Getting your first real estate client might just be the biggest hurdle in your real estate career. Unlike taking your real estate classes and passing your real estate exam, getting your first real estate client isn’t necessarily a straightforward process. There are lots of ways to land that first client, and you probably won’t have someone holding your hand each step of the way.
So, for all the new agents (or proactive soon-to-be agents) in our audience, here are 7 tips for getting your first real estate client.
7 Tips for Getting Your First Real Estate Client
Tip #1: Establish Credibility
Unless you have years of experience in a related industry, you probably have zero credibility as a new real estate agent. This naturally makes getting your first real estate client difficult because you can’t show a proven track record of success like so many of your competitors. Luckily, there are a few ways to establish instant credibility.
Invest in a Website
A profile page on your broker’s site simply isn’t good enough in the 2020s. You need a website of your own to show prospective clients that you are a legitimate real estate professional. But before you go and spend a fortune on a web designer or waste your money on monthly subscriptions to “rented” real estate sites, consider building your own professional website. If the millions of amateur bloggers out there can launch their own websites, so can you! For a FREE how-to guide, check out How to Build a Real Estate Website. Your new site could be impressing buyers and sellers by this time tomorrow!
Join a Professional Organization
Joining the National Association of Realtors® establishes you as a credible professional for buyers and sellers in-the-know. You could also join local real estate boards and organizations in just minutes for added credibility.
Get a Designation
To set yourself apart as an agent with a specialty, consider getting a designation like ABR (Accredited Buyer’s Representative) or SRS (Seller Representative Specialist). You can quickly and easily earn multiple designations from NAR.
Tip #2: Create a Killer Offer
Can you think of something in your market that clients typically have to pay for themselves? Why not offer to pay those expenses out of your commission? Yes, it’s an extra expense for you. But if it gets you your first listing (or 2!), it’s probably worth it, right? After all, you wouldn’t turn down a new client just because you had to pay a 25% referral fee, would you? So you should be able to absorb expenses up to 25% without making any real sacrifices.
Now, what kind of expenses are we talking about?
Well, it depends on your local market. In some markets, for example, agents don’t usually foot the bill for professional listing photos. Start including professional listing photos for every one of your listings to land sellers. Not only will your listings sell faster and for more money, but you’ll also gain a serious competitive advantage in the listing presentation.
If professional photos are already standard in your market, up the ante. Try covering the cost of:
- Drone photos
- Virtual tours
- Staging
- Moving
For buyers, you could reimburse the cost of:
- A home inspection
- Title searches
- The appraisal
- Moving
You may decide to make this your full-time competitive advantage. Or you could offer to cover this cost “for a limited time only”. Either way, you should start seeing immediate leads once you start promoting your killer offer.
How to Market Your Killer Offer
As soon as you decide on your killer offer, start promoting it like crazy!
Here are some quick ways to get the word out (we’ll go into more detail on some of these in the coming tips):
- Social media posts (free!)
- Social media ads (affordable)
- Add an eye-catching banner to your website (free!)
- Door hangers or fliers on parked cars (affordable)
- TV or radio ad slots (pricey)
- An email or text campaign to the homeowners in your sphere (free!)
Make sure your promotions include a referral reminder. Something like, “Not ready to sell? No problem! Pass my contact information along to someone who is looking to sell. Not only will I give them this special offer, but as a referral gift to you, I’ll honor this offer for you whenever you’re ready to move.”
Tip #3: Add Your Sphere to Your CRM
For most agents, the first real estate client comes from someone in their sphere. If you’re brand new to sales, your sphere is simply the group of people you already know. People who know you, like you, and trust you are easier to land than strangers. So it makes sense to focus on your sphere throughout your entire career, but especially during these early days.
Start by adding every single person you know to your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System. As a new agent, you don’t need to pay a monthly subscription fee for a fancy CRM program. A simple Excel spreadsheet works perfectly well. You can either create your own CRM or buy a ready-to-roll digital workbook from Etsy for under $10.
Getting these names in your CRM is the first step toward systemizing your prospecting and finding new client leads. Next up: working your CRM daily.
Tip #4: Start Working Your CRM from Day One
The secret to real estate success is simple: keep your pipeline full so you have frequent closings and constant income. Most successful agents agree that prospecting daily is the single best way to keep your pipeline full. And prospecting will likely be responsible for getting your first real estate client. So commit yourself to working your CRM from Day One. It’s just a matter of contacting people on your list to see if you can be of service.
There are tons of ways to reach out: phone call, text, email, DM…the more personal your communication, the better your odds of landing a lead. It’s easy to ignore a mass email. It’s harder to ignore a personal call or text.
Your message to your sphere can be about your killer offer, Zillow’s inaccurate Zestimates, or your good news for renters, depending on their situation. You could also just check in with people to see how they’re doing. When they ask about you, tell them about the strength of the market and how you’re taking new clients if they know someone looking to make a move.
