Real estate agents are constantly looking for new ways to gain leads and build business. This is necessary for those who plan to make a living as a realtor. Overall, there are two types of leads: paid and earned. Paid leads are exactly as they sound – you pay another person or online resource to find leads on your behalf. Although this saves an enormous amount of time and energy on the realtor’s part, these lead generation sources can end up costing a fortune.

Earned leads, on the other hand, are also highly effective and much less expensive than the paid ones. However, you will be paying for these leads, not with money, but with your time, energy, and dedication. How much effort you put into gaining your own leads generally corresponds to how much you will get in return.

Tom Ferry, a highly-ranked real estate educator, noted that in 2014, NAR reported 87 percent of real estate agents fail or quit within the first five years. We don’t want that to happen to you! We hope that with some of these tricks to earn your leads, our realtor followers will be in the 13 percent that are successful.

There are plenty of creative ways you can earn leads for free, but we’re going to focus on six to get you started: special events, networking, email newsletters, social media, taking advantage of resources already available to you, and thinking outside the box.

Through these six avenues, you should be able to expand your sphere of influence by a large margin. Your continuous goal should be to make new ‘touches’ every week and expand your influence in a way that makes people remember you.

Special Events
What is something you are passionate about? Take that and turn it into party! Begin hosting special events at your house, a local bar, in the park, or wherever you feel comfortable where the main attraction is something you’re really interested in. Regularly invite your family, friends, former colleagues, neighbors, members of your church or country club, and acquaintances.

For example, someone who truly has a taste for wine can have a Wine Share. He or she can invite their friends and family to bring one bottle of their favorite wine and everyone tastes and shares each other’s. They can discuss which ones they like, which ones they don’t like, flavors, texture, and notes they’re palate is sensing. Also, this is a way to save money as you only provide your one favorite bottle and maybe some cheese and crackers.

Special events are amazing opportunities to simply start conversations with those in your community. Host your events regularly enough that keeps people coming back and, hopefully, bring their friends to the next one. Eventually, you’ll get to the topic of real estate as you are consistently reminding these folks what you do: helping others buy and sell their homes. Always, always, always have information about yourself and your listings on hand to give out when the opportunity arises (and it will).

Networking
Strive to make new touches every single week by attending networking groups and other social events (that you’re not hosting). This can include art shows, charity events, book talks, happy hours, craft fairs, and networking groups that meet regularly. Network with both the general public and other real estate professionals.

Having a difficult time finding a networking group? Simply get on Google, Eventbrite, or Meetup and search for “real estate networking” or “real estate classes”. The amount of classes and events available to realtors is very encouraging. Seriously. Go look it up now!

Again, always have your information on hand and be ready to take others’ information as well.

Email Newsletters
Begin an email database, whether you use Excel or an online tool such as Constant Contact, where you can keep track of everyone’s email address that you come into contact with. Send out a weekly or bi-weekly email newsletter to these emails you have collected over time. This keeps you in the forefront of their minds as they see your name constantly pop up in their email.

Highlight your listings, upcoming open houses, your special events, recent testimonials or success stories from past clients, and anything else happening in your market or area. Try not to send out a newsletter more than once a week or else risk overwhelming your followers. But really, who has time for that anyways?

Social Media
Everyone talks about social media because of one reason: it works! By now, you should already have a Facebook page, whether it is a personal one or professional business page. You know the importance of being on social media, so we’re here to encourage you to engage your followers.

Simply having a page is not enough. Again, you want your followers to remember you. Do this by asking them to comment on your posts, promoting your special events, posting Facebook live videos, and asking them to share your content. You could even do a photo contest where the best photo wins a gift card or have your followers like and share a post to win a random giveaway. The possibilities are endless.

Take Advantage of Your Resources
There are countless resources already available to you simply for being a real estate agent. You could not even have made one sale yet, however, classes, events, mobile apps, and other software are there for you! It’s up to you to seek out these opportunities.

First International Title offers real estate courses every month and other various events. Seek out your local office for upcoming classes and other resources available to you!

Think Outside the Box
It’s time to get creative. Ask yourself some questions. What are some local businesses you could potentially partner up with? Is there a divorce lawyer nearby who could refer their clients selling a home to you? Are the local banks willing to work with you with buyers applying for a home loan? What are some other ways you can get creative with the opportunities at your doorstep?

Leave Your Fear at the Door
Don’t be afraid to go looking for new ways to gain leads and don’t be scared to ask others for help. Every First Western/International Title office has a business developer dedicated to helping you find ways to grow your business. Reach out to us with any questions and we would be happy to help you brainstorm!

Use a variety of these tactics and others that you come up with to grow your business. Don’t focus on one idea because it can only get you so far. Your earned leads can be highly effective but will take a large amount of time, energy, creativity, and your dedication. Are you dedicated?

Questions? Comments? Email shannonw@firstwesterntitle.com

So, you’ve decided to sell your home. Maybe your family has outgrown the house or maybe you need to downsize. Whatever the reason, organizing a successful open house should be a goal for sellers and real estate agents alike. After checking out the local competition, there are several ways to ensure you host a strong open house and, fingers crossed, receive an offer shortly after.

