All posts by Shannon

Easy Agent Pro Blog

Real Estate Blog Under-Performing? Maybe You’re Ticking People Off

May 22, 2018 Shannon

How many times has this happened to you? You come across the headline of a real estate blog post that addresses something you’ve been thinking about. The headline offers a promise to answer your questions.

So, you read it, only to find out that the promise was a lie—and the information offers no answers, no solutions.

If that doesn’t tick you off, you’re a much gentler soul than I am. I get really pissed when a blog author rips off my time.

So, today, it’s “Real Estate Blogging 101,” or, how to ensure you don’t tick people off.

Avoid over-hyping and under-delivering

This gets into the meat of the real estate blog post. If you overhype in the headline and use thin, invaluable weak solutions, you’ll tick people off.

It’s easy to do, especially for novice writers. When you get caught up in a thought, or a stream of thoughts, it’s easy to become cat-like, chasing the next shiny idea. Before you know it, you’ve completely veered away from the headline’s promise.

The solution to this is to write the headline last

Sure, it sounds backward, and many writers will disagree with me, but it works, especially if you typically lack focus when writing. “Before you write your headline, you need to know you’ll back up the promise it’s making,” suggests James Chartrand at copyblogger.com.

So, let the stream of conscious flow – get it all out. Then, go back and read and edit. You’ll find your theme as you do this and then you can craft a title that you know will deliver on its promise.

Know your audience

Who will be reading your real estate blog post? For real estate agents, this is a no-brainer: real estate consumers will be your primary audience.

Depending on the topic of the post, the reader can be further defined as a buyer or seller. Niche it down even more to a first-time buyer, move-up or-down buyer, condo buyer, land buyer and, well, you get the picture.

Once you’ve narrowed down your audience for a particular post, determine what you want them to do and how you can get them to do it.

For instance, in a post about the workings of the typical HOA, you may want your condo-buyer reader to derive knowledge from the post, consider it share-worthy and post it on social media. Ultimately, you want your post to convince these readers that you’re an expert on condos and they shouldn’t for one minute consider hiring any other agent.

But do so elegantly.

Unexpected blatant self-promotion ticks readers off

Yes, you want to get across to your readers that you’re the pro they should hire. This doesn’t mean, however, that you should fill your blog posts with blatant self-promotion to prove you’re an expert. That stuff only serves to alienate readers who are weary of being sold to all day, every day.

In fact, as Joseph Conrad, one of my favorite writers, admonished more than 100 years ago, to “show, don’t tell.”

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass,”

suggests Anton Chekhov in a letter to his brother.

Even contemporary writers urge us to be subtle. Ernest Hemmingway claimed that “If a writer of prose knows enough of what he is writing about, he may omit things that he knows and the reader . . . will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them.” (emphasis is mine).

About a decade ago, Active Rain founder Jonathan Washburn admonished his readers to “not post a bunch of self-serving marketing material on the bottom of your post: If a home buyer or seller finds your information interesting they will figure out how to contact you.”

While most of the real estate industry has caught on that those huge pats on their own backs have no place in social media and their real estate blog post, many haven’t. And, sadly, it ticks people off.

Yes, to remain in business, you need to promote yourself but, as Mama used to say, “There’s a time and place for everything.”

Your real estate blog post is not the place

The solution? When you proof your real estate blog post, keep your audience in mind and cut out anything that doesn’t provide value to this reader. Reminding them throughout that you’re “the bomb” isn’t valuable.

Your blog serves several purposes. First, it offers up valuable information for real estate consumers. Next, it highlights your expertise. Finally, it should help build trust and establish credibility.

The last thing you want when trying to fulfill all of these purposes is to leave your visitors feeling cheated or deceived.

Looking for automatically generated, editable, twice-weekly blog content for your real estate website? Check out LeadSites.

Learn how to appeal to your audience, using these great websites as examples.

Keep growing your social presence with these 3 tips:

Branding, Easy Agent Pro Blog, Lead Generation

Community Lead Generation – Get Out There And Grow Your Brand

May 17, 2018 Shannon

The sad truth about real estate community lead generation is that there is simply no quick way to do it. There’s no magic formula that will help you find clients in the next hour, day or even month.

Whether it’s online lead generation, farming, direct mail or any other form, the very first step involves the creation of a relationship, followed by maintaining the relationship.

Community involvement offers not only an exercise in relationship-building, but it’s a lead-generation technique as well. And, while you may think you don’t have the time for it, you simply can’t afford to ignore the many benefits it offers.

Another tool you can’t afford to ignore is LeadSites – Get one now, and start growing your business.

We’re talking hands-on volunteerism here and, yes, it requires the gift of your time

And, it is time well spent. Not only will you be helping to make your community a better place to live, but you’ll be face-to-face with potential clients who will get to know you on a personal level. Something your newsletter, postcards or cold calls can’t accomplish.

So, where will you find the time in your schedule for community lead generation? You block time to make and return calls, work on your CRM, website and social media, right? So, schedule time to get out into the community by considering it a form of community lead generation.

Yes, it sounds a bit mercenary, but think of volunteering as networking with benefits. You get good business exposure and the community benefits from your time.

Kim Salveson-Pauly, owner of several Windermere offices in Oregon told RealtorMag’s Robert Freedman that volunteerism is especially effective for the new agent who is trying to build her sphere of influence.

Salveson-Pauly’s offices are particularly fond of Helping Hands Against Violence and “70 percent of business for our new associates is through the sphere of influence they’ve developed by working on the auction and other volunteer activities.”

Community Lead Generation – Find your perfect fit in the volunteer world

If you don’t already volunteer, follow your passions when choosing where to spend your time.

I once read a blog post on Active Rain from a Nebraska agent whose passion is soccer, so naturally he decided to coach a youth team. It’s that activity that fueled his real estate business with most of the leads he generated every year.

If sports are your thing, consider doing as he did and find a local youth team that needs a coach.

Non-profits always need help. Check out VolunteerMatch.org where you can search your local area for opportunities that fit your interests.

If you’re 55 years of age or older, and especially if you specialize in the baby boomer niche, navigate to NationalService.gov and learn more about the RSVP program. They’ll hook you up with service opportunities that match the skills you’ve built up over the years or, if you prefer, a chance to learn new skills.

Some of the opportunities you may be interested in as an agent include helping set up a neighborhood watch program, renovating homes, teaching English to immigrants or assisting victims of natural disasters. All of these are great examples of community lead generation.

If you just aren’t sure what you’d like to do in the community, check the list of community service opportunities in your area at AllForGood.org.

More of a joiner?

