Why do nearly nine out of every 10 agents fail and quit the real estate business? I’ve worked with and studied real estate professionals for 3 decades, and this week I am sharing some of the biggest reasons why agents fail. Avoiding these pitfalls will help you join that elusive “Club 13” — the 13 percent of agents who survive and truly succeed in this business.
Being Interested vs. Committed. Just being interested in your real estate career isn’t enough. Liking houses and liking people isn’t enough. When you’re interested, you do things when they’re convenient. Success in real estate is all about being fully committed, which means doing whatever it takes as long as it takes to achieve your goals. Are you all in? If you’re not fully committed, it’s time to reassess your career choice. It is too easy to get in and even easier to get out.
Being Strategic. Can you explain your market trends easily? Do you truly know your market? What’s selling? What’s not? To survive in real estate, you need to look at your marketplace from a strategic standpoint. You must look at the hot sheets every day, the stats every month and know what is trending every quarter. You must own that knowledge and become the knowledge broker in your market. It’s not enough to simply like houses and enjoy working with people. Take a step back, analyze your market and make sure you know it, and you know your place in it. Now the numbers, trends and truth about your local market and share it!
Fear of Making Mistakes & Desire to Look Good. There’s a lot of vanity in real estate, which can lead to people shying away from anything that might paint them in unflattering light. But you can’t be afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes are how wisdom is gained. Mistakes are how we learn and grow. Accept it’s okay to make mistakes or not know the answers to everything. Try new things, see what works, learn from what doesn’t, and always keep moving forward. The more mistakes you make, the more you’ll bridge the gap between knowing and not knowing.
No (or Wrong) Role Model. Having someone to look up to, to aspire to, to model your behaviors on is a hugely critical step to help you reach that “next level” in real estate. Far too many agents have no role model for their business. Or they have the wrong one. To accelerate your ascent in this business, find someone who is successful in both life and business and model your behaviors on theirs. We all smell like those we rub up against.
Your Gas Station is Only Open One Day a Week for an Hour. Once a week you try something once and can’t figure out why nothing is working. As a real estate agent, your No. 1 priority is attracting customers. It’s not a part-time pursuit. Don’t get me wrong it is not 7 days a week 24 hours a day. Far too many agents do just a little bit of marketing once a week and hope for the best. Lead generation and lead conversion need to be your primary focus. If there was a way to teach every new agent this philosophy and force them to live up to it, that 87% failure rate would decrease dramatically. Focus on the “Core 4″… Database. Open Houses. Geographic Farming. Online Presence.
Job vs. Business Owner. Monday-Friday, 9:00-6:00 Mentality. Being a real estate agent isn’t a job. It’s a business. It’s YOUR business. You need to become and act like a business owner. You’ll get out of it what you put into it. Especially if you’re new, you absolutely must put in the time and effort. All the money is made before 9:00am and after 6:00pm. If that doesn’t work for you, you might be in the wrong business.
No Sales Swagger. Long ago NAR released a report that said most new agents come into real estate with no sales experience, no marketing experience, and no negotiation experience. What are the essential skills of succeeding in real estate? Sales. Marketing. Negotiations. Hmmm. If you haven’t mastered these three skills, you need to be working on them constantly. Put yourself in situations where you learn the objections, get hung up on and gain that experience. Putting yourself in those situations repeatedly will break down those fears of calling FSBOs, expired and the like. I often encourage brand new agents to work with FSBOs and expired to break them in with “the most challenging” clients. When you know what to say, everything becomes easier.
It’s Math. No Goals Broken Into Numbers That Get Measured. When you know your numbers, you put yourself in control. On average, how many leads does it take you to convert one sale? 30? Great! 162? Great! “I dunno.” Not great! If you know your numbers, you know what you must do. If you don’t know your numbers, you’re just hoping for that winning lottery ticket. Knowing your numbers makes your business predictable. Being predictable leads to success. Know your numbers!
No Schedule, Weak Habits, and Routines. If you’ve followed me for a long time, you’ve heard me say it a million times: “Show me your routines and I can predict your future.” If your schedule isn’t aligned with your goals, instead of achieving your goals, you’ll end up wherever your schedule takes you. The key is figuring out the specific activities that will lead to the achievement of your goals. Then you schedule those activities. The role of discipline in your success cannot be underestimated. Schedule everything and find a way to hold yourself accountable.
Lack of Financial Management. Lots of people get into real estate thinking it’s a low overhead business with an opportunity to make big, giant paychecks. Those days are long gone. This business is so competitive, you need a funding plan not only to survive, but to invest in your business and build it in an efficient way. Make sure you’re managing your money smartly to avoid that 87% failure rate. Profit is not a bad word.
Now that you have a better idea of the causes for failure the next decision is what are you going to do with this information? What action are you going to take? Feel free to comment below what you plan on doing next to ensure you’re a member of the 13% Club!
AI tools will not replace the real estate agent but help the agent with working on their business, like we have never seen before!
Do you want to know my must have A.I. tools for all real estate agents in 2024?
As real estate agents, we are constantly on the go and overwhelmed with so many tasks and skills required of us. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a tool to expedite and simplify work?
This is why exploring and using these tools will be a game changer for so many of you, and why the tools I am going to recommend to you in this article are so important. The best part is that almost all these AI tools I’m going to recommend below are FREE or have a free trial option. So, without further ado, here are my best AI tools for real estate agents.
Real Estate Marketing Tools to Boost Your Sales – AI Marketing Hub enables real estate professionals to generate original, persuasive content & digital assets for property listing promotions in seconds.
Visit styldod.com to check it out
Productive.Ai Call Assistant – Ai summaries of your Mobile Calls, Tasks automatically logged to your Calendar, Automated CRM Call Logging
Visit productive.ai to check it out
Write custom real estate listing descriptions in seconds
Visit listingai.co to check it out
Virtual Staging AI – Virtual staging with one click. Upload a picture and our AI will add furniture within seconds
Visit virtualstagingai.app to check it out
Turn ideas into videos – invideo AI – Create videos with text prompts. Enter any topic, and invideo AI gets to work.
It generates a script, creates scenes, adds voiceovers, & tweaks the video at your command.
Visit invideo.io to check it out
Presentation Software – Smart templates give your team a blueprint for making presentations.
Visit beautiful.ai to check it out
Powering Dreams – Access your broker, concierge service, and other agents from across the company, send instant messages and get help anywhere, whether you’re at home, in the office, or at a showing.
Visit epique.cloud to check it out
AI personalized videos at scale – The human cloning company. Step into the future with our cutting-edge AI and create a digital version of yourself to make your life easier.
Visit bhuman.ai to check it out
Repurposing content for social media the easy way – Create once, publish everywhere.
Quickly build your omnipresence by repurposing your content directly from TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Zoom, Google Drive, Dropbox, and Audio Podcast into unlimited pieces of content optimized for each platform.
Visit repurpose.io to check it out.
Consistency is key when it comes to any business venture, especially real estate. It can be tempting to switch up your business strategies when things aren’t running smoothly, without giving your original plans time to shine.
Establish your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) – these should be specific, attainable numbers that you know you can reach every week.
Track your goals with the Prospecting Tracking Sheet – use this sheet to log your prospecting efforts and monitor your progress regarding your KPIs.
Have someone hold you accountable – find a colleague, friend, or family member who can push you toward your goal.
Stay focused!
Don’t overspend!
Think about what you want your future to look like
Maximize your time!
Apart from putting in consistent effort, you also need to focus on only doing the actions that have proven to generate success for your business. If you concentrate on only these things and do them consistently, you will see almost immediate results.
You can adapt this Prospecting Tracking Sheet depending on your business and your own goals. It will look different for everybody since each agent has their own plan for their business. But as long you track your weekly in the Prospecting Tracking Sheet, you will increase your success. Below, I’ll show you the goals that I track for my own business and break down how I use the Prospecting Tracking Sheet.
