10+ Best Lead Generation Sources that any agent can use to get more listings and clients. Let’s go!

Hundreds of top producing real estate agents are asked this question, “Based on your success, what would you say is the best lead generation source?”

Not everyone has a huge sphere of influence or referral network. While it’s always best practice to begin investing in and building your sphere today, many amazing agents either relocate cities or are looking for options to expand their influence beyond their existing sphere. All good reasons to be on the lookout for the best place to generate new business.

First I want to say thank you to all the agents that shared. All recommendations are from awesome agents and were shared in public groups.

One other note. We’ll be talking about lead sources that you can own, rather than “rent” from. For example, buying leads from a lead provider, aka a “reseller”, or paying a commission for leads, isn’t scaleable. You’re at the mercy of the provider. This is something we set out to change in the industry more than a decade ago. So instead we’ll be keeping this focused to the best channels and tools.

Let’s dive in.

Best Lead Sources:

👉 Direct mail

“Just sold postcards got a few leads in 2021.” Megan Hornsby

“Direct mail, the good way is still relevant!” Vinh Pham

👉 Gifts to past clients

Holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and Halloween are great excuses to connect with past clients and get referrals! Send them all a little gift, deliver pies or simply drop by with a card.

“Past clients will sell their house eventually or refer you to others. If you take care of those who worked with you, the thought process would be that they take care of you too.” Monica Estupinan

👉 Google PPC advertising

“Systems for follow up! You can have all the leads in the world but if you don’t systemize your follow up you will drop the ball and miss the opportunity! (And a lot of PPC to answer the actual question).” Tiffany Gelzinis

👉 Video Ad Funnel

“Create a video marketing ad funnel! Create videos about your local area or neighborhoods and put them in Facebook ads. Then retarget those viewers with additional value and/or a book a meeting page. This process is actually way simpler than people think. The best part, once it’s set up, it will serve your biz for years! Really great ROI as well! Video is the way to go for sure!”

Check out remarketing to set this up easily

👉 Facebook & Instagram ads

“Facebook and Instagram ads. I have closed an average of 25-30 deals a year. Most are StreetText conversions or referrals [Facebook & IG ads] from past StreetText deals. It is my only paid lead source and it has been well worth it.” Jenifer Salter

“FB ads no doubt! Got 80% of my closing from leads generated using Facebook Ads alone.” Amelia Perez

👉 YouTube Organic Videos

“90% of my clients are from Youtube…all organic, no paid advertising. Average 2 incoming calls per week…about 20% – 25% of those end up in a closing. I could increase that % if I did better follow up. Mostly buyers.” Courtney Murphy

👉 YouTube Video Ads

Turn your Youtube feed into ads and increase the exposure you are getting.

👉 Out of area agents

Create a referral network with out of area agents. Facebook groups are a great way to connect and build relationships with fellow agents.

👉 Sphere

“Call at least 6 people you know everyday. Just say you are thinking of them and hope they are well. Some of them are going to say they are glad you called as they want to sell their home. Email your sphere at least 3 times a week. Pick a farm and mail postcards the old fashioned way at least twice a month. All of these work well right now.” Lori Bowers

👉 Cold Calling & Doorknocking

“Works just fine for me! There is no easy button for business. I think a strong social media presence is a good idea, but otherwise direct touches. Like phone calls and door knocking work very well when done consistently.” Nick Mansur.

“Phone calls.” Isabel Otero

👉 Community events

Attend or even host your own community events. A neighborhood BBQ or an annual garage sale are both great ideas. Join social events such as group bike rides or local sports. They are fun, great way to build relationships, and will lead to opportunities.

👉 Referrals

“Build your referral strategy and you’ll be set for life. See: The 7 Levels of Communication: Go from Relationships to Referrals.” Tommy Sandvick

👉 Blogging

It may be as old as the internet, but you’re here reading this, right? Be sure to include links to offers that provide relevant value to your readers.

👉 Zillow + Facebook

“Yes, I do both. And yes they both work. Some people don’t approve (about Zillow) but all that matters is what works for you and what you’re comfortable with. Plus your budget that’s a big consideration a well.” Jonathan Morsinkhoff

👉 Email Newsletter

Elisha Michaud has been building their email over 15 years and shared, “My monthly email to my neighborhood (4000 home master planned community) that has a lot of stats and my analysis gets me a ton of business – I believe $6M in business from it last year.”‘

👉 Podcasts

Agents, such as the Stones Sisters, host a weekly podcast talking about real estate topics relevant to their market. They’ve attracted out of town buyers relocating to their market.

👉 Radio

“Radio.” Kelly Fischer

Which source works best?

Here’s what agents had to say

🔹”They all actually work. The one you like the most will give you most ROI in my experience. Just lean into it and work it,” Matthew McGrath

🔹”My FB ads still result in more seller & buyer transactions than PPC. About 30% say they have a home to sell before they buy.” Jason Demers

🔹”FB Ads no doubt! Got 80% of my closings came from leads generated using Facebook Ads alone.” Amelia Perez

🔹”In my market in Tampa it’s best to go after seller leads which I’m getting via my FB ads.” Jason Demers

🔹”For me it’s been online leads, past clients and SOI (my top venders such as lenders, title reps, and CPA)… majority has been FB leads,” Janki Patel

🔹”Top sources for us this year are 1. Agent Referrals 2. Google PPC advertising 3. KV Core Property Boost” Katie Van Nes

🔹”Facebook, PPC, Outbound calling, Mail, Doorknock, your database/sphere. That’s it.” Steve LaMothe

🔹”Whichever source or thing you choose to do consistently over a long period of time,” Brian Crawford

🔹”Expireds and StreetText” [Facebook ads] Joe Rohinsky

Here the lead sources are ranked from top to bottom based on number of recommendations collected while researching this post.