If you like the camaraderie that being a part of a civic organization brings, consider joining one of the following:

Go super hyper local

Kim Murray, an Arizona agent, relates the story of the annual golf event in her target community. She volunteers to work at it every year and finds that the community lead generation she gets is invaluable.

“In one day’s work, I mixed and mingled with my target community and demographic. This would have been difficult to do if I were going door to door as the Dove Mountain community is segmented between an active adult community and single-family residences,” she explains.

You can get that same kind of exposure volunteering to help at schools, churches and even community theatre groups.

“Once you start getting involved in the community, I mean, your name is everywhere, you know everyone, you know what’s going on, you become the neighborhood expert—everyone gets to know you,” Wisconsin agent Beth Jaworski tells Patrick Lilly at RealEstateSuccess.Rocks.

And, isn’t that the key to success in business?

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Generate more leads with these tips!

Need more ways to expand your social presence? Check out this video:

Branding, Easy Agent Pro Blog, For Real Estate Agents, real estate related

Real Estate Website Not Driving Leads? Take It For A Tune Up.

May 10, 2018 Shannon

If there’s one quality that far too many agents lack, it’s patience. Especially in regards to their real estate website.

It’s amazing – most agents can wait and wait for those three magical words needed to collect their paycheck (“We’re on record”). But they demand instant gratification for their marketing efforts – no matter how little effort was put into it.

Take your real estate website, for instance. Sure, you spent good money on getting it up and running. You (rightfully) expect it to help you generate leads. It’s not time to freak out when the leads don’t come rolling in overnight, however.

Patience, my friend. These things take time.

They also take putting in some effort to ensure your site is optimized for local searches, populating it with compelling content and promoting it in places where potential clients hang out. The right website can make all the difference.

So, how long should it take before I start seeing results on my real estate website?

Some SEO experts claim that it should take about 6 months to start seeing results. “That’s generally accurate but bear in mind this is when you start seeing results, and SEO results grow over time,” cautions Josh Steimle, who covers digital marketing for forbes.com.

But here’s the real kicker:

“Whatever results you’re getting at 6 months should be considerably less than what you’re getting at 12 months.”

In other words, the longer you wait, the better your results will be.

It won’t happen magically

When your aim with your real estate website is to generate real estate leads, dreaming of ranking number one in Google for some generic, common real estate keyword is futile.

Generate more leads with powerful SEO-driven blog posts through Blogger Pro. Learn more.

Your desired outcome, after all, is lead generation, not search engine rankings. And, yes, there is a difference.

Rankings do matter, “but they’re worthless unless they generate leads or sales,” according to Steimle.

Recently, on Easy Agent Pro’s Facebook page, an agent posted that she was about to give up her EAP real estate website because she didn’t have the time to deal with it. Lo and behold, in rolls a lead that turned into a $900k listing for her.

Naturally, the community was fascinated with her success and the responses came pouring in. One agent claimed to be in “the same boat” as our listing success and is “hoping something clicks for me.”

Hope isn’t a marketing tool

Another agent chimed in that he was going to cancel his site the following week. It turns out he’s only had the site for six months. According to statistics, this is the point where he should just be starting to see results.

He admits in his post that the site is populated with duplicate content, but after we took a look at it, that’s only one of the problems. It doesn’t appear that he’s done anything to optimize his site for local search, for instance.

Assume his market is Anytown, USA. It’s mentioned a grand total of three times on the home page and each instance is his email address: [email protected].

Dude, your real estate website isn’t working because you’re not working it

So many missed opportunities exist on just the home page alone. There are several places he can slip in local, longtail keywords and that he hasn’t done so is simply mind-boggling.

Get that site optimized

If you tinker with nothing else on your site’s backend, change the title tag. “The title tag alone can impact your search engine rankings,” according to the pros at wordstream.com.

Your site’s title tag lets the search engine and, thus, potential visitors, know what your site is about. Our Anytown agent’s title tag, for instance, currently consists of his name and the name of his brokerage.

Which is doing him no favors

As you can imagine, people searching for “homes for sale in Anytown, USA” (or any of the term’s derivatives) aren’t likely to find this agent’s real estate website unless they type his name into the search engine.

Moz.com recommends the following format for your title tag: Primary Keyword – Secondary Keyword | Brand Name

They used Widget World as an example of this title tag format at work: 8-foot Green Widgets – Widgets & Tools | Widget World

Feel free to plug local real estate keywords into yours.

And, speaking of local stuff, that list of neighborhoods at the bottom of your home page is worthless if a visitor clicks on them and arrives at a page that has zero information about the neighborhood. No, the IDX for the area isn’t enough.

There’s a lot more we can tell you about why your real estate website isn’t getting you the desired results, but it all starts with you. Your site won’t make you the overnight real estate sensation in your market unless you put in the effort.

Even then, give it about six months.

At least.

Ready for a real estate website that works as hard as you do? Get a LeadSite!

Need even more ideas? Learn from the top 10 real estate websites.

Looking for weekly real estate content? We have you covered:

Easy Agent Pro Blog, For Real Estate Agents, Lead Generation, real estate related, Social Media Marketing

Need organic real estate leads? Find them next door

May 8, 2018 Shannon

There aren’t a whole lot of ways to generate organic real estate leads that won’t have you busting out the credit card. Which is probably why social media sites are so popular with agents; unless you buy ads, exposure for your business is free.

Sure, Facebook is king of the social media realm, but there are other platforms that agents should consider. One of these is Nextdoor.com.

If you call yourself the ‘neighborhood expert’ you can prove it on Nextdoor

Nextdoor.com is a social media platform that operates on the neighborhood level, connecting neighbors who want advice, help finding their lost pets, who want to warn their neighbors about dangerous people in the area, folks who are selling household items and those just socializing.

Simply put, you can’t get more hyper-local in your marketing efforts than by using nextdoor.com.

Why use it?

It works.

No, it won’t have leads flocking to you – at least not in the beginning. But, what if you could close 6 to 10 additional deals each year just by socializing on nextdoor.com?

Liz Abrams, co-owner of Abrams Realty in Virginia Beach does just that. She tells Lori Ballen, Las Vegas agent and marketing wiz, the story of how she got involved on nextdoor.com and how she’s successfully generated leads on the platform.

By building an affinity with members of the local community, you establish your brand and reputation over time, making you the natural choice when someone needs an agent. It also forces you to get more involved in the neighborhood by looking for interesting things to post about.

How to do it right

Nextdoor.com has strict terms of service when it comes to the outright promotion of businesses and services in the online community. It’s frowned upon. They do provide an area where businesses can publish a profile, so you’ll want to do that.