1. Establish your KPIs – One of the first and most important things you can do as a real estate agent is set up a real estate business plan to outline your goals. Once you’ve set goals, you can then establish your KPIs to measure the progress towards those goals every week.Focusing on your KPIs allows you to easily get an overall diagnostic of your business plan, so you can analyze patterns in your business and make any necessary adjustments. Real estate KPIs might track metrics such as the number of transactions, face-to-face appointments, buyer presentations, listing presentations, or lead generation for the week.
Your KPIs are also important tools for calculating your monthly or yearly conversion ratios. Be careful not to choose KPIs that are unattainable for you. You want your KPIs to be achievable so that you stay motivated. Eventually, you’ll want them to become a weekly habit that isn’t challenging for you to keep up with.
2. Use The Prospecting Tracking Sheet. – Now that you’ve come up with the KPIs that are important to your business, you can customize the categories in the Realtor Prospecting Activity Tracker to fit your specific needs. My Prospecting Sheet is set up to track all my metrics on a weekly basis. The goals on this spreadsheet don’t necessarily have to be your goals as well. You can change them to better fit your business since everybody will be a little bit different. Whatever your goals are, consistency is the key.
In addition, as mentioned above, don’t choose unreachable goals. On the contrary, you want these to be easily achievable so that they become like a habit to you. This should be a number that you know you need to hit each week, no matter what. Remember, you can always raise or lower the goal to fit your business. The goals I use personally for my business are:
Events. – One of the metrics I’ve found helpful to track in my business is the number of events I attend. Attending events is a great way to get in front of people, and in turn, foster a relationship with potential clients. You should strive to attend at least one event every week, such as a training, marketing event, or social gathering. Strive to attend at least one event every single week. What you consider an event is up to you. This could be a training, a marketing event where you’re trying to get more business, or it could be a party or social gathering.
Lead Generation. – Another metric I’ve found helpful in my business is tracking lead generation. Here, I’m looking to add at least three new leads per week to my database. This number includes leads from any source; I don’t go into details of the breakdown on this sheet.
Hours Prospecting. – Tracking the amount of time, you dedicate to prospecting every week is important since it should have a direct correlation to your productivity level. When it comes to prospecting, a good KPI to aim for is about 10 hours per week.
Conversations. – Good prospecting should generate meaningful conversations with the people you are reaching out to. Use this space to document your conversations in more detail. Jot down the names of the people you have conversations with within the cells provided, then go back and tally the names at the end of the week.
Personally, I aim for 60 meaningful conversations per week. These are more than just quick phone calls; this number represents substantial conversations or text dialogues with the people I want to keep in touch with. Statistically speaking, only about one-third of the phone calls you make will turn into a meaningful conversation. This means that if you make 180 phone calls in a week, only about 60 of those will be truly meaningful conversations. The same idea applies to text messages or emails.
Face-to-Face Appointments. – At the end of the day, the ultimate goal of your conversations is to set a face-to-face meeting with the person you are talking to. Depending on your situation and comfort level, this could be grabbing coffee, meeting at a neutral location, or going out to lunch.
I would recommend a KPI of 10-15 face-to-face appointments per week. Try and do this with your top 50 closest people. These are people you want to be going out on a regular basis with to lunch, parties, or getting coffees with. These could also be people you want to add to your top 50 list, maybe someone you think could make a good referral partner for your business. Use your great conversations to get face-to-face appointments with these people.
Buyer and Listing Presentations. – From there, the goal is to transform your face-to-face appointment into a subsequent buyer or listing presentation. This is important because buyer and listing presentations are your bread and butter as a real estate agent. Aim for at least two a week.
That means eight per month, which is a huge opportunity to increase production. Remember, you won’t get a client out of every buyer or listing presentation. For this reason, aim to set up enough presentations to meet that eight per month goal.
Signed Up. – Here you’ll track the number of people who have taken the next step and signed a buyer’s representation or listing agreement with you.
Your KPI should be to get at least one new listing agreement or buyer’s representation signed per week. Ideally, if you put the effort in, 50% of your buyer and listing presentations will result in some kind of agreement. If you set eight appointments per month, this translates to four new clients every single month.
While having the buyer’s representation or listing agreement signed doesn’t guarantee you will close a transaction, the more you schedule, the greater opportunity you have to close a deal. This means that 50% of the time that you go to an appointment, you should be coming back with an agreement.
This translates to around four new clients every single month. Not every single client you take will actually buy or sell a home with you, but even if just two of them do, that’s a great opportunity for your business.
Thank You Cards. – Another great way to get in front of people and stay top of mind is to send thank you cards on a consistent basis. Try sending at least six thank you cards per week. If you attend six face-to-face appointments every week, then you have a reason to send six thank you cards.
Commit yourself to sending a thank you card after each listing appointment or buyer consultation, whether or not they sign up to work with you. Or send them to people you haven’t talked to in a while to get back in touch with them. Sending cards really do make a difference, and it makes you memorable as an agent. A great tool to use for this is Mailbox Power. Remember, you don’t have to track these KPIs in your own Prospecting Hack Sheet. You can follow all the goals I covered above, add your own, or adjust the numbers to fit your own business better.
3. Find Someone to Hold You Accountable. -T he third tip on how to be consistent is finding someone who can hold you accountable for your goals. Being accountable to someone else means they know the goals you are working toward, and they encourage you to reach those goals.Establishing accountability helps to maintain your focus and motivation because now you have to answer to someone else if you don’t follow through with your plan. For more motivation, check out the post I made here on the top real estate quotes. A good accountability partner might be a friend, family member, or colleague you can depend on to give you an honest evaluation of your business efforts.
Or you can also partner up with a fellow agent who is in the same position as you, and then work to hold each other accountable to your goals. Working with someone who understands where you’re at and shares many of the same problems as you can help motivate and inspire you.
4. Stay Focused.– A key part that goes hand in hand with being consistent is staying focused on the goals you have outlined in your business plan. For this reason, you need to make sure the goals you set are achievable. You can adjust them if needed to make sure you can meet them consistently over the long term. When your goals are achievable, it makes it easier to stay focused and not get burned out.This also means not adding any new goals to your list, and instead of making sure you stay focused on your current goals. If you keep adding new goals, you will likely end up spreading yourself too thin and get overwhelmed. When this happens, it will be hard to maintain consistent action and achieve your desired outcome. So, develop a plan, and then stick to it strictly for at least six months or even a year before you start making changes. But staying focused also applies throughout your workday.
For example, if you are easily distracted by social media and find it’s cutting into your work routine, then come up with ways to limit that distraction from your life. In the case of social media, many smartphones let you set timers to limit how long you can spend on different apps. As a real estate agent, social media is part of our business. But if you find it distracting you, find ways to stay focused on your work.
5. Don’t Overspend. – Related to staying focused is not to spread yourself too thin when it comes to your finances. In the beginning, especially as a new real estate agent, it can be tempting to purchase several different tools or services for your business.However, this usually isn’t the best strategy for success and can actually have the opposite effect. You might end up hurting your business in the long run. While it seems like you can’t go wrong buying the latest tech platforms, it can hurt you by distracting you from actually putting in the work to grow your business. This also goes for purchasing leads.
When you’re just starting out your real estate business, it’s best to focus on generating leads and growing your sphere of influence within your market, rather than throwing money at internet leads. Ultimately, you should be conservative with your money if you want to develop habits of consistency as a real estate agent. Stick to the tried-and-true methods that you know for a fact are bringing success to your business. Only once you are consistent with these should you start building off of that foundation and trying out new tools in your business.
