Successful agents dedicate a huge chunk of their time to real estate prospecting and building their prospecting skills. They don’t just rely on word-of-mouth or referrals to get new real estate business. This is why every successful real estate agent knows how to prospect in real estate to get new clients.
So, What Is Prospecting in Real Estate?
It is the process of hunting real estate leads to generate long-term business. Real estate prospecting or lead generation could involve a combination of activities such as engaging in community events and leveraging social networks to get more clients.
To help you improve your lead gen strategy, here are 11 real estate prospecting tips for real estate agents:
1. Set Up Your Website
Having an online presence will boost the authority and legitimacy of your business. In addition, it will make it easier for potential real estate clients to search your listings. When creating your agent website, remember to add an internet data exchange (IDX) feature that will allow you to display real estate listings. The good news is that there are numerous real estate website builders that come with beautiful templates, built-in CRM, and IDX integration. So, you can launch your IDX website in a matter of minutes, with no coding required.
2. Find Leads on Facebook
Facebook has become increasingly popular with agents that want to reach a targeted audience. A recent study by the National Association of Realtors revealed that 80% of agents use Facebook to connect with their community and nurture leads. The best thing about Facebook is that you can promote your posts or run your ads to targeted audiences by adjusting the demographic variables.
3. Engage in Content Marketing
Taking advantage of content marketing is one of the best tips for real estate prospecting. Content marketing strategies include:
- Social media memes
- Blog posts
- How-to videos
- Behind-the-scene tips
The content should be less sale-oriented and more educational. Sharing informative content with your audience will boost your brand and build trust. Make sure the message, look, and tone of your content is consistent across all platforms. Track your results using web analytics to find out what kind of content is producing the best results for real estate prospecting.
4. Host Real Estate Seminars
Hosting a well-publicized live or online seminar can be a very effective strategy for real estate prospecting. The seminar should address interesting topics related to home buying. Here are some ideas:
- Downsizing: When is it a good idea?
- The beginners guide to buying a first home
- Tips for selling your property quickly
- Common mistakes new home buyers make
- Important questions to ask before buying a condo
5. Visit Divorce Attorneys
Quite often, couples going through a divorce are thinking of selling their home fast and at an affordable price. Meeting with a divorce attorney in your neighborhood is, therefore, a good idea for real estate prospecting. Though it might seem heartless, helping divorcing couples sell their homes actually allows them to move on quickly from a painful season in their lives.
6. Print Postcards and Door Hangers
Postcards and door hangers are a great idea for getting the attention of potential real estate prospects that have never contemplated working with an agent. The content of your postcards and door hangers should be catchy and unique to your neighborhood audience. You can search online to find attractive one-sided or two-sided templates specifically designed for brokers and agents. Other effective real estate prospecting ideas are writing scripts and letters to potential customers.
7. Connect with Large, Local Employers
Once in a while, companies will hire employees from out of state who will need to move into the area. To get new clients in real estate, you could approach such large companies and offer formal relocation services for their employees. Share your expertise and show how you can help their incoming employees make a smooth transition.
8. Follow Up on Open House Leads
Open houses provide a great opportunity for generating real estate leads. While a few people simply come out of curiosity, most of the attendees are actually serious about purchasing a home or investment property. Nurturing open house leads begins with collecting their email addresses, and then sending follow-up emails thereafter. If you don’t know what to write, you can use real estate prospecting email templates that are readily available online.
Related: How to Organize the Best Real Estate Open House for Your Investment Properties for Sale
9. Find FSBO Properties
For Sale By Owner (FSBO) properties are usually not available on listings. Instead, owners place an FSBO sign in their front yard to show that they are selling. To find such properties, you might have to drive around different neighborhoods looking out for the signs.
10. Network Regularly
Most seller and buyer real estate leads find agents through networking at different events. Therefore, make time in your schedule to attend neighborhood gatherings, community events, and professional networking events. Even a children’s play can be a great place to connect with potential customers. To network effectively, always remember to carry your business cards wherever you go.
Related: The Ultimate Guide to Real Estate Networking for Agents
11. Use Smart CRM Software
Real estate prospecting is a very laborious, time-consuming and tricky process. Using smart CRM software allows real estate agents to handle their prospecting time effectively. You can automate the process of connecting with your customers via email, text or call. All your client’s details such as their anniversaries, birthdays, age, and job positions are stored in the CRM software. The best thing about automating your workflow is that you can continue nurturing and qualifying your real estate leads without neglecting other important sales activities.
A Few Final Tips
To create a pipeline of real estate prospects for your business, prospecting should be part of your daily routine. To boost your real estate career, set aside one or two hours daily in your schedule to focus on prospecting. Be sure to have an agenda for each session of prospecting to new clients in real estate. For instance, you could optimize your social media platforms for one hour and write content for your blog for another hour. At the end of every week, assess your prospecting activities and set goals for the next week.
Related: 15 Different Real Estate Careers: Which One Is Right for You?
What’s next? Once you generate a few real estate leads, you will need to quickly qualify them. Why not automate this step with Mashboard? This unique tool uses special industry-leading algorithms to gather lead information from different databases. The lead likelihood algorithm then displays how likely it is that this lead will convert.
The Mashboard goes one step further and even finds the best properties for the lead based on the data! Click here to check it out for yourself or schedule a demo to learn more.
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