiest methods is to join a trade association for real estate agents.
A real estate association is an organization that consists of brokers and agents, and they have the collective power to:
- Provide training
- Lobby the government
- Do market research and publish it
- Operate a Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
The MLS is the biggest advantage of being in an association. It allows a member agent to find leads in their area and start working on developing them.
Housing Associations
As a real estate agent, you can join HOAs (Housing Associations) and introduce yourself as a real estate agent. HOAs have very strong knowledge of all the properties in their jurisdiction.
By cozying up to them, you can get a free pass for any clients who are looking to buy or sell their property in the HOA area. This approach to networking is a bit difficult, though. This is because HOAs can be very difficult to deal with.
They may or may not want a real estate agent, or they may already have one and not want another one.
Nevertheless, this is still a great venue for creating more leads for your real estate firm. You can always tell them to give you a call if they want a second opinion.
2. Social Media Posts
Social media is a powerful tool in the trade of real estate. It is a free resource that can help you create new leads.
On social media, you can do things like:
- Join groups where people are looking to sell or buy property,
- Advertise your services on said groups,
- Meet with other agents and brokers,
- Directly reach out to customers and have them hire you,
- Showcase properties you are selling.
And other useful stuff like that. As you can probably imagine, this can do wonders for your real estate business. A well-functioning social media presence can get your name out there and help people looking to sell or buy property.
Platforms like Instagram are great for showing off properties that you are already selling. You can upload pictures of the property's neighborhood as well as detailed shots of the property itself.
This means that people looking for properties will find your posts and probably make up their minds to at least book a viewing. Those are just some of the ways in which social media can help you generate leads.
3. Referrals from Colleagues
If you are an enterprising agent, then you must have hopped firms a few times in your life. Or you might have started your own business and tried to strike out on your own.
If you haven’t, then shelve this tip for later when you end up in one of those situations.
For those of you who do have “ex-colleagues,” keeping in contact and having a professional, cordial relationship with them can help you a lot. Ex-colleagues can become the source of new leads if they are not in direct competition with you.
For example, if you moved cities or states and no longer work in the same area as your older firm, you are no longer in competition. So, you can exchange information with them and find valuable property in your own area that you didn’t know about.
The relationship goes both ways. You refer clients to them when the business is in their area and vice versa. So, just by maintaining a good relationship with your colleagues and seniors, you can get some good leads.
4. Go After Expired Listings
When an agent is hired to sell a property, they create a listing in the market. The listing contains important information relevant to the property’s sale, such as its price, location, pictures, etc.
However, real estate agents don’t sit on unsold property forever. They have a limited contract term during which they will do their best to sell a property.
When that contract period expires, the agent stops their efforts. The listing is then known as expired. Expired listings are a great way to get new leads.
You can approach the owners of expired listings and talk them into selling the property on slightly worse terms. This can work because:
- The listing has already expired, so it means there is less interest in the property.
- This means that the seller will be more prone to settling for a little less.
- The listing shows that the intent to sell is still there.
An expert agent would give the sellers a call and give them a pitch. This can and usually does lead to a successful lead.
Be prepared for failure, though, as sometimes owners of expired listings have changed their minds about selling. They can also be just too stubborn to lower the price because they can’t settle for less.
5. Partner With Local Businesses
Local businesses such as painters, interior decorators, plumbers, and electricians can prove to be a good source for leads. But why? Well, the thing is that all of these businesses relate to property in some way.
Now, people who are looking to sell their property will touch it up before they put it up for sale. This touching-up includes fresh paint, repairs, and possibly new decorations.
These businesses often have insight into leads for real estate because they can learn whether a property is about to be put up for sale or not. Real estate agents can have a symbiotic relationship with such businesses.
Here’s how they can benefit each other.
- Local businesses alert real estate agents about possible new properties for sale. Agents can reach out and handle the sale, i.e., generate a lead.
- Agents who help close a sale can refer local businesses for modifications and touch-ups to the property to new owners. This enables both local businesses and real estate agents to help each other.