6. Maximize Your Time. – Staying consistent will be easier if you make use of every minute of your time. Create a set schedule that you can easily stick to. Have dedicated times for work and leisure and have enough self-discipline to stick to your schedule strictly. A great way to maximize and track your time is by time blocking.This is a technique where you break down your entire day into time slots so that every hour in your day is put to use. A big part of maximizing your time and developing consistency is getting rid of any bad habits that are taking up time in your day.
If you already know what these habits are, make a list of them and then try to monitor your behavior with a habit tracker to make sure you are avoiding them. As long as you know what’s holding your personal development back, you can make an effort to avoid doing those things and replace every bad habit with positive behavior.
As American author and leadership mentor John Maxwell said, “Small disciplines repeated with consistency everyday lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.” And it is true. Being consistent is at the foundation of any successful business. Consistency is a commitment you make in the realization of your goals.
Of course, the goals listed here on the Prospecting Hack Sheet shouldn’t be everything you do for your business. These are just the activities that you know for a fact you have to do every single week. If there are other activities that bring success to your business that you want to track, you can add them in as well.
The important thing to stay consistent is writing everything down and tracking your progress. Now, you don’t have to hang on to these sheets forever. You can eventually transfer your numbers into a database, like a CRM system or spreadsheet. This way, you can add them to your monthly or yearly numbers to see how your business is growing. You’ll be able to see your conversion ratios and other KPIs and track the number of touches with your leads.
Do you have any tips to help you stay consistent in your own real estate business? Let me know in the comments below!
Traditionally best source of free leads has been Cold calling and Door Knocking, but let’s be real. When I first started in the early 90’s you grabbed the phone book or the criss cross directory and my managing broker told me to start “dialing for dollars”.
In this day and age, those aren’t the only methods to choose from. (And honestly, they may not even work as well as they once did.) I want to share with you 20+ tried and tested low or no cost real estate agent marketing ideas for generating free leads that actually result in revenue and work for many of my coaching clients today!
Let’s start with a complete checklist of free lead gen ideas broken down by must-haves and nice-to-haves. How many of these are you already using?
Which ones would be the easiest to integrate with your current lead management system?
The Must-Haves:
Past clients
Sphere Of Influence
Referrals – Agent and Client
Reviews
For Sale By Owner
Expired ( If Permitted )
Partner with a lender and attorney
Open House
Use landing pages + Drip email sequence.
The Nice-to-Haves:
Phone duty
Video content
Virtual tours and open houses
Volunteer, speak at, or attend free community events.
Moving companies
Marriage announcements
Start a blog.
Connect on social media.
Answer questions on Quora
Door knocking
Cold calling
Housewarming party
So Where to Get Real Estate Leads In 2024?
#1. Office On Call Phone Duty – Great for Warm Buyer Leads. Sometimes old school is the best school. Most agents never considered it because it seemed old school. I know that agents hate traditional phone duty because they have to sit in the office and answer the phone. One reason agents become agents is so that they’re not chained to a desk But, the results are undeniable.
Agents found that people that call in want to talk with an agent right now. They don’t want to talk to a receptionist, or a Client Concierge, they want to talk with a knowledgeable agent. Since you are immediately satisfying that need, your conversions go through the roof. We were converting around 1/3 receptionist call-ins in the past.
We’re now converting almost 100% of the qualified inbound calls. It’s been a massive success. Set up a virtual phone duty with your broker. Follow simple rules like ‘don’t schedule an appointment’ and ‘pull over to talk if the call you take is a lead. Record all of the calls to identify opportunities for improvement.
#2. Video Content – Best Way to Consistently Generate Free Leads. Video is quickly becoming a winning formula for real estate marketing. Shoot a video titled Why You Should Move to (your town) that introduces you as your town’s ambassador and will bring you two to five property deals over time.
So, what’s the secret formula for creating irresistible video content? Everyone should have a YouTube channel and create playlists that focus on the community, sellers and buyers and quick tips. create both professional and iPhone videos. I know that not everyone is comfortable with staring into the camera, but the way she sees it, we’ve already spent most of 2020 living through an uncomfortable reality.
We have to get comfortable being uncomfortable, right?
#3. Housewarming Party – An Instant Source of Free Warm Leads. As a token of your appreciation, you are the event planner for your client’s housewarming event as their thank you gift from you. Ask them for their guest list and take care invites, food, beverage etc. All event long you are being introduced to their friends and family attending the party. It’s a great way for the agent to bring additional value to their client and meet the client’s potential referrals for additional business.
#4. Smile, Dial, Email – Timeless Lead Gen for Unprecedented Times. No secret sauce, just consistently smiling and dialing. Your goal comes to get 5 nurtures a day minimum and to keep building my weekly email. One coaching client closed 10 transactions 30% of my business from a weekly email this year. 10 transactions from an email newsletter? Send a survey asking if they have any real estate plans the coming year. Don’t ask you don’t get! There’s literally no reason not to do this.
#5. Client & Agent Referrals – Best Way to Get Quality Leads, Totally Free. According to the NAR, 64% of sellers found their agent through a referral from a friend, neighbor, or relative—or used an agent they had worked with before to buy or sell a home.
Referrals cost you nothing—all you have to do is stay connected with the people you know and make sure that you’re top of mind when they or someone they know decide to transact. What could be easier (or cheaper!) than that, right? Repeat and no fee referrals are always the most profitable and reliable. All my coaching clients generate 50-85% of their business from this source.”
#6. The Property Neighbors’ Sphere of Influence – A Completely Original Source for Trusted Referrals. Everyone talks about taking advantage of your sphere of influence, but have you ever considered reverse engineering the sphere of influence of a neighborhood to get new listings? Here’s how you do it:
When your buyer looks at a property in a neighborhood but doesn’t buy the property, statistically a new listing is going to come up in that neighborhood in the next 30 days and you’ve got what the potential seller wants…buyers. This is when you should send out a letter to the neighborhood and call the neighbors with the same message/dialogue.
“Hi (neighbor), My name is (Agent Name) and I work with (Brokerage Name) and I just wanted to let you know that I showed your neighbor’s property over at (Address) the other day.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a perfect match for them but as I’m sure you are not surprised, they absolutely loved the neighborhood!” “What they are looking for is (describe just about every house in the neighborhood).” “Can you do me a favor? If you or anyone you know is even considering selling, could you please let me know right away?
I may be able to sell your house without it ever even hitting the market.”
Brilliant, right? Use the same template when they have a buyer looking for a house. The student records a video that lets their audience know what the buyer is looking for but with a specific ask – reach out if the audience or anyone they know is considering selling, because they may be able to sell their house without it ever hitting the market.
Then the agent promotes that video to the target town/city so that everyone sees it and reaches out to them if they are thinking of selling or if they know anyone that is.
#7. Third Party Reviews – The New Word of Mouth for Real Estate Leads Targeting millennials or younger buyers? Reviews are the way to go. According to Consumerist, almost 70% of consumers check online reviews before making a purchase. But just like everything else, it’s all about your level of commitment.
Millennials make up a third of the buying population. A millennial goes to 8 to 12 different sites before they pick up the phone and talk to an agent. What do they do when they get to 8 to 12 of those sites? They read the reviews.
Watch people coming to your site in the analytics—they log in, and then they go to the review page and read every one of your reviews before they even pick up the phone and call. The conversation on getting reviews starts on day one when you meet the client.
#8. Blogging – Best Way to Attract Quality Leads. One of the best decisions I ever made in my real estate career was to start a real estate blog. Blogging is one of those free lead gen unicorns—when you’re blogging the leads seem to magically drop from the sky.
