Generating real estate buyer leads is a cost-effective way to close more deals and increase your business’ profits. Learning how to get buyer leads doesn’t have to be expensive or complex. From working with renters to maximizing your Zillow account, hosting open houses, and amplifying your social media strategy, let’s dive into the best strategies for generating homebuyer leads effectively and consistently.
1. Create Direct Mail Campaigns
Cost: Free (on Canva) to $15 per direct mail
Direct mail has been used as a real estate lead generation tool for decades, and it continues to be an effective way to reach buyer leads, build brand recognition, and ultimately get responses from potential clients. Many recent studies show that direct mail generates an average response rate of 5.3%, higher than digital marketing channels like email marketing, which average only 0.6%.
The most common and effective types of direct mail include:
Use eye-catching and professional-looking targeted direct mail campaigns to send print materials to potential buyers in your area of interest. Send market reports and “just listed” or “just sold” newsletters, flyers, postcards, or handwritten or personalized notes to capture buyer leads’ attention.
Creating direct solid mail campaigns can be quick, easy, and effective with the right real estate direct mail service. For example, PostcardMania allows you to choose from thousands of postcard templates and easily customize them with your branding and contact information. It also provides mailing lists for purchase, Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM), and even landing pages and online ads integrated with your postcards. It’s one of the top solutions to generate leads for real estate agents.
2. Assemble Buyer-targeted Ads
Cost: Depends on the social media network; requires a minimum ad budget of $1 to $40 per day
Online real estate ads can widen your reach while zoning in on your target audience. Utilize geotargeting to focus on your farm area and attract quality leads ready to buy in that area. This is also ideal if you target buyers in a real estate niche, like divorces, investors, or luxury buyers.
To optimize your ads for real estate buyer leads, use keywords or phrases that homebuyers are most likely searching for, like “how to buy a home” or “first-time buyer tips.” Then, create ads answering the questions they’re searching for.
Two of the most common and effective types of real estate advertisements include the following:
Although Facebook and Google are the most widely used advertising platforms for real estate agent leads, many other types of online and offline ads can be effective. For example, you can use real estate signs in your area or engage actively on Nextdoor and local Facebook groups. Craigslist even provides advertising capabilities for realtors.
3. Become a Zillow Premier Agent
Cost: Depends on the market demand and agent competition within a selected ZIP code, but typically about $20 to $60 per lead
Becoming a Zillow Premier Agent (ZPA) enables you to promote yourself on the number one real estate listing platform used by interested and active homebuyers across the U.S. Zillow generated 315 million page visits in October 2023 alone—giving your Zillow Agent profile the highest chances of generating real estate leads for new and experienced agents.
As a ZPA, you’re the sole agent displayed on your listings, so buyers can contact you directly. Your profile will also be shown on non-Premier Agent listings in your area, providing additional visibility to prospective buyer leads.
Signing up for a ZPA account is free. To start advertising on Zillow, create an agent profile and claim your listings. Ensure you provide accurate listing descriptions and information, add high-quality photos and videos, and adjust the asking price to increase Zillow views. Read our complete guide to advertising on Zillow and download our free checklist.
4. Invest in Lead Generation Software
Cost: $100 to $400 per month
Being successful in real estate requires you to leverage technology. The best way to scale your business is to use organic strategies while learning how to buy real estate leads and use paid software programs. When you start buying real estate leads, make sure you choose one of the top real estate lead generation tools to set yourself up for success. These lead generation software offer integrations, internet data exchange (IDX) websites, marketing automation, and a customer relationship manager (CRM) platform for a comprehensive real estate marketing solution.
