There’s nothing to be apologetic about as it relates to doing your darndest to gather as many new real estate clients as possible. The reality is that there’s never going to be enough of the pie to go around, and there is always going to be too many realtors working in large metro regions of the country. Understanding the competitive nature of the business is something you had better understand right from day one when you start working as a realtor in Canada, and doing your best with real estate leads generation is a huge way to gain an advantage.
These days ever greater numbers of realtors are using a paid real estate leads provider like us here at Real Estate Leads. If you’re more established in the business you’ll have the more of the interpersonal skills that are needed for approaching prospective clients and convincing them to list with you, but even newer realtors can do very well to use our service to generate real estate leads and get their PREC off the ground more quickly, emphatically, and – most importantly – profitable.
That’s going to be especially important considering many new real estate agents are starting in the profession after moving to it from a previous one. They’re not new to their working life, and they likely have responsibilities that mean they need to continue to be earning a good living for themselves. Real estate does provide that opportunity, but it’s not going to come easy and you can and should be taking every advantage you can get.
This makes Real estate lead generation strategies all the more important, and when you’re here you know that you can always read about way to get more out of you efforts. That’s also super important, because of most hard-working agents time is something that they need to be using very judiciously and as they’ve learned working in real estate is the furthest thing from a 9-5 type of job. So what we’re going to do with this blog entry is share 25 tips for real estate lead generation in 2024. It is unlikely you’ll be in a position to incorporate all of them into your efforts, but even doing it with some of them may help you get more real estate clients.
Pipeline of New Clients Needed
Agents are doing their best when they are maintain a healthy pipeline of real estate leads. Market conditions are going to be the most emphatic determination of how many new real estate clients are coming your way, and as it relates to homebuyer clients low interest rates are always a huge impetus to have them likely to buy a home.
There are always going to lulls or market fluctuations that can mean the opposite reality and this is where you need to be using real estate lead generation strategies so you’re digging up new clients even when things are in a downturn. Done right what you’ll be doing is preparing for the unpredictable nature of real estate with an array of fresh lead-gathering tactics.
Here are some real estate lead generation ideas that you can incorporate into your efforts and ideally see more in the way of new real estate clientele for both homebuyer and home seller clients who are ready to work with a real estate agent.
Build Partnerships
Networking with other local businesses to form mutually beneficial partnerships is always beneficial for a real estate agent. Options can include co-hosting happy hours, sending gifts to clients or leads, and forming local alliances. Certain industries are better for forming productive partnerships than others. These include:
- Insurance Companies – new homeowners will almost always be buying home insurance policies
- Personal Bankers – this one is obvious, as nearly all buyers will be taking on a mortgage to buy their new home
- Commercial Lenders – same as above
- Bakeries – most new home owners will be ready to gorge themselves on donuts, pastries, and other baked goods
- Landscapers – homeowners preparing to sell a home will often hire landscapers to have their property looking as good as possible in advance of putting the home on the market
- Home stagers – much the same relation for owners who are preparing to sell
Throw Housewarming Parties
Let’s imagine a well-connected client just moved into a new home you connected them with. It is a good idea for you to offer to cater their housewarming party, and you may want to have it include an open bar, be paying for appetizers, or taking care of the floral delivery. When you then attend and mingle you may be meeting other client prospects who are at similar life stages and also ready to work with a realtor and buy a home.
This can work the same way with neighbors who are considering selling. Neighborhood sales usually generate fresh homeowner interest and you may find that the housewarming party ends up warming up leads that were cooler before.
Eat Out Often
In the event you are meeting clients at a restaurant or local coffee shop it can be a good idea to try and do that at the same spot every time. For one thing you’ll be making a good impression on the wait staff, gaining access to the best tables, and you’ll appear to be plugged into your community. Getting to know other regulars might become a possibility too, and who knows if some of them might be looking to work with a realtor too. When they’re ready to buy, you become the perfect person for them to contact.
Send Handwritten Notes
Obtaining good real estate leads in Canada means being genuine. This means it is best to pick up a pen, paper, and a stamp as you prepare to write handwritten notes to previous or existing clients. You’re thanking them for choosing you as their realtor and also reminding them of your availability if they’ll be selling or buying a home again in the future. You may also want to volunteer suggestions about a reliable moving company or send important tax documents.