But free doesn’t mean easy. It all comes down to intention and commitment. Provide a wealth of knowledge to buyers and sellers to help make sound business decisions. Buyers and sellers love working with knowledgeable real estate agents. By having a recognizable blog, you can readily show off your expertise to those who are buying or selling a home. Over the years my blog has brought a substantial amount of yearly business. In fact, it is one of my top lead generators.”
A blog as a top lead generator? Believe it. Real Estate blogging is certainly not for everyone. Like anything else, it takes time and dedication. It is not a magic bullet that will bring significant amounts of business unless you put in the effort. This means you need to have exceptionally good content combined with a strong grasp of both search engine optimization, as well as solid social media promotion.
Without proper digital marketing your blog will be lost in the shuffle. Alternatively, you could try a tool like Keeping Current Matters or CityBlast that automatically publishes blog and email content, creates downloadable guides and posts personalized updates on your social media accounts for a set monthly fee.
Another option is to hire a real estate VA with marketing or blogging experience or look for an affordable content writer and marketer on sites like Fiverr and Upwork. You’ll still need to set aside time to generate relevant content ideas, proofread and promote the work but a great freelancer can significantly cut down on the time you spend researching and writing, making it way easier to stick to a consistent publishing schedule.
Finally, if you’re determined to make a go of blogging, make sure you set up a drip campaign to capture and nurture any leads that come in via the blog.
#9. Niche Marketing Websites – An Amazing Organic Source for Ready-to-Convert Real Estate Leads. Thanks to various changes in Google’s search algorithm, building a niche website is now another surefire approach to rank higher on search engines than non-targeted sites.
Best of all, it’s completely organic through and through. Buy the domain moveto (your town) .org .com .ca then hire a full-time content writer to write or write yourself to gain enough traction and generate leads and a robust pipeline. Create a local guide on all things (your town) and start attracting some seriously motivated leads. Agents are getting about 10-15 leads monthly. That’s not much but they are much more likely to convert.
Target organic leads by targeting topics like ‘rent vs. buy (your town)’, ‘Master Planned Communities’, and ‘Reasons to Move to (your town). Then retarget to landing pages that have property listings or other information about choosing a Realtor.
#10. Thank You Card & Handwritten Notes. Most Beautifully Simple Source of Free Leads. You know, as a new agent you’re blindsided by a million other things. You just need to talk to a lot of people and get over the fear of cold calling. After talking go drop off a simple thank you card and those changes everything.
In the age of automated everything, Brandon’s all about keeping the personal touch. And at $1 per card, the ROI on this lead source can’t be beat. Just write a handwritten thank you card like, ‘Hey Jill, great talking to you. Thank you so much for your time. I look forward to the opportunity to work with you. And then I put your business card in there and seal it up. Easy!
#11. Craigslist, Kijiji, Classifieds – Great for Free Diamond-in-the-rough Leads. Never take a lead for granted and that includes leads from Craigslist. Some of my coaching clients most reliable source of free leads has been another source that most agents or people sometimes no longer feel is relevant or also frowned upon or thought of not to be the savviest… Craigslist.
#12. Open House – Golden Opportunity to Get Buyer & Seller Leads. Most agents have been programmed to think that it’s a waste of time. Like all marketing, if they do one and don’t get much out of it, they generally fall into that bucket. To me, it’s the easiest and least expensive way to get people in front of you.
However, you need to have a system like everything else to make it profitable. Systems = profits. The best tip for bringing in free leads via open houses is don’t advertise open houses and use lots of signs. This way if someone walks into your open house and they would like to look at property, I just close the door.
You need to make sure you have every possible cross street covered with an open house sign. The more signs the better. But what if you can’t meet for an in-person open house? Agents have sold houses with digital open houses and virtual tours and use Calendly to capture the lead info, then plug them into your CRM for focused follow up.
#13. Internet Community Pages – Perfect Source of Free Buyer and Relocating Leads. There’s a little-known content marketing tip that only the best of real estate marketers typically take advantage of: Community Pages. Often, any buyer looking to move into a new area is going to do some extensive research. By setting up community pages on your website YOU become the local go to expert. Here’s what makes a great community page:
Community pages are filled with information buyers would love to know about. Things like the quality of the schools, area attractions such as lakes and parks. Where people do their shopping, etc.
They can be filled with an endless amount of information. The best community pages are crazy detailed! These kinds of pages should be optimized so they come up in search for things like “Realtors (your town)” and “Top Real Estate agents (your town)”. Consumers who are searching in Google with terms like these may be looking to hire an agent immediately!
#14. Quora – Most Untapped Source of Leads. A huge untapped online community like Quora is one of the top respondents for all things real estate, for getting you name, face and web link in front of thousands of online buyers every day.
With over 200 million monthly unique visitors, Quora’s Q&A entries regularly show up on Google’s page 1, and some are re-published by major sites like Forbes and Inc.
Plus, it’s completely free. All you need is an email address and you’re in. Start by looking for questions that have been asked repeatedly. If a question has been asked more than once, chances are the answers (both on Quora and Google) aren’t that great.
#15. Wear Your Company Name Badge – Easiest Way to Get Free Leads. Ever take every cushion off your couch hunting for your glasses, only to realize they’re right on top of your head? Sometimes the most obvious things are hidden in plain sight. The simple name badge is one of those things.
Here’s a great tip… An often-overlooked way to generate leads is to wear your name badge or company wear such as a hat or polo shirt. When people ask, ‘Oh, you’re in real estate—how’s the market? Be prepared with a concise answer about how much inventory is on the market, how much prices are increasing or declining, and offer to send them a free report on their property.
Agents can use a Realtors Property Resource (RPR) to gather this data quickly and of course, you need their contact information to send them the report. Name badges have long been used by maintenance service companies to establish a connection with the client and develop trust. So, why not real estate?
#16. For Sale By Owner (FSBOs) – Excellent Lead Source for Agents with the Right Approach. There are those who shake their fists at FSBOs and there are those who go out and convert them into free sources of multiple millions in revenue. FSBOs are one of the best and most reliable sources of free leads out there. “Literally millions in commissions!” can be made.
The trick as usual is to start the conversation by listening and offering value. Remember, there is a good chance this seller has been burned by an agent before, and that’s why they’re attempting to go it alone. Start the conversation by asking why they’re selling.
Take time to listen, get to know their motivations and build a personal connection. Offer advice or insight on the market wherever relevant. Once you feel like you’ve truly heard them and offered them some genuinely helpful info, ask if they want any help finding a buyer.
They might turn you down flat the first time. That’s ok. Ask if you can check back in on them in a few weeks then add them to your CRM for simple, friendly follow up. Sometimes it can take a few quiet weeks (or months) in the market before they come around to the idea of working with you.
#17. Ask Engaging Power Questions – Most Powerful Way to Get Free Listings. Leveraging for rent by owners and FSBOs, calling expired listings and nurturing your SOI are all classic (and classically overlooked!) ways to bring in tons of free leads. But sometimes what matters most isn’t which lead source you choose, but how you choose to approach those leads. The best way to bring in more free leads is to simply ask questions: Ask questions – How can I help your business? What does your perfect client look like? Focus on providing service and coming from a spirit of contribution – the leads will come.
#18. Farmers Markets, Swap Meets and Flea Markets – Don’t be afraid to take free leads where he can find them. That includes local swap meets, flea markets and farmers markets. The craziest ideas for lead generation are sometimes the least wanted or the most frowned upon or things that people might think don’t work.
If you do frequent swap meets, flea markets and farmers markets. It totally works even though many agents feel it’s an undesirable type of method. There’s something to be said for getting out there and networking with real people. Remember, when it comes to free lead gen, it doesn’t matter what’s popular. All that matters is that it works for your unique real estate business.
#19. Social Media (Evidence Of Success) – Great Way to Get Real Estate Leads Who Already Like You. You didn’t think we were going to leave social media off the list, did you? Depending on how you approach it, social media can either be a major time drain or a brilliant way of nurturing your connections.
