If you’ve clicked on this article, you’re either one of two things:
- A newly-licensed agent starting to build a network, or
- You’ve been in the industry for a while but find yourself stuck without new leads.
Whichever category you fall in, having trouble generating real estate leads could be a huge problem for your business.
Even if you’re an expert salesperson, without quality leads you’re left with no deals to close.
But thankfully, this problem has solutions.
Today we are going to look at how to get real estate leads in 2023.
These tactics and strategies will help make sure leads and prospective clients are always knocking at your door.
By the end of this article, you’ll hopefully have fresh ideas on how to build your real estate leads back up.
Let’s start!
30 Ideas on How You Can Get Real Estate Leads in 2023
Lead generation has evolved in the past few years from cold calling to social media.
In fact, they evolve all the time but that doesn’t mean the more traditional methods won’t work.
It also doesn’t mean that new technologies and social media are foolproof solutions.
It’s up to you to figure out which strategy will fit your business best.
Start with these:
1. Connect with your friends and family
Being a real estate agent is all about widening your network.
A bigger network means you get to generate more leads.
And the best place to start is always within your circle.
As a realtor, your sphere of influence is a gold mine for lead generation, so don’t hesitate to reach out to your personal contacts first.
Who knows if your close friends and family are in need of your services?
Let everyone know you’re in real estate and you could give them a helping hand if they need to buy or sell properties.
And since these people already know and trust you, you can bet they’ll be more inclined to work with you instead of going to a realtor they don’t know.
2. Reach out to other real estate agents
This seems counterproductive since another real estate agent might immediately be a direct competitor.
But we’re in the spirit of widening networks here, remember?
You’ll learn a lot by befriending other realtors, especially seasoned ones.
If you’re new, they could teach you the ropes and even trade industry secrets on how they get their steady stream of real estate leads.
They might even have a client they could pass on to you.
In any case, getting to know fellow real estate agents is always a good idea.
3. Get referrals
Referrals are a powerful thing for real estate agents — it’s undoubtedly one of the best sources for leads.
Don’t underestimate the power of recommendation and word of mouth!
Some realtors have been catapulted to success just because of several awesome referrals.
So how do you get one?
For starters, you can ask your friends and family to share your name with their own circles.
You can also ask your previous clients to do the same and put in a good word for you to their friends.
And since you’ve been referred by someone they know, clients are more likely to work with you than with strangers advertised online.
That means you’ve already got your foot in the door.
All you need to do is work your magic (a.k.a help solve their problem) and close the deal.
Make it a habit to ask your clients for testimonials and referrals every time.
That way you get a steady stream of real estate leads.
4. Join local community events
From online, jump to real life!
Like we said before, being a real estate agent is all about widening your network (we’ll probably be saying this a few more times).
And what better way to do that than to go out there and meet actual people in your community?
Attend local events and functions, show up during festivals, introduce yourself at school career days.
Your next client might be found at smaller events like fairs or community fundraisers in town.
By joining all these local community groups, you get to strike up conversations with people and at the same time get to know your city better.
And if you get a client out of it, that’s successfully hitting two birds with one stone.
5. Get active on social media
Did you know there are 240 million social media users in America alone?
The top three social media apps used at the beginning of 2021 are YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
This means being active on social media and being a part of everyone’s timelines is important if you want to earn a reputation.
In the digital age, attention is a currency.
The more you’re visible on everyone’s timeline, the higher the chance of you attracting a potential client.
And remember, it’s not enough to set up your Facebook or Instagram page — you have to commit to it.
That means scheduling frequent posts and getting creative so people will interact.
Aside from photos and videos of your listing, you can also post trivia about the city you’re in.
You can even ask your previous clients if it’s alright for you to post their testimonials.
Building your social media profile will get you more real estate leads one way or another.
6. Shoot photos and make videos
We’re not saying you should go full YouTube vlogger (unless you want to) but another way you can get people’s attention is by making videos of your listings.
Most people prefer visuals over text, which is why social media platforms are prioritizing videos these days.
Show your followers how exactly the sunlight streams through the windows of your listing.
Have them take a peek at the immaculate kitchen or what an elegant master bedroom looks like.
Doing house tours is an ongoing trend and it’s a wave you can definitely ride.
Don’t forget to also snap good photos of your listings too — the kind that could put to shame any Pinterest board out there.
And if you can’t work a camera, you can always ask your friends for help or use apps to enhance your images.
