Consistently generating leads is what sets successful agents apart from the rest. And, as a real estate coach, I talk to agents every week who want to beef up their business—buyers are where to start. Listing a home might take weeks, but securing a ready buyer is invaluable. Plus, buyers are fun to work with, and generating buyer leads can be more straightforward. To get started, I’ve put together 12 ways on exactly how to find buyers for real estate professionals.
Key Takeaways:
- Host regular buyers
- Establish yourself as the local expert
- Turn renters into potential buyers
- Look into buying real estate leads
- Host appreciation events
- Engage buyers on social media
- Try a lead generation provider like CINC
- Tailor your services to a demographic niche
- Volunteer and get involved in community service
- Use email to reach communities
- Get started making video content
- Leverage your listings the right way
1. Regularly Host Open Houses
Open houses are tried-and-true for a reason. If you’re wondering how to get buyer leads, open houses are the most immediate and effective way to build your brand—and your base of real estate buyers. Introduce yourself to every potential buyer, collect contact information, and always follow up.
And if you don’t have a current listing? Offer to host open houses for other agents at your brokerage. You can also ask your broker to help you coordinate an open house. They usually have the info on which agent in the office has a vacant listing (and might be willing to offer their listing as an open house).
Did you know that, on average, nine potential buyers visit an open house? If you need more open house ideas or some open house apps, we’ve got you covered (just click on the links in this sentence!). Don’t forget your open house follow-up emails to maximize your opportunities.
2. Become the Community Expert
Agents often ask, “What’s your suggestion on how to find real estate buyers?” My answer? Become their local community expert. Buyers are searching for new homes for weeks and weeks online. Establishing your credibility early by showcasing your community’s goings-on helps you to understand how to get buyers in real estate. You’ll immediately be able to bond with an interested client.
In fact, I have a friend who sends out a monthly newsletter to all of her contacts with a list of local events, from high school football games to oyster roasts. It’s so comprehensive that the whole community relies on it and calls it “Debbie’s list.”
A great place to start is with consistent direct mailers. It might take a few hours each month, but your farm can come to rely on your info. Plus, including pictures of recently sold homes goes a long way in establishing your credibility as the go-to community expert. PostcardMania offers our readers $50 off their first purchase when you click on the postcard image below.
3. Convert Your Renter Clients Into Buyer Leads
Consider this: Last year recorded a record-high of 45 million renter’s households, and most people lease or rent before they own, especially if they are new to town. This shift is a great opportunity for agents curious about how to find homebuyers in a transitioning market. Just think: Tapping into that massive base of potential buyers could be an excellent strategy for sourcing real estate clients. One of our picks for top real estate lead generation companies, REDX, is a great strategy for prospecting renters to get your name out there and start making connections long before other agents. Now you’ll just need to nurture those leads.
Did you know that millennials have officially made the historic switch from a majority of renters to a majority of homeowners—52% of millennials are now homeowners. This is great news for agents as this generational market shift unfolds. If you’re an agent who demonstrates professionalism and trustworthiness during the renting process, you’ll be their first call when they’re ready to buy a home.
Here are a few other tips for converting renters into buyers:
- Direct mailers focused on renters
- Education sessions and marketing materials
- Emphasize saving money and building equity
- Connect with local landlords
- Offer a community platform
4. Partner With a Company That Offers Exclusive Real Estate Buyer Leads
I’m often asked if buying leads is worth it. One of my favorite things to say to my real estate coaching clients is, “There’s no such thing as a free lead.” You might pay with your time, effort, or checkbook, or you can pay with a combination of all three. One way or another, you’ll pay for the leads you get. But when you do your job of educating real estate buyers, you convert buyers even quicker. Then you’ll have a full pipeline again in no time.
If you’re pondering an immediate way on exactly how to find buyers for real estate, look at a real estate lead generation source like Market Leader. You can put together a website, launch newsletters, craft digital ads, and manage your clients with the built-in client relationship manager (CRM).
