Top New Realtor Tips in 2023 - 11 Proven Ideas
Beginner Real Estate Agent Lead Generation Tips
Venturing into the real estate industry and becoming a new realtor can be intimidating.
It's a new world for you. You might not yet have a network of people to who you can go for help and guidance.
You're not sure where to begin.
This article is dedicated to helping you hit the ground running in 2023.
What Do To In Real Estate As A New Realtor in 2023?
Business Planning Made Easy
If you're like me when you've considered a business plan, you either doing nothing or trying to build a wildly complex plan. Neither work.
Do nothing: Directionless.
Complex plan: We usually stop these by February, making us feel like a failure.
Instead, you can simplify greatly by focusing your business plan on the most important metric: The Number of people in your database.
Focusing on GCI (gross commission income) or deal count pushes the wrong agenda (close more deals).
When we focus on the number of people in our database, we aim to expand our networks.
What proceeds selling a house? Putting the person in your database.
Add more people to your database, and you sell more homes.
The number of people you know (and who know you) is directly proportional to your production.
Follow the 15% rule: If you have 100 people in your database, you have 15 deals waiting for you. These deals can come from past clients, referrals, or connections (strong or loose connections).
If you want to sell 30 homes in 2023, you need 200 people in your database.
Definition of a person in your database in this context: Someone you would stop and say "hi" to if you crossed paths in public. You need to know them, and they need to know you.
If you have a large database but not producing at the 15% rule, you need to improve how you interact with your database.
If you don't have enough people in your database to hit your goal based on the 15% rule, you need to meet more people.
Build A Spiky Point of View
Get a point of view on the market. You've probably learned when someone asks, "how's the market," we say, "what part of the market are you interested in." If this is an active buyer or seller, this works.
If someone is just trying to make conversation, it feels like you're trying to convert them. Instead, determine your forecast and perspective on your local real estate market in 2023.
What are spiky points of view? It’s what separates you from everyone else. It’s the culmination of your experience, skills, personality, instincts, and intuition. These factors have molded you into the person you are today.
The term “spiky point of view” comes from Wes Kao.
A spiky point of view is your take on the market which is both surprising and true.
To have a spiky point of view, you need to think deeply about your market.
Examples:
Rising interest rates will likely impact the move-up buyer style homes but will have less impact on the luxury segment and entry-level homes.
Rental properties are one of the strongest investments because they are effectively a forced investing program.
When renovating, focus your efforts on the kitchen.
Use spiky points of view when analyzing the market but do not use them under all circumstances.
Your perspective based on experience and/or research
Conversation starter
Showcases your rigorous thinking about real estate
Works well when discussing market conditions, property types, marketing, and negotiations.
AI Is the Word of 2023
You’ve likely heard of ChatGPT and its impact on various industries. Real estate is no different. Let’s take a look at what ChatGPT suggests for new agents!
Not perfect, but some strong suggestions here.
The tool itself is mind-boggling, but how can we actually use it in real estate? Well, it comes down to the quality of the prompts.
Become comfortable testing different prompts.
For example, have a look at all of these marketing prompts for ChatGPT.
At this point, it’s unknown how this will change marketing, real estate, and the world, but most agree that there will be a large impact.
Use this tool to help you with the following:
Questions about real estate terms
Marketing suggestions
Email tempates
Social media ad copy
Scripts
Website copy
Or just ask ChatGPT directly!
Calendar
Most people typically schedule appointments with others first and then schedule other everyday tasks around them. Don’t do this!
We recommend flipping this practice and incorporating your to-do lists into your main calendar.
This is so impactful because you have so much on your plate; you're creating content, learning new things, out with clients, and learning the ropes.
If other appointments are given precedence, and these critical tasks go on the to-do list, we're willing to bet they'll stay there, waiting to be checked off for a long time.
Instead of only focusing on external appointments, you've got to make appointments with yourself and take them seriously. We call this "The Full Calendar Method," where you cannot have any blank spaces in your calendar.
Learn all about scheduling your day
If you're unsure what exactly you should be filling up your calendar with, here are some ideas to get you started.
The Top Sections In Your Calendar
🛠 Operations
This refers to the time you spend responding to important emails, perhaps putting out some fires and other vital operations of your business.
📹 Content
Unfortunately, as important as it is, content creation for your business often keeps being put on the back burner in favor of other tasks.
🎓 Learning
Next up: learning time. This is when you set aside time to learn contracts, do CMAs, learn about the industry and market conditions, etc.
📲 Outbound
Another task you must make space for in your calendar is outbound time, which means prospecting. Now, this is not limited to following up on leads or prospects but actually taking the time to start conversations and build relationships.
For outbound prospecting to be effective, dedicate 5 hours to making calls and reaching out every week— at the very least. You don't have to space the five hours throughout the whole week. You can split the hours into two sessions or knock all five hours out at once.