More than just you telling people you’re a real estate agent, they would appreciate seeing what you can offer with their own eyes.
You’re sending a message out here: They need a lifestyle like this and you can help them get it.
7. Look around LinkedIn
You can find lots of professionals — whether in real estate or any other industry — hanging around on LinkedIn.
Take it as an opportunity to interact!
Start by following real estate veterans and learning from their insightful posts.
Make sure you try leaving comments and striking conversations too.
And then begin to post frequently with content that speaks to your target audience.
It could be a combination of what you’ve learned from other people and your own expertise.
Or you could simply just share a real estate experience you’ve had recently.
The point is to get them to interact with your posts so think of ones that would resonate.
8. Join Facebook groups
Everything is online these days which makes social media a gold mine for potential leads.
Focus on Facebook groups, particularly ones for people in your city.
They’re online communities of people with the same interests and goals.
You’d be surprised to know the number of leads you can generate just by joining Facebook groups focused on real estate or people looking for a place.
So go ahead and put your search bar to good use!
9. Run ads on Facebook
The beauty of everything online is that you literally just have to lift one finger, and the word is out.
Running ads on Facebook is one of the quickest ways to spread the word about you far and wide.
Did you know that 190 million Americans spend 17.7 hours of their life every month on Facebook alone?
Which is why ads are another effective way to get leads.
With Facebook ads, you can target a specific demographic and invite them to land on your website, your Facebook page, or interact with your recent social media posts.
Boost that Facebook invite for an open house event so many eyeballs read the announcement.
After a while, assess whether Facebook ads are working for you or if you should shift your focus elsewhere.
10. Look for hashtags
Since you’re already getting active on social media, another way to get real estate leads is by utilizing hashtags.
This method works in two ways.
One, you attach specific hashtags to the photos and videos you share, especially on Instagram.
When someone on the app wants to look up a hashtag for #apartmentlistings or #openhouse for example, they could come across your profile.
You could also use other trending hashtags for real estate like #[city]realtor, #propertybuyer, or #homebuying.
Two, instead of being the one to use the hashtag, you can start your lead generation search through it.
Explore hashtags like #househunting, #apartmentsforrent, #urbanliving, or #[neighborhood/city]life.
Start reaching out to people under the tag who might seem like they could be potential clients.
11. Connect with influencers and online personalities
We’ve established this a hundred times before but we’ll say it again for impact:
Real estate is all about widening your network.
And “widening” your network sometimes means tapping the right people.
If you don’t have an extensive network of prospects, look for someone on your side with a wider reach, preferably online.
In today’s age, people who tick those boxes are mostly millennial online influencers and personalities.
Reach out to these personalities and offer your services or let them know what you do.
And if it ends well, they just might gush about you on their social media.
12. Create your website…
Make a professional website that can clearly and pleasantly represent what you can do for your potential clients.
It’s disappointing for anyone to check out the website on a business card only to find it so outdated, it looks like an elementary student made it.
Fill your website with relevant information about you: your email address, contact number, and office address.
Your copy should always center on what you can do for them — but keep it straight to the point.
Include beautiful photos of your listings since people are naturally attracted to pleasant imagery.
You can also have a section for short testimonials from clients you’ve worked with to support your credibility.
13. … And boost it with SEO and backlinking
What’s the first thing you do if you’re looking for a certain type of service?
You look it up on Google and probably click the first link that pops up.
This is exactly why your website needs to be optimized for SEO — so it ranks on top of Google searches.
Whenever people search for “real estate agent in [city]”, your website will sit on top of the searches so it’s the first thing they click on.
Now, SEO ranking isn’t an overnight process.
You have to look for the right keywords you want to target and focus on it for months.
You can also do something called “backlinking” on your website.
A “backlink” is basically a link from one website that will lead to another website or page.
In your case, you’d want to get a backlink from a credible real estate website or publishing site.
For example, if you get Zillow or Realtor.com to somehow link back to your website — that would boost you up the search rankings.
SEO ranking might not produce as many real estate leads in the amount of time you’d want it to but traffic to your site can increase inquiries.
From there, it’s up to you to convert your visitors into leads and clients.
14. Start a real estate blog
You’ve got your professional website for your future clients, now how about taking things a step further?
Publishing real estate blogs is a great way to drive organic traffic to your website and in turn boost your search ranking.
There are endless topics on real estate to write about.
You can focus on writing about common FAQs — what it’s like to be a first-time property buyer or what to expect when you hire a real estate agent in your city.