The only time you can promote yourself as an agent in community threads is in response to a post about needing a referral to an agent. In my neighborhood, at least, those posts receive numerous replies from agents, most of which contain the same, tired rhetoric that too many agents are known for.

“I can give you a free home valuation, share my marketing plan to get homes sold for the least amount of hassle and put the most money in your pocket.”

That’s an actual response from an agent. Not too original, right? Here’s another:

“I can also offer you a complimentary estimate of seller closing costs, list price and estimated market value.”

Gee, nobody else offers that, right?

So, if you want to earn those organic real estate leads, you’ll need to be different. In fact, don’t respond at all. Have someone else respond, recommending your services. This method offers a bonus.

Your business profile will be displayed in all the neighborhoods in which you have received recommendations.

Look for organic real estate leads

Hanging around waiting for someone to ask about real estate agents is like watching paint dry. So, be proactive and check the site regularly for other hints from neighbors that they might need your services.

Look for mentions of divorce, death, retirement or relocation out of the area.

Be sociable

Nextdoor offers ways for you to invite your neighbors to the platform. The more people who use the service, the more exposure you’ll have and the more opportunities to generate leads.

Then, ask your clients in the area to recommend you on Nextdoor.

“Start a conversation about a real estate topic, such as changing home costs, the school district, and taking care of neighborhood amenities like a park or pool,” Gene Montemore, Phoenix agent and Nextdoor member suggests among his Nextdoor best practices.

Comment often, “even if you don’t have much to say,” Abrams said. “That’s your face showing up over and over.”

What to share? Abrams gives an example of seeing an unaccompanied dog in her neighborhood park. She posted about it, hoping to find the owner. “Even though that’s not getting me business directly, I’m becoming that expert of that neighborhood and that go-to person.”

What not to do

Various online forums have posts from agents blasting Nextdoor for kicking them off the platform because, as is typical of too many agents, they joined and immediately started that awful, heavy-handed self-promotion thing they do.

But, it’s precisely because Nextdoor doesn’t allow advertising in the neighborhood feed that members love the site. Not only will posting listings there and tooting your own horn get you kicked off the site, but you’ll also tarnish your own brand while promoting the stereotype of the agent as a slimy salesperson.

Nextdoor isn’t a marketing tool, per se. It’s a place to get brand exposure, organic real estate leads, and establish yourself as the area’s go-to agent when someone needs to buy or sell a home. It deserves consideration in a multi-platform social media marketing campaign to generate organic real estate leads.

Need more lead generation strategies?

Looking for lead gen strategies specific to buyers agents? Check out the video below:

Easy Agent Pro Blog, For Real Estate Agents

Avoid These 3 Shady Real Estate Tactics

May 3, 2018 Shannon

Shady real estate tactics are an unfortunate part of the business. Lazy, arrogant, opinionated, inconsiderate and dishonest. These are all words agents posting in a Trulia forum use to describe agents they’ve worked with.

“I’ve had my share of agents with whom I would hate to do another deal. Those agents’ reputations are tarnished,” says Oakland, CA agent Pacita Dimacali.

It’s bad enough that most agents have to work their hineys off to protect our professions’ name, but to have to make excuses to our clients for another agent is enough to frustrate even the most easy-going among us.

If you want to stop relying on these shady real estate tactics and start presenting yourself in your best light, use a LeadSite – and leave the dirty tricks to the amateurs.

Wanna tick off your colleagues? Read on for some sure-fire ways to not only accomplish that, but further tarnish the industry as a whole.

Shady Real Estate Tactics - a blight on the industry

1.Be inconsiderate

A real good way to get on other agents’ blacklists is to be absolutely devoid of even the most basic courtesies. For example, Doral, Florida agent Ann Ryan tells a story about one of her listings.

The home is owner-occupied and her client insisted that Ryan hold the only key to the home so that the buyers’ agents and their clients would need to meet her at the home. She ended up with “a string of real estate agents” who requested access and then didn’t show up.

Think about this. It’s bad enough that Ms. Ryan had to find time in her schedule to meet another agent to allow them access to one of her listings — that’s her client’s fault. But to not show up and not call is the buyers’ agent’s fault. He just wasted time she could’ve been spending on lead generation, marketing or even walking her dog. Time she will never get back. The ultimate theft.

Thoughtlessly causing inconvenience to a colleague should be among the “don’t-you-dares” in NAR’s list of shady real estate tactics

2.Post “Lying Listings” in the MLS

Shady Real Estate Tactics - Being inconsiderate

Wish we could take credit for that one, but it goes to Jay McDonald with bankrate.com. You know what he’s referring to, right?

It’s about those listings that tell you a shoebox-sized home is “cozy,” that neglect to mention a home has a pool (a feature many buyers don’t want) and condos and townhomes posted to the MLS as single-family homes.

Buyers’ agents rely on MLS descriptions and remarks when looking for homes for their clients. Do you honestly think that an agent looking for a three-bedroom home will think kindly about you when they show up and find out that the third “bedroom” lacks a closet and is therefore actually a two-bedroom home? How about the “Rich Brazilian Hardwood Floors” that are actually laminate? (True story)

Whether accidental or just part of a string of shady real estate tactics, even honest mistakes show a lack of attention to detail. And real estate is FULL of details.

3.Play hard-to-get

This might be the king of shady real estate tactics. When an industry that relies on SALES needs a video that instructs its sales people about “Returning Phone Calls for Real Estate Agents,” you know there’s a problem. The video in question is instructing agents how to return potential clients’ calls – sadly enough.

When you don’t return another agent’s call, however, you are doing a disservice to your client, and that is unforgivable.

Antonio Vega Pacheco, an agent in Saint Cloud, Florida, works with out-of-town buyers who are typically in town to view homes for only a day or two.

“As mostly a buyer’s agent my problem comes when I place 2 or 3 calls to the listing agent asking for showing instructions and they never answer back until after we have left the area,” he posts at trulia.com.

According to a Harris Poll conducted a couple of years ago, the most prestigious occupations include doctors, firefighters and scientists.

The least prestigious includes – yup, you guess it – real estate agents. Think it’s any coincidence after reading up on these shady real estate tactics?

In fact, the real estate profession ended up at the bottom of the list

Shady real estate tactics - lying

“Real estate broker/agent is the profession with the highest percentage of adults considering it to have less prestige (74%), with 50% feeling it does not have that much prestige and 24% believing it has no prestige at all,” according to Hannah Pollack, Harris Poll research analyst.

The truth is, it only took a handful of “lazy, arrogant, opinionated, inconsiderate and dishonest” agents using these shady real estate tactics to give birth to the public’s perception of the industry as a whole.

