What is the best way to get leads for your real estate company?
Maybe be more specific, what is your real estate businees niche? Wholesaling, Rentals, flips, MF etc? There are all types of lead generation with all levels of cost: cold calling, mailers, Facebook ads, Google ads.
Some very good advice from others here. I would add that real estate is local, AND personal. Because buying a house is so much of an emotionally charged transaction, I suspect that many agents miss the boat in thinking that “online” leads are enough, as an easy way to generate business. Certainly that’s what the lead-sellers would have you believe. I believe it has value with intelligent marketing and metrics to back it up.
However, I think many agents today are missing the boat. I used to tell my agents the simplest most effective marketing you can do is to pass out personally 20 business cards a day before you go home, 6 days a week for 6 months. If you are not making an above average income by the end of that 6 months, find another profession.
I used to stop for gas at my favorite gas station every 3 days or so and say, every time: “hey Dennis, know anyone who wants to buy or sell a house today?” Sometimes I would say: “Dennis, you know I just listed the old Smith place on Park Street, know anyone who might be interested?” Then, I’d give him a card. If he said he had enough, I’d say “you’re not giving them out enough. I send everyone I know here for auto service…” and smile. At a meeting, restaurant, anywhere I had the chance to introduce myself I’d say: “I’m Chris Michaud. I’m in the real estate business. If you should know anyone who is looking to buy or sell a house, I’d love to be of service. Here’s my card.”
I remember people coming into my office with crumbled and tattered business cards of mine saying: “is Chris here? I don’t know where I got this card, but I’m thinking of selling my house.” Sometimes these folks had received my card a year or two before they came in. Most of the time they would call, but sometimes they would just walk in the office looking for me…just like that.
After awhile you can back off to 10 business cards a day, but you should do that the rest of your career in real estate, and you’ll never want for business.
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Build partnerships
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Advertise
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Build your own website
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Head to an open house
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Generate leads on LinkedIn
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Organize educational events
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Target “For Sale by Owner” listings
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Reach out to expired listings
Both inbound and outbound marketing is great for finding motivated sellers. Inbound marketing leads are a lot stronger than outbound.
If you’re just starting out and need leads right away, you’re going to have to hustle to generate some deals. Door knocking, direct mail and cold calling are some options.
However, while you’re doing this I would also work on building something more sustainable like a website that generates leads for you. This will take a lot of time initially but can bring you tons of leads in the future once it’s up and running.
So many options, depends on what you are trying to achieve with your business. You could get a realtor, you can get on wholesalers buyer lists, you can look on MLS, You can market direct to sellers through postcodes, text message, cold calling, PPC etc etc. It really depends on whether you want to focus on lead generation which you would mean you should go direct to seller, or whether you want to focus on rehabbing and landlording which would mean you should probably use realtors and wholesalers.
How do you get leads from Linkedin?
I’m assuming you’re newer to the business so you’ll want some lower cost options…
- Door knocking
- Cold calling (need to buy a list)
- Networking with realtors, investors etc.
- Social media (doesn’t cost you anything to put yourself out there)
Good luck!
Door knocking was by far the most preferred option. Dan Doran used to have a good course on door knocking. I need to look through my archives to see if i can find that course.
You cant beat driving for dollars… Its hands down the easiest and most cost effective and you benefit by learning your area. Heck, you can drive for dollars using google maps! some of the apps are great also.
I highly recommend it for beginners and seasoned investors.
Bret
SEO and Driving for dollars !
The best way for us far is Google PPC. We have only spent 6k and gotten 2 contracts that will net us around 50-60k.
You should definitely check it out especially if your website is halfway decent.
Personally we spend on Facebook, Google Ads
and we generate 500+ Leads Monthly
In comparison
We generate more leads from Facebook than Google
so if having less budget go with Facebook 
Get you a high performing, SEO focussed website.
Niche down. Become a neighborhod expert. Be the man/woman for that small area. Start a youtube channel talking about that area, nit just RE, but all aspects of the area…schools, shopping, business, quality of life. Post videos at least once per week.
Do you use someone for Facebook or do it yourself? I just started Facebook and have gotten some leads rather quickly. Would be interested in hearing more about your experience.
Google ads gets you leads right away but is expensive.
We have tried inbound and outbound. Pick one or two ways that you are really comfortable with and get good at those 2.
Create a credible lead generating website. Drive for dollars and direct mail marketing. Put your website on your direct mail.
It’s always nice to start with an investment trust (REIT) or crowdfunding platform. I don’t know how much capital you start with, but those two options require much less money than other investment methods. REITs and crowdfunding are a perfect gateway to the real estate world because while you’ll have a trust company or LLC handling your properties, you’ll also have the opportunity to learn a lot about how property transactions are made and what to look for. If you start producing more capital and acquiring more in-depth knowledge of real estate, you can determine what sort of property suites are your interests / financials, and go there. Good luck!