And remember, this 'prospecting' is actually building meaningful relationships with your database and ultimately increasing your sphere of influence.
😊 Face Time
Lastly, there's facetime. This is when you're on ground zero: meeting with clients, networking events, open houses, etc.
Content Machine
Many new realtors think there isn't a point in creating blog posts and YouTube videos when there are plenty of people creating content.
The truth is, as much as there is an abundance of content, there will always be more people out there looking for information, which is why creating content for your business is so important.
Discovery Content vs. Branding Content (Youtube, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Blog)
Branding and Discovery Content
Discovery content, as the name signifies, helps you become discoverable.
Your objective with this type of content must be a long-term play. So do not expect ROIs within days of the content being live.
Your long-term planning will drive business to you and crystallize your thinking.
For instance, when writing a blog post about the best communities in your city, you'll research said communities and understand average prices, people's needs, demands, etc.
This way, you'll be found by people looking for information, and in the meantime, also add a knowledge bank and improve your authority as a realtor.
Discoverable mediums enable people to do keyword searches and get in front of people they don't already know. A prime example of this is YouTube.
When considering YouTube, ensure you’re focused on quality content and use a video keyword explorer create content that people are searching for.
And pay particular attention to YouTube Shorts. These will continue to rise in popularity in 2023.
Then you have a blog and SEO-related content, which helps generate leads that your future self will thank you for.
Another platform you must capitalize on is TikTok. Thanks to its "For You" page and the algorithms that drive it, the discovery has been made incredibly easy; anyone consuming real estate content will eventually find you.
Here is a quick video on why newer agents fail.
@revrealestateschool Willemina dropping real estate knowledge 🧠#realestatetips #newrealtortraining ♬ original sound - Rev Real Estate (Realtor Tips)
Also, Instagram Reels provides a similar means of driving discoverability. In 2023, expect Instagram to double down its efforts on Reels to compete with Tiktok.
Finally, don’t count out Twitter, with all the changes to ownership in 2022. This is a platform to watch in 2023 and can be used for both discovery and branding content.
Branding content is aimed at people who already know your business. The objective is to remind people of your services and engage with your audience.
Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, etc., are platforms where you must build a following that can see and engage with your content.
If we were to suggest one platform, we'd say pick TikTok or Instagram because that's where most of your audience is, and the growth potential is just insane.
However, Facebook is also a good option if it suits your demographic.
How Often To Post?
If your focus is on creating SEO and Youtube content, try making at least one high-value video weekly. If you think of TikTok or Instagram as your main platform, set up a one-a-day video upload schedule and remain consistent. This applies to both discovery and branding content.
Have Something To Say
As a realtor, you will be doing a lot of talking. This means you must do your homework and understand the market to state opinions on it.
It would help if you had a position. Feel like you're not quite there yet?
A great way around this is to learn from others who have educated opinions and make apt market analyses.
You can also learn more about the market by:
Preview Listings
Go through the various listings already on the market. If you want to understand the market, you need to go through homes.
Pick a handful of vacant listings to preview every week. Occupied listings work as well, but it can be more challenging for sellers if you don’t have a buyer at that current time. As such, we prefer to focus on vacant listings.
When previewing, don’t just browse; instead, ask yourself what would improve this listing, how you would change the marketing, and what do you think it will sell for.
Doing CMAs
Attempt to conduct 2-3 practice CMAs every week. This is an imperative skill that you will need.
Surgeons don’t learn by doing surgery they practice beforehand. You wouldn’t want a surgeon who is conducting his/her first surgery without practice on you.
Sellers and buyers are the same.
Nail your next CMA with these tips
But hey! Sometimes we just don’t know the value of a house. This is the case for new and experienced real estate agents. How can we handle this?
What are the main causes of not knowing the value of a house?
Not enough data - too few comparables
Improper comparables - the most common cause of poor pricing
Too many outliers - sellers will always benchmark against the highest outlier
Educate sellers on the true simplicity of pricing. If the home doesn't sell, the market thinks it's too expensive. It's that simple!
Various factors could be at play when a home doesn't sell (condition, showing availability, presentation, etc.); however, in most cases, if a home isn't selling, it's due to the price being too high.
Use the language of probability. What's this?
✅ Probability: The CMA “suggests,” or "the likelihood of selling is"
❌ Lines in the sand: Your house is worth X
CMAs are always historical. CMAs use previous sales to inform what a home will sell for in the future. It's not a perfect representation of what a home will sell for. What a buyer paid for a home last week doesn't tell us with full certainty what a home will sell for next week. (Although it's still our best tool)
Pro Tip: Let sellers know you don't have the most important piece of information to inform pricing. CMAs, market data, years of experience, and real estate forecasts are great, but you're still missing the largest source of information: time on the market. Showing activity and online activity will tell you if your pricing is off.