You can help change it. One client at a time.

Avoid using these shady real estate tactics, and start growing your business the right way. Get a LeadSite, and build your online reputation your way.

You’ve heard about the worst – now learn from the best.

Agents aren’t the only ones who don’t always play by the rules. Tired of dealing with fake contact info? Check out this video:

Easy Agent Pro Blog, For Real Estate Agents, non-real estate related

Work from home? Avoid these common time sucks

May 1, 2018 Shannon

Pity those poor, schleppers-to-the-broker’s office drone bees; their work-from-home counterparts are living the dream, right? Most of the time, that’s true. But working in your jammies does have its drawbacks. Chief among them? The common time sucks we face when we’re feeling less-than self-disciplined.

Thankfully, there are ways to deal with them.

Ignore distractions

Have you ever noticed how the TV beckons, even when it’s turned off? There’s that Netflix movie you fell asleep during and you’re dying to know how it ends.

Come on, there’s only about 15 minutes left – surely that’s not too long

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. From an overstuffed laundry basket, screaming about stuff to be washed, to the numerous shiny objects on the internet (try Cold Turkey) that you can distract yourself with, common time sucks lurk around every corner of the home.

There’s an easy fix to common time sucks

Treat your home as if it were an off-site office during work hours.

A common work-from-home myth is that it’s easy to slip away to do some chores around the house. Just as you’d never take a break from work to paint the baseboards at the office, you shouldn’t even consider it during working hours at home (guilty!).

Create a dedicated space for your home office to help remind yourself that you’re working. If you’re easily distracted (guilty again), position your desk to face the wall, instead of the window.

Just say “Oh, he$% NO!”

Imagine sitting in an off-site office and getting a phone call from a friend who needs you to pick her kids up from school. It’s hard to imagine because, unless it’s an extreme emergency, friends wouldn’t dream of imposing on your work day.

Yet, work from home and your time is up for grabs. From running an errand to feeding their pets while they take a vacation, friends and family don’t get that, while we may be home, we are working.

What’s even more amazing is how easy it is to give in to these requests. If you set clear boundaries, however, it becomes far easier to protect your time.

Practice saying “no”

Come on, it won’t hurt and it will be far easier when you calculate how long it will take to grant the request and how much that time means in money. When you know the exact value of your time, it’s far easier to say “I’m sorry, I’ll be working” to your sister when she begs you to pick her up from the airport.

If the family is home during working hours it’s even more challenging to avoid their requests. First, make your boundaries crystal clear.

One work-from-home agent told his family that a closed door means “keep out,” unless someone is hurt, dying or there’s a fire in the house. A door half-open means that, although he’d rather not be disturbed, they can enter if it’s important. An open door means “Come on in!”

Put a sign on the door if you must or, as another agent suggests, put headphones on. Even if there’s no music streaming through them, they will definitely give off the “not-now-I’m-busy” vibe.

It’s up to you to let everyone know that running a real estate business from home is just as valid as those agents who show up to their brokers’ offices every day.

Work can suck time from your leisure

If you ever find yourself working when you used to be relaxing in front of the TV, spending time with the family or catching up with friends, you are overworking. That, in itself, falls into the category of common time sucks. Be careful, as this can be an easy mistake to make.

It’s easy to fall into the trap when you work from home because the lines between work and leisure become blurred.

In real estate, the work never ends. From trying to drum up leads to following up with them to servicing your existing clients to keeping up with your sphere, there is always something to do.

Again, treat your home office as if it were your broker’s office. At the end of the day, close the door and don’t go back in until tomorrow morning. Just walk away – no matter how it tries to suck you back in.

You aren’t doing anyone – most especially your clients – any good by not finding relief from stress by engaging in activities you enjoy and taking care of your needs and the needs of your family.

Close the laptop, turn off the lights and shut the office door

Channel Scarlett O’Hara – after all, tomorrow is another day.

If you’re ready for a website that works as hard as you do – check out LeadSites. With a LeadSite, you can start putting your ideas into action and watch your business grow.

Looking to generate leads, no matter where your office is? Learn the best ways to generate real estate leads here.

Looking to grow your business? Practice these 5 tasks every day to be more successful:

Easy Agent Pro Blog, For Real Estate Agents, Lead Generation, real estate related

Need New Clients? Try Tenant Real Estate Leads

April 26, 2018 Shannon

Want to hear something surprising? More than one-third of our nation’s veterans who are in the market to buy a home are unaware of the VA loan, according to a 2010 Department of Veterans Affairs survey. And they aren’t the only ones. Many potential tenant real estate leads are woefully ignorant of some very valuable information.

“In the 35 largest housing markets in the country, nearly 14 percent of renters have high enough credit scores and incomes to afford a median-priced home in their market,” said usnews.com’s Devon Thorsby, quoting a Zillow study.

So, what are they waiting for?

Money.

Zillow’s senior economist chalks up these renters’ lack of a home of their own to a lack of a down payment. With the many low-down payment options and down payment assistance programs in existence, they may just be capable of buying a home. How many of them, we wonder, are unaware of that?

Without this information, they’ll continue being at the landlord’s mercy when it comes to how they live in their home, whether or not the kids can have a pet, and what color they can paint the walls.

They’ll continue enriching his or her bottom line while missing out on one of the best wealth-building vehicles on the planet – real estate ownership.

So, intrepid marketer that we know you are, we offer up this brilliant real estate lead idea for you: Reel in some buyers by fishing in the tenant pool.

Who are these people?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 37 percent of U.S. households are renter-occupied. That’s a total of 43,837,496 households.

Statistics from the National Multifamily Housing Council show that the largest share of apartment renters earns more than $50,000 per year and nearly one-fourth of them have children.

“As householders age and become more settled, their homeownership rates rise steadily,” according to a study from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

“About one-third own their homes while the majority still rent. By the age of 40, however, two-thirds of householders own homes,” they conclude.

The timing couldn’t be better

Tenant real estate leads - The time is right

A recent Core Logic data dump shows that, although rent growth slowed from August 2016’s rate, it’s still up 3 percent on a year-to-year basis.

Rapidly rising rents, such as what we’re seeing nationwide, should prove an irresistible incentive for many tenants. Combine that with eye-opening facts about low down payments and down payment assistance to convince tenants to ditch the landlord and purchase a home.

Methods to generate tenant real estate leads

Determine which marketing vehicles you’ll use to reach out to these potential tenant real estate leads. Think old-school on this one — postcards, newsletters and email blasts are all effective. And of course, the right leadsite can make all the difference.