Write lists of the best places to find properties for families, couples, singles, students, employees, etc.
Give them a rundown of the locations in your city with the best view.
You can even give glimpses of your life as an awesome real estate agent and share how you became one.
Blogging is literally writing about anything under the sun!
The best part is you only have to take a few hours off to write and publish however frequently you want to.
But be consistent about it so it’s something your website visitors, newsletter subscribers, or social media page followers can look forward to.
15. Invest in pay-per-click advertising
If organic marketing is too slow for your liking, you can speed things up with pay-per-click (PPC) ads.
PPC puts your website on top of a Google results page so it’s the first thing that pops up when a specific keyword is searched.
Let’s say you want to rank for “Texas home for sale.”
As an advertiser, you’d have to bid to be on top for that keyword.
You also have to pay for every click that goes through.
But the space you bid for could be well worth the price, especially if you set up a powerful landing page to instantly convert potential real estate clients.
Online, exposure is key.
So anything that lands you on the first page of a search is worth trying.
16. Make your lead generation landing page better
Let’s say you’ve got high traffic on your sites thanks to your SEO and informative blogging.
But you can’t seem to convert them to leads.
That’s when you know you’ve got to step up your lead generation efforts.
Create a better lead generation landing page, not just a “Contact Us” portion at the bottom of your website.
A landing page is where your website visitors are supposed to “land” once they click your link.
It’s an effective marketing strategy with the primary goal to get information — name, email, company, etc.
You can reach out to these leads later to see if you can close a deal.
To make landing pages more exciting, usually websites promise their visitors an attractive exchange such as free trials, personality quizzes, etc.
As a real estate agent, you could give your visitors a brief one-on-one meeting for free.
How about an exclusive list of the best properties in the city or a short e-book on how to handle their first buy?
Real estate websites also work best if you’ve got multiple landing pages fit for all kinds of clients clicking on your site.
Have one for prospective buyers, prospective sellers, investors, listings, and more.
17. Work with a lead generation company
If you’ve got the money for it, you can work with real estate lead generation companies to make your life easier.
Pros?
No more digging lists and asking around for prospective clients for you.
The agency works its magic in the background and you wait for your moment to shine a.k.a close a deal on some quality leads.
Cons?
There are a lot of real estate lead generation companies out there and they don’t exactly charge cheap.
The best real estate lead generation services are from companies such as Market Leader, Zillow Premier Agent, and BoldLeads.
Check them out and you might find yourself closing deal after deal with ease.
18. Establish yourself as an expert
Being active on social media and having influencers boost your name is a great tactic.
But guess what, you’re not the only real estate agent in your town who’s thought of that.
What makes you different from the twenty other real estate dudes who are already in contact with your prospect?
This is where you have to make an effort to show everyone that you’re an expert they can trust.
Keep publishing relevant real estate content, conduct a seminar, and answer questions that relate to your expertise.
Soon, people will recognize you as an important resource.
Be confident and sweep them off their feet!
19. Host your own open house
In case you already didn’t know, open house events are an awesome way to source leads.
Everyone dropping by has one goal: Check out the place to see if it fits their dream lifestyle.
Before hosting one, make sure to send blast email invites to all your contacts and promote the event on your social media pages.
Once visitors arrive, have them sign contact sheets so you retain their info.
They might not be interested in that particular house but at least you know they’re prospecting.
After the event, you can reach out to them to thank them for dropping by.
And when they respond, you can ask which properties they’re interested in so you can go ahead and help them find it.
20. Host a free real estate seminar
It could be about what to expect for a first-time property buyer or how to successfully sell your property.
The point is, this seminar will position you as an expert in real estate.
You’re someone these people can reach out to and have their real estate questions answered.
And since your seminar is for free, trust that folks will fill up those seats — even virtually.
That’s your pool of potential leads.
During the seminar, you can start subtly marketing your services.
For example, you could tell them as a realtor, you’re privy to the best properties in a specific city.
Or say that you can present your clients with exclusive listings that are difficult to get access to on their own.
21. Get interviewed with well-known publications
One reason why you might not be getting clients is that people don’t know you — yet.
How will they know what you have to offer?
A way to get your name out there is to get a write-up published about you.
Reach out to local publications and lifestyle news outlets to see if they’re interested in running a story.
You could also sign up for PR email lists helping journalists connect with experts and leaders to quote in their publications.
These could be Help a Reporter Out (HARO), SourceBottle, Forbes Councils, or PitchRate.