Tips from the Experts
Deb Wells is the owner of- and realtor for LivingWell Properties, based out of Prosper, Texas. According to their website, Deb “specializes in guiding home sellers towards a successful sale.” Wells is an Accredited Home Stager with over twenty years of entrepreneurial experience. She said the main purpose of an open house is, literally, to get a lot of people through the door.

An article from the home-improvement channel, HGTV, suggested that you can’t have an open house without preparing a property description sheet to give all of those people. If you have an agent, he or she should be willing to do this. If your open house is a DIY, you can create a simple description sheet in Microsoft Word or something similar. It should highlight important selling points or need-to-know information, such as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, asking price, total square footage, recent maintenance or upgrades, and any special features that separate your home from the others, wrote Annalisa Burgos.

Learn to Stage Your Home
Wells, who loves to help her clients prep their homes for selling, said that, most likely, those who are attending your open house will also be stopping by multiple other homes the same day. Your house needs to stand out from the others.

“Your house needs to be looking the best and presented in its best light,” Wells added. “That’s really what staging does so that when [potential buyers] walk through the door, they are pretty impressed. We stage all of our listings. I think it helps our listings stand out from the crowd.”

Burgos also touched on this point, stating that your home “must be spotless and clutter-free.” She said you need to fix what is broken, make smart choices when upgrading, and place your furniture in a way that makes the rooms feel the most spacious.

Make Sure Everyone Knows
“Top real estate agents tap their extensive networks to target buyers and get them into their clients’ houses,” Burgos wrote. “Unless, you too, are well-connected, getting the word out about your open house can be a challenge.”

She suggested using every method of communication: phone, email, postcards, social networks (schools, churches, etc.), social media, advertise online, post flyers on public bulletin boards, and many others. Also, don’t forget to put that professionally-printed “For Sale” sign on your front lawn.

Wells also expressed the importance of getting the word out.

“You have to get lots of attention on it, lots of advertising,” Wells said. “It needs to be posted on lots of online portals, Facebook posts and ads, so people can see it and draw a lot of attention.”

She also suggested that sellers really need to have a “draw” to the open house, whether you do a giveaway at the end or serve food and drinks (why not both?). You need to give your buyers a reason to stay, look around, and engage. For realtors, especially new agents, Wells said engagement is crucial. She considered this to be a free lead generations source.

“Most people who walk through the door don’t have an agent,” Wells said. “This is the quickest way to get business.”

Follow up
Finally, Burgos recommended sending a “Thank You” email to everyone who attended your open house.

“Within the following week, call each person and ask if they have any questions about the house and if they are considering it,” She wrote. “If not, thank them and ask if they have any suggestions on how to make the house attractive to other buyers.”

There are countless ways for sellers and their agents to give a memorable and outstanding open house. With guidance, time, and a little extra care, you can sell your house – hopefully for more than the listing price.

Questions? Comments? Email shannonw@firstwesterntitle.com

New Year, New House
Are you a home-owner looking for a good deal on a new house? Are you a real estate agent looking to help your client find the best overall package? Now is the time to buy. According to the experts, January is the best time of year to buy a house in terms of price, mortgage and interest rates, and the number of buyers on the market compared to the number of houses for sale.

Stray Away from the Pack
Typically, spring and summer are the most popular times to buy a home. The weather is warm, the days are longer, and the kids are out of school. However, you may pay a pretty penny for buying during the more pleasant months of the year. Those who don’t mind facing the cold weather in January have the potential of buying for less, according to a study done by a September 2016 NerdWallet study.

“While winter homebuyers generally encounter a lower inventory … [the] study found that they have the advantage of less competition,” writers Daniel Tonkovich and Emily Starbuck Crone wrote in the article. “Additionally, the study showed that home prices in January are typically the lowest they’ll be all year.”

The study stated that residential listing prices were on average 8.45 percent lower during the first part of the year than in June through August.

Let’s Make A Deal
Chris Harden, owner and broker of RE/MAX Four Corners in McKinney, TX and RE/MAX Prestige in Celina, TX, said that the best time to buy a house is going to be in the early part of the year between January and April. He said the interest rates are still low during this time of year but will continue to increase as buyers get closer to the summer time. Mortgage rates will also rise as the year goes on.

Harden noted that the number of buyers on the market is also down.

“That means that once a seller gets an offer, they’re more likely to negotiate because they don’t have as many buyers putting in offers,” Harden added. He said that now is the time for buyers to save money and get a better deal!

What Does This Mean for Brokers?
Real estate agents are always busy, even during the slower months. If you’re not showing houses, you’re business planning and focusing on other administrative or marketing tactics. Harden suggests planning your business for the year ahead.

“Right now is always a great time to start planting seeds for future leads,” Harden said.

He said agents should start contacting clients now and ask, “Are you still interested in buying a house?” in order to draw in responses you may not get otherwise. Harden added that it’s better to call, text, or leave a video message to potential clients looking to buy. He said to avoid email messages.

So, whatever you find yourself focusing on this New Year, all of us at First Western/International Title truly hope you find new business and meet your goals for 2018.

Questions or Comments? Email shannonw@firstwesterntitle.com