I was shopping for appliances the other day and someone overheard me talking about looking for a new home and started his "schpeal" about how he had some homes he knew of with great kitchens. I kind of chuckled, and thought to myself "Wow, the market must really be down if he's hanging around appliance stores looking to sell homes with kitchens."

This got me thinking though, whats the craziest way you've gotten a lead?

I see it a different way - this guy is an opportunist who sees an opening and takes it. He overheard the right conversation at the right time.

Unless he really IS hanging out there... *shrug*

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Craziest Way I've Gotten A Lead:

Haven't gotten one a crazy way yet. lol

I had a shirt made for my Chihuahua that said, "Buy a house from my mom so I can have more treats"

The only day I ever had her wear it a guy stopped me on the street and said, "oh, are you a Realtor? I'm looking for an investment property".

He came back to the office with my doggie and I and I gave him a list of properties.

He ended up buying a lot in Santa Barbara. I had to refer him to an agent there as it was right outside of my MLS coverage area, but it was a $12,000 commission from a $20 dollar dog t-shirt.

It started with a couple of bad kids not listening to Daddy. I suddenly remembered I had "an appoitment" and rushed out of the house.

I went to an out of the way bar for some quiet time and a few drinks. Sitting at the bar was started about Real Estate. One guy was wanting to unload some apartment buildings, the bartender was wanting to buy, and did not know where to begin.

I bought a round for the bar, and joined in the conversation. At the end of the day I had the listing and a buyer. Everything worked out great.

Sure I lied to my wife to get away, but I actually ended up "working". I love this business.

REO,

do we ever stop working:-)>shakeheadbackandforth< I know i dont

many times i am out and i actually practice steering!!!!!! i try and steer the conversation away from real estate. i love it, but dont wnat to be known as the guy who only talks houses, yet i never ever ever bring it up.. others always bring it up in conversation.

You would be surprised at how many contacts I make in exactly that kind of way.... just random encounters while your going through your day.

My last one was while I was taking the pooch to the dog park. Lady and I were talking and she mentioned she was thinking about getting into a smaller home now that her kids were gone. I took out my card and offered my services if she decided to move forward.

R

oh- yeah...I sold 2 house from people on myspace....

I was at the dog park one day and decided to hand out my business cards when I left, to the other people I was chatting with. Two of them handed me their cards. They were agents too, LOL!

Yeah.... you cannot swing a dead cat anywhere these days without hitting a real estate agent! ;-)

My wife and I were having lunch at Taco Bell one day. A lady at a table across the restaurant took out her cell phone, dialed a number and began a conversation. As many do, she talked REALLY LOUD on the phone so we could hear the entire call. She was talking about selling her house and buying another one. I waited till they were about to leave and spoke to them, mentioning I couldn't help but hear the conversation. I gave them my card and we talked for several minutes. No signed listing agreement yet, but we are still talking. Hopefully, I will get a listing from it.

This has actually worked a few times for me. It hasn't brought sale yet, but I have talked with quite a few people and grabbed some leads.

Up until about 2 months ago I was playing a lot of No-Limit Poker in a few of the Strip casinos here in Las Vegas. It is pretty much all I used to do other than sell real estate. Anyway, it seemed like real estate was the topic of many conversations at the poker tables. I would casually join the conversation and throw out a few statistics here and there. The best part about it was many of these poker players were from out of town and were thinking about moving to Las Vegas. This is where I casually handed them my business card and told them to call me if they would like my help.

The main local casino that I would play poker at has a bunch of regulars that talk about buying and selling their property sometimes. I am currently working with one of the poker dealers too. Many of these poker players have extremely good jobs and make tons of money. So this is one of my avenues of leads.

I love the Chihuahua approach! I'm suprised you to hear you haven't used it since!

I think with the RE market constantly being bashed in the media its a good time to get creative and see what "out there" tactics just might work. Of course word-of-mouth, flyers, and networking will always work (to some degree), but as I've been racking my brain lately to think of what else could be used in the "out there" approach. I began to think, maybe the the agent that approached me while shopping for appliances was on to something. Maybe I could find a niche at hardware stores and with handymen. You know, the whole "your house is more maintaince than its worth" so why not trade up to something newer/better approach? I guess its worth a shot, especially seeing as how I'm new to the game to begin with!

Wow - a strip poker casino? With no limits?

Hmmmm!

rofl

I was showing a rental house and had a VERY interested buyer. The tenant was present and I handed her my business card and said, "I think you may need to call me - I know of some great houses." Well, sold that house to my buyer AND sold the tenant a house! Makes you wonder why the listing agent didn't go after that one!

When I did resale I did a lot of what some call "drinking my business". It seems kind of like the degenerate route (not that I disagree), but I made a number of contacts just sitting in a bar, shooting the breeze with people.

Also, I'm a very big billiards enthusiast, so that was a good place to dig up some business (after you weed through the hustlers, drunks, and addicts).

Ahhh, the fun I used to have.

I used to shoot pool constantly. I have made my share of contacts doing so too. Most pool players are low life bums though. I actually know and have shot with the top players in Vegas.

Up until recently I was playing a lot of poker though. Many poker players are also low life bums, but there are lots with loads of money too! Many poker players that I have played with have mutiple investments.

Bar hopping will do the trick to network sometimes. It's a hit or miss.

What do you think the odds are that we were working the same buyer? haha!