Here’s his awesome advice for using your social media to nurture your SOI without feeling salesy or sleazy: Your sphere of influence is still an extremely overlooked source of business. The key is to not bombard your network with boring, worthless “asks” for business. Instead, you should simply be reminding your network that you’re a real estate agent, and that you’re a local expert.
Posting on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat is a great way to do that, as long as you’re providing something of value to your network (education, humor, etc.), along with the occasional humblebrag if you receive an award, or some recognition for something. Even a sincere humbled, gratitude post for helping a buyer or seller buyer or sell versus bragging I just sold, or I just listed. I’m talking maybe once a month, or less.
But if done tactfully, those humblebrags help your network see that you’re good at what you do. You heard it from the pro. Relax and have fun on social media. It can lead to some great free leads. BONUS: Use inktr.ee tool to capture leads off social media content!!!
#20. Instagram – Easiest Source for Warm Organic Leads. It’s all organic, with posts that are more lifestyle posts and less about sales. We want people to follow us because they like our post then reach out to us for help because they like our brand and how we do things. It’s been working well and that’s exactly what happens. Leads come in from the posts and stories. From there, you follow up via DM to connect and convert. It’s easy, organic and extremely cost-effective.
#21. Shock & Awe Marketing – Funniest Way to Get Free Real Estate Leads. Every so often, it pays to go a little rogue with your marketing. The most innovative idea I ever heard of was an agent had a house that was zoned for commercial use that was located in an area where there were a lot of attorneys.
She created a marketing piece that looked as if the attorney she was sending it to was being served in a lawsuit. The strategy generated leads and she sold the property. I love the expired listing paper towel tube in the mail that looks like a stick of red dynamite with the expired letter inside. Sometimes it pays to think outside the box (or zone in this case) and do what you’ve got to do to grab the attention of your local market. Don’t be afraid to get creative.
#22. Knock on Doors – Most Classic Way to Get Real Estate Leads The level of “craziness” of this free lead gen idea is debatable. Some die-hards in Facebook groups will claim this is the best way to get free leads, but you have to wonder, do they actually get out there and do it? Tip!
Knock on doors in a neighborhood where you have a qualified buyer that wants to buy and say ‘Quick question: do you want to sell your house? My buyer wants to buy here. Not sure? Talk to the Family and call me tomorrow.’ Yes. It worked. If nobody is home, then leave a door hanger with the same written message and they will call as well off the door hanger! Sometimes you just never get, until you ask.
While it may seem old school, knocking on doors is still a proven way to get free leads. If you’ve got the guts, go for it.
#23. Serving & Give Back – Most Fulfilling Way to Get Buyer and Seller Leads. If you focus on service like some agents do the business will come simply by connecting with the community. Serving the community and throwing great social events creates an amazing amount of people that want to reciprocate by working with you.
Get involved in at least one non-profit and build your spheres through acts of charity and service. You’re meeting people in your community who want to do good. It’s not really service to transaction, it’s service to relationship. We want to build a network that people want to be a part of.
#24. Become a Community Catalyst – Crazy Simple Way to Get a Long-lasting Source of Leads. Your commitment to becoming THE go-to expert in your community. As real estate develops, knowledge is what makes agents more valuable to buyers. Buyers don’t want to spend time learning. As an agent, you’re the catalyst—the connector between the buyer and their new community. It’s your job to open that door and make it as easy as possible for them to walk through it.
So, there you have it, a ton of great ideas for generating free real estate leads. Before you run off, we want to give you one last piece of advice. When done right, free lead gen can bring in a ton of revenue for your real estate business, but if you go into it with the wrong intention, it can backfire horribly.
Don’t do this: Go to a friend’s wedding, and “sponsor” the gift bags for guests… and put your business cards, branded pens, and other absurd, unimpressive swag in the gift bags! Do not put out signs around the gift bag table promoting you and your business. Why not? Well, how would you like it if you went to a wedding and were bombarded with advertisements from some random business? You’re hijacking your friend’s wedding to get more business.
But what you’re really doing is making people angry and ensuring that they’d never hire you in a million years. How tacky and inappropriate. Next time maybe you should sponsor the punch bowl at a funeral! Leads can get pricey and real estate is a high-pressure business, but the moral of this story is to ALWAYS check the situation and environment before attempting to grab leads.
Leads might not cost money, but you’d better be giving something meaningful and valuable in return– and prospecting ethically! The most reliable source [of free leads] for our clients is giving great service and then implementing a great Database/CRM Value Add Plan with regular contact in a variety of ways. Feel free to share with me ways that you are generating legit leads without spending any money, would love to add them to 2024 list.
Every year is filled with highlights and “not so high-lights”.
As a real estate agent and in your personal life I hope your 2023 had many highlights.
2023 was another great year for AgentsBoost thanks to you our readers. Again, we had thousands of visitors from countries all over the world checking out our new and seasoned posts.
Out of our years of contributions the 10 Ten read post by our agents for the year are shown below.
Browse through the list and click on any you missed or want to check out again.
A gratitude list probably feels like the last thing you want to create at the beginning of the year. I am always reminded that a person cannot be sad or mad when they are in a state of gratitude and a powerful reminder to us all. I know all of these things may not apply to you. Still, I hope this list will inspire you to remember the things to be thankful for in 2024. Here are 101 things to be grateful for in 2024!!
Sight. I know there are a lot of people in this world who are blind. Even if you are, there are still other things to be grateful for. Those of you who aren’t blind, even if you have to wear glasses or contacts, you can be grateful that you can see. Even if everything you see in the world isn’t as pleasant sometimes, still be grateful for the pleasant things you can see, like the nice green colors of nature outside.
Hearing. Similarly, to sight, many people in this world are deaf. They’ll never be able to enjoy the sounds of music or hear the voice of someone they care about. Be grateful that you can listen to relaxing music when you feel stressed.
Smell. As small as this may seem, I’ve heard of people who’ve lost their sense of smell and it completely changed their life. Have gratitude for still having your sense of smell.
Taste. When one loses their sense of taste, they lose their ability to enjoy all the flavors of food. We can be grateful for still being able to enjoy the taste of fruits, vegetables, and all of the foods we enjoy in the world.
Walking. Being able to get around is more of a blessing than we realize sometimes. There are people who have to use canes, crutches, and wheelchairs to move around. Be grateful for being able to walk on your own two feet with relatively little pain.
Lungs. If we don’t have any lung issues or have to use any machines to breathe in oxygen, that’s something to be grateful for.
Hand movement. I have to type a lot to make these articles on here. I’m grateful that I have hand movement that’s free of any arthritis. Whatever you use your hands for, be grateful you can still use them.
Teeth. Be grateful if you’ve not lost any of your teeth, and they’re not in any pain.
Neck movement. As someone who deals with neck pain from time to time, even I’m grateful that I can still move my neck from one side to the other. If you can as well, you can write that on your list.
Memory. As we get older, our memories may not be as good as they are now. Be grateful you can still remember the things that you want in your day.
Heart. There are people currently waiting for heart transplants in the hospital right now. We can be grateful that we have a working heart that still beats normally.
Bladder. Leaky bladders are an inconvenience that we can be grateful we don’t have to deal with.
Stomach. As someone who’s had stomach challenges, it’s something to be grateful for when your stomach isn’t in pain. Burning inside of it is definitely no fun. I’m grateful for when my stomach doesn’t experience that, and that I’ve been able to improve it little by little.
Bones. I once saw a commercial with a little kid who was born with brittle bone disease. He’d broken his bones hundreds of times. There was also an inspirational speaker who had this disability but managed to live an extraordinary life. It goes to show that not only we can be grateful for having healthy and strong bones, but we can be inspired to do more with the abilities that we’re lucky to have.
