Where can a new real estate agent find listings?

Quite often, a new real estate agent begins with serving buyers, but nearly everyone wants to have some listings as well, so how do you go about getting them?

Start developing your own geographic territory.

Choose a neighborhood you know well, then learn everything you don’t already know about it. For instance, learn all about the zoning districts, the utility fees, the school district boundaries, and the taxes. If yours is a neighborhood with a homeowner’s association, get a copy of their rules, bylaws, etc. and learn what they say. Know the HOA fees, as well.

In other words, really become the expert.

Now begin prospecting by direct mail.

Then, start small. Choose a specific number of homes and begin mailing to the homeowners. Maybe you can only afford to mail to 100, or even fewer. But choose which ones and be consistent with that list. You’ll get better results if you mail to 100 people 10 times than if you mail to 1,000 people just once.

If you’re not sure what to say when you write to those homeowners, use my Geographic Territory Farming Letters.

In addition to sending your marketing letters, write those homeowners when there’s news that affects them. Tell them about under-publicized elections, city council decisions, new businesses coming to the area, celebrations that are being planned, etc.

To achieve success, a new real estate agent must market consistently.

Read my  Active Rain post about how many touches it takes to get a new prospect to respond to you. 

Once you begin getting results from your mailings, set aside dollars from every closing to expand your mailing territory. And again, be consistent.

Master marketer Barbara Todaro mails thousands of postcards per month now, but when she was a new real estate agent she began by mailing just 20 “just listed” cards every time she got a new listing. Read her post on the subject right here.

You do have to be careful what you say in your mailings. “Just listed” and “Just sold” notices are pretty self-explanatory, but if you’re working to develop your own territory, you have to give those people a reason to read your message. “Here I am, hire me” just won’t do it. Remember that you have to give before you get.

If you write well and understand the psychology of marketing, write your own letters. If not, use mine. You’ll find my geographic territory prospecting letters here.

But don’t stop with mailing to those residents. Get out and meet them.

• Walk around the neighborhood – stop and talk to residents who are outdoors.
• Give them a copy of your personal brochure.
• Ask if they’d like you to send periodic market reports.
• Attend their yard sales.
• Attend their neighborhood or HOA meetings.
• Have coffee at the neighborhood coffee shop – and talk with people.
• Attend sports events at the schools.

What else can a new real estate agent do to achieve success? Many things. I even wrote a small e-book about it: 107 Ways to Build Your Real Estate Career on a Tiny Budget. More than 90 of the ways I mention require no money at all – or only enough to fuel up your vehicle.

Since you’ve come this far, don’t stop. It took time, effort, and money to become a new real estate agent. Now give yourself the needed push to get over the hump and begin making money.

Get marketing, and as Barbara says: “Market like you mean it!!!”

Image courtesy of Sujin Jetkasettakorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net