Aloun Khountham

Collecting contact information from attendees of an open house is essential for real estate agents to promote and sell their current listing and build their client base. An open house sign-in sheet lets you passively capture each visitor’s information so you can spend more time and effort hosting. Sign-in sheets differ by the type of information you gather, ranging from basic contact information to mailing addresses to detailed questionnaires. Download our open house sign-in sheet templates below. Customize the templates as needed to match your branding and choose the specific information you’d like to gather from your leads. Digital sign-in sheets are also an efficient option for collecting open house leads as an alternative to physical sheets. Digital forms allow agents to collect additional data points that may be too tedious to handwrite.  makes it easy to launch digital forms on a tablet or mobile device. As contact information is collected, the information can be integrated with a client relationship manager (CRM) for easy follow-up. Here are the four types of open house sign-in sheets and templates you can use at your next open house: 1. Basic Information Open House Sign-in Sheet Basic sign-in sheets for open houses should be titled with the address of the property along with “Sign-in Sheet'' so open house visitors can easily find and complete the form. Include the date for your own reference, especially if you are conducting multiple open houses at the same address. Most importantly, ask for essential contact information like the attendee’s name, phone number, and email address. While this information will not give you deeper insight into the buyer or seller, it will provide you with all you’ll need to contact them in the future. Also, asking for simple contact information on a real estate sign-in sheet allows visitors to fill out the form quickly. A form that is too long and asks for too much may discourage them from leaving such contact information. This type of realtor open house sign-in sheet is best when you expect a high number of visitors. A short, simple sign-in sheet won’t create a line at the sign-in table and will help with the flow of the open house tour. This allows real estate agents to maximize their real estate lead generation efforts. Basic signs are great for agents who have pre-existing workflows in their CRM focusing on email marketing, phone, and SMS follow-ups. Instead of asking for phone numbers on your sign-in sheet, try asking for mobile numbers. CRMs like have integrations that allow for SMS texting through Textline. It also offers user-friendly marketing automation tools with list segmentation, marketing analytics, and premade professional templates. Additional available templates for you to use to gather basic information from your open house visitors: 2. Physical Address Sign-in Sheet The sign-in sheet collecting physical address information is similar to the basic sign-in sheet for open houses but has space to input a visitor’s mailing address. Remember that some clients may not want to leave such personal information and will skip this section, but if they are willing to add it, it can be useful for your business. This information helps determine the location they currently live in and the properties they might be interested in purchasing. It also informs agents whether they are current homeowners or are renting and ready to make their first home purchase. With a physical mailing address, agents can conduct real estate farming. Real estate farming, through direct mail, like postcards, flyers, and letters, can generate real estate leads and promote brand awareness. Platforms like allow agents to create digital mailer campaigns with premade templates that will be mailed out in chosen increments. Agents can upload their own designs if they choose or stop and start campaigns as they see fit. ProspectsPLUS! even offers Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) to send postcards along a mail route using the collected ZIP codes collected at the open houses. More templates that will allow you to collect open house visitor mailing addresses: 3. Sign-in Sheet With Detailed Questionnaire Open house templates with questionnaires contain the same information as the basic and physical address forms, but also ask visitors detailed questions about their home search. This can include questions about their prequalification status, agent representation, and properties they’re interested in, to name a few. Other qualifying questions on an open house sign-in sheet may include the following: How did you find out about the open house? What real estate sites do you use to look for properties? What is your budget? What is your ideal property layout and location? How long have they been a homeowner? Are you pre-approved for a loan? What is your preferred method of contact? Any property feedback? Agents can use this information to focus their immediate efforts on the most motivated buyers. Also, adding additional screening questions to your open house sign-ins lets you get more insight into your visitor, allowing you to tailor your marketing strategy to their needs. It will also assist in segmenting your email follow-ups based on the questions asked. For example, if you have several first-time homebuyers, send them an informative packet regarding the sales process. Or if some visitors were soon-to-be sellers researching the competition, offer them a free, comparative market analysis. Since these open house sign-in forms typically take extra time to fill out, be strategic when using them. Real estate agents typically don’t use open-ended questions and opt for multiple-choice responses instead. This will ensure you won’t only get detailed responses but also visitors through the sign-in to focus on the open house. More downloadable open house templates collecting detailed information: 4. Digital Sign-in Sheet A digital sign-in sheet for an open house is listed as one of our top open house ideas. It offers a lot of benefits that paper sign-in sheets do not. Mainly, it can integrate with your CRM, so you don't have to manually add contacts after open house events. Additionally, you don't have to decipher handwriting, so you’re likely to get the most accurate contact information. Digital open house sign-in sheets are easily customizable for each event, but it’s still best to have a standard template with questions for basic visitor information and add to it as needed for each property. With the added technology, digital open house sign-in sheets also have the ability to mark question fields as required or optional. This way, you can ask more questions without it feeling too overwhelming for those who don't want to list specific information and can skip to the next question. Digital sign-in sheets are also completed faster than manual sign-in sheets. Use this added time with prospective leads to connect and make a good impression. Any open house event can use a digital sign-in sheet. Consider your demographic before using the digital sheets. Less tech-savvy visitors may have difficulties with the QR code or using the tablet provided, which means you will collect fewer leads in the long run. However, if your listing is modern and considered a smart home, you should match the tech-forward environment. Software platforms like offer powerful digital marketing tools for real estate agents. Its free sign-in sheet for an open house can be converted into a touchless sign-in sheet through a quick response (QR) code. Thus, open house visitors can use their own mobile phones to fill out the form. Agents can use the platform for marketing their listing with individual listing websites and branded social media content. How to Convert Open House Leads Into Clients Collecting prospective client information at open houses is half the battle—now you must convert leads into opportunities. This data should be used to not only sell the listing they visited but also as opportunities for you to represent buyer clients and obtain new listings. With the contact information at hand, you’ll have different tactics to connect and approach prospective clients after the event. Here are four proven ways to convert open house leads into clients: Bottom Line Creating the right sign-in sheet for an open house is only part of what makes it a successful real estate event. Not only will the open house sign-in sheets help with marketing the available listing, but there are many additional benefits to collecting attendee information, like increasing your contact lists, nurturing future opportunities, and gaining insights into your efforts.

