22 Underrated Strategies to Get More Seller Leads (2024 Updated!)

Jim Gray, Lead Generation Expert11/2/2024

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Seasoned agents know that seller leads are magical.  Frankly, they take a lot less hand-holding to seal the deal. Only downside is, they’re harder to get than buyer leads, which there are an overabundance of.

And while seller leads are hard to come by, they’re not impossible. We’ve taken some of the best strategies in the book and compiled them into this article. Read on to find out valuable tips to get seller leads.

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2. Fighting Low Inventory

Lately it’s been a seller’s market. This means that there’s plenty of potential buyers but not a lot of sellers. And with few sellers, you are less likely to get one knocking on your door.

However, you can overcome this issue by finding hidden inventory. There are plenty of ways to do this including:

  • Talking to top producing agents
  • Scouting abandoned properties
  • Networking with home builders
  • Converting FSBOs
  • Prospecting expired listings
  • Converting rentals into listings
  • Helping homeowners in pre-foreclosure
  • Developing relationships with banks and credit unions
  • Working with divorce, bankruptcy, and pre-probate lawyers

3. Drive Traffic to Home Valuation Landing Pages

Here’s the thing – a homeowner may be more likely to sell if they know what their home is worth. It can help to entice them with a home valuation landing page. After finding out how much they’ll make off the home, it may motivate them to make a move.

Matt WardThere are tons of ways to drive traffic to a home valuation landing page including blogs, social media posts and so on. But for the best results, you may want to sign on with one of the best real estate lead generation companies. They’ll provide top of the funnel seller leads that have been A/B tested so you get the prospects you need with less headaches.

Joining a team with well-known listing agents is a great way to get seller leads. You can learn invaluable secrets from this top team which is making millions of dollars by helping people buy and sell houses.

It will help you to build connections in your farm area which is worth getting more seller leads. (from Matt Ward, Licensed agent in Nashville, Tennessee)

4. Work with Expired Listings

An expired listing usually means that the last agent was unable to sell the home. They can be found on sites like MLS and REDX.

dustin fox headshotGetting sellers off expired listings can be challenging. You will first need to decide how you are going to contact them. A phone call, text or email are all viable options. You will also need to find out why their home didn’t sell and convince them that you can do what their agent didn’t.

Basically, it’s a numbers game and the more expired listings you talk to the more likely you will be to succeed.

Almost all first time sellers choose the wrong agent. When the agent can’t sell their home, it eventually turns into an expired listing. These expired listings can be a great source for you to find some seller leads!

However, just like any cold outreach, it would not be a good idea to wing it. You should optimize a lead source and an autodialer like Vortex or REDx. You should practice tried and true scripts along with objection handlers. By doing these, you can expect a good conversion rate. (from Dustin Fox, Licensed agent in Fairfax, Virginia)

5. Join a Team of Well-Known Agents

A real estate team comes with its share of advantages and disadvantages, but if you work with trained professionals, they may be able to turn you on to seller leads or teach you strategies for finding seller leads.

You can also try networking with top producers in your area. You’d be surprised how far that will get you.

Scott-Berens-Sales-Director

One way is to compile a list of all homeowners in your area who have recently sold their homes. You can then reach out to these homeowners and ask them how they found their real estate agent. This will help you identify any real estate leads who may be interested in listing their home with you.

Another way to get seller leads is by running targeted ads on social media and search engines. You can use specific keywords and phrases that homeowners are likely to use when searching for a real estate agent. This will help you attract more leads interested in working with a seller’s agent.

Lastly, you can also generate seller leads by networking with other real estate professionals. Attend local real estate events and meet-ups, and introduce yourself as a seller’s agent. You never know who you might meet, and they may be able to refer you to some great leads. (from Scott Berens, Licensed agent in Los Angeles, California)

6. Network with Local Businesses

Local business owners are like influencers in their communities. If you use the right networking tactics, you can win them over, and get referred to their customers.

While knocking on doors and coming into their stores can be helpful, you can really seal the deal by doing writeups about their business in your blogs and posts.

News Flash: Local business owners in your neighborhood know a lot of people! So, if you can build a good relationship with them, you’ll be able to effortlessly generate a good number of seller leads.