Database
Neglecting or taking your database lightly can be a costly mistake. Make sure you invest in a CRM right from the start.
Don’t be overly concerned with the CRM you choose. Any CRM works but if you’d like some suggestions, consider these.
Follow Up Boss
Wise Agent
Top Producer
KVCore
Copper CRM
Hubspot
Pipedrive
Zoho
IXAC Contact
Realty Juggler
Close
LionsDesk
Streak CRM for Real Estate
Also, most websites and brokerages have a CRM
Pro Tip: Try to avoid using your brokerage CRM. Things can change, and you don’t want to lose your data if you change brokerages.
When building your database, try adding as many people in your sphere of influence as possible to the CRM. You don't have to make contact, but having them in your CRM is where you need to start.
Capturing new people is equally as important as cataloging people you already know. A fantastic way to do this is to have a pop-up on your website that allows readers to sign up for your newsletter and emails. (Easy to integrate with most newsletter providers and starts generating leads surprisingly quickly)
However, if you're just asking people for their emails without offering something in return, having a pop-up will do you little to no good.
This brings us to lead magnets- a high-value trade, so people become invested. This could be a free article, a discount, a free discovery call, etc.
Talk To Busy Agents
Think about it; if there's an agent you know who is swarmed with work, it naturally follows that they will have leads they cannot possibly service.
You must talk to them, build a relationship with them over time, and then offer to take some of the workloads off them once rapport is established. Offer them a higher than normal referral fee, and assure them you will do a great job with their leads.
It's also a great practice to keep the other agent updated on the lead conversion process.
Shadowing busy agents can address most of your concerns, so spend as much time as possible.
Also, a lot of busy agents would benefit from a part-time assistant. This is basically paid to learn. If you find an agent who needs help, jump on this opportunity if you’re a new agent.
Network
Even though social media is a highly effective tool to engage with your audience, it cannot trump how important facetime with clients and prospects is.
Attend Business Events
As a new realtor, try to attend a minimum of three weekly events, and all these should include people. Consistently attending real estate networking events in your area are an excellent way to build relationships with industry professionals.
The best place to start is your chamber of commerce. This can be one of the largest sources of leads for new and growing agents.
3rd Party Providers
Of these events mentioned above, an important outcome is getting in touch with 3rd party providers that can help our clients, such as home inspectors, lawyers, mortgage brokers, etc.
These will not provide you with much (if any) business, so don’t make this the majority of your networking. These providers will gladly meet with you since it can contribute to their business.
Don’t neglect these relationships but don’t make it your primary source of networking.
Enjoy your Hobbies; Events Don't Need To Be Business Only - Build Your Own Community.
Make the most of your hobbies by participating in local community events where you can expand your network. What's better than hanging out and spending quality time with people who share your interests?!
You could take community engagement events one step further and build your own networking event where you bring people together.
You could throw a dinner party for your friends, family, and neighbors once a month or arrange a business event where like-minded people can come together and share ideas.
If you’re looking for an amazing event technique, check out the 2-Hour Cocktail Party — it’s genius!
The goal is to center the event around you so that people begin seeing you as a leader. And when you're a leader, a byproduct of it is influence.
Start meeting with people 1-to-1 at least twice a week, in addition to your three weekly events, to nurture these relationships properly.
Differentiation
Carving a niche for yourself in a saturated industry is a surefire way of getting ahead of the competition and growing your business. Here you can read all about differentiation and how to find the right real estate niche.
Make It Local
One of the easiest things you can do to stand out is to keep your business to a particular area, or geo-farming, where you only promote your real estate company in a nearby community or locale.
Read The Ultimate Guide to Geo Farming
Choose The Area Strategically
You may instinctively want to pick your own community when making a niche because you already know people and think you have a better chance of converting them.
However, choosing a location is a strategic decision, so look for a place that does not have many realtors and offers a high turnover rate.
Open Houses
Many agents brush open houses aside, believing they're not as effective as they once were, but we're here to tell you that's entirely untrue!
In fact, not only do they work, they're going to improve your ability to be a realtor; you're going to have to research the property, understand the comparables, etc. Then when you go to the open house, you will have conversations with buyers.
As a new agent, you should host at least three open houses monthly.
Here is a whole guide on open houses
Open houses can be the one strategy that can lead to immediate clients and transactions. Not every open house will be fruitful but know it’s a numbers game. The more you do (and the more you work on your communication), the more clients you’ll get.
Conclusion
Welcome to the real estate industry! Although there are various takes on how the market will play out in 2023, know that it will be an interesting and exciting year.
Follow these steps to become a top-producing and well-educated real estate agent in no time!