Zillow Premier Agent is one of our top real estate lead generation companies earning a 4.72 out of 5 rating. We researched dozens of companies and evaluated their lead generation features, customer reviews, pricing, and ease of use through 24 criteria to determine the best lead gen options for real estate agents and brokers. Based on this information, as well as analysis of Zillow Premier Agent reviews, we encourage agents and brokers who specialize in buyers to utilize the Zillow Premier Agent platform to capture qualified leads. Zillow Premier Agent Reviews: What Users Think of Zillow Premier Agent Users who left positive reviews enjoyed the concierge aspect of the platform. They said phone calls are vetted before being transferred to an agent, and they have access to a buyer's search information when they receive a lead. Many reviews mentioned that the platform is a large investment, but the more money you’re willing to put into the available services, the more leads and deals you will eventually close. The mobile application notifications are also extremely helpful in notifying agents of new incoming leads. G2: 2.2 out of 5 based on 47 Zillow Premier Agent reviews Consumer Affairs: 2.7 of 5 based on 1,395 Zillow Premier Agent reviews Featured Customers: 4.7 out of 5 based on 2,560 Zillow Premier Agent reviews Many of the negative Zillow Premier Agent reviews are based on the quality of leads and low conversion rates. As expected, with many lead generation sites with such high volume, like Zillow, some clients are purely window shopping. Therefore, agents must constantly nurture the leads. One user mentioned many of their leads were prospective clients who had already reached out and spoken to other realtors. For agents who prefer exclusive lead generation, perhaps consider using the lead generation platform to obtain leads exclusively from a specific ZIP code. Would Our Expert Use Zillow Premier Agent? is a premier lead generation platform for buyer and seller agents interested in leveraging the high website traffic of the Zillow network. Now, you might be asking if Zillow premier agent is worth it. We believe so. One of our favorite features is the dedicated concierge, who will help pass on motivated buyers and sellers, along with providing a preview of client information before transferring the call. We like that Zillow provides a customer relationship manager (CRM) to capture all leads with insights into client activity on the website. Therefore, agents can be proactive and prepared when communicating with the client. In our opinion, one of the largest downsides to the platform is the Zillow Premier Agent cost factor, particularly if you are located in high-demand markets like Malibu, California, or Miami, Florida. Smaller teams or individual agents will have to compete against larger brokerages who can pool their team’s budgets. Given this high barrier to participating in the platform, agents should consider more cost-effective lead generation platforms providing exclusive leads like  Market Leader also offers automated marketing and branding solutions to support lead generation efforts. Zillow Premier Agent Alternatives Agents who may not be ready to foray into purchasing leads based on ZIP codes should consider other real estate lead generation companies that provide more product offerings to help agents generate and manage their own lead pipelines. Other lead generation platforms can provide agents with IDX websites, landing pages, automated marketing to nurture leads, paid advertisements, etc., which are not currently offered through Zillow Premier Agent. Zillow Premier Agent Pricing & Plans does not have a straightforward plan or pricing available to agents, so how much does Zillow Premier Agent cost? The Zillow Premier Agent pricing is based on a selection of desired ZIP codes in which you would like to receive leads, along with a monthly budget set by each agent. ZIP code pricing is a variable rate based on the market demand for an area and the competition for advertising share by agents within that ZIP code. Here are the factors to consider when deciding your Zillow Premier Agent pricing: General Zillow Premier Agent Features Leveraging the Zillow network to obtain buyer and seller leads will give agents access to the largest network of homebuyers and sellers. With a dedicated monthly spend, provides agents with tools to grow their business along with resources to help them convert and nurture the leads received. Zillow Premier Agent is also a scalable tool with added features for teams and brokerages like customizable productivity reports, lead routing, and personalized real estate consulting with Zillow to ensure your real estate success on the platform. Additional Zillow Premier Agent Features Along with the general features provided by Zillow Premier Agent, the following are additional components provided to real estate agents and brokers when joining Zillow Premier Agent. These features allow agents to collaborate with their teams, increase lead generation efforts while saving time and money, and enable agents to use the Zillow Premier Agent system on the go. Ease of Use The easiest part of joining is creating an account and setting up your profile. Agents will have to fill their profile with their biography and professional headshot, claiming your prior sales deals, and asking former clients to help provide reviews of your services. Once a profile is set up, agents can proceed to make their initial purchase to participate in buying ZIP codes or list their available listings. After having access to the My Ads section of the platform, it's easy to identify which ZIP codes you want to purchase and see the details regarding competition in that area. The CRM has an easy-to-comprehend layout of client information and provides insights in an accessible manner on the side panels. The mobile application is also fully functioning, so agents can easily transition from office to mobile without losing any capabilities. One of the challenging aspects of being a seller’s agent on Zillow Premier Agent is feeding your listing to the website. Seller agents are unable to manually add listings directly on the platform. Agents must just use an MLS feeding service from their internal listing management system in order to get listings on the site. In addition to that, having other buyer agents listed on your listing can make it challenging to receive direct leads. How We Evaluated Zillow Premier Agent The top real estate lead generation companies for realtors offer tools and features that assist agents and brokerages in generating and converting more leads to clients. We examined lead generation companies for realtors based on the following criteria: Bottom Line The Zillow Premier Agent platform facilitates the connection between real estate agents with motivated buyers and sellers to support an agent’s growing business. For agents who are able to make the financial commitment, they’ll find that the Zillow Premier Agent platform isn't just a lead-generating platform, but is imperative in supporting their branding through agent profiles showcased on the largest real estate website.

