Wondering how to find potential buyers or sellers in real estate? There are so many ways to find leads, and on some level all those ways work. It’s really about finding the ways that work for you best, and doing more of those.

Waiting for the phone to ring isn’t a strategy and tragically, that’s what many agents wait around for. Proactive prospecting is key. Here, we’ll explore 10 effective tactics to attract promising leads, foster connections with potential clients, and seal lucrative deals.

1. Create Your Plan for Finding Clients

To keep your search for clients organized, it’s important to write down a plan you can stick to. Here are some questions to think about:

Where will you look for clients?

How often will you search for clients?

What steps will you take to attract potential clients?

Once you’ve made your plan, mark time on your calendar for client-searching tasks. Try to make these tasks part of your daily routine. When it’s time to search for clients, stay focused and avoid distractions.

Remember, finding the best way to attract clients might take some trial and error. Test different ways of reaching out to see what works best for you. Your method for finding clients is unique to your business and is just as important as your ideas, so treat it with care.

2. Use Your Sphere of Influence

Think of your contact list as one of your most important assets as a realtor. Starting an email newsletter is a smart way to make yourself stand out. Many agents miss this chance, so it’s a great opportunity for you. I know you might feel overwhelmed with your workload, but think about the advantages.

Each time you send an email that adds value, you’ll be on your contacts’ minds. Email marketing helps you stay connected with your circle of friends and build relationships.

So, how do you start?. You can either put the content in a blog post, or create a landing page for it. Then, link it to your social media profiles. Also, think about adding opt-in forms to your real estate website.

When it comes to how often and what to include, it’s up to you. You could start with a newsletter every two weeks or once a month. Here are some ideas for topics:

Updates about the market

Local events

Highlights from the nearby farmer’s market

Fun activities for kids

Best places to eat locally

Remember, people love hearing about what’s going on in their community. So, keep your focus on local things. Think about topics like local golf courses, dog parks, yoga studios, coffee shops, hiking trails, places for fun, and family-friendly spots.

You can also connect your website content with your emails. Give a quick intro to your videos and blog posts in the newsletter, and include links to your website for people to see the full content. This will bring more people to your website and keep them interested in what you’re sharing for longer.

3. Learn from Your Competitors

If you want more leads fast, check out what your top competitors are doing. It saves you time and effort, especially if you’re new. Use tools like SimilarSites, Exploding Topics, or SimilarWeb to see where they’re getting online leads. Then, do what they’re doing.

For example, if big real estate companies get lots of visitors from Google, focus on improving your SEO too.

You might also see they get traffic from referrals and social media. So, put effort into those areas too. Spend some money promoting your business there.

When it comes to marketing and getting leads, don’t start from scratch. Copy what successful competitors do. It’s the quickest way to get going with a proven plan.

4. Try Direct Mail (Yep, It’s Still Around!)

Even though it might seem old-fashioned, direct mail can still work well.. Simply make flyers, postcards, or newsletters and send them to a carefully chosen list. The key here is consistency. Don’t just do it one time and expect results. Be sure you are sending at least 1x per month to start.

5. Prospect Expireds for Hot & Motivated Sellers

Calling expired listings is a great way to find new clients in real estate. These are easy opportunities because the homeowners already wanted to sell but their previous agent couldn’t do it. That’s where you step in. By reaching out to these motivated sellers, you can show them how you can help sell their home quickly and well.

6. Contact FSBO Listings

According to the 2023 NAR Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report, only 10 percent of home sellers chose to list their homes as for-sale-by-owner (FSBO). Even though FSBO sellers may believe they don’t need a real estate agent like you or want to avoid paying a commission, it’s still crucial to reach out to them because they’re interested in selling their homes.

When contacting these homeowners, it’s important to use a personalized approach and start with open-ended questions. You can also emphasize the fact that FSBO homes tend to sell for significantly lower prices compared to homes sold with the help of a real estate agent. Additionally, highlight your expertise in attracting buyers, managing paperwork, and expediting the sale process to demonstrate the value you can provide.

7. Automize Your Prospecting

Automation has changed how real estate professionals work, making things easier and better. It helps with tasks like finding leads, advertising, managing transactions, and talking to clients. With automation tools, agents can do things like sending emails, scheduling social media posts, and organizing documents automatically. This saves time, so agents can concentrate on important jobs and talking to clients. Automation also gives useful information through analytics and reports. This helps agents make better decisions based on data for more success.

8. Strategic Blogging

If you’re a realtor looking to leverage blogging for lead generation, it’s essential to integrate it into your overall marketing plan. Simply publishing sporadic blog posts won’t give optimal results. Instead, you need a well-thought-out, long-term strategy to maximize its effectiveness.

Your blog should serve as a platform to provide valuable information and insights to your audience. Consider topics that resonate with potential home buyers and sellers, addressing their common concerns and questions. For example:

Home Buying Tips

Selling Strategies

Local Market Insights

By incorporating strategic blogging into your marketing efforts, you can effectively attract and engage potential clients while establishing yourself as a trusted authority in your field. Consistently providing valuable content tailored to the needs of your audience will ultimately help drive leads and grow your real estate business.

9. Use Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads are super useful for real estate agents because lots of people use Facebook every day. You can control how much money they spend on ads and see how well they’re doing, so they can make changes to get better results and find more potential clients. Overall, Facebook Ads are a smart way for agents to get more leads and do well in the real estate market.

10. Maximize Your Reach with a Dialer

Using a dialer can significantly boost your productivity by allowing you to reach more homeowners in less time. With many other agents using dialers to reach prospects, manually dialing numbers puts you at a disadvantage.

In a market where timing is crucial, being the first to reach potential leads can make all the difference. While dialing by hand is time-consuming and inefficient, a dialer automates the process, enabling you to make multiple calls quickly and efficiently. By leveraging a dialer, you can increase your chances of connecting with homeowners before your competitors do, giving you a competitive edge in securing new leads.

In today’s fast-paced real estate world, it’s crucial to actively find potential buyers and sellers rather than waiting for them to come to you. To succeed in 2024 and beyond, agents need to use modern strategies and technology to attract clients.

By creating personalized plans and using tools like automation and online advertising, agents can reach more people and grow their businesses. From contacting expired listings to advertising on platforms like Facebook, there are many ways to find new clients. By embracing these methods and staying adaptable, agents can stay ahead in the competitive real estate market.