Overall health. My health hasn’t been the best in the most recent years of my life, and maybe yours hasn’t either. Nonetheless, no matter our health challenges, we’re still alive. We can be grateful for our overall health still keeps us here. I’m grateful that my health is good for the most part.
Health insurance. I know not everyone reading this has health insurance. Those of you that do, be grateful your insurance helps to reduce your medical bills.
Meditation. There are many simple activities in life that can help improve our overall health. I’m grateful for meditation being one of those things that’s easy to do and helps us feel better.
Medicine. There have been many advancements in technology that have helped to heal many sicknesses that couldn’t be healed decades ago. Medicine is one of the top health things we can be grateful for in life, especially if you can afford it.
Doctors. In these times we’re living in, there are few people more deserving to be on this list than doctors. We can be grateful for all of them that dedicate their lives to making people feel well.
Exercise. It may not be the most fun thing to do for some of you, but be grateful if you’re physically able to exercise, and help keep yourself healthy.
Therapy. Mental health is just as important as physical health. We can be thankful that there are mental health professionals available to help us cope with the stress of the times.
Sickness. Yes, we can even be grateful for sickness. Going through it in a way makes us more appreciative when our health is good.
Fruits and vegetables. Some people are not in position to afford fruits, vegetables and other meals that keep us well. Be grateful you can enjoy the proper number of fruits and vegetables you need in your life.
Having money. While we may not have much in our wallet or our bank account, we can always be grateful we have some money to buy some things. There are a lot of people that don’t have any at all.
Earning money. You’ve probably seen how many people have had their jobs lost recently. If you’re still able to earn money for yourself, that’s a lot to be grateful for.
Little (or no) debt. It’d of course be nice not to have debt at all, but some people have 100’s of 1000’s of dollars in debt. If you’re one of the few who has low debt, it’s worth being grateful for.
Paid bills. Sometimes people reach a point where they can’t pay their bills for the month and their whole world is about to fall apart. It’s a blessing you can count if you can still pay your bills.
Shelter. Homelessness is an unfortunate crisis around the world. Be grateful if you stay in a home protected from the elements and able to live comfortably.
Food. I don’t have to tell you about starving people in the world. It’s sad and hopefully we can continue to improve it. Being able to have food on your table everyday can be in the top 10 of your thankful lists.
Clothing. It’s not just clothes we can be thankful for but being able to have clean ones through the luxury of our washing machines and dryers.
Clean water. Hearing about the water crisis in Flint a few years ago reminded me how lucky we are the water we drink is clean.
Clean air. China is one of the most heavily polluted areas in the world, with many people that end up developing respiratory issues. If you live in an area where the air around you are clean, it’s another thing to be grateful for.
Trees. Studies have proven being in nature is good for our overall wellbeing. Be grateful if you have lots of trees around where you live.
Sunshine. In some places it rains most of the time. Even if you live in a place like that, you can be very grateful the few times the sun actually comes out.
Animals. I find the sounds of the birds chirping and the movements of the squirrels to be peaceful. If you have these or other kinds of animals in your area, perhaps you can watch them for a moment. You might be thankful to just be able to see and hear nature in action.
Personality. You are who you are. There may be things about yourself you don’t like, but there are also things that you can appreciate. Whether it’s your intelligence or your kindness, find those things about yourself that make you thankful.
Childhood. Obviously not all of us had the best childhoods. Myself personally, I’d say mine was pretty decent for the most part. However, your childhood was, find one or two memories in that make you feel nostalgic and grateful.
Knowledge. We have more access to knowledge than ever before. We can be thankful to be able to learn things that improve our understanding of the world and make us better people.
Family. The people that are there for you and help you out in life, whether they’re related to you or not, that’s the family you can be grateful for.
Someone special. When you think about it, it’s an incredibly rare experience to have someone special in your life. If you have that now, that can be near the top of your list.
Future. You might be thinking, If the future is looking bleak, why be grateful for it? The reason we can be grateful for it is because there’s always a possibility it can get better. I’ve lived long enough to see it in my own life and other people’s lives.
Experiencing romantic love. Unfortunately, there are people who live long lives without having that experience of romantic love. We may not know how we got lucky to enjoy it, but we can be grateful we have.
Soft bed. After a long day of making through another day, be glad that you have a nice soft bed to lie in and get some good sleep.
Waking up. As we all know, some people don’t wake up to see another day. Be grateful that you did and those that you care about did as well.
Making it to the end of the day. One of the things I always reminded myself during difficult days was to just make it to the end of the day. I was and still am grateful whenever I can do that.
Productivity. We all can be lazy sometimes. It’s great when we have days where we get most if not all the things we wanted to accomplish done If you accomplished that, you could add it to your thankful list for today.
Growth and perspective. I learned a lot in my 40s, and I’m still learning a lot in this next stage of my life. No matter what age, we can be thankful for growth and perspective that helps us to be calmer about the world we live in.
Travels. Traveling has many benefits to our health. We can not only be grateful for what it does for us now, but the memories it gives us to enjoy looking back on.
Creativity. Whether you can sing, write, draw, or dance, our creative passions give us an escape in life we can be thankful for.
Kindness. It may seem like there are meaner people in this world today, but there are still people that are kind. Be grateful for the kindness you receive, and the acts of kindness that still happen every single day.
Open-mindedness. It can be a frustrating thing in society when people aren’t more open to different ideas and viewpoints. Be grateful when you come across people who are open-minded and willing to change their mind.
Exciting sports game. It can be exciting sports game or some other kind of live event. While there haven’t been many of them lately, we can look back at some of the ones we enjoyed most and be grateful to enjoy them all over again.
Inspiring speeches. I sometimes like looking back at old speeches in history. They can be uplifting in times of uncertainty. We can be grateful for all the people who had the courage and confidence to give inspiring speeches.
The moment work is finished. It’s always a great feeling when you finish your work for the day. Be grateful when you reach that point in your day.
A slice of pizza. Pizza is one of my favorite foods. Whatever yours is, it’s something you can be thankful for when you’re enjoying it.
A bowl of ice cream. While I’m more of a cookies and brownies person, I enjoy a bowl of ice cream every now and then. We can appreciate when we get to enjoy our favorite dessert.
Making someone laugh. When you make someone laugh, you make them feel good for a moment in their day. When we make people feel good, we make ourselves feel good too. Be glad when you can do that.
The quiet of the nighttime. Some neighborhoods aren’t as quiet as others, but when your neighborhood is quiet, stop for a moment and appreciate the peace of the silence.
Feeling relaxed. There are many moments in life where we feel stressed or anxious. That moment when you feel relaxed is one you should cherish and have gratitude for.
Faith. It’s an inspiring force in our lives, for those of us who are faith minded. If you are, have gratitude for faith’s influence and inspiration in your life.
Spiritual community. Connecting with a group of people who believe the same things as you can be comforting and make you happy. Be thankful for when you enjoy these times with your faith group.
Spiritual growth. Living a life of faith is a journey. Be glad for how far you’ve grown in your spirituality.
Prayer. I personally find prayer to be comforting, even if I’m not always sure it makes a difference in my life.
It’s a nice feeling to believe you can ask for good things and good things may eventually happen. You can have gratitude for being able to pray.
Religious text. The words of a religious text can also be comforting. We can be thankful whenever we read something that comforts and inspires us in these difficult times.
Technology. We’re more able to connect with people and get information than ever before. If you have working internet and a device that easily accesses it for you, you can be very grateful for these things.
Heating and cooling. The weather can be very harsh in some places in the world. Some live without access to heating and cooling to make their home comfortable. If you have that access, add that to your list.
Your own room. Lots of people don’t have the luxury of sleeping and being in their own room. Be glad if you have an area where you can be alone and completely yourself.