Open houses have been a staple of the real estate industry for decades to increase lead generation and business opportunities, but they have changed over time. Staying ahead of new, unique open house ideas and trends maximizes your time and effort and brings more qualified leads into your sphere. Excellent open house ideas, like having food, social media advertisements, and virtual tours, help your property stand out, increase property interest, and acquire contact information from prospective buyers and future sellers. These are 14 real estate open house ideas to help you generate interest and leads for your properties: 1. Choose the Right Open House Time & Day Timing is everything when it comes to showcasing property at an open house event. Although weekends are popular days for agents to host open houses, depending on the property and area, it may not always be the best day for that specific property. For example, family-friendly neighborhoods may have homeowners occupied with family events and obligations, making it difficult for them to attend on the weekend. Instead, have open houses on weekday evenings to capture additional opportunities. Most open houses are offered during the day to maximize natural light. However, if a property has a beautiful city view in the evening that increases buyer interest, hosting an evening open house and marketing the city lights can get more people in the door and get you more real estate leads. Choosing the right open house time and day for a specific property is crucial to shortening the property’s time on the market. 2. Electronic Open House Sign-ins Collecting open house visitor contact information is one of the best tips for open houses. Not only should you have a sign-in sheet for anyone who stops by, but having a digital sign-in sheet eliminates the need to decipher handwritten contact information. Digital sign-in sheets also allow for additional branding and make it easier to collect certain notes on visitors. For example, allow visitors to identify whether they are a buyer or a real estate agent—and when the buyer is looking to move. These filters come in handy during the follow-up process. Agents can utilize platforms like to create online sign-in sheets directly in an open house application. The sign-in sheets sync with customer relationship management (CRM) software for better lead collection and follow-up. Curb Hero also provides digital marketing tools for agents to also create landing pages for their listings and converts social media followers to leads. 3. Highlight the Property’s Best Features The most successful real estate agents look at the property through the eyes of the ideal buyer when coming up with open house marketing ideas. Identifying the best features of the property that will generate the most leads will provide you with a more targeted open house attendees list. Not only should you highlight these features during your open house tour, but you should also mention the feature in the online property description and throughout your marketing materials. For example, if you have a stunning backyard pool, draw additional attention to it by setting that area up with drinks, pool floaties, and nice patio pillows and furniture. If part of the home has nice hardwood flooring, let the natural wood show rather than covering it with a rug. Any feature you deem worthy of marketing should be visible and presented in the best possible way to garner a strong first impression from open house attendees. 4. Provide Food & Entertainment One of the best ideas for open houses is to provide an incentive to attend the open house event. Adding on food and entertainment can be a motivating factor to increase attendance from interested buyers. Aside from speakers and other attendees, EventBrite cites food as the second-most important factor when people decide if they’re attending an event. Perhaps there is a new bakery in the neighborhood you could get catering from that would entice people to stop by for a taste while also seeing the property. Fun open house ideas that include good food and entertainment are also very unexpected since most open houses are just about the property itself and lack any additional bells and whistles. Although food is a huge draw, be mindful of what you serve. You don't want to serve anything that requires too many utensils or space to sit and eat. Finger foods and hors d'oeuvres served cold or at room temperature are great options to allow guests to still move through the property. You also want to keep the homeowner’s space nice and clean, so don't serve food that may stain their furniture. 5. Offer 3D & 2D Virtual Tours Offering 2D and 3D virtual tours is a valuable open house tip because it offers those unable to make your event in person an opportunity to still see the property. It also allows prospective buyers to have an open house experience at any time convenient to them without the need to disturb property sellers and have them vacate the property. Agents can use 2D and 3D tours in their marketing and promotional materials as a way to collect additional leads. Sharing snippets of the tour to prospective buyers can give them a preview of the property, thereby making in-person visitors more motivated to put in an offer. Agents can also have a registration form to collect leads for buyers who want to see the full tour. To enhance the presentation of your listing, agents can create video marketing content with 3D tours from . Matterport’s 3D technology helps agents reach a wider audience with standout features like Mattertags, floorplans, and the ability to virtually stage their properties. It offers 360 cameras to capture a listing’s space, but agents can use their phones and Matterport’s mobile application to produce 3D models of their property. 6. Strategically Placed Signage Real estate open house signage is essential for letting people know about your listing. Agents should list open house times on third-party websites like or , but having outside signage strategically placed can create more foot traffic to your open house. Some open house tips for signage include having a prominent sign at the property and placing one on a nearby busy road with balloons to draw the attention of passing cars. This is particularly helpful if other open houses are happening in the neighborhood and they might not have seen your property online. Another place to include open house signage is with nearby businesses. Many coffee shops and cafes have corkboards or public bulletins that allow you to post signage. This can gain neighborhood traffic, but also those traveling to a neighborhood they’re interested in moving to. Like the above image, the bulletin board is right near the milk at a coffee shop, so those who are topping off their coffees can stop and see your open house information. To print open house signage, agents can use to quickly and professionally print out signage. Agents can select from various signage options, like yard signs, banners, posters, and flags, to appropriately market their open houses. VistaPrint provides premade templates, or you can choose to upload your own custom design. It connects agents with professional designers to help create the perfect sign design. 7. Leverage Brand Partnership to Access Larger Reach Many local or national brands have large client contact lists and strong brand recognition. Partnering with brands for your open house is a creative open house idea that can draw a lot of attention to your event. The partnership is mutually beneficial because you can draw in attendees to your open house while the brand can increase its customer base. Brand partnerships can range from a beverage partner to a local florist to a mortgage professional—reducing open house expenses. In exchange for goods or services, you will usually be expected to help pitch in with marketing their brand during your outreach efforts for your open house. Adding their logo and company information to your flyers and newsletter can help with expanding their brand recognition, but if it’s a strong brand, then you can use that to your advantage to get more attendees. 8. Use Digital Marketing Advertisements With 4.9 billion social media users, open houses should also be marketed online to have a larger and more targeted reach. Social media allows agents to market their open houses to their social media followers. Agents can also create social media ads that will be shown to a selected audience. For example, choose to show the sponsored ad to a targeted area or ZIP code in addition to choosing different client attributes like those looking to move in the near future. Social media is one of the most affordable ways to market your listing, and the power of social media lets users easily share your post with their network, creating more ad impressions for you. Some platforms like Facebook allow users to add a registration form or “learn more” button—helping you collect prospective buyer leads or direct viewers to your website’s landing pages. Even if they don't attend your open house, you can convert them later. 