A handwritten note is better because it is so much more noteworthy is comparison to an email or any other digital form of communication. If you then feel especially confident you can pick up the phone a few days later and ask for a referral.
Advertise Digitally Online
This may be the biggest part of real estate leads management. If you’re able to invest in paid online advertising it almost always means an enhanced flow of leads because online is where people search for properties as well as realtors who can assist with the purchase of them. There are many websites with advertising options for realtors. Keep in mind there have been studies indicating that about 99% of home buyers between the ages of 23 and 56 used the internet to find homes.
Social media adverting for real estate leads should always be a part of this too, and among everything you can consider here are:
- Running Facebook ads
- Running LinkedIn ads
- Answering real estate questions on Quora
- Running Google ads
- Blogging for local or national real estate websites
Utilizing Traditional Media
Don’t look past traditional avenues for getting your brand out there and attracting new clients. Media options like billboards and print ads can be still be very good resources to grab prospective clients‘ attention and make it more likely they contact you because they are looking to work with a realtor for buying or selling a home. This keeps your services top-of-mind when they’re looking for their next agent.
In this avenue it is also good to be as creative as possible with your advertising. Incorporating humour or eye-popping visuals can help you stand out.
Have a Top-Quality Real Estate Website
Continuing with how to generate real estate leads, you absolutely must have a website for real estate agents and it needs to be equal parts attractive and easy for visitors to navigate through when evaluating the properties for sale and what you have to offer as a realtor.
Your brokerage will likely give you a page on their website, but it’s necessary to have your own web presence via your own portal. This allows you to build a personal brand, showcase your specialties, plus share reviews from satisfied clients. It also promotes you having a cohesive presence in the local market and that’s important considering realtors often switch brokerages during the course of their career.
You will also need to have your site SEO optimized so that when people search ‘realtor in _____’ your site comes up high in the search results pages. If you can’t do that yourself then you absolutely need to hire someone to do it for you. What you likely can do is write blog posts about real estate and the local market, as well as information about real estate leads management. You can also create and share helpful how-to videos and have a means for visitors to submit contact info and addresses by having a newsletter signup.
Have a Niche
Realtors will often specialize in a certain neighborhood, historic homes, or helping clients finding certain types of homes. You’ll do better if you cater to that strength of your and aim to establish yourself as a niche realtor. You will be better able to focus your marketing efforts on a specific group, and your real estate lead generation strategies will be tailored accordingly. You will be more likely to develop a reputation as the go-to realtor for these types of buyers and sellers.
Common real estate niches:
- Historic homes
- Luxury homes
- Mid-century modern homes.
- Neighborhoods
- School districts
- First-time homebuyers
- Condos and apartments
- Vacation homes
- Land for development
- Commercial real estate
- Industrial real estate
For example, it may be that you want to develop a niche in helping seniors find their perfect retirement homes. You’ll then learn what their needs are and find senior-friendly neighborhoods. Make the right connections with financial planners who understand the requirements of the seniors in your area. Developing a niche will also make it easier for you to purchase real estate leads if that’s something you eventually feel you need to do.
Utilize ‘Coming Soon’ Signs
Both ‘Coming Soon’ and ‘Sold’ signs on social media or a property’s lawn are a tried-and-true means of generating interest in real estate. ‘Coming Soon’ signs work extremely well for creating anticipation before a home for sale goes onto the market. In much the same way ‘sold’ signs are effective for gathering leads from buyer who may have an inkling that they missed out on an opportunity.
Attend Open Houses
Realtors who take the time to attend open houses can do well with real estate lead generation too. There are always going to be prospective buyers attending who haven’t committed to working with a real estate agent yet and provided you’re not stepping on the toes of open-house hosting realtor there’s no reason why you can’t network and promote yourself as a realtor.
It is always going to be important not to be too pushy or aggressive though. It’s not good to be to assertive in promoting yourself at another agent’s open house.
