How To Get Clients In Real Estate (2023 Updated Guide!)

Are you looking to get real estate clients? With the right strategies, you can quickly learn how to generate real estate leads. Networking with other professionals in your industry, referrals from past clients, getting involved in your community, and building an online presence are all great ways to attract prospective clients. We’ve compiled a list of tips to help you build up your client roster and build the thriving real estate career you’ve always dreamed of.

Here are 14 ways to get clients in real estate:

1. Begin Networking Immediately

Networking is essential in real estate if you want to be successful. It can help agents connect with other professionals, build relationships with potential customers, and gain valuable industry insights. In short, networking is a process of building and nurturing relationships through social interaction or professional connections. There are many ways to network effectively as a real estate agent. 

2. Volunteer Your Skills & Time

As a real estate agent, networking is a great way to demonstrate your skills and knowledge to prospective clients. Organizing free-to-attend events like open houses or a Q&A session for first-time home buyers lets you meet potential clients face-to-face and win their business. You can develop an understanding of their wants and needs and show them how you can help them achieve their real estate goals. In today’s digital landscape, these events don’t always need to be held in person. You can field questions from buyers and sellers on a live stream or post a home walkthrough video on YouTube.

3. Join Professional Organizations

Joining professional organizations can provide brings you closer to your local real estate market. The best agents know how to collaborate with their peers. Getting involved with agents on your team or even from other brokerages helps you learn from the strengths of others and share the insight you’ve gathered yourself. 

Building relationships is beneficial because it can lead to referrals and exchanges of information about listings, opportunities, and market trends that could create profits both parties. Agents should take initiative by attending industry events and workshops to establish relationships with other agents. This helps build trust between agents, who can then work together and recommend one another’s services when they become aware of potential opportunities. Being active on online platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or networking groups also presents many chances to connect with other agents on a local, regional, or even global level. 

4. Stay in Touch With Your Sphere

If you want to generate real estate leads through networking, staying in touch with your new contacts is just as important as meeting them.

After establishing initial contact through event attendance, professional organization membership, or social media usage, it is important to follow up occasionally with those who are interested in working further. Even if you do not end up doing business together right away, it is still important to maintain the relationship since future collaborations may be possible depending on how circumstances change over time. 

Keeping in touch with past clients gives you a better chance of winning their business again in the future. Build lasting relationships with clients to demonstrate that you value them and are truly invested in their success. You can do this by commenting on their social media updates, sending a card or a gift during the holidays, or inviting them to future events. Keeping clients informed of market changes and trends through periodic newsletters or emails will also inspire trust and ensure that when it’s time for them to take the next step in buying or selling property, you’ll be the first one they call. Ideally, you want to be the first person they call with real estate questions. 

5. Ask Existing Clients For Referrals

Referrals are one of the most powerful tools for any business. Referrals are a way of building off your successful networking strategies. Finding the right real estate agent is challenging for many buyers and sellers. Instead of rolling the dice on an unvetted agent, most people would prefer to get a recommendation from someone they trust. 

Real estate agents can incentivize referrals in many ways, such as offering discounts on future transactions, sending gift baskets to those who refer their services, and providing gift cards for local stores or restaurants. Other more creative ideas for incentives could include hosting a client virtual meet-and-greet with a local influencer or arranging behind-the-scenes tours of exclusive housing developments. This will show them that their efforts were appreciated and encourage them to continue recommending your services in the future.

6. Earn Referrals From Other Agents

Earning referrals from other real estate agents is a little different than getting them from past clients. Most agents provide highly qualified leads in exchange for a referral fee. A referral fee is simply a payment that one agent provides another agent for referring their business, generally in the form of a percentage of the original transaction. This arrangement allows both agents to benefit, as the referring agent earns extra money while the referred agent gains access to new potential clients they may otherwise never have had. 

The amount of a referral fee will vary. 25% of the total sale commission is a good starting point. However, some referral fees can go as high as 40%. Especially high-profile deals or luxury real estate investments may charge a flat rate instead. 

If referrals from other agents become your primary source of new clients, you may consider working with a referral agent or joining a referral network. A referral agent in real estate is an individual or agency that helps provide clients with trustworthy and reliable services related to the sale or purchase of a home.  Selecting a knowledgeable referral agent with expertise in your local market can be hugely beneficial for anyone navigating the real estate process. It is important to consider if a particular agent is experienced working with buyers or sellers, as some specialize in specific transactions.

You can also get them from plenty of other people and companies in the real estate field around you. For example, you might be able to form a partnership with these types of real estate professionals:

• Appraisers
• Contractors
• Inspectors
• Mortgage brokers

Simply ask them if they’d be willing to recommend you to their clients. In turn, you can recommend them to your clients as they navigate the buying or selling process. It’s a win-win for both parties.

Establishing an internet presence is a must for real estate agents aiming to draw in new customers. Creating a website, growing your social media following, and collaborating with other online real estate influencers can make it easier to find you on the internet. 

7. Build a Real Estate Website

It’s important to build a real estate website that showcases your most recent listings. Make sure it’s easy to navigate, follows best SEO practices, and includes contact information so potential customers can easily reach out.