22. Hand out business cards and flyers
Nothing is wrong with doing something that might be considered “old school.”
No, you don’t have to stick up fliers in poles all over the city like you’re looking for a lost pet.
You can print a few containing your important information and visit stores to see if they can keep them at the front desk.
Anyone anywhere could be a lead so you’re not really doing wrong if you do leave a stack at the local veterinary clinic.
And have your business cards ready at all times too.
You never know when it will be handy to give out.
23. Send out cold emails
Sure, cold emails can feel a bit like shooting darts blindfolded — you never really know if your dart will land.
But if at least two out of three end up on the board, it’s a cause for celebration.
In other words, cold emailing is a traditional method that’s still worth a shot.
Fact: A lot of people still dig around their emails and might stumble on yours.
You’d be surprised to find that response rates could go as high as 44% — a good number for potential leads.
The trick to success is getting your message right.
Personalize your emails, make them understand that you’re the solution to their problem.
You’re not asking them to buy houses and spaces, you’re helping them look for their new home.
Build a solid script that will reel them in and when they respond, it’s up to you to do the rest.
If you’re planning on sending out hundreds of cold emails, you should consider investing in a great CRM for real estate.
24. Give cold calling a shot
Now, this might be an old-school trick in the digital age but cold calling brought great results for many real estate agents in the past.
We know, we know, sitting at a desk and calling strangers for hours might seem like an intimidating task.
But it’s also the quickest way to reach out to someone who might need your service or at least be interested in it.
You get to immediately build rapport with them and touch base.
It’s inevitable some might hang up on you every once in a while but that’s part of the experience.
Look at cold calling as a practice to hone your communication and persuasion skills (and to build thick skin too).
Besides, if you’ve got a solid script — never ever forget the script — that will help you sound professional and help you deal with how to respond to a “no.”
25. Automated SMS messages and email marketing
Sending a bunch of people text messages and emails one by one is a time-consuming task.
But it’s a good thing we have innovation on our side.
You can just sign up for a great real estate CRM and it will let you send automated text messages and email campaigns in one click.
You’d be surprised to know that a study showed SMS open rates can be as high as 98% with a 45% response rate.
As opposed to emails which have a 20% open rate with only 6% responding.
When it comes to conversion, this is where it gets a bit tricky.
Text messages don’t give as strong an impact but it is the fastest way to reach a huge bunch of people.
When it comes to emails, drip email campaigns have been a time-tested effective method to generate real estate leads.
But you have to send well-thought-out content to pique the interest of potential clients.
With real estate CRMs to help you, you can even make them personalized.
Automated SMS and email campaigns can have you connecting or warming leads in no time.
26. Check divorce leads
CDC reported 746,971 divorces in 45 states in 2019 alone.
Imagine how many properties all those couples are itching to sell and get rid of ASAP.
This makes divorce leads a clever lead-generation strategy to get potential clients.
And with the rate the statistics are going, it could be a reliable and sustainable method too.
Get in touch with divorce lawyers and see if they have clients to whom you can offer your services to.
Or maybe you’ve got friends who are going through a divorce or they know someone who is.
It’s your chance to close a lead and help the couple move on with their lives.
But keep in mind that landing divorce leads require a lot of work for a real estate agent.
Couples who split might have conflicting ideas on how they want their joint property sold.
You will most likely have to deal with their attorneys and settle some hiccups and frustrations along the way.
If you really want to commit to this, you have to be a great listener and remember to be empathic all the time.
27. Hustle even on holidays
Most of your fellow real estate agents might be away for the holidays but not you.
You’re taking advantage of the fact that they’re out of town and you’re hustling.
Being available at a time when people normally aren’t sends a strong message to your community — you’re a hard worker who can prioritize your clients.
If you’ve got events and open-houses scheduled, give your property/listing a little holiday decoration.
You can even hand out holiday treats to match the occasion like candies for Halloween or sugar cookies for Christmas.
And don’t forget to snap photos of your themed listings and post it on your social media to attract potential leads.
28. Attend non-real estate events
You might be asking “What’s the point?”
The point is straying from events where thousands of other people have the same goal as you — to get clients.
You’ll most likely encounter more clients if you think outside the box.
Now, at a non-real estate event, every person attending is a prospective client you can charm.
Of course, you can’t just burst into a pottery class announcing you’re looking for leads.
Enjoy the event and when it’s appropriate, share what you do.
Don’t forget to give business cards to the people you just met.