5. Look for Any Excuse to Throw a Party
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), more than a third of all buyers used either an agent they knew or an agent referred by someone in their sphere last year. While there are plenty of ways to stay top of mind with your sphere of influence (SOI), one of the single best ways to connect with your contacts—and meet friends of your contacts—is a party.
There are plenty of excuses to have parties for your sphere of influence—anything from a Kentucky Derby viewing party to a celebration at a brewery after some community service work. Creative events are the perfect answer to the question of how to get homebuyer leads. To help our readers, we’ve compiled a list of 12 Unique Client Appreciation Event Ideas for Real Estate Agents.
6. Interact With Buyers on Social Media
So often, real estate agents look at social media like any other marketing outlet. Write your copy, post your pictures, buy ads, and then sit back and wait for the buyer leads. So, what does social media engagement mean? Hint: It’s not posting pictures of your dog every day (even if he is cute!).
It’s all about educating and demonstrating your knowledge. To be the local real estate expert, share interesting facts, give a brief lesson on a timely topic, or answer questions online. My top-producing Realtor friend is incredibly active on a Facebook group focused on local history. He’s a go-to source for local legends, and new buyer clients are constantly finding him right there on social media.
Find what you enjoy, and then join and participate in discussions. Is there a cooking group that posts interesting recipes? Share some of your own! Love dogs? Find the local pup hashtags and hangouts (plus, they’ll love those candid photos of your puppy!). Just don’t spend too much time on social media. It can be a time-consuming endeavor. But honestly, engaging with potential clients on platforms like Instagram and Facebook can be essential for those wondering how to find buyers in real estate.
Too busy to spend your time on social media engagement? Consider Coffee & Contracts, one of our favorite social media template providers for the real estate world.
7. Try Buyer Leads With a Transaction Guarantee
There are providers out there that offer a guarantee. That way, you can safely know your lead source will work out—or you get your money back. CINC has a proven track record of delivering buyer leads. Top producers and brokers have successfully utilized the CINC all-in-one real estate lead generation and CRM platform to bring their business to the next level.
But it just got even better. The CINC “Guaranteed Sales Program” offers a compelling answer for agents focused on how to get real estate buyers. This program negates your risk in trying out the CINC platform. Click below to learn more.
Pro Tip
Zillow has a program, Zillow Flex, in select markets. This is a pay-at-closing program where, rather than paying for leads upfront, you pay a percentage of your commission once the deal closes. Check out our review of Zillow Flex to help you weigh the pros and cons of a pay-at-closing lead generation model.
8. Try Demographic Farming
Instead of focusing on a specific neighborhood, as geographic real estate farming does, focus on a specific demographic, such as seniors, first-time homebuyers, or military members. Of course, if you want to attract a particular type of real estate buyer, you’ve got to do more than just know their demographics. You need to understand who these clients are as people. Understanding your target demographic is key to mastering how to find real estate buyers who fit your niche.
To engage your demographic, consider:
- Anticipate their questions and hesitations: It’s best to have something in common with your demographic. This commonality helps you put yourself in their shoes and enables you to think like your target demographic: What questions or hesitations will these buyers have? What are their interests? What keeps them up at night? What problems do they have that you can solve?
- Focus on their problem: Understand the challenges your target demographic might have. Whether it’s finding a home within a VA loan budget for military members or perhaps identifying accessible homes for seniors, show that you can solve their problems.
- Utilize data and analysis: Make sure you’re using your CRM and dive into those numbers. This way, you can pinpoint potential buyers in your demographic—marketing to them before they’re ready to pull the trigger. That way, you’ve positioned yourself to be their number one choice.
Ready for some razor-sharp targeting in your farming efforts? SmartZip is an all-in-one listing and lead farming tool with a proprietary algorithm that aggregates data from more than 30 top data providers nationwide. This data includes property, behavioral, consumer, and demographic data. Combined and fed into the SmartZip algorithm, it paints a picture of the candidates most likely to move in the coming months.
9. Serve Your Community & Become the Local Go-to Real Estate Agent
You became a real estate agent for many reasons, but I bet one is that you like helping people and your community. Giving back to an organization you care about enables you to contribute and network. Volunteering is fulfilling and a strategic move if you’re exploring how to get buyer leads from your community.
