11 Hacks For Finding Qualified Buyers In Real Estate For 2023

Today, we’re going to discuss 11 effective strategies for finding more buyers in real estate.

You’ve got the listings. Now you need buyers. The good news is that there are buyers everywhere. 65% of the people you meet will someday own their own home.

It’s your job to find them at the right time. Below, we’ll go over 11 strategies to do just this, some of which I’ve used myself to grow my own successful real estate business and become one of the top agents in my market.

If you would rather watch or listen to this content, check out the video or podcast below!

1. Create Social Media Campaigns Targeted At The Right Demographics

There are 1.39 billion active Facebook users every month. (Invespcro)

Facebook is a great place for a real estate agent to get started finding buyers in real estate. You might already be aware of a few reasons. For example, you can:

• Connect with your community.
• Maintain a business page.
• Promote your listings.

But most importantly:

• You can target buyers directly.

Imagine a mailer campaign that could be sent only to potential buyers aged 35 to 45 who make over $200,000 a year and live in your zip code.

On Facebook, you can target ads to specific job titles, hobbies, marital statuses, and more. Have the perfect property for a senior? Or a single professional? You can target them all with advertisements for your listings.

2. Promote Your Listings With Paid Advertising Campaigns

An advertising click on Google Ads costs, on average, $2.37 and could help to secure a lead. (Home Value Leads)

In addition to targeting buyers through Facebook ads, consider promoting your listings with paid advertising.

Post on Twitter and Instagram and then promote that post. You never know when a home buyer might be looking.

Promoting your listings doesn’t just promote that particular listing; it boosts your authority within the space. When a buyer sees that ad, even if that isn’t the exact property they want, it makes it more likely that they will connect with you.

As a real estate professional, your entire marketing strategy is built around “starting a conversation.” Target your paid advertising campaign correctly, and you can start that conversation.

3. Connect With Groups And Communities On Social Media

82% of agents are seeking to improve their social media presence in 2021. Are you one of them? (The Close)

People spend a lot of time on social media, which makes it a great place for finding buyers in real estate.

Right now, you can probably find a group for residential real estate sales, commercial real estate sales, real estate investing, or just general home buying.

You might have also seen a lot of real estate accounts getting traction: “This Old House” blogs, “McMansion” blogs, and specific types of architecture.

Spend time in your online community. Talk to them and give them advice, not just as a friend but also as a potential agent.

The more you interact with people, the more likely you are to get them to give you a call when they’re looking. A good real estate agent knows that real estate is, foremost, about relationships.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, NextDoor, and Instagram can all be great venues for real estate marketing.

4. Purchase Or Build An IDX Lead-generating Website

51% of home buyers have found their home through the internet. (NAR)

An IDX lead-generating website keys directly into the multiple listing service. If you want to get real estate sales funneled to you through your website, consider upgrading it so that a potential buyer or investor can look at properties there.

You can get a complete real estate website out of the box and start updating it with content. Many buyers search the web for advice first, so you may be able to rank highly as a buyers agent in your area.

And, of course, don’t forget to put up all your listings.

You should not only have your listings on your website, but you should also share your listings through your social media accounts.

5. Talk To Other Real Estate Agents Or Consider Building a Team

26% of real estate agents are part of a real estate team. Can you be a team player? (NAR)

Other real estate agents can be one of your most powerful resources. Talk to agents. It’s the perfect way to get referrals and to find out more about what’s going on in the market.

Perhaps they already have a cash buyer looking for something — and, as a seller’s agent, you already have a listing about to hit the market.

If you build a team, you can gain income more consistently and take advantage of each other’s resources.

You can also build an informal network of referrals. Consider creating a newsletter to keep everyone connected and posted, a Facebook group, or a group chat. While you may occasionally need to share your real estate commission, you’ll get far more leads than you otherwise would.

You don’t have to be a real estate broker yourself to start forging alliances with others in your business. A good real estate agent will start building connections now.

6. Send Out Mailers To Areas High In Renters

At the start of 2020, about 11 percent of renters were ready to buy a home. (RentCafe)

Everyone knows that there’s only one thing better than being a buyer’s agent or a listing agent: being both. If you’re trying to become a dual agent, take some of your listings and send out mailers to locations nearby that are high in renters.

You can generate many leads if you always think about a renter as a potential real estate buyer. Eventually, most renters are going to decide that they want to purchase a home.

If you send out mailers for your listings, you increase the chances that they may come to you without a Realtor of their own. And even if they do have their own buyers’ agent already, at least you’ll have made a sale.

7. Build Out Your Content Marketing Campaigns

Inbound marketing yields, on average, 300 percent more leads than other methods of digital marketing. (RE/MAX)

A content marketing campaign is a type of “inbound” marketing. You create valuable information (a blog, a podcast, a book), and others come to you because they’re already interested.

Content marketing campaigns are great because they prequalify leads. If you become the expert, for instance, on “remodeling your home before sale,” then you’ll get a wide audience that’s already interested in selling their house.

Similarly, if you become an expert on “buying your first home,” you’re far more likely to start bringing in people who want to buy. First-time homeowners want to know how to complete a real estate transaction and how to find a mortgage lender.

You can also think about what will draw the most valuable audience in:

• A real estate investor may want to know about rental rates in your neighborhood or the average cost of an investment property.
• A wholesale buyer might want to know about the local wholesaling competition and how quickly the market is growing.
• Potential cash buyers might be interested in knowing how the transaction broker handles a cash sale or something more complex, like a 1031 exchange.

You don’t just choose the clients you take. You also choose the clients that you bring in. By tailoring your inbound lead generation to the buyer or investor you’re most interested in, you can better exploit your niche.

8. Take Advantage Of Lead-generating Platforms

196 million users access the Zillow website every year. (iPropertyManagement)

Redfin, Zillow; they’re taking over the online real estate world. And that’s not a bad thing. If you’re a real estate professional, their leads can be valuable.

Zillow has a service that can generate you leads directly, with no work from you at all. It’s low effort, even if the lead usually isn’t the highest quality.

Better yet, you can often achieve dual agency if someone finds your listings through Zillow or another online housing marketplace. Often, those who are “self-servicing” and looking through these platforms don’t have a buyer’s agent.

Because buyers are increasingly using these lead-generating platforms, you need to be using them, too. Take some time to learn more about these housing marketplaces and how you can use them to your advantage when representing a seller.

9. Build Hyper-local, Geo-targeted Landing Pages

60% of advertising professionals believe that geo-targeted ads have better ROI. (Neil Patel)

Many website management solutions also come with landing page templates.

A landing page is a great way to target your advertising and make sure that you’re garnering interest only from those who are relevant.

Rather than performing lead generation across the entire country, you’re performing lead generation just throughout your state, city, or even neighborhood.

Many real estate professionals have hyper-local, geo-targeted landing pages for every neighborhood they work in.

This increases the chances that a buyer will find you and your brokerage at some point in the home buying process.

The more well-tailored your landing pages and website are to the types of properties you sell, the more effective your advertising campaigns will be.

10. Throw Holiday Parties, Networking Events, and Get-togethers

41 percent of sellers find their agents through referrals, and 26 percent use an agent they had previously used. (NAR)

When it comes to finding buyers in real estate, don’t forget about past clients.

It’s your old clients that will introduce you to your new clients. Hold parties and events; over time, they will take on a life of their own and become true networking events in their own right.

At some point in their lives, someone will ask your past clients who the right real estate agent is — and you want them to be able to answer confidently.

Talk to people, and they will often be quite eager to admit they’re looking for a home. They may want to know your advice (Should they go with Rocket Mortgage? When should they start to look for a mortgage lender?) — and will otherwise want to talk about the business.

And, of course, the more you talk about them, the more likely they are to remember you when they need you.

11. Post Your Listings On “Unofficial” Listing Services

Craigslist gets more visits than Netflix, Zillow, and LinkedIn. (Business Insider)

You have listings up on the MLS. But what about Facebook Marketplace? Craigslist? Instagram? NextDoor?

If you’re interested in finding buyers in real estate, you do need to get creative. No one looks in the newspaper anymore. But many people do look on Craigslist, and a surprising number of buyers will look at listings on Facebook Marketplace.

When you’re representing a seller today, you do need to get a little creative. Many people are hesitating to get an agent and are, instead, trying to buy and sell alone. That leads to a lot of people looking for homes in non-traditional venues.

But by targeting these venues, you also stand to find a buyer who is unattached.

Becoming the Best Buyer Agent

Whether you want to be an exclusive buyer’s agent or you want to find buyers for your existing listings, it’s all about networking and leads.

People want to buy houses — and there are houses to buy — you just have to forge the connections.

The internet is more important than ever for today’s Realtors. Buyers are looking to purchase houses online. Sellers are looking to sell their houses with the click of a button.

But what a real estate professional can offer is advice, support, one-on-one guidance, and (of course) all the legwork. By building your relationships, you’ll end up being the first person on call when someone wants to buy.

FAQs On Finding Buyers in Real Estate

How do I attract buyers to my property?

Today’s buyers frequently look online when they want to purchase a home. Build an IDX website, establish a social media presence, advertise your flagship listings through paid advertising campaigns, and make sure to network with other real estate agents.

What’s the best way to find buyer leads?

Many real estate professionals today are finding buyers in real estate through websites such as Zillow. Unlike a traditional referral, it doesn’t require giving up part of your real estate commission. For a fee, you can get referrals sent to you in your area.

What are the best venues for buyer leads?

Facebook, Instagram, and NextDoor are some of the best venues for an exclusive buyer agent or for someone who wants to sell their listings. Prospective home buyers often follow real estate accounts or post their real estate woes on these platforms.

Read More:

When you’re working with a ton of real estate buyers, safety is of the utmost importance. Check out my post on the 12 Realtor safety tips to make sure that you never put yourself in a tough situation when working with random clients.

How do you find qualified real estate buyers? What is your process to ensure you’re working with ready, willing, and able buyers? Let me know in the comments below!