Many agents struggle to find seller leads within their area and oftentimes don’t even know where to start. It can seem like a vicious cycle, you can’t get seller leads because you aren’t well-established, and the lack of seller leads means you can’t establish yourself. However, there is a way to escape this cycle. These tips, if done right, will allow you to get more seller leads!
Work With A Top Producer
If you’re a new agent, it’s going to be an uphill battle to build your business from scratch by yourself. For starters, there’s a lot you probably didn’t learn in real estate school. You don’t know what you don’t know, and what you don’t know can cost your clients time and money. That’s bad. There’s a lot at stake when you’re helping someone with possibly the biggest investment in their life.
Inexperience could cause you to be one of the many agents that fail within their first year. The sad thing is there’s no reason for it. If you’re hungry and serious about making real estate your career, working with an experienced agent can give you an edge over other new agents.
Busy agents are always looking for good help. Look for opportunities to help a top producer in your office or market. The easiest way to get started is by hosting an open house or helping them market their listings. This will get you leads and experience. You may have to prove yourself as someone willing to work because so many meh-agents say all the right things but don’t actually do the work. However, once you establish yourself as a go-getter, opportunities will come your way.
Provide Relevant, Valuable Content
At this point, it’s pretty common knowledge that to generate leads nowadays, you need a strong online presence. Everyone knows you need to post often on social media and have a consistent online brand. But, many people don’t realize that your content also needs to provide value to the reader.
Simply talking about real estate on social media may get a few eyes, but that’s all it will get. There is no reason the average homeowner will be moved or inspired to list with you by the occasional social media post that says “Call me for all your real estate needs.”
In order to truly get someone into your funnel, you first need to hook them in with content that provides value to them. A great way to do this is with a blog, or infographics to post on social media that gives tips to home sellers. Somewhere within this content, add in a Call-To-Action (CTA) to check the value of their home. This is part of inbound marketing. Using this strategy will actually get people to remember your name, and make them more likely to reach out to you when they are planning to sell.
Some great examples are home staging tips, a seasonal maintenance checklist, or a list of easy plants to increase curb appeal. This will give them something helpful while also introducing them to your brand. Once you get them in your funnel, connect with them in as many ways as possible (without being spammy) and keep sending them truly valuable, relevant information.
Build A Referral Network
Think about professions that interact with homeowners. Landscapers? General contractors? Attorneys? Interior designers? Get out there and build relationships with professionals who are regularly in contact with people who own their homes. Send them referrals and ask for referrals in return. Cultivating win-win relationships with local professionals will help you build a high-quality pipeline of leads. After all, referral leads are much more likely to close with you than non-referrals.
Have A High Standard Of Quality
If someone is planning on selling their home and they need to look for an agent, odds are that they’ll likely ask a trusted friend or relative or search for one online. They will likely only consider the agents with the best online reviews, meaning your services have to be of the highest quality possible.
Getting good reviews online means catering to your clients’ needs, having professional photos, good staging, and good marketing of clients’ listings. If people don’t see you as a high-quality agent, they won’t hire you.
Now, if you’re new, getting reviews may seem like another insurmountable hurdle. Don’t worry, it can be overcome. Start somewhere by providing the absolute best service you can to everyone you interact with, even other industry professionals. Don’t be afraid to ask for recommendations and referrals from people in your sphere.
Find Guaranteed Repeat Clients
Even when you are established, finding new leads constantly can be difficult and tiring. Why should you be searching for new leads all the time when you can have a network of repeat clients? If you want to find repeat clients, look for investors, home flippers, and small local builders or developers. With these types of clients, the end goal for them is usually to sell as quickly as possible, which is where you come in. If you can build relationships with business owners who will regularly have inventory to sell, you can expect to see a steady stream of listings.
Purchase Online Ads
Advertisements online are a great tool to get the right people to see your brand and service. With most online ads, you can target advertisements towards people who are in your area and have shown interest in selling their homes. Targeted ads like this allow you to constantly be in a potential seller’s mind, so when they eventually want to sell, you’re the first name they think of.
Again, though, your advertisement must provide value to the person seeing it. Simply plastering your logo and face on an ad isn’t going to do much. However, if you offer some sort of guide, hidden trick, or life hack for homeowners/sellers, they will be much more likely to remember you.
Become A Part Of The Community
One of the best ways to be a top agent in an area is to be a part of the community. Making friends with local business owners, being active in local Facebook groups, volunteering with a local non-profit, and even getting to know your neighbors a bit more can help establish connections, which can result in leads and referrals.
A great way to do this is to sponsor something in your community. Some great examples are a local school sports team, a neighborhood event, or even a race car.
Real estate is really a people business, so getting to know and truly helping people will go a long way towards bringing in business.
Recognize and Push Your Niche
When you’re starting out in a competitive space, you want to find a niche. Find a part of the business that you can become an expert in. This will allow for you to be the top result when someone searches for whatever specific niche you cater to, and will reduce competition for leads with other agents. Niches can be anything, maybe you specialize in land, or new construction, or condos, downsizing, income properties, or any other type of property!
Once you have decided on a niche, you want to market it. Present yourself as the local expert on whatever niche you have chosen. Network with other professionals related to that niche. From there, sellers will know that you are the best agent in the area when it comes to a certain type of home, and sellers who have that certain type of home will come to you.
Real Estate Niche: Divorce
Learn how to ethically get home seller leads from people going through divorce. Use Inbound Marketing techniques to build a niche real estate business helping people who need to sell a home during a divorce. Read Now
Look For FSBO And Expired Listings
Another great way to find motivated clients is to look for FSBO and expired listings. These sellers are likely looking for an agent, as they are struggling to market and sell their house alone, or their previous agent didn’t get the job done.
This is a great opportunity if you’re looking for leads, however, competition with these leads is extremely high. Other agents also know this strategy and you can bet that there will already be several agents going after any FSBO or expired lead. This means you have to stand out, which goes back to points 1 and 2, where you have to be the best agent of the bunch, and you have to offer the potential client with something the others can’t.
Be specific about how you’re different. Do you ALWAYS have professional photos taken? Do you work with a home stager? How will you market their home to get more qualified buyers to see it? What services do you provide that a FSBO seller would value? A well-planned home selling strategy is what sets the great agents apart from the pack.
Stay In Touch With Buyers
Today’s home buyers are future home sellers. Read that back. Your home buyers right now will sell their homes later.
So many agents help buyers, then forget about them. Or, they stay in touch for a year or two, but then stop. Think about how long the average homeowner stays in their home. It’s more than a year or two.
There are many ways to stay in touch with buyers long-term. The key is to build a real relationship, not just send them a postcard at Christmas. Start building systems that make it routine to keep in touch with past clients. Even if it’s a simple Google calendar with reminders, start somewhere.
Read How To Be An Unforgettable Agent for specific tips to stay top of mind with past clients.
Want More Ideas To Generate Home Seller Leads?
Reach out at 919-404-7470 and ask us to spill the beans on getting seller leads. We love to talk shop, and we’re always happy to help real estate agents grow their businesses.