9. Invite the Neighbors A property’s neighbors may not be the most motivated buyers. However, it's still an opportunity for real estate agents to develop their business. It's an opportunity for you to introduce yourself and your services while also showcasing the work that you put into listing a property. That way, if they list in the future, they will be inclined to reach out to you. Go around the neighborhood with attractive door hanger invites to invite those closest to the property. Also, allow them to invite any interested friends, family, or colleagues. Another benefit of inviting the neighbors is to show them what their property could potentially be valued at. Neighbors are usually curious about what their neighbors’ homes are selling for and what the property looks like. Welcoming the neighbors to your house can encourage them to sell at the current market conditions and give you more listing opportunities in the future. 10. Collaborate With Other Agents The real estate industry can be extremely competitive because agents are generally independent contractors working solely on commission. However, that doesn't mean agents shouldn't collaborate for mutually beneficial reasons. Although you probably do not want to share your listings with other agents, building relationships with buyer’s agents who have clients who might be interested in the property can be advantageous for both parties. These collaborations don't always have to exist during the open house hours the general public is invited to. Share a new listing with other agents prior to listing it on the market, also known as a broker open house. Agents can view the property without clients, gathering information directly from the hosting agents. This way, agents can entice their clients to view a special listing that is not on the market. It could even eliminate your open house altogether if you get a buyer before the first open house. 11. Incentivize Open House Visitors With Prize Raffles Doing raffles at open houses can draw in attendees interested in the prizes offered, but it allows you to collect prospective client information. Visitors may want to bypass the sign-in sheet because they don't want to receive spam emails or follow-ups; however, if visitors want to win a prize, they will be more inclined to provide their contact information. You can also decide to use raffle slips as a substitute for a traditional sign-in sheet. Depending on what your budget allows, try to get prizes that are substantial enough to attract attendees, like gift cards, spa services, or local sport event tickets. Aim to have multiple prizes with varying price ranges. That way, you not only have a few more winners but can also develop better relationships with the winners. Agents should make sure to include the presence of a raffle on their invites and marketing materials. Prizes that interest your contact lists will persuade guests to participate. 12. Stage the Property & Add Additional Decor Empty properties should be staged with furniture and decor to give prospective buyers an idea of how the space might look if they lived there. A staged home sells 30% faster than unstaged properties and has a 20% higher sales price on average. Therefore, not only will the effort upfront mean you can close a deal faster, but your commission income could also increase significantly. Although it may feel like a large investment to stage an entire property, your return on that investment will make it worth the initial expense. For properties that currently have homeowners living in them, small additions to the property can help prepare the property for an open house. Homeowners may not have accent pillows on their couches or lamps on the side tables that are used on a daily basis. Adding small touches like these could pull a room together and make it present more professionally. Real estate agents could use these add-ons to their advantage, like a branded doormat containing your logo and contact information. 13. Provide Customized Promotional Items Agents should market themselves and their brand during an open house. An easy way to do this is by having goodie bags or promotional items at the open house so people can take your contact information with them. Branded tote bags with open house flyers inside of them can be an excellent way to have people reach for the bags and take them home. Their use of your bags for groceries or everyday activities helps increase your brand placement to others who see the bag. These items can also be as simple as branded pens or refrigerator magnets. offers promotional items with a variety of tote bags for all occasions. It’s a one-stop shop for all customized marketing products. Agents can select from over 1,500 tote bag options with a wide range of materials, quantities, and costs to fit their needs. In addition to offering a regular cotton tote bag, agents can get creative and print beach bags, toiletry bags, or even laundry bags that might get more frequent use by your open house attendees. 14. Always Follow Up With Your Open House Visitors The key to having a successful open house is follow-up. Having a few follow-up email templates pre-drafted before your open house helps you send them out quickly after the event. Following up with open house attendees acknowledges their presence at the event and opens up the opportunity for conversation. You could ask for their feedback to help you determine the next marketing steps to sell the property, or you could share with them a price change that might pique their interest. Having a customer relationship manager (CRM) connected to your digital open house sign-in sheet helps you nurture that relationship. CRMs like have robust email marketing tools that allow you to track email campaigns as well as email segmentation, so you can send the right message to the right contacts. For contacts collected at open houses, you can have a segment specifically for them, sharing listings you have available in nearby areas. Bottom Line Some of the top open house tips can be executed simultaneously to create a larger impact at your open houses. These open house event ideas should help you quickly receive offers on your property, increase your contact lists, and bring additional business for the future. Although open houses have been around for some time, keeping up with the latest open house ideas and trends can provide you with a lead generation strategy to grow your business over time.

LinkedIn is a professional networking and career development website that can be used by real estate professionals to make connections, establish their online identity, and generate business. By creating a captivating profile, posting real estate-related content, using paid advertising, and nurturing your online connections, using LinkedIn for real estate agents can provide steady brand recognition and a targeted online reach that yields real estate opportunities. We’ve found eight ways real estate agents can use LinkedIn for real estate leads with both organic and paid strategies: 1. Build a Compelling Personal LinkedIn Real Estate Profile A LinkedIn profile acts as a landing page for your personal brand. Agents who want to generate real estate leads should have a page that clearly identifies their profession through a professional headshot, headline, and profile summary. When people visit your page, they’ll clearly understand what you do and your services. Agents should consistently update their profiles to ensure prospective clients have the most accurate information on where they work, some of their most recent projects, and their newest acquired skills. 2. Create a Business Profile If using LinkedIn for real estate agents, you should have a business profile and a personal profile to give credibility to the products or services offered. Business profiles or company pages are similar to personal profiles but highlight the businesses’ expertise, services, employees, and accomplishments. This strategy will also increase additional exposure to your business because there is not only an additional landing page created but also additional tools provided to increase page following and engagement. 3. Increase Your LinkedIn Real Estate Professional Network Once you’ve created your personal LinkedIn real estate profile, your next objective should be to create as many meaningful connections as possible on the networking site. Eighty percent of professionals say you can elevate your career through professional networking. However, collecting LinkedIn connections won't just result in success for your business. You have to make connections beneficial to your business. On LinkedIn, connections are made when you or someone you invite to connect accepts the invitation. There are different levels of connections on LinkedIn. The degrees of connections on LinkedIn: 1st-degree: These are LinkedIn users who have accepted your invitation to connect, or you’ve accepted their invitation to connect. These users will have a 1st-degree icon next to their name in search results or on their profile. You can send direct messages to 1st-degree connections on LinkedIn. 