Hey rookie, have you figured out yet that there’s a whole lot of stuff you didn’t learn in real estate school? The practical, day-to-day-how-to-run-your-biz kind of stuff? Like how to build a real estate vendor referral program?
All that money, all that time, all that stress and you still really don’t have a clue about what you’re supposed to do daily.
We got you up to speed on what you’ll need tech-wise, and today we’ll show you how to build your vendor network. The list is long, but we’ve prioritized it to make it easier for you to get started.
Starting a real estate vendor referral program
When you are new to the biz, gather only the most-used vendors. Here is a list of who we added to our real estate vendor referral program at the outset:
- General Contractor
- Home inspector
- Home warranty
- Insurance
- Lender
- Locksmith
- Mover
- Pest inspection
- Title and escrow
In looking over the list, we can honestly say that although all of these are important, listing agents should plan on building a relationship with a title and escrow rep and general contractor first. Buyer’s agents would do best cultivating relationships with lenders, home inspectors and insurance agents.
But, you aren’t finished. To be a fount of information for your clients, you need to build relationships with the following vendors and add them to your real estate vendor referral program:
- Carpet cleaner
- Chimney cleaner
- Cleaning crew
- Electrician
- Engineer (structural)
- Flooring company
- Garage door repair
- HVAC
- Landscaper
- Mold mitigation
- Movers
- Notary
- Painter
- Pest control
- Pest inspection
- Plumber
- Pool care
- Roofer
- Septic & Sewer Companies
- Stager
- Trash out
- Water damage remediation
- Well inspector
- Window cleaner
- Window/glass repair
How to find these people
The guy or gal you’ll call when you take a listing and need to open escrow, the home inspector that your buyer clients can rely on when they don’t have one of their own. The contractor you will depend on when faced with icky home inspection results.
These are your preferred vendors. In a perfect world, they all agree to take payment out of escrow (if it’s legal in your area).
But, we all know the world is far from perfect and they aren’t waiting with baited breath to work with rookies.
And, they’re busy, so don’t feel that you need to call them to introduce yourself. Wait until you have something REAL to offer, like a pest inspection
So, how will you find these people and add them to your real estate vendor referral program? Just as we counsel real estate consumers to choose an agent by word-of-mouth (our testimonials, hopefully), the best way to start building your real estate vendor referral program is by asking other agents for referrals.
But, be aware that a vendor may not be the end-all, be-all just because another agent recommends him or her. Use care when working with your vendors and occasionally monitor your clients’ satisfaction with them.
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