Optimizing content for search engines will help ensure your website appears in search results when people are looking for real estate agents in their area. Utilize keywords related to real estate, such as “buyer” or “seller,” throughout the text on your site, but make sure not to overuse them as this could have a negative effect on rankings. Additionally, consider adding visuals like photos or videos, which can help draw attention and keep visitors engaged while they browse through your real estate website.

Having a high-traffic website doesn’t translate to leads on its own, though. You need to make sure you’re able to follow up with people who are regularly visiting your site. Various software platforms and digital apps can help you track leads and reach out to them at the perfect time.

8. Post Regularly on Social Media

Social media networks like Facebook and Instagram are great tools for connecting with potential customers who may be interested in buying or selling a home. Create posts that highlight what makes you unique from other agents in the area – whether it’s special offers or additional services – along with helpful tips about the home-buying process that demonstrate expertise within the industry. Social media advertisements can be tailored to reach certain groups of people based on criteria such as location, age and interests; this is a cost-efficient approach compared to other forms of marketing like newspapers or radio.

Finally, don’t forget about review sites like Yelp, where past clients leave feedback about their experience working with you – having positive reviews here is key. Encourage satisfied customers to write reviews by providing links directly from your website or sending emails after closing deals; this will give potential buyers more confidence when deciding if they should work with you over another agent.

Just like with your website, online hits alone aren’t leads. You need to find ways to connect with individuals from your following if you want those likes to become transactions. 

As a real estate agent, sometimes you need to just put yourself out there. This process is known as outbound sales. Outbound sales is a strategy for which you reach out to potential customers instead of having them come to you. There are a few tried-and-true ways to practice outbound sales as an agent. 

9. Try Cold Calling

Cold calling campaigns can be an invaluable tool for real estate agents hoping to discover new clients. When done effectively, cold calling enables agents to reach out to hundreds of potential customers in a timely and cost-effective manner. By providing quick, current information on market trends, pricing, area availability and more, agents can benefit from effective conversations with potential customers and help them find the ideal home or property.

To make this process more successful, agents need a reliable source of phone numbers that remain up-to-date. Agents can also find numbers through public records searches, lists of recently opened or purchased properties, or through online directories or yellow pages. Whatever the source of the numbers, it’s crucial for real estate agents who plan to use them to ensure they have all the required permissions before initiating a cold call campaign.

10. Start Door-to-Door Campaigns

Door-to-door campaigns may be a traditional way of marketing, but they can be hugely beneficial for real estate agents. By taking their services directly to the doorstep of potential clients, real estate agents can create greater awareness about the range of services they offer without having to invest in expensive advertising campaigns. 

You can use market research strategies to discover the best neighborhoods for this technique. Introducing yourself face-to-face makes it easier to break into communities where you don’t have much experience already. 

11. Offer Free Services

Everyone knows that selling a home is one of the most expensive things someone will do in their lifetime, so do your best to appease sellers’ apprehension by offering some free services. For example, if you include professional photography in your services, that can save the seller a few hundred dollars. Make sure you mention all of these added benefits in your advertising to help make yourself stand out from the competition.

You should also be offering a free comparative market analysis to all clients—even before they sign on with you. Sure, it’s a little more work for you, but it doesn’t cost you anything extra and can make sellers more willing to partner with you. It shows that you are professional, and you can use it as a way to build brand awareness.

12. Host Open Houses

Open houses are often a realtor’s best friend because they give you the chance to network with interested home buyers and sellers all in one place. Many realtors include an open house sign-in sheet where guests can write their names, email addresses and phone numbers—which you can then use to get in touch with them later. *Tip: Add them straight to your CRM, or check out our list of the best real estate CRMs so that they get added into a nurturing funnel.

But, what if you have a client who is opposed to an open house? You might be able to see if another realtor is interested in you hosting an open house for them. Often, experienced realtors are busy and don’t have time for open houses, so they’ll appreciate the help.

13. Contribute to Podcasts or News Articles

If you really want to get your name or brand out there as a knowledgeable agent, one way to do that is by contributing to the local media. You can offer up your expertise and act as a source for journalists, and you can position yourself as an expert in your field.

When people are reading an article where you’re quoted, they’ll turn to you if they have more questions or want help selling or buying. The same goes for jumping onto a real estate-related podcast as a guest. The more chances you have to show off your expertise in the industry – the better.

14. Buy Real Estate Leads

Perhaps the easiest way to get leads in real estate is to buy them from one of the best real estate lead generation companies. These companies advertise on your behalf to acquire customers with an interest in either selling or buying a home. Then, they’ll provide you with these potential clients’ contact information so you can reach out immediately. When you look at a list of the best places to buy real estate leads, you often get top-quality leads from online ads, social media, the MLS, brokerage/listing sites, and more  – which ultimately drive home sales and your commission.

Are You Ready to Find More Real Estate Clients?

From networking and referrals, to online presence and advertising, there are plenty of ways to find new real estate clients and grow your business. No matter which route you pursue, forming meaningful connections is essential to obtaining real estate clients. With hard work and dedication, you can blend all of the strategies above to create a diverse and steady stream of business.