Legwork + Lunch = Leads

Agents who do well have a lot of closings, but John MacGilvary, CRS, a regional manager with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Verani Realty in Londonderry, New Hampshire, points out that it’s really that they have a lot of leads. Here are two inexpensive ways he recommends generating leads that help keep business and income steady:

Research the long-term owners.

Some people want to move every five years or so, but others find a house and stay put to raise their family. He estimates that about 30 percent of any area is made up of people who’ve owned their house for 20-plus years. “They are flush with equity,” he says. And there’s a good chance they are looking to downsize now that the kids are gone or about to be.

Go through the property records to find those people, he says. “If I was limited in my resources, I would find all the neighborhoods that were built in the 1980s to 1995,” he says. Of those original owners, “I would find out who hasn’t moved since they bought it, and I’d market to them.”

Take a painter to lunch.

House painters are a category of professionals who might know about a listing before an agent, since many people want to spruce up their house before they even talk to a REALTOR®. MacGilvary recommends establishing a good professional relationship with a busy house painter. Once you’ve done that, you can ask the painter to ask his clients why they are having their house painted. If it’s to put it on the market and they don’t yet have a REALTOR®, then the painter can refer them to you. Other professionals to target include financial planners and tax accountants.

“Take a few business owners out to lunch and stay in contact with them on a monthly basis to build that type of business relationship,” he says. “A business referral is worth more than gold because they are attaching their business to yours, and you can’t beat a referral like that.”