Consider creating infographics showing how it may be cheaper to buy than rent. Bust the myth of the 20 percent down payment. Explain how insane it is to rent when you can build wealth through the forced savings of homeownership.

Then, you’ll need to grab their attention quickly with stunning facts. For instance, the Census Bureau tells us that the median net worth of U.S. homeowners is “$199,557 vs. $2,208,” for renters, according to the Orange County Register’s Jonathan Lansner.

The median net worth of homeowners is 90 times that of renters!

Show these prospects the benefits of homeownership – how it helps build wealth and how, over the long term, it’s cheaper than renting.

Then, show them how they can buy a home with down payment assistance and government-backed loans.

Targeting tenant real estate leads can be as simple as choosing a condo or apartment community and farming it. But, like most things in business, composing a plan of action will make the process far more efficient and effective. Consider employing some of the following strategies:

Buy tenant lists – There are a number of companies that offer targeted mailing lists. Check out InfoUSA.com, Melissadata.com, and Experian.com. Then, narrow down your request to only those demographics who are likely to buy a home.

For instance, using demographic information from NAR’s “Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers,” you might request a list of names and addresses of married couples from age 35 to 50 with a combined income of at least 28 percent of the median price of a home in your area.

Tenant real estate leads - Do your homework

Beef up your online presence — Start loading up your blog and social media posts with pertinent info for these people.

Ditto on general website content — Create a financing section on your website. Devote a page to listing the local, state, and federal down payment assistance programs. RealtyBillings does an excellent job with this one. Add pages describing the VA, FHA, and USDA loans as well.

Make contacts and explore every avenue

Beef up your site’s buyers’ section – Add information on neighborhoods, schools, shopping, and services. Neighborhood pages, by the way, are the best way to rank well in local searches.

Schmooze – If you work closely with an insurance agent, offer to hold a homebuying seminar for their renter policy clients. Then, wine and dine licensed property managers. Offer referral fees for any tenants who eventually do business with you.

Troll online – Never underestimate the power of Craigslist – “It’s free and it produces more leads than anything else I do,” Sheri Moritz, Keller Williams Raleigh, tells the Active Rain University. “Stop Renting! You CAN buy a home!” is one we noticed just today.

In some parts of the country, rent hikes are slowing down, but they’re certainly not stopping. This offers little solace to renters who face steep hikes in their monthly cost of living expenses.

Now is the perfect time to pursue these tenant real estate leads.

Looking to generate even more leads?

Trying to generate leads online? Check out our video:

Easy Agent Pro Blog, For Real Estate Agents, real estate related

Are Preferred Vendors Ruining Your Reputation? Be Careful Who You Recommend

April 24, 2018 Shannon

Many agents call them preferred vendors. You recommend them to do a client’s pest inspections, home inspections, trash out, house cleaning, landscaping… Whatever they need. And yes, they are vendors. But they’re your affiliates.

Whatever label you attach to this group of people, do you have any idea how they’re representing you?

Give your reputation a boost – get a Leadsite, and start representing your business’ best features online.

But you trust them, right?

“A preferred vendors list you are able to easily share with your clients is something they will remember you by,” according to Florida agent Will Caldwell, writing at Inman.com.

But, unless you keep tabs on the folks that populate that preferred vendors list, those memories may turn out to be nightmares.

A couple of years ago I was tasked with selling my childhood home in Hawaii. My agent was someone I have known for decades, who just happens to be the top agent in town. So, not only was there a great amount of personal trust in her, but professional as well.

Naturally, she chose the escrow company.

Sadly, the escrow officer screwed up the paperwork from day one

The officer was blatantly and incomprehensibly unqualified for the job. She didn’t overnight it to my sister on the mainland (the joint seller of the home) in time to close. When it finally was overnighted, it was sent with the wrong paperwork. She never even returned one of my phone calls.

Then, there’s the story about a woman in Las Vegas whose listing agent decided to hold an open house on a day that he was otherwise engaged. So, he enlisted the help of another agent in his office to hold the home open, and contacted his preferred lender to tag along.

It was a holiday weekend so only one potential buyer viewed the home. But, it was a good one – the owner of a popular local restaurant.

After touring the home, the potential buyer stopped to ask the agent some questions, whereupon the lender’s representative interrupted to let the buyer know that “the new builds down the street are offering 4 percent to 5 percent rebates.”

Without the home’s security system (with audio, no less), the Vegas homeowner would’ve never known about her agent’s lender steering her open house attendees to the new construction site down the street.

Let that sink in for a minute

Imagine this is your listing and this lender is someone on your “preferred vendor list.” Imagine your client seeing and hearing the interaction.

Now, in neither of these examples was the agent directly at fault, but in both, the agent bore the brunt of the experience. I lost all trust in my old friend and will think twice about recommending her to anyone. The Vegas homeowner fired her agent.

Well-vetted preferred vendors are trusted ones

When looking for new or replacement affiliates, don’t be like the majority of real estate consumers who go with the first agent they interview. Ask around the office to get names of tradespeople that other agents have good luck with. But, don’t stop there.

Add to the list of interviewees by checking reviews on Yelp and ratings at the Better Business Bureau. Check the vendor’s social media sites.

Due diligence isn’t just for your clients

Then, continue the due diligence throughout the entirety of your relationship with the vendor.

Make the time to follow up

You can be doing everything right in your real estate practice – have the most impeccable customer service system in place – yet what your affiliates do, and don’t do, is a direct reflection of your professionalism.

And, if you either don’t monitor them, or, worse yet, remain loyal to them despite shoddy work or behavior (which was the case with the Vegas agent), it is you who will end up losing, not the affiliate.

It’s imperative that you check in with clients after recommending someone to them. Ask how they were treated and, if the feedback is negative, speak with the vendor. Ask for his or her side of the transaction.

If you have any qualms about retaining that name on the list, get rid of it. And always discontinue working with anyone who turns out to be a repeat offender.

Regardless of how you feel about someone personally, don’t allow them to sully your professional reputation.

If you’re ready for a website that works as hard as you do – check out LeadSites. With a LeadSite, you can start putting your ideas into action and watch your business grow.

Now it’s time to use that reputation to start marketing successfully. Learn more here.

Making good connections goes beyond preferred vendors. Learn more about networking in this video:

Easy Agent Pro Blog, For Real Estate Agents, real estate related

4 Ways To Be Among The Best Real Estate Agents In The Country

April 19, 2018 Shannon

What does it take to be considered one of the best real estate agents? REAL Trends and the Wall St. Journal are taking names for 2018’s “The 1000” list. It’s their annual ranking of “the top sales professionals in the United States by transaction sides and sales volume.”