2nd-degree: These users are people who are connected to your 1st-degree connections. They will have a 2nd-degree icon next to their name in search results or on their profile. Connect to these users using a connect button via their profile page or in search results. 3rd-degree: These are LinkedIn users connected to your 2nd-degree connections and have a 3rd-degree icon in search results or on their profile page. You are unable to connect to these users directly but have the ability to message them via InMail. You will often only see a reduced profile for 3rd-degree connections unless you have a premium LinkedIn account or share a LinkedIn group connection. Followers: These are LinkedIn users who choose to follow your public updates that show up on their LinkedIn feed. 2nd- and 3rd-degree connections, along with followers, are opportunities to become your 1st-degree connections. To connect with 3rd-degree connections, find someone you have a mutual 2nd-degree connection with and connect with them to make the 3rd-degree connection a 2nd-degree connection. Then you can connect directly with the 2nd-degree connections. 4. Leverage Your Sphere Of Influence Your sphere of influence (SOI) will be the most beneficial to your professional networking results. An SOI is a list of professionals you know both personally and professionally. They can provide you with business opportunities by sending a referral, helping market your services, or can give you direct contacts. Many times, people in your SOI will be family, friends, colleagues, past clients, or even your neighbors. Because these SOI relationships can be personal, many people choose to exclude these connections for fear of intermingling personal and professional relationships. Don't be shy about connecting with your SOI on LinkedIn. Not only are they familiar with you, so they’ll easily accept the connection, but then you’ll have access to their connections. Access to their connections allows you to create a larger network by having someone in common to help with referrals or introductions. 5. Define Your Niche & Set Goals LinkedIn for real estate lead generation should be treated like any other marketing tool. The best use of your marketing effort should help you stand out from your competitors and position yourself as an expert in real estate. To do this, agents should always have a defined real estate niche so their marketing efforts are maximized and clearly defined. A real estate niche can be based on location, activity, property type, or situational, which can be leveraged on LinkedIn to connect with prospective clients with similar interests or goals. 6. Post Real Estate Content Real estate agents can post different LinkedIn real estate posts like videos, documents, article links, or just plain text. Posting relevant content establishes your knowledge and credibility of real estate. When others see your posts and see them often, there is a greater chance to start a conversation and develop better connections with relevant and like-minded users. When users “like” or “share” your content, that post will show up on your 2nd-degree connection’s feed, and there is an opportunity that a new lead may see your content and prompt them to connect with you. Therefore, agents must constantly post so that you increase the likelihood of creating more interactions with the network. Similar to social media marketing, agents should create a content calendar to help them with consistent posting on LinkedIn. Create Quality Content Social platforms will filter how your content appears to social media users by using an algorithm that determines the relevancy of your content to each user. These algorithms will affect your post’s performance and its reach. The LinkedIn algorithm will rank and filter your content to determine its quality and display it accordingly. If your content engages with likes, views, comments, etc., to a sample of your audience, it will continue to display your content to a broader audience. With knowledge of how the algorithm works, users can modify their content so it is shown to their desired audience. There are some tips to ensure your content is not flagged as spam. Since the LinkedIn algorithm rewards content that is interacted with consistently, you want to also interact with other users’ content as well to reciprocate and welcome engagement on your content. You can comment on others’ posts, but if you’re not ready to dive into leaving comments, you can leave a “reaction.” LinkedIn reactions are expressions that allow users to participate more easily in conversation with others in their network. You can like, celebrate, support, love, mark something funny, designate it as insightful, or add a curious expression. To help with LinkedIn real estate posts, platforms like  support social media management—integrating with social platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and TikTok. The platform lets you create and schedule posts in advance, and it will automatically publish the content on your behalf. The presence of a mobile application lets you manage your posts on the go without needing the transfer media between devices. 7. Utilize Paid Advertising Opportunities To help increase your reach, agents can use LinkedIn ads for real estate advertising to meet your marketing goals. Additionally, according to HubSpot, LinkedIn is 277% more effective for generating leads than Facebook and Twitter. allows advertisers to define their marketing objectives as awareness, consideration, or conversion. Awareness creates brand awareness, and consideration will increase your website visitors, engagement, and video views. The conversion objective will provide you with lead generation, website conversions, or job applicants. After identifying the advertising objective, agents can select the audience they want to reach with the campaign. Agents have over 20 different audience categories, like company size, member schools, groups, skills, and titles. Following the target audience is selecting an ad format. The ad formats on LinkedIn fall into different categories. Select from creating sponsored content, document ads, message ads, dynamic ads, and text ads to market your services. Finally, agents must identify a budget and schedule for the advertising campaign. There are three price options to select from: Cost per send: The best option for a Message Ads campaign. You are charged for each message that is successfully delivered. Cost per click: Best pricing option for action-based campaigns like conversions or event registration. Cost per impression: Usually a good fit when brand awareness is your marketing objective. You’ll pay for each impression or view of your ad. Once you choose the pricing structure, agents can identify a daily budget, start and end date, and total budget. Regardless of the campaign time frame, agents can cancel the campaign anytime. Paid advertising allows agents to reach professionals on the network they might not otherwise connect with through their various degrees of connection. With financials being an important role in buying or selling a home, the professionals on LinkedIn are most likely to be homeowners or in a financial position to purchase one. The right audience reach on LinkedIn can contribute to overall business growth. 8. Nurture Your Contacts Online & In-person Nurturing your connections on LinkedIn is essential to developing deeper relationships. On LinkedIn, ways of nurturing your contacts include email, likes, comments, and messages. Sending direct messages to your contacts to congratulate them on their new role or related to one of their recent posts can help you build rapport. Liking or commenting on their posts can ensure you and your business stay top of mind. Although LinkedIn supports InMail, they don't directly send emails to your connections to their third-party inboxes. However, you can export your contacts and their contact information to import into a customer relationship manager (CRM) to take your relationship to email marketing. CRM systems like have a LinkedIn integration. The integration helps pull in contact and company information like job title, location, industry, and company size into the CRM profile. Through the CRM platform, you can add the connection to an email drip campaign or even send InMail to stay top of mind. The most beneficial connection is taking the relationship offline. Agents can have a more meaningful conversation with prospective clients in person, but also an opportunity to get to know them personally a little better. Not every LinkedIn connection will want to meet offline, but agents can persuade connections by offering an event that aligns with their interests like a networking happy hour, sales meeting, or a conference. Bottom Line Since is mainly used for professional networking, you’ll be on a platform with professionals interested in learning about your services. After learning how to use LinkedIn for real estate leads, agents find it an excellent resource for generating organic and paid opportunities. By posting and engaging with other users on LinkedIn, you continuously build your professional network to create a sales funnel of prospective clients.