Source	Total Recommendations
Sphere of Influence + Database	39
Referrals + Past Clients	28
Facebook & Instagram Ads	21
Direct Mail	9
Google PPC	8
Door Knocking & Cold Calling	6
Email Newsletter	4
YouTube + YouTube Ads	4
Zillow	3
Radio	1

Next, let’s talk about what you can expect

As any great detective knows. You’re always looking for that lead.

James Bond says it best when asked, “Do you have any leads?” His response? “I’m working on one.”

What is a lead?

This may seem like a silly question, but it’s well worth defining this. I saw it asked in a thread and the response was outstanding so I’m sharing it here. Why? Because some people are new to sales, lead generation and marketing. So they think a lead = client.

“Well now that you ask… A lead is information on a possible buyer or seller. It is more efficient to target individuals already considering purchasing or listing property, as opposed to the general public.” Jason Demers

Real estate is as much about uncovering who is ready to buy/sell as it is about serving your clients and building relationships for the longterm.

As any great detective knows. You’re always looking for that lead. James Bond says it best when asked, “Do you have any leads?” His response, “I’m working on one.”

How long does it take to convert leads into deals?

If you start a blog, SEO, or a YouTube channel expect to create content for 12-18 months before you see the audience start to grow. That’s not even a single lead.

The incredible thing about the aforementioned sources recommended by agents is that you can get leads from day one.

Expect a lead to take anywhere from 3-18 months to turn into a deal. Some leads will be ready to work with you right now. Other leads will be ready to work with you in 2 years. The most important thing is that you have a system in place that keeps you top of mind of all your leads so that you don’t lose them before they are ready to work with you.

And secondly, come ready to put in the work and “love on your leads” as real estate agent Nicole shared. She treats every lead as if they were a referral.

Google shared last month that 1 out of 5 people have still not made a decision to move forward because they have not found a business they trust. They also shared that 90% of people found lead forms valuable. So people are willing to give their information in return for an offer. But the responsibility to establish trust with the lead is yours. And it starts with how you introduce yourself and how you approach your prospect.

“We identified 87 leads that listed houses that was out of about 950 leads leads generated in the last 5 months. All from FB and YT ads. You just need to know how to convert them. Finding motivated sellers is pretty straightforward.” Rohan Attravanam

In Rohan’s case 9.15% of all his leads listed a home in just 5 months of capturing them. Great, but how many listed their home with him. His ability to build relationships that start online will determine his conversion rate. Also, how many of those leads also bought a home? I bet a lot. That’s a valuable list.

Contrary to popular opinion, the timeline for a lead to turn into a client should be the same no matter the source. If you get a buyer lead from Zillow and you get a Buyer lead from Facebook you can expect that they are in the same stage of the journey. The same is true of Google PPC ads.

We’ve been taught that Google is where people go to search when they are ready to make a decision and Facebook is where people are to be entertained. But the truth is that the person searching on Google is also on Facebook. And when they see an ad that is relevant to them for a list of properties in their market – they take action. That buyer lead is a good quality lead.

What offer is best for quality leads?

The offer you provide to capture the lead will impact the type of lead you capture and their timeframe.

For example, if you give people information that will help educate them on the buying process or give them market reports you are capturing attention at the top of the funnel. This is the phase before they enter the market.

If you give people information on listings or set an appointment to value their property, you’re educating people who are entering the market. They are shopping or getting ready to sell.

Facebook ads are a phenomenal source for home seller leads. There will always be sellers who start out as buyers. Listing ads are great for that too. But the best strategy that I’ve seen work is building a database of off-market sellers.

The timelines of these cohorts can vary widely.

You can further qualify the prospect with questions after you’ve established rapport, built trust, and they’re willing to have a conversation with you. Such as if they’re pre-approved, their timeframe, and what’s holding them back from making the decision today. This is what is called a sales qualified lead.

What tool makes it easy to generate your own exclusive leads?

StreetText is a platform that makes it easy to generate your own exclusive leads from Facebook & Instagram with ads. We offer a 7 day trial.

Any ad you run goes under your Facebook ad account. So you will be charged by Facebook for any ad spend. (100% of your ad spend goes to Facebook) So budget $63 to make the most of your 7 day trial. Also, all ads run under your branding, your Facebook Page, and all the leads you capture are 100% exclusive to you.

👍 You can retarget your entire client audience on Facebook using StreetText (from any CRM) for $1/day! You read that right. All while auto-rotating ads – keeping it fresh for your audience. And capturing both new and returning opportunities.

🌟 If you’re looking for a credible company with a long history working with Facebook ads (we’re a Meta Ad Tech Partner) that has a lovely community of smart agents collaborating and sharing their strategies, then you’ve found what you’ve been looking for.

Please share your recommendations in the comment. What have you found to be the best lead generation source for you?