To keep yourself accountable, pick up a daily prospecting plan printable and check off each prospecting to-do every day!
Bonus Tip
Not everyone in your sphere will be looking to buy or sell in the coming year, but almost everyone will know someone looking to buy or sell in the coming year. So when you reach out, don’t just ask if your contacts are looking to make a move, also ask who they know who’s looking to make a move. Phrasing this question is important. When you ask, “do you know of anyone looking to buy or sell?” most people will default to “no” if a name doesn’t immediately come to mind. Instead, ask “who do you know who might be looking to buy or sell in the next year or so?” This forces your contact to think a little harder to come up with a name to answer your question. And make sure you get that person’s contact info so you can follow up immediately.
Tip #5: Launch a Renter-to-Homeowner Program
Interest rates are at historic lows, which means it’s a good time for renters to get on the property ladder. Their budget will go further when they don’t have to spend so much on interest. Make sure they know that!
First-time buyers might require a little more hand-holding than more experienced buyers, but since you aren’t juggling tons of clients, you have the time available to invest in first-time buyers. And if you treat them right, you get:
- The purchase of their starter home
- The sale of the starter home and purchase of their family home
- The purchase of their vacation or investment property
- The sale of their family home and the purchase of their downsized home
- The purchase of their kid’s first homes
- Plus referrals!
Instead of just sending mailers to local renters, focus your efforts on creating a simple, but effective Renter-to-Homeowner Program.
Here’s how a Renter-to-Homeowner Program works:
From the renter’s perspective: this is a helpful homebuyer program that waives the lease termination fee when renters use you as their buyer’s agent. As long as the renters work with you, they can get out of their lease at any time to buy a home without paying any fee to terminate their lease early.
From your perspective: you are effectively paying the lease termination fee out of your commission. In many cases, this amount will be far less than a standard referral fee would be.
From the community manager’s perspective: they have nothing to lose because you are paying the tenant’s lease termination fee. The termination fee typically more-than-covers their vacancy loss. So the community manager is willing to promote you as their partner in the Renter-to-Homeowner Program.
This is also a good selling feature for the community managers; when prospective renters raise concerns about lease terms because they will want to buy at some point, the community manager can assure them that they aren’t really locked into the lease thanks to your Renter-to-Homeowner Program.
Plus, if your state law allows, you can offer to pay a small referral fee to the community manager every time you close a deal with one of their renters. This will give them an added incentive to promote your program.
For complete details on launching a program of your own, check out our post on Renter-to-Homeowner Programs.
Tip #6: Get Social
Social media is often considered a long-term marketing plan because you’re building brand recognition, establishing authority, and growing your audience over time. But it can also be used as a tool for getting your first real estate client. Here’s how:
Ads
Social media ads are great because:
- They’re inexpensive, and
- You can target your unique audience (assuming you’re not targeting demographics protected by fair housing, of course).
Make the most of social media ads by making them just as valuable and engaging as the posts you’d be excited to share with your followers.
The most obvious option is to promote your killer offer from Idea #1.
Let me pay your moving expenses!
For a limited time only, I’m offering up to $1,500 in moving expense reimbursement for sellers who list their homes with me!
Is this just a gimmick to get your listing? Nope! This is a gimmick to get a meeting with you. Once you see my marketing plan for your home, you’ll know I’m the best agent for the job.
DM me for more details or schedule an appointment online today!
But that’s not your only option. You can also:
- Run an ad demonstrating how inaccurate Zillow’s estimates are and offering to do a “real” valuation free of charge.
- Target renters: explain how much more buying power they have because of today’s low interest rates, remind them that they don’t need a full 20% down, and/or explain that a professional real estate is free to them since the seller pays.
- Offer a free real estate seminar or webinar (like The First Time Buyers Seminar: Everything You Need to Know About Buying Your First Home)
Pick the idea that resonates best with you for getting your first real estate client, and pocket the rest for later use.
Publish a poll
All you have to do is publish a poll on your social account(s) that says:
Are you planning to buy a new home this year?
Naturally, most respondents will say no. Those that respond yes deserve an immediate follow-up!
Tip #7: Start Thinking Long-Term
It’s never to early to start thinking long-term. Even while you’re in the process of getting your first client, you should be thinking about how you’re going to get the second, third, and fourth clients to keep your pipeline full and your income flowing.
Here are a few ideas for landing your first clients (and beyond!)
- Make sure you have a business plan in place.
- Start blogging. Yes, seriously. Blogging costs 62% less than traditional marketing, but generates 3 times as many leads! The downside to this huge upside is that it takes a little time before you see the results of blogging. Master blogging for real estate leads now while business is slow and enjoy the career-long benefits.
- Create a social media strategy and establish your Lead Generating Social Media Calendar.
- Master passive marketing strategies for maximum ROI.
- Make sure your business is recession-proof so you don’t fall victim to the economic fall out of the COVID recession.
Do You Have Tips to Share?
Do you have other tips for getting your first real estate client? Let us know about them in the comments!