Here are a few of our most recommended places to buy real estate leads:
Provider | ||||
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Best For | Agents, teams, and brokers wanting exclusive leads with automated marketing tools | Agents and teams looking to generate and convert leads in a location-based niche | Professionals wanting to generate leads by location as well as niche leads | Professionals wanting an all-in-one lead generation and real estate marketing platform |
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Starting Price (per Month) | $139 | $309 | $49.99 | $250 |
Learn More |
5. Work the Rent vs Buy Angle
Cost: Free
One effective way to generate buyer real estate leads is by nurturing renters into potential buyers. Renters who don’t currently own a home may be waiting for the right opportunity to buy, especially since rent prices have steadily increased every month for the last three years, even faster than the consumer price index (CPI).
Use a rent versus buy calculator to show renters how buying a home could be a wise financial decision. Send this in an email campaign to targeted leads and past rental clients or post it on your social media to attract interested followers contemplating buying a home.
Try the calculator* below by inputting the following:
- Home price: The listing price of the home clients are interested in buying or provide an example using median home prices for your area.
- Down payment: The typical down payment is 6% to 7% of the home price, although it can be up to 20%. Use this figure as an example for interested buyers or calculate based on the amount clients allocate to their purchase.
- Monthly rent: Input the amount your client is currently paying for rent.
- Monthly renter’s insurance: Input the amount your client is currently paying for renter’s insurance.
*Calculator is for estimation purposes. Numbers are based on a 7% mortgage rate on a 30-year loan term.
Also, use the 5% rule to help your clients determine whether they should rent or buy. The 5% rule takes into consideration the three costs homeowners typically face: property tax (1%), maintenance costs (1%), and cost of capital (3%). With this information, renters can review their break-even point to see if renting becomes financially equivalent to homebuying.
The 5% rule formula is as follows:
Value of home multiplied by 5%, then divide that answer by 12 (months of the year) = Break-even Point
If your client’s monthly rent is less than the break-even point, renting is more affordable for them. Buying a home can save them money if their monthly rent exceeds the break-even point. Note that this is only an estimate and doesn’t consider all aspects of the buying process (such as down payment and closing costs). Nevertheless, the 5% rule gives you a quick conversation starter with prospective clients.
6. Stay Top of Mind in Your Sphere of Influence (SOI)
Cost: $15 to $100 per month
Your SOI comprises everyone who knows you, including friends, loved ones, acquaintances, and current and past clients. People who trust your real estate expertise or character are more likely to send you real estate referrals, even if they haven’t worked with you personally. For this reason, referrals and word-of-mouth recommendations are arguably the best way for new agents to generate real estate buyer leads. Plus, 43% of all buyers in 2023 used an agent referred to them by a trusted friend, neighbor, or relative.
In addition, research from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows that 90% of buyers would use their agent again or recommend them to others. This proves that your SOI and previous clients are willing to recommend you, but you have to remind them and make it easy for them to connect you with others.
Keep in touch with your leads and SOI regularly using real estate CRM software like LionDesk. It organizes and automates communication through email and text message marketing. Also, build multichannel campaigns to expand your referral outreach. Try LionDesk free for 14 days.
7. Create an IDX Website
Skill level: Proficient to expert; needs knowledge and technical skills to create an effective and compelling IDX website
Cost: $50 to 150 per month
An internet data exchange (IDX) website allows you to display current real estate listings on your own website, which is especially appealing for real estate buyer leads. It will enable potential buyer leads to search for properties within a selected area on your website, so they don’t need to use a larger platform, like Zillow or Realtor.com, where other agents can potentially connect with them.
Include information on your website about you and your services, testimonials from past clients, useful downloadable buyer guides, and lead capture forms for clients to contact you. Plus, there are a variety of real estate website builders that allow you to create an IDX website easily without having to deal with code or have any website design experience.
For example, Placester is a real estate lead generation company with various tools, resources, and experts to help you easily create a custom website. Unlike many other website builders, it includes built-in search engine optimization (SEO) tools, and its Placester Marketplace provides a wide range of professional services to help with your website creation and many other marketing tasks. Hire a Placester-approved expert to customize your website, create landing pages, or write blog posts. Or, you can also do everything yourself with its easy drag-and-drop builder.
