If you're a buyer's agent who has yet to make the transition to a listing agent, blaming the market is totally acceptable. We understand. It's not easy out there. Excuses, on the other hand, will not load your CRM with leads. If you want to create a long-term real estate profession, you must learn how to receive listings regardless of market conditions. The procedure is straightforward, but not simple: Make a convincing offer to homeowners, then persuade them that you can obtain them the greatest price in the quickest amount of time with the least amount of worry.
1. Plan Weekly Calls With Your Sphere
Cost: Free
Time to create a listing: weeks to months
Agent Skill Level: Inexperienced agents
Whether the ink on your license is still wet or you've been a Realtor for decades, there is one tried-and-true approach to receiving listings that is simple, predictable, repeatable, and efficient: weekly calls to your sphere of influence. This is especially effective if you are a newer agent because the individuals in your sphere are the most likely to know, like, and trust you with the biggest and most important financial transaction of their lives. It really is that easy.
Don't worry, I'm not proposing you make a hard sell to your Aunt Tina over the phone at dinnertime. All you have to do is contact others in your network and discuss your common interests and connections. Then, at the end of your call, add one short script:
"If you know anyone who is thinking about selling their home, I would love to show them how I can sell it faster and for a higher price."
2. Create Facebook And Display Network AdsThat Target Homeowners
Cost per lead: $20-$100
Time Required to Create a Listing: Days-Weeks
Level of Agent Skill: New agents-experienced brokers
If you want to speed up the process and quickly identify leads that could turn into listings, learning how to run efficient Facebook and Google Display Network advertisements is your best chance. Yes, running and optimizing advertising can be costly and time-consuming, but the potential payback is enormous. Why? The more ads you run, the more opportunities there are to improve them and discover what works and what doesn't.
You might be shocked to hear that almost every lead generation firm that agents pay for uses the same tactics for generating seller leads online.
3. Discover How To Locate Hidden Listing Inventory That Other Agents Ignore
Cost: Free
Time to create a listing: weeks to months
Agent Skill Level: Mid-level agents with experience
When inventory is scarce, savvy listing agents get inventive. Rather than simply downloading REDX and phoning the same 20 FSBOs as every other agent, they delve a little deeper and look for fresh, creative ways to get listings. There is hidden listed inventory out there, believe me. You only need to locate it and discover how you may assist the owners in selling it.
4. 'Skip To The Front Of The Line' for Exclusive Seller Leads
Cost: $139 a month plus $25 or more per lead
Time to create a listing: instantaneously
Agent Skill Level: Mid-level agents with experience
If you don't have the time to implement your own lead generation plan, you may want to consider outsourcing it. One simple method to accomplish this is to purchase Market Leader's exclusive seller leads and conversion training. Every month, for one flat monthly fee, you will receive a guaranteed number of leads to work with.
5. Discover How To Prospect FSBOs (The Correct Way)
Cost: Free
Time to create a listing: weeks to months
Agent Skill Level: Mid-level agents with experience
Whatever the market conditions are, there will always be those who believe they can get a better bargain by listing their home without an agent. People are stubborn, even when a 30-second Google search or a talk with virtually anyone even marginally experienced with real estate will tell them this isn't true. As a result, FSBOs are an excellent source of listings in any market, including the current one.
6. Work As A Junior Agent On A Team Or Find A Mentor
Free + 25% of your commission
Time to create a listing: weeks to months
Agent Skill Level: Inexperienced agents
Look, I understand. Working as a "junior" realtor for someone else is not why you became a Realtor. Why should you work for someone else when other new agents are out there developing their personal brands and crushing them on their own? Because a month of working under a successful listing agent will teach you more about attracting seller clients than six months of $5,000 coaching classes. You will also learn more than you could from any other article.
What is the distinction? Market information on a hyperlocal scale. The top listing agents know your neighborhood better than anybody else. Perhaps more crucially, they are virtually always certain of what they know. Deals are closed when people are confident.
If you're not sure about joining a team, think about finding a mentor. That's how Leilani Serrao-Baker acquired her first listing as a California listing agent and team leader among the top 11% of Douglas Elliman agents globally. Leilana says:
"I interviewed highly experienced agents and brokers and discovered an incredible mentor who taught me how to be a listing agent who prioritizes the needs of her clients and employs strong, productive techniques to achieve the best possible results for her clients." That gave me the courage to pursue listings."