Shower. That moment that warm water hits your skin, have gratitude for the comfort of a working shower.
Clean floors. You can clean your floors and be happy to be able to comfortably walk barefoot in your home.
Happy moments. Even if the happy moments are few and far between, have thankfulness for when they do come. Cherish the happy moments.
Sadness. A study on crying shows that it can make us feel good and reduce the pain we feel. Hopefully you won’t be sad for long, but you can appreciate your tears help improve your well-being.
Mistakes. No one wants to make mistakes in life, but they’re one of the few ways we learn lessons in life. Be glad that your mistakes help you to grow into the better person you’re becoming each day.
Accomplishments. There are things you’ve done in life that you’re proud of. You can have thankfulness for those moments you achieved something great.
Hobbies. Everybody has something in life they enjoy doing. You can do those activities you enjoy and be thankful you get to enjoy them.
Favorite movies and TV shows. I like looking back at old TV shows or movies I really liked all the time. I’m grateful for the good feelings they still give me when I watch them again.
Thunderstorm at night. Sometimes thunderstorms can help us peacefully fall asleep at night. If it helps you, add this to your list.
Peaceful neighborhood. Living in a peaceful neighborhood where you feel safe is definitely a top thing to express gratefulness for.
Social media. While social media rightly gets criticized for the harm it can cause to our mental health, we can be appreciative of the good it gives us in staying connected with people that aren’t near us.
Car. It’s an amazing feeling to be able to get on the road and go wherever you want. Be glad if you have the luxury of doing that.
Instrument. I haven’t played my guitar in a long time, but I’m thankful for still being able to do that. Perhaps you can grab that instrument you haven’t touched in a while and have gratitude for still being able to play it.
Books. While I’m not much of a book reader, I know many people are. Be happy for the books that you can enjoy reading right now.
Shoes. We can be thankful to have shoes that protect our feet from the dirt, grass, and rocks when we walk outside.
Pest-free home. Believe it or not, some people live in apartments with rats, roaches, and large spiders. If you don’t, that can be added to your list.
Things that are still the same. We so often get frustrated with everything that goes wrong; we forget how much continues to go right for us every single day. The bus still shows up to take us to work, our phones and computers still work, etc.
Think of the good things that keep working the same every day and add them to your daily thankful list.
Things that change. Even when things change in life, we can be glad for that too. Changes can bring about new experiences and new opportunities that can potentially make our lives better.
Heartbreak. While heartbreak is never really pleasant, we can appreciate it’s making us stronger than we were before.
Chairs. We really don’t think about how much of an inconvenience it can be to not have chairs in our home. We can be glad that we don’t have to sit on the floors.
Tables. Similarly, with chairs, not having tables can be an inconvenience as well. Be thankful you have something to set things on when you need to.
Plates. We can be thankful we don’t have to hold all of our food in our hands.
Utensils. We can be thankful we don’t have to eat all of our food with our hands.
Naps. Appreciate the naps that you get to enjoy in the middle of the day.
Sleeping in. There are many people that have to wake up early for their specific jobs. I’m grateful that I don’t for mine, and you can be as well if that’s true for you.
Deep conversation. One of the things I enjoy most about talking to someone is having a deep conversation. Those long thought-provoking dialogues are something we can continually be glad for in 2024.
You had breakfast, lunch and dinner. Unfortunately, some people can only have one meal a day. We can all be glad if we’re lucky enough to get to enjoy three or more a day.
Making progress. Even if the progress you’re making is small, you can appreciate it getting you closer to where you want to be in life.
Indoor plumbing. In some places, people have to go outside to use the bathroom. Being able to use the bathroom in the comfort of our home is another luxury we can be appreciative of.
The past. We can be glad for our past helping us to become the best of ourselves that we are today.
Mondays. A lot of people tend to not like the start of the work week. Nonetheless, Mondays are something we can be thankful for because it’s another chance to put in work for the future we want someday.
Freedom. Last but not least, we can be glad to have freedom. While some of us might have it more than others, just to be able to make some of your own choices is something that should give us gratitude.
What should I put on my list? You should put whatever makes you feel genuinely thankful. We all have unique things that we can express appreciation for that are specific to our life. Think about what those things are for you and put that on your list.
What are examples of gratitude? Examples of gratitude include being grateful for your family, your friends, your possessions, and the life that you have. You can look around you to point out the people and things you have in your life to be glad for.
What are 3 things you are thankful for? Now that you’ve seen this list of things you can express thankfulness for, think of three things you’re happy to have right now. As I write this, I’m happy to have my bed, my laptop, and being able to write these articles. How do you express sincere gratitude? If you want to express sincere gratitude to someone, tell them exactly how you feel about what they’ve done for you in life. It’s as simple as that.
Why you should be glad for your life? Gratitude helps to make us feel good. Countless studies have shown that. Being grateful for your life can help keep your mood boosted. You don’t have to be happy about everything in your life, but you can always find one thing to be glad for.
On the first day of real estate Christmas my true love gave to me… Spend some focused time on your real estate database prior to 2024. Statistics say your database if mined properly is on average a 20% return on your investment of time, money, and energy. Now if you don’t have an assembled database, then assemble one. Input names from your phone, emails, social media, and client files. Take the time to build a monthly database touch system for 2024 making specific activities each month to add value and deepen your relationships with your database. Treat your clients like they are first class passengers on your own airline and not like their sitting in the back of your plane tossing them a bag of peanuts and charging them for luggage. The “give to get” activity is the best way to increase repeat and referral business in 2024.
On the Second Day of real estate my true love gave to me… Create an online lead generation system. These landing pages capture a seller who is curious what their current property value is or a buyer who wants to be notified of hot new listings and beat other buyers to them. Check out Prime Seller Leads, Bold leads, Zillow or Agent Locator real estate leads for this. Create a system on your own with www.fiverr.com assistant creating FB ads and www.carrd.co for your landing pages. A nice steady stream of buyer and seller leads from a good landing page keeps you from those peaks and valleys in your business. This is a great way to create more buyer and seller leads all year long while you are busy serving your active buyer and sellers and when you don’t have the time to prospect.
On the Third Day of real estate my true love gave to me… from the book fanatical prospecting book 3 – 6 Separate twenty-minute sessions daily prospecting and lead generation. Who doesn’t have 20 minutes? High-volume agents don’t just service existing business and then start lead generating once they have closed most of their transactions. Instead, they block time (usually in the morning so it gets done) to do something each business day that gets them closer to earning a new client. In a nutshell, there are two ways to be successful in real estate: By Default: live in the same area for years where everyone knows you and eventually sends your business; or By Design: time-block a relatively small portion of each business day to proactively generate for new leads.
On the Fourth Day of real estate my true love gave to me… Listings is the name of the game. Send unsolicited CMA packages to all your past clients over the next few months which will trigger listing appointment calls. The power of the spin is where a listing can generate up to 15 other pieces of business, if done right! If a real estate agent is working more than 65 hours a week and not closing more than 45 transactions annually, the agent either has a time management problem and/or is working with far more buyers than sellers. You can handle four times as many listing sides than buyer sides at the same time. So, top producing real estate agents always focus their lead generation activities on the listing side. Top listing sources are your sphere (complimentary equity analysis unsolicited every year), open house, FSBO, expired or door knock looking for a bona fide buyer.
On the Fifth Day of real estate my true love gave to me… Face to Face and belly to belly activities like coffee, lunch, door knock, open house, kiosk, floor duty, networking, volunteering and a “pop by” are all great. We know conversion is higher when you are face to face and the prospect can tell if they like or trust you quickly and want to do business with you. Although many agents are reluctant to reach out to people. This is a full contact sport. Make sure you sanitize, wear your mask and keep a safe distance when needed!
