With home sales at an all-time high, now is a great time to be a real estate agent. If you’re looking for more ways to generate high-quality real estate leads, you’ve come to the right place. We have 15 pro-tips to help you improve your real estate marketing and find more property buyers.
From updating your signs to sponsoring community events, we have unique and special ways to help you reach more clients. Let’s start getting you more leads and more commission.
1. Upgrade Your Signs
Upgrading your signs is a great way to reach property buyers and home sellers. Whether it’s your main real estate signs or signs promoting open houses, listings coming soon, or signs advertising your contact information, signs are an easy and inexpensive marketing tool.
Signs with your contact information are a great way for buyers and home sellers to reach you. These signs stay outside for weeks or even months and they don’t cost you anything additional. When your sign is outside a property for sale it’s giving you free advertising each day.
Your signs are not only reaching potential buyers, but they are also getting seen by home sellers, neighbors, and future clients. Signs can put your name out on the street, the community, and more.
2. Use a Professional Photographer
When you list a home, potential buyers and your seller want to see the best images possible. Grainy and dark iPhone pictures can be a poor reflection on you. You want to make sure you’re making the best impression by putting out high-quality property images.
Instead of taking photos yourself, invest in a real estate photographer. While it may not seem like an expense that could generate leads, it will. When someone looks at one of your listings, they will be impressed by how much better the images look. A home buyer may pick up the phone or reach out to you because of how well you market a property.
Using a professional photographer will show you care enough about selling a listing to go the extra mile. You’re spending money that will help your owners sell their homes faster and for more money. Other sellers will want their homes represented in this way as well.
Word travels fast. When a homeowner is happy with how you sold their home and showcased it, they will tell their friends and family. Make a good impression by investing in glossy, well-lit, professional photography.
3. Invest in Virtual Staging
Virtual staging is another real estate marketing tool that can help your properties sell. When buyers and sellers see that you’re keeping up with the latest marketing and real estate technology, they will know they are in great hands. Virtual staging puts furniture, appliances, décor, and more in a home to help buyers visualize the space.
When you use virtual staging, you can stage an entire room or an entirely empty house completely virtually. There’s no need to buy or rent actual items or hire a professional stager. When potential buyer looks at the home, they’ll see a fully furnished and professionally styled home. While this is great for the buyers, it also helps you make a great impression with sellers.
Other sellers will look at your listings and want the same technology for their homes. You’ll make a great first impression using the latest marketing technology. Sellers will be excited to see how great their home will look when you’re utilizing the best in digital marketing.
4. Include Virtual Tours
Virtual tours are a great way to show a home given everything going on in the world. Not only do they help people tour your listings from the comfort of your couch, but they also provide you with some free leads. If someone sees you use virtual tours for your listings, they may be so impressed that they will want to use you to sell their home as well.
You may also get more leads from home buyers. Buyers taking tours online will have access to your contact information. This makes it easy for a buyer to call you to represent them. You may be surprised by how many people are taking virtual tours and aren’t working with a real estate agent yet.
A virtual tour allows you to show a home and weed out buyers who aren’t serious. The great thing is that even if a buyer isn’t serious about that particular house, they may want to contact you for help looking at other homes. Now your virtual tour not only helped sell your listing but also got your name out there with a new pool of home buyers.
5. Target for Sale by Owner Listings
If you see a lot of for-sale-by-owner listings, this could be a great buyer and seller pool to tap into. Buyers want to know they have a professional realtor in their corner if they are dealing with a listing sold by the owner. If this home has an open house, it can be helpful to go and mingle and offer your services.
On the seller side, it’s always a great idea to call the owners of the home and see if they want representation. If their home has been on the market a while, you may find they are frustrated and need help selling their home.
Selling a home is a lot of work. Without a realtor, this can be really overwhelming. Offering to help could lead to a new listing. This could lead to helping them buy their new house, new referrals, and a new network of friends and family.
6. Network at Open Houses
Open houses are a great place to network. They offer huge crowds of new and engaged people ready to mingle. This is your chance to network and meet excited buyers and sellers all in one place.