Her suggestion to newer agents who are having difficulty obtaining their first listing:
"Don't give up. Look for a mentor who is enthusiastic about educating and helping you. Never give up. Most individuals give up just when they are about to strike gold."
7. Knock On Doors In Neighborhoods Where You Want Listings
Cost: Free
Time to create a listing: instantaneously
Level of Agent Skill: New agents-experienced brokers
When I mention "door knocking" to new agents, their eyes light up with horror and they swiftly change the subject. Others promise to do it, but when Sunday afternoon arrives, they find excuses to stay slumped over their laptops, attempting to go famous on Instagram.
This is a tremendous blunder. One of the finest ways to demonstrate to homeowners that you are confident and market-savvy enough to obtain the best price for their house is to knock on their door. So, if you want listings, you must overcome your fear of door-knocking.
8. Prioritize Your Mission, Vision, And Values
Cost: Free
Time to create a listing: weeks to months
Level of Agent Skill: New agents-experienced brokers
If you're a frequent Close reader, you're probably tired of hearing me repeat it. However, prior you even think about trying to gain listings, you should focus on your mission, vision, and values (MVV).
Even if you've already completed this work, it may be appropriate to revisit your MVV if you want more listings. Before attempting to become a listing agent, take a step back and consider how you are uniquely positioned to assist sellers. Matching with purchasers is simple—they simply want someone they like to open doors and guide them through the process. Working with homeowners is far more difficult.
What you offer and how it benefits them are more important factors in a homeowner's choice of agent. However, you cannot be everything to everyone. That is why concentrating on your own purpose, vision, and values is a critical first step in attracting and hiring the appropriate sellers.
9. Distribute Only Sold Postcards
Postcards range in price from 50 cents to 77 cents.
Time to create a listing: weeks to months
Level of Agent Skill: New agents-experienced brokers
Sending out good old-fashioned just-sold postcards is a terrific way to get or stay top of mind in your farm region. They may not garner you many likes on Instagram, but they are a fantastic way to get or stay top of mind in your farm area. After all, they demonstrate to homeowners that, unlike some agents, you truly close deals.
While not every population reacts well to postcards, one important group does senior adults with a lot of equity in their houses. It will get better. According to National Association of Realtors data, the average age of house sellers will rise to an astonishing 60 years old in 2022. That means that the ordinary house seller is far more likely to respond to your postcards.
Tina Van Den Hurk, senior director of luxury sales at Douglas Elliman, obtained her first listing from a recently sold postcard from a transaction on which she worked as a buyer's agent. If you want to try this method, make sure to get permission from the listing agent first, especially if you want to utilize photos of the home.
"My first listing came from a recently sold postcard, as a result of my first-ever real estate sale in 2014 in a condo building on the Galt Mile." The owners held my just sold postcard for three months because they were only here seasonally, and then called me three months later."
10. Convert Open House Attendees (Really)
Cost: Free
Time to create a listing: weeks to months
Agent Skill Level: Entry-level to mid-level agents
Open homes are one lead-generating method that agents despise. Many listing agents ignore them, and some brand-new agents believe they are a waste of time. One group of people, however, enjoys open houses: nosy neighbors who own surrounding properties.
OK, I understand what you're thinking. The likelihood of a neighbor who has to sell her house tomorrow attending your open house is slim to none. However, this method allows you to meet homeowners in the community while giving you an excuse to talk about real estate. Remember that many purchasers need to sell their current property before purchasing a new one, thus house hunters can also be a source of listings.
Still not persuaded that open houses might be an excellent strategy to obtain listings? What if I told you that Los Angeles Realtor and star of CNBC's "Listing Impossible" Yawar Charlie wishes he spent more time at open houses attempting to locate sellers?
"I've always viewed open houses as a chance to find a buyer rather than a listing." I wish I had approached it differently, seeing it as an opportunity to meet neighbors, tell them about what I could do for them, and perhaps pick up new listings in the area."
11. Close The Deal Using Our Listing Appointment Checklist & Scripts
Cost: Free
Time to Create a Listing: Days
Level of Agent Skill: New agents-experienced brokers
Even if you're the LeBron James of seller leads, they're useless if you can't close them and list the house. That is why mastering the art and science of delivering a listing presentation that persuades them to hire you is critical.