The main objective of any business is to find more buyers for their products. In the real estate business, it’s no different. Finding buyer leads for real estate is on every agent’s to-do list.
But it’s not easy to find home buyers. People don’t buy houses often like they do clothes or shoes. And not everyone is in a stable financial position to be able to afford a house. So agents must tap into a very limited market in order to find buyer leads for their listed properties.
The best way to get more real estate buyer leads is by being trustworthy and helpful in your community. Share your expertise among peers, on social media, and through your website, then engage with potential buyer market niches. Engaging and interacting with your community is the best way to gain their trust and make sure they come to you when it’s time for them to buy.
At the end of the day, what the buyer really cares about is getting a great home. But real estate buyers have a lot of concerns throughout their buying journey. So agents need to be aware of what home buyers really care about and by following these strategies, you'll be able to answer 99% of buyers’ concerns.
1. Educate potential real estate buyers
By default, a real estate agent is an expert on homes and properties. And sharing that knowledge among community peers can go a long way.
According to the National Association of Realtors, more than half of all buyers in 2021 used either an agent they knew or an agent referred to them by someone from their personal sphere.
Your own contact list is a rich lead source, but most real estate agents aren’t maximising this opportunity. The best way to start creating contacts is by engaging your own community.
Speaking to the real estate blog of The Close, Jamie Klingman, an agent with the Klingman Group, says helping those buying their own home to make better, informed decisions will most likely make them come back to you when they’re ready to buy.
“A great way to generate buyer leads is to identify a niche of buyers and immerse yourself in their world and culture,” she continues.
“For example, young professionals are often ready to buy after a year or two in their new jobs. Understand where they hang out, what types of homes they would be buying, and really educate yourself on all aspects of what would make an agent appealing to them.”
Jamie believes that “understanding different buyers and their specific needs and wants leads to not only one lead, but often a large pool of clients!”
2. Find home buyers from your community and build a bond
Getting to know potential homebuyers and sharing your knowledge with them is just the first step. A good way to make sure they come to you when it’s time for them to move into their own home is by being someone they trust.
In anyone’s life journey, buying your own home is one of the biggest decisions you can make. Going to someone you trust to guide you through the process is only natural. So you need to make sure that the leads in your professional sphere trust you.
Within communities, there are networks that people gravitate toward and organisations that people care about – communities of faith, sports leagues, nonprofits, and, of course, schools.
Inserting yourself into the local school community and becoming a resource is a great way to earn the trust of the biggest homebuyers: families with children.
Even in the modern digital era, going old-school and building strong human-to-human bonds is the best way to generate more buyer leads.
Be trustworthy and truthful; even if you don’t know something, say that you don’t know.
Being upfront about everything and maintaining healthy human relationships will not only make your professional sphere come to you when they’re looking to buy, but also more likely to refer you to their contacts, which will generate a whole new pool of leads for you.
3. Be interactive, not static
One of the biggest mistakes that many real estate agents make is the way they use social media platforms to create interest. Most real estate agents write their post, put it together with a killer design, and then run the ad. At that point they’ll sit back and wait for leads to come in.
But what does a real estate buyer really look for?
Is it the most well-written copy or is it a bewitching design? Well, the answer is neither.
Homebuyers have a lot of questions. So agents should utilise their social media platforms to interact and answer these questions, rather than just posting ads and waiting for leads to come in.
Take it from the name itself: Social media is a place for socialising. So make sure you engage with your audience on social media and keep them hooked.
Answer questions and be helpful. That way not only will you get to know more about the needs of your leads, but when you call them for the first time, they’ll be more inclined to listen to you since you’ve previously interacted with them.
Also be sure to utilise videos to communicate your message.
Considering that the average attention span on the internet is about 8 seconds, few people are going to read your 1000-word blog post about why you’re the best choice for a buyer’s agent in your city.
But many, many more of those people will watch you say the same thing on a TikTok or in an Instagram Story. Videos are also the best way to show off your properties!
4. Treat your renters as potential buyers
Almost every single homebuyer is renting an accommodation before deciding to purchase their own property.
Real estate agents can use this to attract more potential buyer leads. Rental communities are prime targets for marketing and direct mail marketing is still an incredibly effective strategy for generating real estate buyer leads.
It’s easy to attract renters interested in buying a home by targeting residents of apartment complexes or condos with direct mail campaigns.
Your campaign should address the common pain points of renters, such as a lack of privacy and outdoor space; parking and storage issues; and an inability to customise or renovate their dwelling. Hit where it hurts and you’ll definitely get a bunch of leads to reach out to.
You can also use a rent vs buy calculator to show renters the financial benefits of owning vs renting. It can be sent in an email campaign to targeted leads and past rental clients, or even posted on your social media. Try this our free mortgage calculator template.
5. Make your website pop
Your website is a spider web for leads! And if you don’t treat your website like one, then you should start doing that right now. By treating it as a spider web, we mean that you should make sure that everyone who passes through your website sticks!
In order to do that, you need to make sure your website is optimized for maximum conversions.
A conversion is when your website visitors interact with your website and perform an action that you wanted them to. This action could be anything from spinning a fortune wheel to leaving their contact details as a lead.
Think about this from the perspective of a potential customer: When a visitor lands on any website, they want to know exactly how your services can help them.
And it’s no different when it comes to a real estate buyer. They have a lot of questions on their mind when coming to your website and you need to make sure you answer most if not all of those questions before they leave.
Only then will they start to believe that you’re the right agent to help them buy and then they’re more likely to convert. To improve the appeal of your property listings, consider using real estate lightroom presets, which can give the photos a professional touch.
In order to collect as many leads as possible, use various tools to improve the conversion rate of your website.
Some examples of conversion tools are chatbots, smart popups, and dynamic forms, but there are hundreds of tool options available on the market.
These tools are designed to interact with your visitors and improve your website’s user experience. Most importantly, your buyers will be able to receive help much faster, resulting in a higher conversion rate for your website.
Do your own research and decide which tools would be the best fit for your website. Then off you go to build your own spider web for leads.
Final thoughts
In summary, real estate is a business that relies largely on trust.
Before you do anything else, make sure you do everything possible to gain the trust of your existing and potential customers. Buying a home is one of life’s biggest decisions and everyone wants to buy from someone they trust.
Being a resource to your community and targeting prime homebuyer niches such as young professionals, renters, and families with children will put you a step ahead of the competition in generating quality leads.
But always remember to be truthful. If you break trust even once, it’s likely to be broken forever.
Don’t forget to read more about what real estate seller leads care about and how to grow a real estate customer loyalty database!
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