On the Sixth Day of real estate my true love gave to me… An Agent-to-Agent referral system with other agents working the areas where the people and business is coming from to buy real estate in your market. Contact them once a month and stay top of mind and be that referral agent source of choice in your market area. Share tips and ideas with other agents to keep top of mind and make them feel like they want to refer you their clients moving to your area. This is a lucrative business opportunity if done consistently.
On the Seventh Day of real estate my true love gave to me… The power of words. Scripts and dialogs are important. Successful real estate agents understand whether they use someone else’s scripts, dialogs or their own, they’ll eventually start saying the same things they know will work. Using tested real estate scripts created by others simply eliminates the trial-and-error process and enables agents to start seeing desired results more quickly. Sound like your planned and engage and attract the clients to want to work with you with your powerful words of persuasion.
On the Eighth Day of real estate my true love gave to me… Have powerful sales presentations and visuals. Pre seller and buyer packages. Don’t tell them but show and sell them. Have a visually powerful presentation for listings, buyers, and pricing. Don’t just wing it and leave things to chance but engage people to want to do business with you, your company and NOW! Talk alone is cheap. The most powerful visual sales tool is a pad and pen and being able to show prospects and tell them has greater impact than words alone. Remember some of us are visual and some of us are auditory but we don’t know which one they are.
On the Ninth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me… Know your “why”, purpose and vision. My goal that drives me every day is to impact and improve people’s lives personally and professionally every day. Real estate is the vehicle that makes this happen. We all need to be part of something bigger than ourselves. If your why is big enough, then the how takes care of itself!! I love having a vision board with images of the things that drive me, move me, I want and need to experience each year. Never underestimate the power of a vision, purpose or why! Create that vision board and place it on your screen saver.
On the Tenth Day of real estate my true love gave to me… Be a servant and focus on helping others get what they want and you in turn get what you want. Listen for the need and be aware of others fears, challenges and offer to help. To not “bother” the public when prospecting for new business, top real estate agents always tie the reason they’re contacting people in with providing some type of value at the same time. Always come from a mindset of contribution. Helping you is what we do. Listen for the need. Take care of people and the cash takes care of itself.
On the Eleventh Day of real estate my true love gave to me… Be a lean mean appointment setting machine. The money in sales is in the conversion to the appointments. No appointments then no presentations. No presentations mean no contracts or agreements. The lead generation is great but not having the skill to convert to the face-to-face appointment is a real estate killer. Know what you have and what you can offer for them and engage them to want to sit down and meet with you. What is your value proposition for a buyer and seller? Why you? Why now?
On the Twelfth Day of real estate my true love gave to me… Leverage by systemization and delegation. When real estate agents consistently do not have time to prospect for new business because they are too busy servicing their existing business it’s time to hire someone to help. The first hire should be an administrative assistant, not a buyer’s agent. Administrative assistants help agents make more money by freeing up time for agents to perform more important revenue-generating activities. 3D test everything in 2024. “Do I do it? Do I delegate it? Do I just dump it?”
I trust your holiday season is full of love, happiness, and joy.
We’ve all heard many reasons why homeowners or buyers want to wait till spring to make a move in real estate. The fact of the matter is the reasons are endless so it’s our job as REALTORS® to be equipped with facts and a strong reality check to combat these reasons we hear every day. To help you through the winter season I put together some of the top reasons a client would want to choose this time of year to buy, sell or list a home.
• Yes, there are fewer buyers, but those buyers are usually very SERIOUS about making a purchase or many HAVE to make a purchase.
#2 – Less Competition
• Most sellers wait until the spring or summer to list, so your home will have far less competition
• Spring = Greater supply = Same Demand = Less Money
#3 – January is the Biggest Job Transfer Month
• More corporate relocation moves happen during January than any other time of the year.
• Catch the corporate relocation buyers
#4 – High Attentive Efficient Service
• By putting the home on the market during the winter you experience better, personal, and faster customer service from movers, lawyers, banks, insurance providers etc.
#5 – More Time to Get Top Dollar
• By starting to market your home early, you may be able to secure a higher price with more listing exposure time.
#6 – Time to Shop
• If your home sells quickly, you will be able to shop for your next home during the winter, a great time to find a bargain!
• More time to look and not pressure to shop and beat the other buyers.
#7 – More Advertising Punch
• Most REALTORS® and offices have less inventory during the winter, enabling your home to stand out even more.
• Less marketing noise out there for the buyers and they see your home with ease now.
#8 – The Inexpensive Money Is Changing Fast
• Today’s interest rates are no longer some of the lowest in history. This gives buyers less spending power and decreases your buyer pool as they continue to rise.
• When shopping for your next home, you can benefit from buying now on your new mortgage rate before it goes up.
#9 – 20% of Homes Sold During the Winter
• Buyers and Sellers are usually quite motivated to get the transaction completed.
• This can mean less price haggling and fewer hassles during the process.
#10 – Non-Contingent Buying
• By selling now, you may have an opportunity to be a non-contingent buyer during the spring, when more houses are on the market!
• Less “subject to the sale” offers from buyers and you are not one of them when you are buying your next home.
#11 – No Yard Work
• Great time for a home that needs a yard make over to sell.
• No need to worry about your yard work. Snow makes it look fresh and white.
#12 – Buyers Are Searching
• Buyers begin the search and purchase for spring moves in January, February.
• Busy move times are March Spring Break, April Easter and May long weekend
#13 – No Pricing Games
• Less choice for buyers means less sellers to play pricing against each other
• Buyers will often make more concession in their buying decision with less choice
#14 – Show Time
• Property shows well, almost staged with holiday décor adding to the ambiance
• Tis the season for your home to shine!
#15 – Quality Showings
• Little chance of quick showings and not being prepared to show your home
• Easier time of year to make appointments and give sellers advance notice.
• Higher quality showings
#16 – Right Buyer, Right Time
• The odds are the same for the right buyer looking at your home regardless of the season.
• Right buyer, right time, right home
Top 10 Reasons to Buy Over the Winter
#1 – Competing Offers
• Little or no chance of multiple or competing offers for the buyer
#2 – Service
• Better service from all service providers like the agents, banks, insurers etc. Not as busy now.
#3 – Motivation
• Sellers motivated at this time of year if still trying to sell from summer or fall.
#4 – Negotiation
• Sellers willing to negotiate, been on the market for some time now. Give and take.
#5 – Expired
• Buyers can shop the expired listings market, which has the largest selection this time of the year.
#6 – Closing Options
• Good time of year to make an offer and do the due diligence, buyers can move quickly now or slower in the spring if not in a rush.
#7 – Housing Options
• Easier for sellers to find alternative housing, not as much pressure finding a rental vs. the busy spring and summer season.
#8 – Subject to the Sale
• Great time for buyers to make contingent “Subject to the Sale” offers and get them accepted and movement on the price.
#9 – Moving Services
• Easier time for a buyer to move and find help and services like movers, cleaners, storage.
#10 – Completions
• Better timing for buyers on completions with lawyers, banks land registry. Not that busy and time to attend to you now.
#11 – Competition
• Less competition for the same property from other buyers on the deals that pop up this time of year.
#12 – Rising Interest Rates
Rates continue to move up and the cost of borrowing is exceeding the pace of price corrections so waiting really doesn’t save the buyer getting into the market.
Now that you’re equipped with ammo to overcome any objection, go out there and list and sell some real estate this winter season.
Why do nearly nine out of every 10 agents fail and quit the real estate business? I’ve worked with and studied real estate professionals for 3 decades, and this week I am sharing some of the biggest reasons why agents fail. Avoiding these pitfalls will help you join that elusive “Club 13” — the 13 percent of agents who survive and truly succeed in this business.
