Discover Unique Ways To Secure Seller Leads In Real Estate
When it comes to your job as a REALTOR, there is one unavoidable truth: real estate seller leads are life.
We have discussed the best real estate lead generation in a general sense, but today's article specifically covers seller leads. Whether you’re the type to hoard thousands of lukewarm seller leads or foster a few scalding hot ones, they’re what drive your business – and your success.
Of course, if real estate seller leads were easy to come by and, more importantly, close, you wouldn’t be reading this post. That’s why we’ll be going over motivated seller leads today, giving you the information you need to… lead. See what we did there? =)
1. PURCHASING SELLER LEADS
This is a tricky one because, while purchasing real estate seller leads seems easy and effective, you need to focus on the right kind of motivated seller leads to purchase. Oftentimes, services will offer to sell you leads in bulk, sometimes thousands at once. The problem with this method is that the service will sometimes sell the same leads to many other agents in your area, causing a competition you don’t realize you’re a part of.
Services such as Zillow offer what’s called “Lead Impression,” which places an agent’s contact information next to one of their listings. The more you pay, the more times your information appears next to listings. There will be other agents alongside you on these listings, but it’s slightly different than the services above: this is designed to give the customer a choice, meaning that the person who ultimately chooses you, did so over others. This is more likely to be a successful lead.
2. SOCIAL MEDIA REAL ESTATE LEADS
Sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter can be excellent sources for some of the best real estate leads if utilized correctly. There are many ways to use social media for real estate to generate seller leads, the two most effective being listings posted on your page and Facebook advertising. Posting a listing is simple (and free): You can simply link to your MLS listing, add a photo with a catchy description, and post it to your wall for others to see. The other method is to pay for advertising, which is its own blog post. Here’s a link to Facebook’s advertising page for more information.
Twitter is another social media resource for real estate leads, albeit a little bit less effective. Twitter allows you to link to listings, reach out to past and potential customers, and make real-life connections that often translate to sales.
3. WEBSITE MOTIVATED SELLER LEADS
Many agents have their own web presence but aren’t making the most of it. One of the easiest ways to capitalize on a website or listing lead is to put lead capture forms throughout your site, asking potential sellers (and buyers) to leave their contact information. Websites not only let people know who you are but also what you specialize in and the area you focus on.
In addition to creating your web presence, there are ways to market your site even further. One way of doing this is a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign, in which you pay for services/partners to drive traffic to your site/lead capture form.
Not tech-savvy? That’s OK! There are website services focused on real estate, with agent success in mind. Companies, like our friend Morgan Carey’s Real Estate Webmasters, design, and host websites for real estate agents. They even offer marketing tools and SEO optimization, taking the guesswork out of the entire real estate lead generation process.
4. GEO-FARMING & DOOR-KNOCKING FOR LEADS
Sometimes effective marketing requires a boots-on-the-ground approach for real estate seller leads. =)
Farming a certain area and door-knocking, while often considered “old school” methods, are still very effective. These techniques allow you to gather a bunch of real-life prospects from a certain area, and reach out to potential customers personally. (While agents often door knock for seller leads, they might neglect buyer leads, and the old adage of “you don’t know if you don’t ask” applies here.) Get out there and ask around! Some of the best real estate leads are simply waiting to be approached. And, once you make contact, you’ll want to keep in touch with them – as well as with your friends and sphere – through email, so be sure to get the email addresses of any new leads. (That’s something Happy Grasshopper knows all about!)
5. REACH OUT TO FSBO & EXPIREDS FOR MOTIVATED SELLER LEADS
When you’re looking for the best real estate leads, don’t forget about some of the most obvious: FSBO & Expireds.
Yes, it’s true, these people have likely been contacted already by every agent within at least a 500-mile radius :), so it’s not enough just to reach out to the seller. You have to differentiate yourself from everyone else looking for real estate seller leads.
How do you do that?
Remember: it’s not just about selling. It’s about answering the big WHY – why the person’s property didn’t sell in the first place – and then creating the right strategy to sell it.
An especially effective tip for convincing your seller lead to sign with you is to offer them an incentive. Allow them to give you a list of people who have already seen the property and didn’t buy, and then offer the seller a reduced commission rate if any of those specific people end up buying the property through you. That way, your seller will feel better about themselves – that the time they’ve spent hasn’t been totally wasted – and about you.
6. REACH OUT TO YOUR SPHERE FOR REAL ESTATE LEADS FROM REFERRALS
My final tip is one of the most important – actually, it’s the most important. Past client referrals are the single best real estate lead source an agent can have: people you’ve worked within the past recommending you because they had a great experience. With referrals, it’s best to strike while the iron is hot and reach out to a customer early for best results. Here are a few suggestions:
Send a small closing gift, thanking them for their business (a warehouse club membership, movie tickets, etc.)
Send out business cards to customers, asking them to hand them out to people they know who might be considering buying or selling.
Reach out to your customers shortly after the sale, be sure to thank them, and offer your real estate services for the future.
