To be successful in the real estate industry, you need to generate a consistent stream of leads from potential buyers. This is especially important early in your career. If you want to climb the success ladder, you need to deploy strategies that will create a steady stream of buyer clients.
We asked real estate experts from around the country for their best tips on how to build relationships with potential buyers, and this is what they said.
1. Throw a Housewarming Party & Turn Your Buyer’s Friends Into Your New Clients
Many people feel a sense of envy when they see a new house being built near their own home. This is especially true for those who are considering purchasing a home in the near future. Jennifer Murtland, a top producer with eXp Realty, uses this approach all the time with great success:
Of course, we do the honors of inviting their friends, family, and neighbors. We’ve found that homeowners are more likely to refer their friends to us if they have a good time at the party.” We get a ton of buyer leads by holding housewarming parties for our recently closed buyer clients. The formula is simple: We supply the food and prizes for up to 60 people, and they supply the guest list. Of course, we invite their friends, family, and neighbors. We’ve found that homeowners are more likely to refer their friends to us if they have a good time at the party.
One way to introduce yourself to your client’s friends and family is by attending parties they throw. You can easily connect with them on a personal level and have great conversations. Additionally, at the party, you can have a gift card drawing where all the guests have to do is enter their contact info. This way, you can grow your lead database by the dozens.
2. Reach Your Local Neighborhood Online With Parkbench
If you want to connect with more local homebuyers, you should create a community website with Parkbench. Your website will become the go-to source of information for all the exciting happenings in your area. You will also be able to build relationships with the most influential people in your community and in your market.
An approach to gaining local business owners as referrals is to interview them and allow them to share their stories on your website. This will make you their go-to referral resource, and turn your Parkbench website into a site that is regularly visited by local residents.
Parkbench is best for agents who want to build relationships with their community rather than buy leads. You can check to see if there is an available agent in your area on the Parkbench website.
3. Treat Your Renter Clients as Future Buyers
We all get excited when we see a new lead come in, but some of us are disappointed when we read that they’re only looking to rent.
Some of us, but not all of us.
Brad Pauly, a leader in Austin’s real estate industry, actually welcomes these types of situations. Here’s why:
” At our company, we don’t need to spend money on buying leads from external sources. We generate our own leads by taking care of lessees. We educate our agents on how to expand their network through leasing, so that when a leaser is ready to become a buyer, they will already have a solid connection with our company.
” Many people prefer to lease a property before buying one, especially if they are new to the area. By helping them lease a property first, we can build trust and establish a relationship.
Once our clients have been with us for less than two years and are ready to purchase a home, our agents are available to assist them.
4. Focus on Engagement Instead of Marketing on Social Media
Instead, use social media to build relationships Many real estate agents use social media as just another marketing outlet. However, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter should be used to build relationships instead of simply posting pictures and copy and waiting for leads.
Your buyers are on social media platforms and they want more than just static posts—they want interaction.
5. Use BoldLeads to Capture Exclusive Real Estate Buyer Leads
It can be pretty time-consuming to generate leads for real estate on your own. Building relationships takes a lot of effort, and that can sometimes detract from what you’re best at – selling houses. You can free up some of your time by hiring a full-service lead generation company, like BoldLeads.
When a potential buyer clicks on one of BoldLeads’ ads on social media platforms like Facebook, they are taken to a landing page where they can enter their contact information in exchange for a list of local homes for sale. After a prospect submits their form, they receive a list of listings, and the company is notified that a new lead is in their inbox.
6. Use Social Engagement to Generate More Buyers Leads From Your Sphere
More than 50 percent of all buyers in 2021 used an agent that they knew or that was referred to them by someone they knew, according to the National Association of Realtors. Most real estate agents, however, are not taking advantage of this opportunity by maximizing their contact list.
7. Meet Your Buyers Where They’re Looking for Real Estate: Become a Zillow Premier Agent
Zillow is the most visited real estate website on the internet, and your buyers are spending a lot of time there.
Zillow is a platforms where buyers can view homes and get information about them. The Zillow Premier Agent program not only puts agents in the spotlight alongside the homes that their prospects are viewing, but it also gives them other great benefits, like featured placement in the Zillow Agent Finder and access to Zillow’s new Live Connections program.
If you are interested in learning more about Zillow and their Premier Agent program, you can find more information in our recently published guide.
8. Switch to Demographic vs Geographic Farming
Chevy Chase was trying to say that you need to become the thing that you want to attract. If you want to attract a certain type of buyer, you need to know who these clients are as people. This is especially true for younger, first-time homebuyers.
Jamie Klingman is an expert in this area. As a Certified Military Relocation Specialist, an Accredited Buyer’s Representative, and a Certified Master Negotiator, she makes it a point to understand the needs of every prospective client group.