Generate leads on LinkedIn
The fact that LinkedIn is for professional networking makes it so that it lends itself well to finding real estate leads. That’s because it will be working professionals who are most likely to be buying or selling homes, and the only other group that will apply to are retirees. What you can do here to take advantage by joining LinkedIn groups that your target audience will frequently also be participating in. That could be a group for local real estate investors or one for first-time homebuyers.
Once you’ve built some degree of rapport, you can then follow up with interested prospects if one or more of them reach out to you and hinting they are looking to work with a realtor. A good tip here is if you’re posting in a real estate investment group or one related to home buying, creating and sharing a blog article about up-and-coming neighborhoods in your city is something you can do to really maximize your exposure as an expert on real estate on LinkedIn.
Organize Educational Events
You can also consider hosting educational events in your community to get leads on new real estate clients. One idea is to host one centered around teaching local consumers about buying their first home, what current market conditions are looking like, or what to look for in a rental property. These classes can promote your personal brand and be a means for you to drum up new business at the same time.
Pursue Every Lead
It’s fairly common for a warm lead to quickly show you that they’re not yet ready to buy or sell. This can be an even more relevant reality for real estate lead generation 2024 considering how so many people have different factors figuring into their finances now. But you should still keep them as leads, even if you see it fit to downgrade them to cooler leads. You can do things like send them postcards sharing developments in the market as well as keeping them on your email list.
Another idea might be to leave them the occasional voicemail to remind them that you’re always available for whatever they need if and when they are ready to list their home or being looking at homes for sale in the area where they want to live.
Target ‘FSBO’ Listings
The information may not be recent, but even dated figures indicating that only around 3% of FSBO (for-sale-by-owner) listings sell within the desired time are likely still accurate today. Further it is believe that only around 18% of those homes sold for the price the owners were hoping to receive for them. Finding these types of listings isn’t difficult at all, even if you’re not a realtor.
Contact Expired Listings
Realtors looking to get more out of real estate leads in Canada will do well to create lists of expired listings seen in the MLS (multiple listings service). It is entirely possible these sellers are frustrated with their current realtor and may be very open to working a with a new real estate agent. This may be particularly true if they are discouraged about not having sold their home yet and are experiencing a lot of stress because of it.
You can start by explaining the way you can relate to their frustrations, and that you’ve spoken with people in similar situations before. From there you can eventually segue into ways you’d do things differently to get their home sold for them, and ideally at the price they’re hoping to get for it.
Generate Referrals from Satisfied Clients
Former clients who are happy to speak highly of you are extremely valuable in your efforts to promote yourself as a realtor. There are studies done that suggest 36% of buyers used an agent referred to them by a friend, neighbor, or relative. The same ones indicate that 73% of buyers would use the same agent again.
Previous and existing clients can be excellent lead-generation resources, and for this reason it makes sense to remain in contact with them and have you at the forefront of their mind anytime they enter into a conversation about real estate with someone they know. Be sure to give it your all when you’re working with them if you get that opportunity and this will become a cyclical benefit for you as you are increasingly successful with real estate leads generation.
Explore Divorce Leads
Divorce leads are another way for real estate agents to find new clients. Many of the successful businessmen who buy expensive homes will be committed philanderers and there are going to be times when their wives are simply not willing to tolerate it anymore. You will need to tread carefully if you are exploring a real estate lead that is related to a couple’s upcoming divorce, but as is always the case you need to explore every lead that you have in this business.
Divorce leads are going to require some finesse and compassion as these clients usually aren’t going to be selling the home because they choose to. But if you can find and appeal to them, you’ll set yourself up with a base of extremely motivated clients.
Leverage Predictive Analytics
Predictive analytics when combined with Conversational AI for real estate can be a very effective approach as a means to generate real estate leads. Different AI programs allow you to gather and understand relevant data, which then helps you more reliably identify houses likely to be sold in your area. Armed with this information you are better equipped to identify prospective sellers and reach out to them.
Enhance Your Social Media Presence
These days a real estate agent who is promoting themselves is working to create themselves as branding. Effective branding of any sort isn’t easy, but having a sound social media presence is a really good start with it. Make sure you have profiles across multiple platforms, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram — anywhere you can make connections with buyers and sellers.