Working with local schools, for example, is a great way to get yourself in front of prime-time homebuyers: families with children. Schools need sponsors and fundraising, and students need volunteers and mentors. This is an excellent way to serve your community and get in front of people ready to buy. But don’t limit yourself. Consider communities of faith, sports leagues, nonprofits, and, of course, animal rescue organizations.
There’s a hugely successful brokerage in my town that sponsors rec sports, which means every season there’s a bunch of adorable five-year-olds running around, playing soccer in jerseys with their brokerage’s branding. Some agents even volunteer to coach. Parents take note, and that’s their first call when they’re ready to buy a house with a backyard big enough for a soccer goal.
10. Use Old-fashioned Mail to Reach Entire Communities
Direct mail marketing is still incredibly effective and efficient for generating buyer leads. But you must be thoughtful about your design to stand out. A well-thought-out direct mail campaign can be a tremendously effective strategy for those wondering how to get buyers in real estate. Send out a calendar for the year, populated with holidays and local events, and I bet that postcard ends up on the refrigerator, keeping you top of mind for months to come.
If you’re looking for a direct mail option that is easy to use, has tons of design options, and won’t break the bank, check out ProspectsPLUS!. Choose from one of their 250 real estate-specific templates, input your personal information, and ensure the copy reflects your community. Now, you’ve got yourself a real estate lead-generating machine.
11. Make a Short Video
It’s no secret that video dominates internet content. Considering that the average attention span on the internet is measured in seconds, not that many people will read your 1,000-word blog post about why you’re the best buyer’s agent in your city. But many, many more of those people will watch you say the same thing on Instagram or TikTok. Creating engaging video content is an effective tactic for agents asking themselves how to find buyers for real estate in the digital age.
While it may feel overwhelming to break into video content marketing, know this: Google prominently features YouTube in search results, which gives real estate agents with good video content a chance to outrank giants like Zillow. Plus, we’ve put together 15 real estate video ideas for agents to get started creating content today. Remember that no matter what form your videos take, make sure they are authentically you and capture (and keep) your audience’s attention.
David Greene, host of the Biggerpockets podcast, has a great method. His videos are simple and straightforward. He is authoritative, provides thoughtful answers and insights, and has built a social media following in the tens of thousands. When buyers are ready to start looking for a home, this guy, who has been advising them through Instagram for months, is their first call.
12. Find Real Estate Buyers From Your Listings
Whether you’re looking to double-dip a transaction or want to shore up some goodwill with your sellers, finding potential buyers for properties you’ve put on the market makes your job as a listing agent much easier. And as the market shifts in 2024, this will only become more important. Ensuring your listings are visible and appealing is crucial for those agents focused on how to get homebuyers leads directly from their listings—and why wouldn’t you be?
Your first strategy should be to ensure the home’s visual marketing assets are top-notch. Get professional photos taken, ensure you’ve got great video content, and consider investing in virtual tour technology.
Next, verify that your listing appears just how you want it to on popular third-party sites like Zillow and realtor.com. Though these sites pull their data straight from your MLS, you always want to double-check how they look. Finally, get proactive by placing social media ads targeting your community’s likely buyers.
When your listing sells, you might even be perfectly positioned to help any buyers who didn’t get their offer accepted on your listing.
zBuyer offers buyer leads that it captures using its IDX portal, HousingNow.com. Prospects can search almost 1 million listings in more than 17,000 cities. When buyers want to save listings or ask questions about a property, they must offer their contact information.
Over to You
Anyone can generate a few buyer leads, but if you want to be successful, you will need a steady stream of leads every week. Remember that mastering the art of the referral and exactly how to get buyers for real estate success comes from your efforts. Consistency is the answer. After all, your buyer clients will eventually turn into sellers too, so investing in your buyer lead funnel now creates opportunities for plenty of transactions in the future.
Have any tried-and-true tips for generating buyer leads? Questions on how to best utilize these ideas? Leave us a comment below!
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