One of the most effective ways to generate expired listing leads is through writing personal letters to sellers. Crafting an effective expired letter includes empathy, solutions, and personalizations, which motivates sellers of expired homes to use your real estate services and complete the sale that wasn’t done the first time around. In this article, we dive into how to write an expired listing letter, things to avoid, and explore how to make it stand out—encouraging more sellers to relist their homes with you. One way to easily gather expired listing information is by using . REDX is a prospecting platform that specializes in expired lead lists. These lists contain addresses and mobile phone numbers from the multiple listing service (MLS) and offer access to old expired listings lists. Start your lead generation with REDX today. Download Our Expired Listing Letter Template When writing expired listing letters, you don't need to reinvent the wheel. Use our template below and personalize it as needed to each property owner and your observation of past sales performance. Feel free to change up brokerage information and specialty. A handy template ensures you can promptly draft and mail letters quickly to maximize every opportunity. After downloading our template, read through our article to learn how to write an expired listing letter that will generate leads: 1. Express Empathy & Be Clear About Your Intentions When a property doesn't sell or has sat on the market for longer than anticipated, homeowners may be frustrated or disheartened with the entire sales process. The best way to show empathy is by putting yourself in their shoes and acknowledging their feelings about the failed sale. Expressing empathy at the beginning of your letter can help ease the tension and make them open to receiving the information you’ve provided in the rest of the letter. Empathy can also help you create an initial connection and open them to further dialogue. You have to assume that the sellers are receiving a lot of noise through the mail, email, and phone about their property. When a seller comes across your letter, you want to let them know why you’re reaching out and what you’ll be able to offer them that the previous agent wasn't able to. Successful real estate agents leave a lasting impression. Include with your letter a marketing report, a comparable report, or some promotional material so you’ll stand out. 2. Describe the Previous Sale Issue There is a reason why the property was on the market and didn't sell. Sharing the previous sale issue(s) and your perspective on why the property sat on the market will showcase your expertise in the real estate industry and share free knowledge they might not have received from their previous agent. Perhaps the property price was set too high, or there was poor marketing—share this information in the light that they’re fixable issues, and you have the expertise to make appropriate changes to help sell the property successfully. Here are some examples of what you could add to your letter to express the issue you’ve seen: 3. Explain What You Would Do Differently A homeowner may not be willing to list the property again if they feel they will get the same results. Agents must set themselves apart from the past agent and all the other agents vying for the opportunity. To do so, you must clearly define what you would do differently and what makes your services unique. Listing detailed solutions to their previous sale issue should make it clear to the homeowner what they would receive if they responded to your letter. Here’s what you can write for solutions to the above-mentioned issues: 4. Give Sellers a Reason to Look to the Future & Mention Your Brokerage After identifying in great detail the changes you will make to help facilitate the sale of an expired listing, agents should include a brief visual of what the experience will be like working with you. This section of the letter should generate some excitement about welcoming a new team to the listing and eagerness to list the property on the market again. You should introduce your brokerage and the services they’ll receive from the team. Keep in mind that, given their experience with the past agent, you’ll want to ensure you can execute all of the services listed in this section. 5. Have a Strong Call to Action With all real estate marketing efforts, you want to encourage prospective leads to take action. For expired listings, you want the seller to contact you for more information on your service offerings. A great call to action (CTA) will help you increase your conversion rates by telling the lead what they need to do next. On expired listing letters, you want the seller to call or text as a response to your letter without tossing it aside. Your CTA should be firm but inviting. Give them directions like reaching out, checking out your website, or visiting the office. You can also offer incentives like a free, comparative market analysis (CMA) report or a free strategy session to encourage them to meet in person and hear about your services. Here are a few examples: 6. Include All Your Contact Information Although you want the seller to call or text you, you want to include other pertinent contact information, such as email, website, and social media handles, prominently displayed on the letter. The best place to include such information is beneath your signature. You don't want to make it difficult for property owners to find that information. If they don't immediately reach out, you want the opportunity to at least have them visit your website for more information. In any case, your website and social media handles will help with your brand recognition efforts when you nurture your leads. What to Avoid When Drafting the Expired Listing Letters Real estate agents will have a short period of time to make an impression on your property owners, and if you’re lucky, you will get a quick response. Once you gain a homeowner's attention, you don't want to make minor mistakes that could jeopardize that opportunity. A few things to avoid when drafting your expired listing letters: Keep letters short: Avoid sending lengthy letters that get overlooked or not even read by the client. Be professional: You want to be clear, concise, and extremely professional. Professionalism while drafting a letter includes the appropriate spelling and punctuation. Having spelling errors is a sure way to have your letter tossed to the side. Don’t speak poorly of past agents: Although you will have to discuss why the previous agent failed to sell the property, you want to continue to be professional and not talk poorly about the agent. Your criticism of the previous seller’s agent will reflect your ability to stay professional. Do not make false promises: Don't make extreme promises to get a listing you cannot keep. You’ll do more harm to your career and credibility in the long run if the sale is not successful—not to mention, you don't want to waste your time on a property if you know it won't sell. How to Make Your Expired Listing Letter Stand Out One of the main objectives in sending an expired listing letter is ensuring your letter stands out from the rest of the mail that a seller receives. When you’re already putting in the effort to draft and send these letters, you want to make sure you convey to prospective leads how you’ll be able to improve their listing and complete the sale. Another way to make sure your letter stands out is to make it personalized to the property and the prospective seller. Agents can easily do this by making sure you include the address of the property, addressing the seller by their name, and using real examples of past marketing efforts that failed. Including this information shows you’ve done your research, and this letter is not another generic copy received by all your other leads. Don't be afraid to speak about your expertise and qualifications. If there is one time to brag, this is it. Speak about your previous listings, your short time on the market, other proven strategies on how to convert expired listings, and so on. Throughout the letter, you want to emphasize your experience in customer service and ensure your property owners' needs are always put first. There are small details that can help your letter stand out. Use quality paper and professionally printed letters; you can even play with the letter's physical sizing and color to make it stand out. Small attention to detail will get noticed by the right leads and help your overall conversion rates. Agents can design letters on , a design platform with drag-and-drop customization. Canva helps with easy logo creation and has colorful real estate-related templates that can be used to make your expired listing letter stand out. How to Send Expired Listing Letters There are a few ways to send expired listing letters to prospective leads. You can send physical letters through the United States Postal Service to the address of the expired leads, which will only take a few days for them to arrive. The downside of sending snail mail is the difficulty of tracking when the letters arrived. Additionally, if you’re nearby, you can use it as an opportunity to see if the owners are home and drop off the letter in person. If you can collect email addresses through lead sources or the MLS, you can send a trackable electronic mail. With the addition of a real estate client relationship manager (CRM), you can easily automate and personalize each individual email. Here are some of the best options to send both electronic and print mail: Bottom Line Working expired listings for real estate lead generation is a great way to supplement traditional lead generation efforts to grow your business. A well-crafted expired listing letter will address the issues, showcase your experience and expertise, and be personable, so you develop a sincere connection with the property owners. Since the property owners are motivated to sell, learning how to write an expired listing letter and how to convert expired listings can be the approach that will help you to represent more sales listings.