When done right what these profiles and platform activity do for prospects is create a concrete reference point to understand who you are and what you offer. They also add legitimacy and add a human and approachable / relatable element to your professional persona. You can also be aware that the value of these platforms extends beyond conventional promotion. For maximum effect you can be using these avenues to establish yourself as a knowledgeable, helpful resource for prospects.
Try to Catch Old Expired Listings
Reaching out to expired listings was something we covered earlier here, but now we are going to suggest taking it one step further. Sometimes with expired listings it helps to start looking way back. Not many realtors make the effort to check in with sellers whose listings expired well over year ago or longer. These potential clients might have run into issues, with examples being inopportune timing or relationships with ineffective realtors.
These may be opportunities for new real estate leads if the owner is still interested in selling but their interest has cooled somewhat for whatever reason. You may be able to rekindle that in them, and especially if it is more of a seller’s real estate market at that time.
Go Door-to-Door
There are times when a whole world of good can come from getting back to basics with real estate lead generations. Door-to-door sales are one of the most fundamental, effective ways to connect with prospects in any context and this is true for real estate too. It can be intimidating for some agents who aren’t naturally extroverted and outgoing, but it is something you should try to become more comfortable with if so.
Join the Local Chamber of Commerce
There may well be lead opportunities in real estate to be found through your local chamber of commerce. Having your brand listed in newsletters and websites offers valuable exposure and legitimacy, along with the potential for a network of solid business connections that you can tap to help put you in touch with realty client prospects.
Cold Call
This is quite likely the most tried-and-true approach for real estate leads generation. It may be something that is uncomfortable for you and it is true that often converting leads into clients for real estate doesn’t occur very frequently through this means. But if you have the time available to do it and you’re not doing as well with lead generation then it is something to consider as you continue to look into every option for growing your real estate business.
Contribute to Industry Publications
Prospective clients are always going to be warmer to you as an agent when they can see you are knowledgeable and competent. An agent who is clearly in the know withthe ins and outs of real estate is more likely to be the one they’ll choose to work with when buying or selling a home in Canada. Contributing to industry publications, like magazines or blogs, is one of the best ways to demonstrate expertise.
If you can connect with reputable publishers and put thoughtful content together, you can establish yourself as an authority in your space. Establish that kind of momentum and increased numbers of leads are likely for you.
Connect with Estate Liquidators
Estate liquidators can be an overlooked resource for real estate lead generation that is still plenty valuable. These professionals often possess consistent intel on a steady stream of sellers and establishing some type of mutually beneficial relationship with them can be a huge plus as you are increasingly able to access that base and generate quality leads. This can better empower you for real estate leads management too.
Keep in mind as well that professionals of all sorts who have ties to residential properties may be able to point you in the right direction for the best real estate lead generation services in Canada.
FAQs
Are home seller or homebuyer leads more likely to be converted?
The general consensus in the industry right now is that current market dynamics and the imbalance between homes for sale and homebuyer demands makes it so that home seller leads are more frequently converted into clients for real estate agents.
Is it common for realtors using a paid real estate lead service to continue with the service once their initial subscription expires?
Yes, real estate agents most often generate enough income from additional commissions on homes bought or sold through them that it makes the cost of paid real estate leads fully worth the investment and more often than not they will renew their subscription with the best real estate lead generation services in Canada.
How are real estate leads verified to be legitimate leads before being provided to a realtor?
This would be a very detailed question to answer in full here, but real estate leads here are generated through Internet Marketing and with voluntary participation in surveys made available to prospective customers online. There is a tested methodology used to evaluate the answers they submit to the survey. That is then used to determine whether or not they are a legitimate lead who is likely to want to work with a realtor in the near future and buy or sell a home.
What do real estate agents most often do when a lead continues to stay cool for an extended period of time?
This will always be a scenario where the agent will need to make a judgement call based on the specific situation and what information they already have on the lead as a prospect. There is no standard approach to this, but what we can say is that it is never a bad idea to keep a lead on the back burner and reach out to them once a year or something similar to simply check in with a hello and ask if anything has changed with their plan to buy or sell a home.