So make sure to know about good local businesses and cultivate an amicable relationship with them.
6. Host or Join Community Events
Community events are a great method for generating leads. A community event can take different forms and generate different kinds of leads. Here are a few types of events that can help considerably.
Open House
An open house is when you allow the general public to walk into the property you are selling and tour it firsthand. Typically, this involves the real estate agent giving groups of people a tour of the property.
During this tour, the visitors can ask questions about the property and form an opinion about it. Open house events will usually net you a lot of leads. Granted, only one of them will close on the deal, but the others will know who to contact when they want to buy a property of their own.
Conferences
Real estate trade associations often hold conferences and local events. You should make an effort to attend these events because they are a source of direct lead generation. You can meet prospective clients directly and bring them on board with your people skills.
Even if you fail to do that immediately, you can still create connections and partnerships. All that is required is that you do your due diligence and have a good look at the attendee list a few days before the conference.
Research the attendees and make a plan of action to meet them and win them over. Make the best use of your time, and you will get good results.
7. Utilize Paid Ads
Advertisements are a tried and tested method of getting leads. No matter what kind of business you are in, you can get some fast, short-term results with advertising.
In the digital age, there are many venues for ads. You can put them on your own website, pay social media sites for ad spots, and pay search engines to show your website above your competitors in the SERPs.
Real estate websites are also a great place to post your ads if you can manage to do so. That can land you more clients than other sources.
Before investing in ads, make sure to conduct thorough research and leverage Strategic Foresight to identify where you get most of your clients from and anticipate emerging trends in customer behavior. By strategically placing your ads in these high-impact areas and adapting to future opportunities, you can ensure that your budget is optimized for the best results, i.e., more leads.
8. Utilize Real Estate Prospecting Software
Another method to get good leads is to make smart use of real estate prospecting software. These are online services that can help you find leads and maintain them.
They do this by providing a slew of features that allow you to maintain records, organize contact info, and manage clients. These services also have access to listings and can provide the best leads based on geographical region and even spending power.
Naturally, such tools and services do not come for free. So, you have to do your research on the various tools and their pricing plans. Most services like these offer a free plan with limited features. You can use it to test them and then upgrade to a suitable paid plan.
9. Have a Website With Content and CTAs
In the digital age, having an online presence is necessary to get leads. People like to do their own research on businesses before they interact with them. Naturally, the first thing they do is to check if the business has a website.
A professional-looking website with a clean and intuitive interface goes a long way in building trust. To inculcate more trust in your customers, make sure that your website has the following things.
- An easily accessible “Contact Us” page
- An on-page live chat option for prospective clients
- Testimonials and reviews
- Clearly labeled services and supporting information
- Clearly labeled address of your physical office(s)
When customers can find this information easily, they become more at ease and feel more trusting.
Then, you can convert them into leads by adding appropriate calls to action (CTAs).
Websites also have another function. If you do their SEO (Search Engine Optimization) well, then search engines like Google will show it higher in their SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). So, whenever people search for real estate agents, your site will pop up on the front page and net you more customers.
To do SEO, it is important to have valuable content on your site because that develops authority. Authority is a major ranking factor in SEO, so it can help you rank your site much higher.
10. Provide Gated Content
Gated content is exclusive content only provided to select members of your audience/customers. It is typically provided to paid subscribers only. However, paid subscriptions to get content from a real estate agent do not seem too appealing. How does it result in generating more leads?
Well, exclusivity has a certain allure, and people who are in the market to buy or sell property want to know how to get the best deal. You can dangle that knowledge in front of them with a free trial and give them a taste of what they can get with paid subscriptions.
Gated content can include things like:
- Video guides on how to prepare a property before selling it.
- Blog posts about property buying checklists.
- Listicle articles about the best properties to buy in certain areas.
And other stuff like that.
This will naturally result in more leads who actually close deals and generate revenue for your business.
Conclusion:
So, there you have it, 10 lead generation ideas for real estate agents. If you apply all ten of these tips consistently, you will have a steady influx of new leads, and soon, you will become a real estate tycoon in your own right.