8. Capture Buyer Leads With a Landing Page
Cost: $70 to $500 per month
In addition to your IDX website, creating real estate landing pages will empower you to generate the best real estate leads by providing specific information and capturing the contact information of homebuyers. Landing pages can be used with ads or for attracting leads through organic search, email newsletters, or social media marketing. You can even create multiple landing pages to target different types of leads, like renters, leads who are new to the area, or first-time homebuyers.
iNCOM is an ideal solution to create an individual landing page or a full website. It provides services for custom landing page designs and advertising on Facebook, Google, or through search engine optimization (SEO). It is one of the few real estate website providers to be an approved Google partner and offer a satisfaction guarantee with unlimited revisions. Simply fill out a form about what you want on your landing page, and a team of professional marketers will create it for you.
9. Farm a Specific Neighborhood
Cost: Free to $15 (if you’re utilizing postcards or flyers)
When learning how to get buyer leads, one of the best strategies is becoming the go-to expert in a specific location, such as a city, county, or neighborhood. This practice is called real estate farming, meaning all your lead generation, prospecting, and marketing efforts are focused on one specific region. Farming keeps you laser-focused on building trust and authority in a local market, enabling you to offer unrivaled expertise to prospective real estate buyers.
To farm buyer leads for realtors, start by researching your target area. Look at the demographics, properties in the area, and historical sales data. With Market Leader, getting exclusive leads within a specific ZIP code or geographic location is easier. It’s one of the few lead sources that provides a guaranteed number of leads, lead insights, and automated lead nurturing, so you can own your local market with less effort.
10. Organize a Real Estate Event
Cost: Depends on your desired or chosen location
Whether in-person or online, hosting events is a great way to meet potential leads, add to your network, and build a reputation in your community as a real estate expert. Experiences like these allow potential buyers to meet you in person without obligation while showcasing your expertise in the field. Use your creativity to think about types of events that would appeal to buyers and help your unique real estate brand stand out.
Here are a few real estate event ideas that can help you target buyer leads:
Community Events | Networking Events | Educational Events |
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11. Host an Open House
Cost: Depends on your desired or chosen location
Real estate open houses are a classic marketing strategy that continues to help agents complete transactions and generate buyer leads. Open houses attract active and potential buyers who may not already have an agent. Even if you don’t have a listing of your own, offer to host open houses for other agents’ listings or lend a helping hand to create more networking opportunities with prospects and property investors.
Here are some tips to make your open house successful:
- Use an open house checklist to plan and prepare for the event
- Schedule the event on the best day and time
- Prepare the property before the event begins
- Promote the event online and with open house flyers
- Have a printed or digital open house sign-in sheet ready to capture leads
- Prepare a script to greet visitors
Another way to leverage open houses to get buyer leads is by hosting an open house for a broker. This open house event is targeted specifically at other real estate professionals to help them determine whether a listing would be a good fit for any of their clients. It is also an excellent opportunity to network with other real estate professionals and get referrals.
12. Implement a Social Media Strategy
Cost: Free
Social media is undeniably one of the most powerful ways to reach homebuyers in your community, and it can be done without spending money on advertising or direct mail campaigns. In fact, 46% of realtors say social media is the top technology tool for generating quality real estate leads. By implementing a strong real estate social media strategy, it is faster to attract leads without wasting time guessing how to reach your audience.
Along with a strong strategy, the right tool can help you make more progress on social media without spending hours and hours creating content. For instance, Constant Contact provides marketing solutions for small businesses like real estate agents, teams, and brokerages. It includes tools to create optimized content, schedule it at the right times, and monitor audience conversations. Constant Contact helps you spend less time online and maximize your reach and engagement.