Every real estate agent should implement real estate software to create efficiencies in daily operations to build a successful, long-term real estate career. These real estate tools help with lead generation, brand marketing, listing management, and client communication. To build a seamless real estate operation, we’ve identified the top 32 tools to increase your productivity and revenue through automations, maintaining work quality, and customer acquisition. Lead Generation & Nurturing Software Lead generation is one of the staples of a real estate agent’s business. Tools that assist with lead gen and client nurturing are essential to ongoing real estate transactions. The following tools are the best real estate tools to help gain customer interest in your real estate listings and services while also saving you time and money. This software not only helps you acquire business but also continuously stay in touch with customers who may not transact at first contact. Website Builders & Marketing Tools With 97% of homebuyers using the internet for their home search, it’s imperative that agents leverage websites and marketing tools to increase their credibility and expand their brand reach. When an agent’s brand and contact information is kept top of mind, prospective clients are more likely to reach out when your services are needed. However, digital marketing can be difficult without the help of experts, which is why we’ve gathered the following top website builders and marketing tools for your real estate business. MLS Search & Listing Tools The MLS and listings tools allow agents to display real estate listings to increase lead generation opportunities and enhance listing visibility. Many of these sites allow agents to not only search for available properties, but can also disperse listings to multiple real estate websites on an agent’s behalf. Market Reports & Property Valuation Software Many real estate conversations with potential, current, and past clients center around the state of the market and how much homes are currently worth. As a real estate professional, you should be able to provide insight into valuations, market statistics, and general property information to establish your value proposition to potential clients. Real estate software makes this a lot easier by providing market reports and property valuation to allow agents to leverage this information to generate business. Office Tools While working directly with clients is the primary focus of real estate agents, the organization of paperwork, accounting, and other back-office functions are necessary to keep a real estate business running successfully. By making business processes easier, agents can have more time to focus on lead generation and relationship-building efforts. Here are some of the best office software tools for real estate agents, teams, and brokerages: Efficiency Tools There are many moving parts in a real estate transaction between completing required paperwork and interacting with clients. With the right software, agents can create workflows, share documents, and easily communicate with their clients to increase overall productivity. While many efficiency tools are available, several are notable for real estate professionals. Open House & Showing Management Software Using open house and showing management software can maximize opportunities for agents by collecting contact information of motivated clients and creating a better open house experience. The data can be used to increase contact lists for future marketing efforts. Communication & Collaboration Software Collaboration software increases team productivity by streamlining communication and sharing information in real time. Since many agents work remotely or on the go, the ability to have visibility of sales and activity through these communication platforms can ensure clients and deals are supported. Bottom Line By leveraging the best real estate software, agents can stay organized, streamline their workflows, and create efficiency for a successful real estate career. Whether you are an independent agent, small team, or large brokerage, you and your teams can improve productivity by implementing real estate tools. Many tools have free trials or plans so you can test out which ones work and are adopted by your team without a large initial financial investment.