It’s typically an interesting list, but we take issue with them calling those on it the “Best Real Estate Agents in America,” and for several reasons.

Want to be the best without resorting to tricks and gimmicks? Get a leadsite – and build a website that works for you.

When a real estate consumer is looking for “the best” agent in his or her market, how many deals the agent does or how much money she makes isn’t at the top of the list of qualities they’re seeking.

The buyer or seller, at least according to recent studies, values “responsiveness” overall. Then, local knowledge is high on the list. In fact, the agent’s productivity, at least according to a Zillow Group study, is fourth on a list of six criteria consumers use to judge the best real estate agents.

We all know that even the most productive agents can give lousy customer service, so naming the top producers as “the best” agents is, at least to us, misleading.

Have they forgotten that real estate is local?

How can a study compare an agent in a hot Seattle market with someone who worked 2017’s somewhat sluggish Kankakee, Illinois market?

The latter agent may have done a bang-up job for the type of market he was working, but because he didn’t have the huge dollar or transaction volume of the former agent, he is not considered among the nation’s best agents – at least to REAL Trends and the Wall Street Journal.

Alas, they didn’t consult us — or you — so we’ll take their word for who are the best agents in the country.

Want to join their ranks? Read on for some tips gleaned from poring over last year’s “The 1000” list.

1.Get into new home development

When it comes to transaction sides for individual agents, apparently nobody does it better than Ben Caballero of HomesUSA.com, Inc. in Addison, Texas, part of the Dallas metro area. He did a whopping 3,556 transaction last year. By comparison, the guy in the number two slot did 467 sides.

Caballero isn’t your typical real estate agent so I don’t understand how he was even allowed to compete against those who are. His clients aren’t real estate consumers, per se, but builders.

In fact, his company offers an “MLS interface for builders,” such as “Toll Brothers, CalAtlantic, Highland, Ashton Woods, First Texas, McGuyer, History Maker and many others.”

His website includes no information for the real estate consumer and, in fact, makes it explicit that builders should contact him “to learn how he can help your business.”

I suppose an agent who longs for that number-one spot could copy what Caballero has done. Or, the list-makers could get real and restrict the list to residential agents who work with consumers.

2.Be mistaken for an individual agent

Brian Bair takes the number two slot when it comes to transaction sides for individuals. If you ask us, he, too, shouldn’t be on this list at all. Owner of Bair Group/Liberty properties, he has a team and is far better suited for inclusion in the team category.

In fact, his bio admits that he has a team: “To date, he and his team have deployed over $100 Million in investment money.”

In fact, you need to scroll all the way down to the number six agent on the list to find a truly “individual” agent. His name is Tom Swarz and he’s an agent with RE/MAX in the Philadelphia metro.

Considering he doesn’t work with a team (at least as we were able to ascertain from his website), the fact that he did 405 transactions last year, pretty much puts him on par with those above him who have massive amounts of assistance. He truly should be in the number one spot of best real estate agents in this particular category.

3. The best real estate agents sell luxury property

If you want to make the list in the “Individual by Sales Volume” category you need to specialize in luxury property. Although Mr. Caballero takes the number one spot in this category as well, the rest of those in the top 10 work in – yup, you guessed it – high-priced markets. These include:

Los Altos, California
New York, New York
Beverly Hills, California
Miami Beach, Florida
Malibu, California
Boston, Massachusetts

Interestingly, only two agents in the top 10 also show up on the Individual by Transaction Sides category (numbers 96 and 151), meaning that the rest are considered among the top agents in the country for selling fewer than 127 homes. So, if you want to make it to this list, sell high-priced homes or move to a high-priced market.

4.Become a big fish in a small pond

Paul Wellman of RE/MAX New Image in Saginaw, Michigan ranks as one of four agents in the number 249 spot on the 2017 REAL Trends Individuals list with 128 sides in 2016.

We don’t know about you, but we wonder how he dominates such a small, depressed housing market.

His bio doesn’t mention his tenure in the real estate industry, but it does say that at one time, he owned two RE/MAX franchises and received the “RE/MAX of Michigan New Franchise of the Year” award for “outstanding company operations, outstanding sales production, outstanding customer satisfaction, and outstanding agent growth.”

Obviously, the guy is a hard worker and apparently strives to be the one of the best real estate agents.

So, take your skills, hone them and head for a small pond.

Better yet, keep striving to deliver the service that real estate consumers demand. Hope that they review you on Yelp (where REAL consumers go to find out who is the best). That’s the list that counts.

If you’re ready for a website that works as hard as you do – check out LeadSites. With a LeadSite, you can start putting your ideas into action and watch your business grow.

Learn from some truly successful examples here.

Trying to convert more leads into clients? Check out our video:

Easy Agent Pro Blog, For Real Estate Agents, Lead Generation, real estate related

New Real Estate Agent? 3 Essential Lead Generation Strategies You Need To Know

April 17, 2018 Shannon

Welcome to the world of real estate, newbie! You are now a licensed member of a group of professionals from varied backgrounds with one common goal: they all want to hit the big time in real estate. And that means focusing on lead generation strategies.

How about that first day at the office? Felt a bit at loose ends, right? Sitting at a desk with absolutely nothing to do and no idea where to start is tough. All that stuff they taught you in real estate school is of absolutely no use to you at this point.

What you need are lead generation strategies. Just. One. Client.

Lucky you that you landed here at Easy Agent Pro because we’ve got the 3 lead generation strategies you need to get your feet on the ground and take off running.

1.Get found

Back in the dinosaur days of real estate, it was enough to have a business card that listed your phone number and maybe your office’s address to get found. In the digital age, that won’t cut it.

While NAR doesn’t tell us exactly how many agents have websites, what they do divulge is that slightly more than half of its membership has had a website for at least five years.

Considering that real estate consumers go online before doing anything else, it’s rather dumbfounding that the number isn’t higher.

So, intrepid rookie, job number one for you is to get ahead of the pack and get yourself a spiffy new website, complete with IDX, a killer lead-capture system, a blog and tons of exceptional content.

Naturally, these are just the basic lead generation strategies, but it’s important to establish yourself online immediately. You can get to all the other, shinier stuff later.

2.Shout it out

Old timers will tell you that your sphere of influence is vital to helping you land that first deal. And, they’re right.

Your “sphere,” by the way, includes everyone you know, even in passing. This includes friends, family, neighbors, former colleagues and business associates, the guy who shines your shoes, the lady that cuts your hair … you get the idea.

Each and every one of these people needs to find out that you have your real estate license and the best place to start getting the word out is on your social media sites.

Later on, you won’t want to be hitting them over the head with real estate all the time but, right now, you need to steer as many as possible to your website.

You also want to firmly implant your name associated with “buying and selling homes” in their brains. Hopefully, you’ll avoid that sucky situation when you learn that someone in your sphere is selling their home and using another agent because

“I didn’t know you’re in real estate”

Ok, so you’re spreading the word online and that’s good. But, you need to do more. There are all those other people that are in your sphere but not connected to you on social media. You know, the barista you talk to every morning, your kid’s teacher, the bank teller, your dog’s veterinarian. That’s where more traditional lead generation strategies come into play – consider getting a leadsite to grow your business.

Load up on business cards before leaving the house every morning and hand them out to these people as you do business with them. For those in your sphere that you don’t see often, consider sending letters. Yeah, it’s old school, but it works.

By the way, get as many email addresses as you can. Soon, you’ll start a drip email campaign, right?

3.New McREALTOR has a farm

Target marketing to a small geographic area is a brilliant way to get known to possible leads as well as establishing yourself as the local expert. It’s also inexpensive (if you keep it small to start).

Your own neighborhood is a good place to start or choose an area with homes in the price range or niche you’d like to target.

Then, mail or hand deliver a newsletter, door hanger or postcard to every home in your farm. Then, do it again, and again, consistently.

You’re not just a rookie real estate agent, but a business owner now. And, like all entrepreneurs, you’re going to be wearing all the hats in the beginning. But, the marketing hat is the one that should sit firmly on your head right now if you hope to generate real estate leads quickly.

If you’re ready for a website that works as hard as you do – check out LeadSites. With a LeadSite, you can start putting your ideas into action and watch your business grow.

Get more tips on how to generate leads in 2018 here.

Need more help getting started with a new real estate business? Get into the right mindset here:

Easy Agent Pro Blog

Why Your Real Estate Listing Descriptions Are Terrible (Put Them on Steroids With These Tips)

April 12, 2018 Shannon

As a writer, I’m impressed by well-written listing descriptions in the MLS.

OK, so I’m easily amused. But there’s something inherently sexy in an agent’s employment of an interesting turn of phrase and the avoidance of empty adjectives.

An agent who uses the few characters allowed by the MLS to highlight features and amenities that a photo can’t show, instead of repeating what’s already listed in the property description, deserves major kudos.

Despite what many agents and certain agenda-driven researchers seem to think, an agent’s description of his or her listing is important to homebuyers who seek them out. Of course, presentation is everything, so when a good description isn’t enough, it’s time to get a leadsite.

Does anybody really read them?

Not if they suck. And, not if they don’t include photos.

It’s common knowledge by now that Internet house hunters pass right by listings that lack photos. Some of that knowledge was imparted by a 2011 study published in the Journal of Real Estate Research.

Researchers tracked eye movements of homebuyers who were using the internet to look for homes.

They found that the subjects looked at the photos first—and for the longest period of time—before moving on to the property description and, finally, the agent remarks.

Oddly, the researchers feel that since 20 percent of these homebuyers didn’t look at the agent remarks, this section of the listing has no value.

They, in fact, went on to say that this statistic reveals the unimportance of “agent remarks to home searchers.”

The fact that a whopping 80 percent of homebuyers do read the remarks seems to have flown right by the study’s obviously glass-is-half-empty authors.

Since your glass is half-full, however and you understand that 80 percent of homebuyers is a great-big plus, you’ll need to stop wasting that space and start using it to power-market your listings.

Highlight in-demand features

Remember the ocular tracking studies we mentioned earlier?

Potential homebuyers looking at your listing online will read your remarks last.

This means they’ve already seen the photos and read the description of the home before they get to the agent remarks.

Not only that, they most likely narrowed their search according to their criteria, such as number of bedrooms and bathrooms.

To repeat that information—and the information in the property description—is a waste of precious marketing copy.

If you know buyers’ hot buttons for homes in your listing’s price range, use the remarks section to trumpet them. If you don’t know what these buyers want, do some research.

Kiplinger, for instance, with help from Trulia, says that 93 percent of homebuyers want a separate laundry room. In fact, 57 percent say they wouldn’t buy a home without one.

If your listing happens to have this feature, let the folks know in the remarks section.

In fact, put it up front and hit it heavy.

Other features to consider advertising in the remarks section include outdoor lighting, energy efficient windows and storage space.

Whatever you do, don’t mention the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, the square footage or anything else that is listed in the property description.

Words will never harm me

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. It’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning,” according to Mark Twain.

Words have power and, although sticks and stones may break your bones, words can sell a home

At least according to Paul Anglin, with the University of Guelph in Canada.

Anglin and some associates conducted a three-year study of real estate listing descriptions and how the agent’s choice of words affected the home’s sale price and the days it spent on the market.

The researchers then compiled a list of words that sell and words that don’t.

Although the study was conducted over a decade ago, it speaks to the importance of taking your time when writing a property description, understanding what buyers want and paying attention to the words you use.

Words that sell in listing descriptions, at least according to this somewhat dated list, include:

Maple
Landscaping
Gourmet
Curb Appeal
Fixer Upper
Handyman Special

Speaking of using the right words, be sure your real estate slogan matches the brand you’re trying to craft. Here’s some ideas to get you started.

Our friends at Zillow.com performed a more recent study and suggested the following (yeah, that first one is a head-scratcher):

Basketball
Beautiful
Captivating
Gentle
Granite
Impeccable
Landscaped
Luxurious
Pergola
Remodel
Spotless
Stainless
Tile
Updated
Upgraded

Words to avoid, according to the Guelph University study, include any that may be perceived as seller desperation, such as “motivated” and “must sell.”

Believe it or not, the word “value” was associated with homes that sell for five percent less than other homes, and the authors claim that you should avoid describing your listing as “clean,” or that it has “new paint” or “new carpet.” Who knew, right?

Zillow.com suggests avoiding these words in your listing descriptions:

Bargain
Cosmetic
Fixer
Investment
Investor
Nice
Opportunity
Potential
TLC

Sell the sizzle with listing descriptions

Once called the “Greatest Salesperson in the World,” it was Elmer Wheeler who admonished salespeople to sell the sizzle, not the steak. “The sizzle has sold more steaks than the cow ever did,” he explained.

Wheeler was talking about using words that appeal to the senses to get the sale.

In other words, hardwood floors become “gleaming wide-plank bamboo underfoot.” Views are “Unexpected far-reaching views”

While it may seem a bit of a lofty goal for a mere property description, if you follow the advice of the late, great Joseph Conrad, you can’t go wrong: “My task . . . is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel — it is, before all, to make you see.”

Buyers as editors

Luxury agents need to be extra careful when writing their listing descriptions.

According to a recent study by Redfin and Grammarly, the online grammar checker, luxury buyers are keenly aware of technical errors, such as incomplete sentences and misspellings and they tend to shy away from these listings.

In fact, homes listed at more than $1 million dollars remain on the market longer and sell for less when their descriptions contain technical errors.

Real estate agents typically come to the industry as a second or even third career. Some have college in their backgrounds, while many don’t.

We all know that a formal education isn’t required to be a successful agent, but if you lack basic spelling and grammar skills, especially when attempting to sell high-end property, you may want to hire a ghostwriter to help out with your writing chores.

Otherwise, just a few extra minutes spent in careful consideration of which words and phrases to use will turn your listing descriptions from sludge to smooth and compelling works of art.

It’s time to dominate the competition. Need new marketing ideas?

Looking to market your listings on Facebook or you landing page? Check out this video

Easy Agent Pro Blog, For Real Estate Agents, Lead Generation, real estate related

Nurturing Real Estate Leads – How To Get The Most Out Of Your Leads

April 10, 2018 Shannon

You’ve seen those nifty diagrams about the life of a lead. Sure, you have. Pull one out and take a closer look – right there, between real estate lead generation and conversion. Nurturing real estate leads – See it?

Lead nurturing

You can’t get from one to the other without lead nurturing.

So, why do so many agents get all ticked off when their leads don’t convert – despite the fact that they’ve done zilch to get them there?

Because they’ve left out the most important step.

Don’t let “I’m too busy” stand in the way. You simply MUST focus on nurturing real estate leads.

Don’t surrender

What “location, location, location” is to real estate agents, “Don’t give up before the miracle happens” is to those in recovery. It’s a mantra, sure, but it expresses a truth just as valid as how important location is to a property purchase.

What’s the “miracle” in real estate lead generation?

It’s that moment when a lead – some random person who visited your website or real estate blog called you from a marketing piece you sent out or found you on Zillow – reaches out to you.

Don’t miss out on that lead! Use Smart Menu from your LeadSite to capture and convert more leads. Learn more.

Out of all the agents in town, what are the chances this lead chose to call you?

Rather than dwell on the existentials, let’s get down to the basics of what to do with this miracle – how to keep it going and get you to a paycheck. That’s where nurturing real estate leads comes into play.

Let’s do it

That’s the end result – the three simple words you most want to hear (aside from “We’re on record,” that is).

Your goal, then, is to get your leads to finally decide it’s time to pull the trigger – to move them from what you think is that immovable “I’m not ready” to “Let’s do it”

Naturally, not all of your leads are in the same position in your funnel, at the same time. Yeah, it’s frustrating as hell. But that’s the sales cycle, so accept it or be forever irked. Of course, it helps to be generating new leads all the while, and that’s where leadsites can be a big help.

Console yourself with the knowledge that most of these leads will end up transacting. They will eventually buy or sell property. Now, it may be with you, or it may be with another agent.

Most likely, it won’t be immediate

But, you’re not two-years old, so you can handle deferred gratification, right?

So, use the time between now and then to become their agent of choice. The guy or gal whom they wouldn’t think of NOT using to help them. That’s the end result of nurturing real estate leads.

This requires follow up

Everybody says that, right? But what does it mean?

It means forging a relationship with these people. It means consistently following up with them, offering valuable information, without being pushy.

It’s a tall order, we know.

That all important CRM

When I was an agent, Top Producer was brand new. Yeah, I’m a dinosaur. Their CRM (although that’s not what they called it) was high-tech for the time, but rather clunky.

Today’s CRMs, including Top Producer’s, are an indispensable part of an agent’s business.

NOTE TO ROOKIES: Get one. You will never be sorry you made the investment

You absolutely must keep track of every lead and then keep track of where they are in the sales cycle and what you are doing to nurture them.

Consider using Corcoran Consulting’s method: Leads are classified as A, B, or C. The “A” leads are the hottest (those who are ready to pull the buy/sell trigger), “B” folks are getting there and “C” leads are the looky-lou’s (but NEVER count them out).

If you’re alphabet-intolerant, use “Hot, Warm, Cold.” In fact, we like that one even better.

Then comes nurturing real estate leads

Whichever method you choose determines your follow-up efforts. Those “A,” or hot leads need your love right now. Contact them, leave messages and keep calling. In fact, commit to four or five follow-up calls before resigning these folks to the drip system.

Those “B” leads are the ones that typically fall through the cracks. Don’t let them. As an agent, those were the ones that most commonly came through for me.

Consistently stay in touch with them, giving them relevant and valuable content. A newsletter works well here.

Although a simple reminder that you have the world’s best real estate blog on the world’s best real estate website will work as well

Keep dripping on your “C” or cold leads as well. In fact, drip until they die or buy/sell.

How?

With content that is relevant to their position in the sales funnel.

New listing alerts that match their criteria
Market updates
Your spiffy newsletter
What neighborhood did they express an interest in? Give them news about happenings in and around it.
Basic buying and selling stuff – down payment assistance programs in your area, repairs to skip and those worth making, how to get ready to sell/buy.

Think “speed”

Agents with beefy contact management solutions have the advantage of being able to monitor what leads do on their websites and then tailor their campaigns to those actions.

When you know what a lead is thinking, you can accelerate your responses, in kind.

Imagine knowing that one of your leads forwards one of your blog posts or clicks on a link in your newsletter or keeps visiting a particular property in your IDX. THAT is knowledge that is oh, so powerful.

When nurturing real estate leads, knowing when to accelerate a lead from one level to the next gives you a distinct advantage.

Sure, a phone call is the logical next step, but don’t let up on your drip campaign. In fact, it becomes even more pertinent because now you know how to laser-focus your content.

Experts (who I am too lazy to look up and refer you to now – so you’ll need to take my word for it) claim that six to 18 months may pass before a lead is incubated.

This is where your blog comes in

This is where you can be more personal, allowing these leads to get to know you, to appreciate your expertise and to learn to trust you.

Those red-hot or even simmering leads should get an email blast with blog links. They will come, and they will engage, if your content is engaging and relevant to their needs. Utilize the right tools to nurture your leads.

If you pay attention to nurturing leads you’ll know when the time is right for you to pull the trigger.

Dump the canned scripts and use sincerity as your main sales tool. Few others do – think how refreshing it will be to your leads when you actually nurture them instead of tell them how amazing you think you are.

Need to learn how to generate leads in 2018?

Find out how to generate leads using IDX searches in this video