The Best List Of Real Estate Prospecting Ideas
This is a core list of real estate prospecting ideas that will help you start generating you business today.
No new ‘creative’ ideas, only proven ones backed by research.
Real Estate Prospecting Ideas
Door Knocking
Proven and time tested by many Realtors.
As technology is getting better and better you might be tempted to skip the door knocking and go straight into online real estate marketing. Don’t be… A lot of the top Realtors have completely grown their business directly from door knocking. Find a balance where you can do both. There will never be a replacement for face to face marketing.
Great video from a seasoned veteran on door knocking.
Expired Leads
Where else can you find someone you absolutely know is interested in selling their home?
They just had a bad experience with a Realtor and often have a sour taste in their mouth when they don’t successfully sell their home. For this reason, they’re not the easiest listing to obtain.
You know what happens with every expired listing though? Over 80% re-list again. The question is, will you be the one determined enough to get it? It’s literally right in front of you waiting.
Here are some expired listing letters.
For Sale By Owner Leads
Another source of someone that is interested in selling.
All FSBO’s have problems. Most of them have never sold a home before. Go in with your industry experience, armed with the stats below and identify the problems they’re going to run into and how you can fix them.
It’s a fact that Realtors can get more for a house then a home owner can selling it by themselves. Indisputable fact.
These people want to sell, will you be the one who makes it for them?
Foreclosures / Shortsales
Sadly, these people are going to be losing their home. From my experience a lot of times it’s not their fault. After you can get in the door with a flyer or a polite door knock, they are always the most humble of people. It’s not an easy situation to be in and you need to respect that before anything else.
They definitely need to do something about their situation. It’s your job to show them the path that can help them the best.They need you even if they wont admit it.
Some services you can use for finding foreclosures are:
Open Houses
This is a great way to attract buyers and sellers. Always door knock the neighborhood and let all the neighbors know that you’re going to be having one. Throwing one also makes it very easy to approach these people at their homes because you are not selling anything. You’re simply letting them know that you will be holding an open house down the street and they are more than welcome to come!
It’s the easiest approach to start networking with new people. Also bring a flyer you can give them so they already have your contact details before they even go to the open house.
Referrals
Also one of the most effective ways to get new listings and buyers. A majority of Realtors get all their new listings from referrals.
This comes from direct interaction with your past clients. Which could be a monthly e-mail newsletter you keep them informed with, a real hand written note on their birthday and many different possibilities.
The point is, get in contact with people who you’ve already worked with and let them help you with referrals from people they know are interested in selling. They already like you so if you approach it right they’re more then likely to end up listing with you.
Sphere of Influence
A lot like referrals but, this involves people you have not worked with. This is your every day friends who you interact with. If you know 200 people, each one of them know 200 people and that’s a huge network of people.
Someone you know is either going to be interested in selling / buying soon or they know someone that is. It’s your job to discover this and connect with them.
Farm
Another proven method.
Consistently providing marketing materials to a geographical location of a certain amount of homes that you would like to get listings in. The object is to get the people in the neighborhood familiar with you.
You may also get referrals/buyers from this method but, the main focus of it is getting known by the neighborhood and getting listings.
Online Marketing
This is one of the hardest but, also one of the most effective methods. It’s hard because you have to learn a new skill set. Online marketing… Which is also changing everyday and getting more advanced.
If you have the time to dedicate yourself to mastering this, it can be one the best methods to consistently get business from. From SEO to Paid Facebook ads, there are opportunities everywhere to start building your real estate business online.
E-mail Marketing
Drip campaigns can be a huge advantage when done right.
The key is taking the time and setting up campaigns you have fine tuned yourself. Don’t start an automatic campaign without having a goal in mind and you need to be personal when sending these e-mails. If you’re sending out e-mails without any value people will start seeing them as spam and also start looking at your name/brand as low quality.
When done right, your audience will respect you for the knowledge you are sharing with them and will be more likely to refer you to one of their friends as well as giving you their own listings.
Check out our guide on e-mail marketing for Realtors.
Are you looking for more creative real estate prospecting ideas? Then check out this post on real estate marketing ideas.