ProspectsPLUS! is our best real estate direct mail service earning a 4.89 out of 5 rating. Our research was based on 26 factors like templates, custom designs, mailing options, item tracking, and customer reviews to determine the effectiveness of their product versus competitors. ProspectsPLUS! reviews and our analysis found that its easy-to-use interface and highly targeted mailers make it an excellent marketing tool to generate leads for real estate professionals. ProspectsPLUS! Reviews: What Users Think of ProspectsPLUS! The convenience of setting up recurring campaigns has garnered positive ProspectsPLUS! postcard reviews from users. The premade templates made it easy to select a postcard and send it without any customization needed. However, creating personal designs also provided great results. One user mentioned that the ability to customize the marketing campaign schedule helped them predict the flow of incoming leads. Also, customer service received positive reviews regarding their timeliness and ability to help users troubleshoot. Google Reviews: 4.9 out of 5 based on 880 ProspectsPLUS! reviews Facebook: 4.9 out of 5 based on 780 ProspectsPLUS! reviews Reseller Ratings: 4.88 out of 5 based on 3,428 ProspectsPLUS! reviews Some users who provided ProspectsPLUS! postcard reviews were disappointed in the quality of the mailers and samples received, while others felt their conversion rates using mailers were quite low compared to the quantity sent. One client specifically mentioned there was a delay in mailer lead time extending beyond the expected business days. For users who have not seen results from mailers, choosing to use online advertisements through may produce more responses from targeted audiences. Would Our Expert Use ProspectsPLUS! We believe ProspectsPLUS! is ideal for agents who want quick access to a variety of direct mail products with premade templates to easily fit their marketing strategy. The additional resources provided through ProspectsPLUS!, including the business plans, your sphere of influence (SOI) and return on investment (ROI) calculators, and consumer reports, add to the diverse product offering through the online platform. One of the many features that stand out to us is the ability to automate campaigns, allowing users to set it up and forget it so real estate agents can focus on creating successful careers. We did not like that ProspectsPLUS! does not incorporate any online campaigns or advertising for lead generation. With 97% of homebuyers using the internet to look for real estate listings, it’s important to have an all-encompassing solution that supports both online and offline lead generation. If you’re looking for those features, we recommend instead. On top of that, PostcardMania also provides customized websites and landing page designs starting at $795. ProspectsPLUS! Alternatives ProspectsPLUS! Pricing & Plans pricing for real estate direct mailers is broken out into categories based on the level of service needed for each mailer. Items can be mailed using first-class postage, standard postage, Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM), or processing the mailers yourself. The products that can be shipped using the mailing services are postcards, flyers, brochures, and magazines. All shipped items include addressing, postage, and the ability to track mailers. Each mailer has multiple price points depending on the quantity selected. The greater the quantity ordered, the larger the discount received per item. Within each mailer category, agents have the opportunity to select their preferred product size, which will also affect the overall pricing for the mailer. ProspectsPLUS! Add-ons In addition to the above products, agents have the opportunity through ProspectsPLUS! to create the following marketing materials to support direct mail marketing efforts: Business cards: Will be printed on 130# cover cardstock with options for one-sided or double-sided cards. The cost for business cards starts at $35 for 250 cards. Door hangers: Includes a cutout for the doorknob and the option to have a tear-off portion at the bottom and UV coating. Agents can select single-sided or double-sided door hangers. Prices start at 57 cents each. Presentation folders: Double-sided and single-sided folders are printed on 100# cardstock. All folders include a pocket on the inner right side. The cost starts at $3.69 per folder. Notecards: Premium bi-fold note cards are printed on 100# paper with a blank white envelope for mailing. Prices start at 94 cents each. General ProspectsPLUS! Features Real estate professionals can launch professionally designed postcards quickly and affordably through . The demand has significantly increased for online digital marketing. However, performing direct mail marketing in real estate can still be a valuable way to generate leads. In fact, the average response rate of direct mail is around 2.7% to 4.4%, while email has around 0.6%. The features of ProspectsPLUS! allows agents to create extremely targeted, trackable, and personalized mailers that help grab the attention of prospective clients. The following key features make ProspectsPLUS! an ideal platform to support real estate farming and lead generation: Ease of Use Creating postcards, launching campaigns, and collecting mailing list addresses through is straightforward and simple to accomplish. The platform doesn't require any extra technology or downloads to be able to produce their mailer products. Many of the free resources, like marketing and business plans and ROI and SOI calculators, support an agent’s business holistically. The ability to upload your own designs for the mailers allows an agent to stand out from other users who may just select a premade template for ease. Due to the many product offerings, the platform can feel a bit crowded and cluttered on the screen. The geographic farming postcard campaign has 31 themed options, from calls to action to the joke series, but there really is no way to know what themes that category has except to scroll through each one. For the individual postcard categories, you are able to filter slightly, but each category has so many different designs that you would need to look through them individually. This makes the multiple selections you need to make for each mailer feel a bit overwhelming with shipping method, frequency, paper quality, etc. How We Evaluated ProspectPLUS! The best direct mail services for realtors offer tools and features that will grow their clientbase and generate leads for their business. We examined direct mail services for real estate professionals based on the following criteria: Bottom Line Agents who are looking to take the next step in lead generation should consider some form of direct mail efforts. ProspectsPLUS! gets your brand and contact information consistently in front of prospective clients who would otherwise never have received it. If the mailing efforts are coupled with dedicated landing pages, a strong customer relationship manager (CRM), and a deep understanding of market knowledge, it's a platform that can assist with significantly growing an agent's business.

Utilizing client relationship management (CRM) software supports a real estate agent’s lead generation and nurturing efforts along with maximizing lead potential. Many free real estate CRMs provide sales management, marketing, and automation features that allow agents to focus on developing deeper client relationships. Best of all, these CRMs allow agents to allocate their budget toward other expenses to support building a successful real estate career. We’ve evaluated dozens of options to narrow it down to the eight best free CRMs for real estate agents based on features, ease of use, customer reviews, and support: : Best free realtor CRM without user count limitations : Recommended for a customizable CRM with an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant : Top CRM with lead scoring and sales gamification : Great CRM for teams that require configurable profiles for different access levels : Exceptional CRM with reporting features for a busy sales environment : Excellent CRM for cross-team collaboration tools : CRM with social media lead generation add-ons : Ideal CRM for agents seeking leads through the Zillow network Best Free CRM Software for Real Estate at a Glance If you’re unsure of where to start your search for a free real estate CRM software option to grow and manage your business, take our quiz: Freshsales: Best Free CRM Without User Count Limitations Zoho CRM: Best for a Customizable CRM With AI Assistant Agile CRM: Best for Lead Scoring & Sales Gamification Insightly: Best for Teams That Require Configurable Profiles for Different Access Levels HubSpot CRM: Best for Reporting Features in a Sales Environment Bitrix24: Best for Cross-team Collaboration Tools IXACT Contact: Best for Social Media Lead Generation Add-ons Zillow Premier Agent: Best for Real Estate Agents in the Zillow Network How We Evaluated the Best Free CRMs for Real Estate Real estate agents can purchase some of the best real estate software available. However, if their CRM platform isn't intuitive, easy to use, or can't grow with your business, it won't benefit your real estate business. The benefits of leveraging free real estate CRM software are to see which one works for your sales process, its capacity for technology, and additional features to help minimize having too many technology vendors. When deciding on the best real estate CRM, agents should consider pricing, features, ease of use, and available customer support to find the best fit. We determined that is the best overall free CRM. It has the ability to include unlimited users, customer service through phone, email, and live chat, and a robust mobile application that supports an agent’s lead generation and conversion. Its rating of 4.6 out of 5 and 24x5 customer support solidified our conclusion of being an exceptional free real estate CRM. The following criteria were taken into consideration when determining the best free real estate CRM for real estate agents: