How do realtors get most of their buyers leads?

[Mario Am]

Hey.

I flip houses, I am thinking about getting a license just to list my own properties..

I know i need ti be under a broker.

Was really curious, how do mostly agents get their buyers for their listing? Do they just list it in the MLS and other agents just bring their interested buyers? Or is there anything else involved?

[Account Closed]

@Mario Am, Yeah most of the time once it is listed on the MLS you will get a lot of qualified buyers from other agents that are looking for places to buy. Also Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, Trulia, facebook, etc. will bring in a lot of eyes on the listings as well.

Listing your own properties that you flip may help you save more of the money from your deals, and potentially help you if you find buyers that you want to represent or refer out to another licensee for a referral fee. If you do decide to get your license, I'd definitely just talk to multiple brokers to figure out which would be the best fit for you, as well as to figure out their fees, cap if there is one, training, team, etc. that way you can keep most of your money without paying a lot back.

You can also always build a buyer's list if you haven't already for most of the people looking for off market deals. I'm assuming you're looking for more homebuyer clientele who are willing to pay more retail pricing. If you get into a brokerage, most of the time other agents will have buyers looking for places you can push out before hand to see if you can do a pocket listing, but most of the time listing it will allow you to get a lot of eyes on it, and a lot more potential offers and at the best price.

Depending on your brokerage you can possibly just pay a flat fee for the listing as well(to keep more of the money by representing yourself), depending on the brokerages transactional fees and commission cap structure.

[Steven Foster Wilson]

Quote from @Mario Am:

Hey.

I flip houses, I am thinking about getting a license just to list my own properties..

I know i need ti be under a broker.

Was really curious, how do mostly agents get their buyers for their listing? Do they just list it in the MLS and other agents just bring their interested buyers? Or is there anything else involved?

 First off, I do not think it is wise to just become a agent to list your own properties. I think if you want to get your license then you need to realize its another job. There are fees and continuing education you have to do every year. I would way the pros and cons on getting getting your license or just making a deal with a Realtor every time you sell a property. There are multiple ways to source leads. Zillow, BP, and connecting with networking events are great ways to find leads. 

[Eliott Elias]

In a sellers market the listing agent sits back with a margarita and let’s the offers come in. Ideally the listing agent is supposed to market it correctly and use their sphere of influence to sell the thing 

[Mario Am]

@Eliott Elias

Isn't it what most realtors do? Just list and wait for offers?

It feels like all them are the same, the only difference between all of them is their communication skills and if he keeps up communication with the interested buyers.

[Samuel Wardle]

Good info @Account Closed. 

@Mario Am, MLS listings and syndication to other real estate websites are going to be your biggest drivers of buyer eyes.

However, you could also develop a number of different lists. Unrepresented buyers looking for off market deals or real estate agents that do business in the neighborhood and/or business with buyers looking for renovated homes. Pretty simple to build agent lists using your MLS. For neighborhood lists just pull sold properties in the last two years for the neighborhood your project is in and export the listing and selling agent info to a spreadsheet. Then email those agents letting them know about the project. Same process with agents that tend to sell new construction or newly renovated homes. Pull data for all the agents representing buyers of those types of homes in your city, export and email them to let them know that you have a project coming up.

Do enough of that overtime and you will have a big enough list that you may be able to sell many of your projects before you have even finished them. 

[Samuel Wardle]

Quote from @Mario Am:

@Eliott Elias

Isn't it what most realtors do? Just list and wait for offers?

It feels like all them are the same, the only difference between all of them is their communication skills and if he keeps up communication with the interested buyers.

@Eliott Elias no that is what lazy agents do... Like any profession there are good and bad players. That is certainly not what I do. I spend a good amount of time on any listing building anticipation to create either an off market sale opportunity or just build demand to create a bidding war once it hits the market publicly 

[Brandon Elliott-Pandey]

Quote from @Mario Am:

@Eliott Elias

Isn't it what most realtors do? Just list and wait for offers?

It feels like all them are the same, the only difference between all of them is their communication skills and if he keeps up communication with the interested buyers.

With my relatively new experience(Less than a year) I can share with you that that is what I thought as well getting into the industry. But I have to concur with most of the comments in this thread. This is another job. If you plan on getting your license I highly recommend reaching out to a realtor you know and ask them how much work goes into listing houses behind the scenes.(Staging, paperwork, proper forms, expenses, amount of hours/ time fielding calls and weeding through to find good offers, not to mention the splits for your brokerage and or other expenses marketing for your clients/ you own listings). It's not just list on the MLS and wait for offers... and it's not a cake walk. There is a reason this is a profession in and of it's self. That said, I got my license to be able to transition into real estate so I can make offers quicker and have a better pulse on my market. Also, transitioning into real estate has helped me understand in a deeper manor how real estate works and being able to write off my depreciation now as a full time real estate professional was HUGE for me!(Tax savings is always a BIG deal) Those two reasons, among others, are some of the biggest reasons why I switched profession.

Lastly, selecting a brokerage if HUGE! If you are truly looking to make a switch into real estate and or are thinking of getting your license lets connect and I can share my journey of finding the correct brokerage for me and you could possibly glean some insights for yourself!

Happy investing!!

[Mario Am]

@Samuel Wardle

Great idea. Thanks!