9. Become Every Local Parent’s Go-to Real Estate Agent
There are networks that people gravitate toward and organizations that people care about within communities. For example, there are communities of faith, sports leagues, nonprofits, and schools. If you want to get in front of prime-time homebuyers, you should insert yourself into the local school community and become a resource. Families with children are prime-time homebuyers.
10. Use ProspectsPLUS! to Quickly Reach Entire Rental Communities
Rental communities are good places to advertise for people who want to buy a house because most people rent before they buy. Direct mail is a good way to advertise to these people.
A great postcard will be kept on the refrigerator, keeping you top of mind for months to come.
5 Signs Your Buyer Leads Are Ready To Buy A New House
1. Your Buyer Leads Just Reached A Major Milestone In Life
Homeownership is a lifetime goal for most people that provides many benefits. It can increase your net worth, provide tax breaks, and give you a sense of stability. However, some life event changes can push you into homeownership much sooner than expected.
Some of these life events that can have an impact on your insurance needs include expecting children, family members needing to move into your home, receiving an inheritance, or a new job offer.
2. Your Buyer Leads Are Well-Positioned For Financing
One of the main problems with homeownership is that real estate is extremely expensive. With the current real estate boom, prices are rising even higher, making it difficult for first-time buyers to afford a home.
If one of your customers has stable finances, a good credit score, saves regularly, and lives within their means, keep in touch with them frequently. Look for homes with good investment potential to show them.
3. Your Buyer Leads Have Lived In The Same Place For Many Years
The median homeowner in the United States lives in the same home for 13 years, which varies from place to place. For example, the median homeowner in Austin, Texas holds on to a home for 8 years, while Pittsburgh, Philadelphia homeowners do so for 16 years.
It may be beneficial to research the average and median homeownership length in your area in order to gauge when you should reach out to potential clients.
4. Your Buyer Leads Already Know What They Want
As we have mentioned in previous articles, every buyer (regardless of industry) goes through a process called the “buyer’s journey.” This journey has three main stages: awareness, consideration, and decision.
The awareness stage is when the buyer becomes aware of a problem and starts to research it to understand it better. In real estate, this might be the stage where they first start researching real estate in general.
The consideration stage is when the buyer has already identified their problem and is now exploring different solutions. A homebuyer in this stage knows they want to buy a house, and is now focused on factors such as size, location, and desired features. They may begin to look into financing options but have not made a final buying decision yet.
After they have decided what they want, they are looking for a real estate professional and may have pre-approval from a lender.
5. They Have A Reasonable Timeline, And Have Demonstrated They Are Serious About Buying
If you’ve ever been told that work expands to fill the time available for its completion, you might understand how this process can drag on if your lead only has a vague idea of when they want to find a home.
However, if your agent only has a few months left on their contract, they will be sure to do everything necessary to make sure the process is completed.
You should make sure your clients are serious before taking them on. Some of them include:
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Are you working with another agent?
Some buyers think that contacting multiple agents at the same time will help them find the right home, while others are more focused on finding an agent with the lowest commission rates. Some people just enjoy looking at houses even if they don’t plan on buying anything.
As a real estate professional, you need to value your time and energy, so don’t feel bad about asking your leads if they are already working with another agent or broker. This can give you some insight into whether or not they are serious about buying or not.
In addition, it is beneficial to require a signed buyer’s agent agreement. This allows you to work to the best of your ability with the knowledge that the time spent working with a lead would not be wasted.
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How long have you been searching home?
Asking your lead how long they have been looking for a house can give you an idea of how motivated they are to buy a house. If they have been looking for over a year, it could be a clue that they are not very motivated, their finances are not in order, or their home price expectations are not realistic.
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Are you already pre-qualified for a mortgage?
Pre-qualification is an important step in securing financing for a home purchase. It shows that the buyer is serious and has already done some of the necessary research. Pre-qualification can also help you make a stronger offer once you find the right home for the buyer.
Pre-qualification also gives you a more accurate price range for properties your client may be interested in.
If a lead has not been pre-qualified, it does not necessarily mean that the lead is not good. It just means that you need to direct the lead to the appropriate next step.
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If we found the right home, would you be willing to make an offer right away?
Do not skip this question even though it may be too pushy if you have not built enough rapport.
If the answer isn’t “yes” or “absolutely”, or anything along those lines, your lead is not ready to buy. They are not at the decision stage of their buyer’s journey and need to be nurtured further. Use your judgment to determine how much time you should dedicate to these leads right now, and prioritize leads that are closer to making a buying decision.
Conclusion
You can be sure that a lead is ready to buy a new house if one of the following factors applies to them. You can find a range of properties online that fit his budget and other requirements from the area of his choice.
You can arrange tours in many cases by showing the prospect that you are ready. You have decided what you are looking for, will set a reasonable timeline, and get pre-approval in advance.