Try things like,

  • Offering them a collaboration that benefits both sides
  • Thinking of unique ways like interviewing the local business owners (by posting the interviews on your blogs and social media channels, you can build a great deal of local content that your leads will be interested in)

(from Dustin Fox, Licensed agent in Fairfax, Virginia)

7. Work with Homeowners on the Brink of Foreclosure

Speaker,By,Asking,Questions,During,The,SeminarWhen homeowners fall behind on their payments, they often have two choices – selling their home or going into foreclosure. You can find out homeowners that are in pre-foreclosure by accessing public records or by purchasing them through a site like REDX.

If the homeowner agrees to work with you, you can help them in taking steps to avoid foreclosure. The methods to use will vary from state to state depending on local laws so you’ll need to research carefully.

Helping them out will keep them from ruining their credit by foreclosing and it will get you an opportunity to sell. It’s a win-win.

8. Find Seller Leads in Your Sphere

Some agents go out of their way to find seller leads when they are better off looking in front of their faces.

The contacts in your sphere will be more likely to convert since there’s already an existing relationship. You can make yourself more visible by going to local events, staying in contact via email and social media, by supporting community causes and more. Here’s the math: the more connections you make and maintain + the more clients you are likely to get.

9. Create a Strategy for Lead Nurturing

A lead nurturing strategy takes a combo of methods that need to be executed over time. These include,

  • phone calls
  • emails
  • social visits
  • and so on.

You can keep on top of where your clients are at in the funnel and next steps by automating your campaign through your favorite CRM (if you don’t have one, check out our list of the best real estate CRMs). That way you’ll never miss out on a chance to reach out.

10. Convert Renters into Sellers

Real,Estate,Brokerage,Contracts,For,Sale,And,Rent,With,InsuranceIt’s good to find clients that are renting, but it’s even better to find those that are selling. Selling means a bigger profit.

You can convert your renting clients into selling clients by educating them on how much their home is worth as well as mentioning the drawbacks of renting including maintenance, collecting rent and so on.

11. Try the Cold Call

Let’s be honest, cold calling is something that everyone dreads. But statistics show that the human connection made in one phone call is as effective as sending out 10 postcards. Bonus, it’s also a lot cheaper.

Set aside a few hours a day to cold call focusing on FSBOs and expired listings.

12. Build a Network of Local Service Providers

Paint,Roller,On,The,Wall,During,Painting,-,Renovation,OfWhen it comes to selling a home, local service providers have an ear to the ground. After all, if someone is selling, they’ll need renovations. So, a serviceperson who installs replacement windows or paints houses may hear about a sale before anyone else does.

Just like any other business, when it comes to networking with service providers, it’s all about, you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Do a writeup of their company and they’re likely to call you first when they hear that someone in the community is ready to sell.

13. Work Open Houses

When you’re having an open house, many of the people that come will be looking to get out of their existing situation, which could mean they are ready to sell. You can obviously figure this out through casual conversation but either way, be ready to make yourself known and hand out plenty of business cards.

14. Send Out Postcards

I know we previously mentioned that cold calls may be more effective than mailings, but that doesn’t mean we think you should eliminate postcards from your campaign.

When sending out real estate postcards, don’t merely advertise your services. Hit the fun stuff too. Mail out birthday greetings, congratulatory cards and more. This will increase your odds of being the first one they call when they’re looking to sell.

15. Network with House Flippers and Real Estate Investors

Real estate investors and house flippers buy and sell properties for a living. If you want more selling clients, network with them, and let them know how you can aggressively market their properties to bring in a profit.

ashley chambers headshotMost real estate investors rely on relationships, word of mouth, and references for distressed seller leads. Some real estate investors take the initiative to look at places like Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, FSBO, Zillow, Realtor.com, etc.

Off-market distressed property sellers will literally come to you if you target people who are very motivated to sell their house and sell it fast. Talk to them, negotiate pricing, terms, and timelines so that an investor never has to even meet a seller.

Your marketing efforts for investor leads, leave you with an over-flowing pipeline of property owner leads that are desperately looking for Real Estate Investors. Primarily Cash Buyers, Hard Money Flippers, and Private Money Investors. (from Ashley Chambers, Licensed agent in Los Angeles, California)

16. Try Working a New Niche

If you have tried everything and you’re still not getting seller leads, you may consider working a new niche. For example, if you are working in condos, you may try vacation properties. If you’re working with farm properties, you could try garden properties. And so on and so forth.

