Advice on leads in Portland, OR?
Answer:
You should ABSOLUTELY get a website. The NAR put out a study in 2005 saying that the use of the Internet to search for a home has risen from 2% in 1995 to 77% in 2005 and agents with websites has increased 129% over the past 5 years. It also said that In terms of lead generation, only referrals and repeat clients rank above the Internet as the most effective methods of gaining new business.
Unfortunately the real estate industry is a little bit behind in marketing themselves online, so having a website that displays the MLS data with an integrated IDX feed is probably your best bet to beat the competition. Especially since most of the real estate being sold is being done so by the newly established realtors who have mastered online marketing.
Some good website design companies are http://www.bayshoresolutions.com. or http://www.13avenue.com
But the real kicker is being able to display MLS listings on your site and integrate search tools using an IDX feed. IDX Broker is definitely a superior product: http://www.idxbroker.com
Good luck!
Why should we help you? Just kidding.
There are several ways to get leads. Think about professionals you could ask for referrals from. Professionals that have anything to do with the purchase of a home, and a refinance of a home and seek them out. Not just realtors. There's financial advisors, tax consultants, home improvement companies, builders, and lawyers. Divorce lawyers. What typically happens one two divorce? One might keep the home, so they need to refinance it to take the ex off of the title, and the other person needs to find a new home, right? There's several out-of-the-box ways to find new business, it's how devoted you are to follow thru on making these things work.
I'd tell you more, but then I'd have to shoot ya :)
Good luck, and welcome to the jungle..
If I were you I would think about dedicating my weekends to going to open houses. See if you can buddy up with a realtor. Even if the don't send you anyone maybe they will at least let you have a copy of the sign in sheet for the open house. That sign in sheet should be full of the names and contact info of people who are actively in the housing market looking to make a purchase. Each sign in sheet should have at least 10 names on it, get 4 or 5 of them and you should have a weeks worth of leads. Good luck.
Along the lines of what Justin said, a couple of guys in our office have gotten a bunch of deals from home improvement companies. They do a HELOC to pay for new windows, siding, whatever. Then after the work is done they refi so that the borrower gets LTV credit and a lower rate. Win win all around, home improvement company gets more business, home owner gets their upgrades and a better rate, and we get the loans.
I am a real estate agent, not a lender, but two things have worked very well for me.
1) Direct Mail. Send out the post cards! Try to get them to the door (including printing and postage) for $.25 per piece.
2) Use Craig's List. It's free and it works.
Good Luck!
Kevin
Licensed Realtor
http://KevinScolastico.com
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