9 best places to buy real estate leads in 2024

It really depends on the sales style of the real estate agent as to where they get most of their leads. An effective real estate lead generation strategy blends leads from several sources. For example, you can buy real estate leads from one or more platforms alongside traditional strategies like networking, tapping into your sphere of influence, and seeking out referrals. Don’t forget to consider some free lead-generation techniques like social media and YouTube videos.

The way to determine if buying real estate leads works for you and your business is to evaluate your monthly return on investment. If you spend $500 per month on lead generation but close a couple of transactions each month, chances are your lead generation is working for your business. But it’s also important to scrutinize each lead source to ensure you’re getting the best return from all of your lead generation efforts. For example, if you are getting leads from multiple paid sources, it’s important to keep track of how many leads from each paid source you close so you can decide if your budget could be maximized with a different lead source.

How much real estate professionals spend on buying real estate leads depends on their business level. If you’re just starting out, you don’t want to overspend and get into a financial hole.

It makes a lot of sense to diversify your lead generation to include some free and low-cost options until you get a couple of transactions under your belt. There’s nothing wrong with starting out by sitting open houses, cold-calling FSBOs and expireds, or networking in your community.

Couple that with a solid and consistent social media campaign to get the ball rolling. Once you build enough cash reserves for a bigger marketing budget, you can consider scaling your business with higher-level paid leads.

But you might consider hiring an assistant to help you function at that level. You can scale your business once you get some processes in place to handle the influx of paid leads without letting too many slip through the cracks.

Believe it or not, many Realtors never pay for leads. They rely on referrals and repeat business from their past clients. That will come once you’ve been in the industry for a few years. In the meantime, you’ll most likely start with the people in your orbit you already know. That’s the fastest and easiest way to drum up your first couple of deals.

Think of places you go, things you do, etc. Do you attend church? Do you participate in volunteer work, hobby groups, or social networks? Are you involved in sports or your children’s school. Get in the habit of telling everyone about your career path and encourage questions about the industry to show off your local expertise.

Honestly, yes. Zillow is the single greatest source of hot buyer leads. It’s the most searched database for homes in the U.S. and beyond. If you want to get in front of all those buyers, Zillow is where you need to be. You will get a lot of leads that are not quite ready to buy, but they’re looking ahead and anticipating (and maybe dreaming about) their next move.

Many of the prospecting from Zillow could have a lead time of six to twelve months, so you’ll want to set up an effective (and ideally automated) system to stay in close contact with them. Check out our favorite lead nurturing and marketing tools here.

The secret is not to lose touch with your network of leads. To stay top of mind, it’s a great idea to reach out with a friendly phone call every so often.

According to NAR, real estate agents convert at a rate of 0.4% to 1.2%, which isn’t a heartening statistic. But this goes back to what I mentioned earlier about honing your skill set. Get comfortable talking to people about real estate and converting them from someone you know into a potential client. The better you are at having these conversations and converting leads into clients, the higher your conversion rate will be.

Having said that, not all leads are created equal. Some leads will be better qualified from the start, while others, like social media leads, will need a lot more time and effort to convert. Some leads will be easy to turn into clients, ready to make a home-buying decision this week. While others may be looking 12 months out.

You won’t convert all your leads, but aim for one to two out of ten listing appointments and one to two out of 100 top-of-funnel leads (like those from social media) who may need a longer nurturing period. There are immediate pay-offs, and there’s also a long game. Get good at your long game!

Buying leads can complement traditional lead generation strategies like hosting open houses or first-time homebuyer seminars.

There are so many ways to generate leads — including many free ways. Start by telling your friends, family and former colleagues that you’re embarking on a new career in the real estate industry. Then, make an announcement on all your socials about your new career.

If you’re an experienced agent, remind your friends and followers on social media and in person that you’re open to referrals and looking to help people reach their financial goals.

Raise the topic of real estate in conversations, go to networking events and talk about your market, answer homebuyers’ and sellers’ questions with posts on social media, ask for referrals from people you know or meet.

If you need more great ideas, don’t forget to check out our article on how to generate leads here.