You never know what will be hot with sellers!

17. Change Your Content Angle

We all know content is king. It engages and educates potential buyers and sellers and establishes you as a thought leader in your field.

If you want to bring in sellers, try changing your content angle so it appeals to them. Publish articles with topics like “What You Need to Do to Get Top Dollar for Your Home” and “How to Sell Your Home in a Buyer’s Market”. Distribute content via social media, groups, and blogs. The leads should start coming in soon enough.

Jason

If you can feed prospects knowledge through your blogs they may turn into your leads for sure. Writing creative ideas, sharing event information, experiences, adding your clients’ testimonials helps to grow business.

Hashtag research– Researching social media can educate you with tons of knowledge. You can learn more about marketing ideas, clients’ demand, current market, etc. Hashtag research is tricky but useful research among these.

Facebook and Instagram hashtags tell such ideas where you can also find cities, prices, and other things according to your choice. And, eventually helps you to attract standard leads. (from Jason Simard, Licensed agent for 7+ years)

18. Work with Lawyers

People that are dealing with a bankruptcy, or a divorce of probate issues may be looking to sell their home.

Try networking with lawyers that deal in these fields. They may just hand out your card to clients who are looking to change locations. Providing writeups for their services may get you the in you need to have them recommending your services.

19. Host an Event

trey langford headshotEach year, we host two Client and Friends Appreciation Parties. It is expensive but a solid marketing investment.

Last spring we rented the entire zoo after hours and this year we reserved the entire private party section at the local minor league baseball team in front of third base. We will have several drawings for giveaways and participation at the event, like throwing first pitch.

We expect around 700 people so it is a big deal and we look like a big deal! The event is awesome and people walk away not only having a great time but also talking about it. We love it when people talk about us.

What are the results? We have already had a consistent stream of listings in 2022 and just last week one of my invitees called me up to sell their home. That lead alone will pay for this year’s event.”(from Trey Langford, Licensed agent for 7+ years)

20. Facebook Ads with a Purpose

shad headshot

Local vendor relationships are the online counterpart of targeted Facebook marketing. Targeted Facebook advertisements, similar to how wedding coordinators connect you with newlyweds, attorneys with divorcees, and moms groups with growing families, focus on specific interest groups.

If you are already doing lead generation efforts on Facebook, take a moment to examine your area and audience.

Facebook advertisements can be used to target segments of your present audience or interest groups with whom you would like to collaborate in the future. (from Shad Elia, Licensed agent for 20+ years)

21. Target Specific Neighborhoods

Martin headshot
One of the strategies that has served me well when it comes to finding sellers is targeting neighborhoods with the right demographics.
The perfect one has a lot of empty nesters who will soon be downsizing or retiring to warmer climates, but still has the quality of life features young families are looking for; walkability, good parks, and good schools especially.
If you can successfully manage a sale for one older couple in a neighborhood like this, you’re going to have a great source of leads for years to come. (from Martin Orefice, Licensed agent in Orlando, Florida)

22. Get Involved

marina headshotGet involved in the community. Sponsor food drives, back-to-school events, nonprofit events, your local YMCA, and so on.

Real estate is a purely networking-based industry, which means that success is determined by how many people you know, how strong your network is, and, frankly, how many people like you.

That all starts with becoming a household name in your community. The more your name is attached to positive things like charities and nonprofits in your community, the more people think about you when they’re looking to buy or sell their house.

Moreover, these events tend to be cheap to sponsor. You can easily sponsor a local YMCA event with $100-$200. (from Marina Vaamonde, Licensed agent from Houston, Texas)

About the Author

Jim Gray got licensed in 2013 and sold 57 houses in his first year. Over the next 6 1/2 years he went on to sell 437 homes with a small team. He went on to manage the lead generation department of the 13th largest expansion team at Keller Williams and designed lead generation and conversion systems for 60 agents in 7 locations in 4 states that drove 600 home sales in a 2 year period. Jim currently does real estate team development and coaching for some of the largest real estate teams in the country.

Last Updated: 11/2/2024