Think of it like this: As a real estate agent, you have to learn how to cast a wider net to get a bigger catch.
29. Dig up older expired listings
Real estate agents typically reach out to owners of newly expired listings to see if they can do business.
You can do that too.
But you can also go one step further and dig deeper.
Think listings that have expired for more than a year now.
Maybe even longer.
Although looking for these might require you to do a bit of leg work, it’s still worth checking out.
Once you find an expired listing you think still has a chance, give the owners a call or send them an email to inquire about their plans for the property.
Then, share why you are the best real estate agent who can take care of their expired listing.
You might be surprised at the number of people with expired listings who just need a push in the right direction.
30. Skip tracing
Another great way to generate real estate leads is by utilizing skip tracing.
Other definitions of the phrase might mean locating a fugitive or a debtor who “skipped” town.
But don’t worry, you’re not out to find a criminal!
Skip tracing in real estate is simply a method used to locate a property owner and get their details — current address, phone number, email.
In real estate, it’s more of finding a contact for an abandoned property which you think still has potential in the market.
If you’re going down this lead-generation route, you should know that it’s not the easiest one.
Sometimes owners are difficult to find.
You would need the proper tools like SkipGenie, LocatePlus, or PropertyShark to track them down.
You also risk doing everything to track an owner down only for them to reject your proposal in the end.
Nevertheless, skip tracing is still a proven method to get real estate leads.
How to Turn Your Real Estate Leads Into a Closed Deal
So you finally have great ideas to generate real estate leads and you can’t wait to try them out.
But there’s just one problem.
How exactly can you successfully close a deal?
It’s one thing to get a lead and another to make the deal happen.
How do you make people cross that line from prospect to client?
No matter which strategy you’re going for when looking for leads, we’ve got a few things you should keep in mind!
First, always be prepared with a clear strategy.
It should be a separate one for potential buyers, sellers, and investors.
A strong and clear strategy involves deciding on your approach and planning how to follow up.
It also involves crafting the message you want your potential client to get.
A great real estate agent might look like they’re winging it, but in reality, everything they do is planned and thought of,
Second, let your client know you understand them.
You know what they want and you can help them accomplish it because you care about them.
It’s important to make your client feel that it’s about them and not about you looking to close a deal.
Listen to what they have to say so you know which strategy to approach them with.
That way, you can also come up with options they’ll most likely take.
Remember that while they are clients and a source of income, they are also human beings with problems to solve.
They’ve got the questions and you’ve got the solutions.
Third, show them you’re great at what you can do.
Sure, you’ve got a good strategy and a connection with a prospective client.
But are you the person for the job?
It’s time to flex what you can do and show them they’re in good hands.
Without being too bold or obnoxious, you can share a few things about your success with clients in the past.
Show them you’re an expert in the city and you know prime real estate spots depending on what they need.
Engage them in a conversation where they will realize they’re talking to an expert real estate agent.
That way they know they’ve got one of the best ones to work with.
Fourth, give them room to make their own choices.
We know, we know, you’re itching to close a deal.
But each client is different.
Some are easy to communicate with and even easier to get a deal with while some remain skeptical for a long time.
Again, the key here is to make them feel that they pull the ropes and make the decisions.
Come up with different options based on what they need to give them room to decide.
But the end result is the same — they close a deal with you.
Fifth and last, be honest.
Bluffing (and fluffing) isn’t going to get you anywhere.
If anything, that’s going to tarnish your rep.
Be upfront about the details your prospective client would want to know.
You should inform them of the fine print or if there are a few concerns with the property they’re eyeing or selling.
Being genuine and professional will resonate with anyone you’re working with so they know they’re getting the best offer.
Closing a lot of deals is great but keeping your integrity as you become known as a great real estate agent is something even better.
Those are just some of the ways you can turn your real estate leads into closed deals.
But there are so many techniques you’ll discover as you stay in the industry longer.
Combine these tips with ways to get real estate leads and you’ll be busy with clients in no time.
Conclusion
There you have it!
That’s 30 ideas for you to get real estate leads quickly and possibly never run out of them again.
If you’re new to the industry, expect it to be a bit of a challenge at first.
But you just have to remember to always find opportunities to keep expanding your network.
Be present on social media and don’t forget to ask your friends, family, and clients for referrals.
Most importantly, have a clear strategy for closing deals that will set you apart from all the others out there.
Following our tips and lead generation strategies should get you on track in no time!
Good luck!