A lot of times, if the home they are seeing isn’t for them, a buyer may still want to talk about other homes available. Whether you’re hosting the open house or just coming to mingle, this is a great place to introduce yourself and foster relationships.
Use these events to get to know more people, pass out your business cards, and get your name out there. This crowd is excited to speak to realtors and learn more about homes in the area. This is your chance to get to know them and make connections.
7. Organize and Throw Events
In addition to open houses, it can also be helpful to organize other community events. You can host parties at your listings, a party at the office, or a party at a restaurant or bar. These events are a great way to meet people in a relaxed setting.
Hosting an event is a fun way to have drinks and food with people in the community. These people may be local business owners, neighbors, potential clients, friends, and family, or current clients. This is a fun way to talk with people about their plans to sell or buy.
When people are relaxed and having fun, this provides a great environment for mingling. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet more people, promote current listings, and more. You get a captive audience and great network leads.
8. Maintain Your Website
Maintaining your website is key in real estate. If potential clients see an outdated website, they may get the wrong impression of you. Almost everything in real estate can be done online. Potential buyers and sellers are looking for a professional with a sleek, easy to use, website.
If you have outdated listings and information on your site, clients may think you won’t put in the effort they need for them. This is your chance to prove to them how hard you work and how much pride you take in your brand.
Make an effort to keep your site looking fresh, up to date, and relevant. Keep your listings current and keep posting information on events and current community items, or open houses on a regular schedule.
9. Follow Up on Leads
If you get leads through friends, family, clients, or online, it’s important to keep following up with them. Stay in touch and reach out to any leads you get. You never know what a lead could turn into.
Even if you’re unable to help the person, you never know where a quick conversation could lead. They may refer you down the road or introduce you to someone else. Lead follow-up is essential to growing your network.
10. Keep Up Relationships
Your current clients may not need to buy or sell a home shortly after you’ve worked with them but it’s always important to maintain good relationships. You never know when circumstances may change or when they need your services. If you stay in touch with people for years to come, they are far more likely to reach out when they are ready to move again.
Staying in touch with clients will also help make sure you’re at the top of their minds when it comes to referrals. If clients haven’t spoken to you in years, it makes it hard to reach out. You should make an effort to check in at least once a year.
A check-in could be a quick text or a phone call. You could also invite them out or invite them to an event. Any effort put forth here will help lead to more referrals and more listings.
11. Invest Time in Social Media
Social media is a great way to generate leads. You can use it to answer questions, interact with followers, and promote your listings. You may be surprised by how many people you’ll interact with on social media.
12. Follow Up on Referrals
If you don’t follow up with referrals, people may think you don’t value them. When a current client trusts you enough to refer a friend or family member, they want to know that they are in good hands. Make a point to always follow up.
In addition to following up with the lead, you’ll also want to reach out to who referred you. Say thank you and send them a little token of appreciation.
13. Find Your Niche
Your niche is something that will set you apart and put you in high demand. Your niche could be working with a certain demographic, in a certain area, or with a special property type. Whatever it is, make yourself known as an expert in this area.
14. Make it Personal
People crave personal interactions and relationships. In a time when so much has gone virtual, it’s important to maintain personal relationships and keep people engaged. This could be by sending personal notes, phone calls, or giving personal invitations.
15. Invest in the Community
The community is the heart and soul of a neighborhood or town. When you’re selling homes, you’re also selling so much more. It’s important that realtors maintain good standing in the community. This helps keep your name out there and on the top of people’s minds.
Consider hosting community events, sponsoring a local cause, or backing a youth team. The more involved you are with the community, the more leads you’ll come to find.
Real Estate Leads
It can be tough to find quality real estate leads. That’s where a little dedication and effort can go a long way. Follow these easy tips and you’ll see the leads and referrals start rolling in.
From new signs to personalized calls and events, these lead-generating ideas will lead to more commission and better name recognition in the community. For more business and real estate tips, head to the blog section.