13. Publish Website Content to Build Trust
Cost: Free
Studies show that companies that publish blogs produce 67% more leads than those that don’t. Out of all the ways to get buyer leads, publishing content on your website helps build your authority in many ways. It displays your expertise and personality to website visitors, it helps generate backlinks to your site (which significantly improves your SEO and organic traffic), and content can be repurposed on emails and social media over and over to continually build your brand.
When buyers see consistent activity and value in your content, they will likely trust and reach out to you. For example, the real estate team, The Fisher Group, generates 30% to 40% of its luxury real estate leads from its website content alone. It has a variety of pages that provide details on individual neighborhoods, developments, and things to do in the area, generating thousands of website views every day.
14. Get Press Recognition
Cost: Depending on the public organization fee
Another powerful yet uncommon strategy to generate real estate buyer leads is through publicity. Publicity promotes your business to a broader audience, and being featured in well-known publications makes you much more credible to potential leads. Getting press can be one of the fastest ways to increase your lead generation and income.
Contact an editor at your local newspaper or a well-known real estate professional in your area and offer to write an article for their website directed toward homebuyers. Pitch story ideas to editors to get featured in local and national publications is another great method. This is what Joel Efosa did for his real estate business. After being featured in a local article, the business grew by 25% in just one quarter.
15. Send Gifts to Past Clients
Cost: Depends on the gifts you send, but it ranges from $20 to $150 per gift
Like your sphere of influence (SOI), your previous clients are powerful sources of real estate referrals. One of the best ways to stay top of mind is by establishing a gift-giving system for holidays, closing date anniversaries, or occasional real estate client pop-by gifts. The goal is to leave a lasting impression and remind them of your services if they plan to buy or sell. Gifts also show that you appreciate their business and encourage them to recommend you to their network.
Always send an appreciation gift when clients send you a referral, regardless of whether you end up working with the referral. This shows your gratitude and increases the likelihood of them sending new referrals your way.
To make gift-giving stress-free, use an intelligent gifting service like EvaBot. EvaBot uses artificial intelligence (AI) to tailor gifts to your client’s tastes, so you don’t need to guess whether your client would welcome your gift. You can even personalize the gift since EvaBot can include a handwritten note inside a gift box branded with your logo.
16. Leverage Predictive Analytics & AI Tools
Cost: $30 to $600 per user, per month
Using AI to generate buyer leads is frightening for most agents. However, you don’t have to be a computer geek to use AI’s potential to generate the best real estate buyer leads. Using algorithms and millions of data from reliable sources, agents can gain insights and produce precise forecasts for investment opportunities and market trends by subscribing to predictive analytics solutions.
Companies like Offrs show predictive analytics accuracy of 72% by combining data from more than 25 sources with artificial intelligence. With big data, a proprietary algorithm, and hundreds of data points per property, Offrs provides you with a list of potential home buyers in the market of your choice.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The price depends on the number of high-quality leads you want. Most lead generation companies charge between $49 and $1,000 a month. However, the exact costs may depend on what you need. Plus, some lead generation businesses charge by the lead or the area code, while others offer a consistent flow of leads in exchange for a subscription service, which costs at least $100 per month.
Yes, it is well worth the money if the expense helps your company turn a profit—if you make more money than you lose. If you were to invest $1,000 monthly in direct mail marketing and get a commission of $3,500, you would undoubtedly conclude that the postcards were worthwhile. This also applies to strategies for paid lead generation.
Successful real estate agents diversify their lead generation to ensure their business is not dependent on a single source. Real estate agents can acquire leads through various methods, including paid lead generation, referrals, repeat clients, open houses, social media, and organic marketing and networking.
Bottom Line
Generating real estate buyer leads can significantly increase your profitability and help you establish a successful real estate career. A few great strategies to help you learn how to get buyer leads include social media marketing, keeping in touch with your SOI, direct mail, and publishing website content. Remember that the best success usually comes from combining online and offline strategies. The key is thoroughly planning your lead generation strategy, consistently reaching out to your prospects, and showing genuine interest in solving their real estate problems.