I'm finishing my class on Friday, planning on taking the test on Saturday and should decide on which broker I'm going with sometime next week. I'm setting a goal for myself of having my first signed contract by the end of April, which will give me two months. Yeah, I know, tough goal, but I do my best when I challenge myself.

Besides the usual advice of doing open houses, going after expireds and FSBOs, and contacting previous contacts and family, what kind of creative ideas have the experienced agents come up with to find prospects? Has anyone found any certain types of events that attract potential buyers/sellers? Home expos? Hanging out in certain sections of Home Depot or Loews? In the library by the dewey decimal section 333 (Essentials of NJ Real Estate is 333.333, for those who are into useless real estate trivia).

I'm trying to think outside of the box to give me an edge over the competition. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Rainbow - great question! And here's the thing. Home buyers and sellers are EVERYWHERE. They aren't hanging out in secret clubs or reading certain magazines - they are all around you. The trick is to know your stuff well enough to be able to speak intelligently and confidently to a potential client (or gatekeeper to a client) when they cross your path.

"Your Stuff" includes your market (huge!), your contracts and your systems. It's tough to be confident, and therefore magnetic if you're unsure of yourself. Of course, as a new agent, you WILL be unsure of yourself, but you can control the level of that unsure-ness.

If you don't have that confidence, you could be in a room full of red-hot buyers & sellers and wouldn't be able to snag any...

So, my advice is to spend your first several weeks LEARNING. Preview houses like a madwoman. Read your contracts over and over and make sure you understand every single line. Practice using your contract software until you can write an offer in your sleep. Shadow other agents if they'll let you. Master your MLS and practice pricing homes.

Doesn't matter where you meet your propects if they aren't buying what you are selling........

Remember your potential client has tons of other agents and you aren't the only game in town.

What are you going to do to set yourself apart??

It's the number one reason agents fail is they can't get enough leads and when they get the leads they can't keep them as a client to get to closing so they get paid.

Remember potential cleints are everywhere but it's the MARKETING MESSAGE that get's people to take action.

Here's my point. You go crazy all along town distributing cards everywhere parking lots,libraries,whatever....

By sheer volume you might land a couple of prospects HOWEVER if you simply had a strong message and call to action on your marketing material your response rate would be much higher.

One of the agents in my office (the gregarious type) picked up 3 prospects at two supermarkets last week. They are out there.

This is, seriously, an idea I have had and am thinking of using. We should both try it and see where it gets us. Seriously.

Making a t-shirt that says "I Sell Real Estate For A Living"

and then underneath of that phrase, in smaller letters, have it say "no, seriously."

I think that might catch people's attention. They will ask you about it. EVERYONE wants to know about real estate...the 16 year old girl who works early mornings at the mocha shack by my house was asking me about it the other day!! Now, obviously, she can't buy a house. But I am close enough within her age group (I'm 20) that in a few years, maybe she WILL want to buy a house. Or maybe her boyfriend is a few years older and he wants to buy HER a house.

You see what I mean? People looooove to know about RE, and they always want to know "how is business?"

That's really cute. Maybe a button might be better since you probably don't want to walk around in a t-shirt all the time?!

Give stuff away on freecycle and be sure you're wearing your company name tag when they come to get the stuff. had a guy ask me about the market today and ask for my card - he's thinking about selling in a bit and thought I seemed nice and down to earth. hey, ya never know!

Hey Rainbow, I would say, attend networking groups in your area. Catching prospects online is the best one but takes time and a lot of money. Good luck!

I don't pay a dime to get prospects online. I have more leads than I can handle.

I've heard a lot of people say to always wear a name badge even when I'm "not working". I believe it'll work.

In my previous life in banking, we had to wear a lapel pin with our logo on it when we were working. Sometimes on my way home from work I'd stop at the store, or head to the mall and still be wearing my suit from work. People would see my pin and start asking me about their overdrafts, fees that they wanted returned, problems they had at the bank, problems with getting their checkbooks to balance...I always found it annoying because most of these people were from other branches, I didn't know a thing about them and really couldn't answer their questions. But now in this life, I can see welcoming people coming to me with questions because they probably aren't with another agent so they're a potential client for me.

Good advice everyone.

Great advice Viktor. I've been a member of various groups in the past and have tried to stay active in them over the past few months while I haven't been working. Waiting for the coveted residential real estate position to open in one of the local BNI chapters. I've been going through BNI withdrawal for the last 2 months since I had to resign my position when I was laid off.

Anything that takes a lot of money is going to have to wait until I start to collect some commission checks, and even then, I'll only do it if I think it'll pay off well in excess of the investment. It costs money to make money, but I don't like the idea of throwing away just for the sake of saying I spent a lot of money on my career.

I think a nice polo shirt with your broker logo would be a great idea (for shy people like me!!). Then, people can just casually find out you're in real estate, and if they're interested, they might strike up a conversation. And it'd be a little less nerdy-looking than a name tag.

Being a Notary Public has produced a few Prospects and some Sales. When I Notarize Documents I get a feel as to whether these are real people too, and our 1st encounter isn't with me trying to sell them something.

It doesn't cost much to hang out a shingle offering Notary Services, and it produces a few dollars. I have done several Notary Closings in my Office for $100 a pop; but that has really come to a halt with the death of the Internet Mortgage Business.

I find ways to mention real estate just about everywhere I go. I may be at a convenience store and start chatting with the clerk and say something like "I really needed a break from the office" which invariably gets a question like. "where do you work," or "what do you do?" I have said that at yard sales and one lady had me list her property which sold a few weeks later, another became an agent for us and a good friend. you never know who is looking to buy or sell.
I was at Wal mart one day when my daughter, who had been in the next aisle, came running over asking for my business card and ran off. She had heard 2 ladies talking about how frustrated one was trying to find a house, and gave them my card. I got a call the next day and sold her a house about a month later! yeah, I took my daughter shopping with that commission check!

I have found that my name badge is a great conversation starter, I wear it out every chance I have.

I was really annoyed the other day when I ran into the courthouse for a deed, without business cards on me. I ran into a guy I used to work with. He asked what I was up to - told him - but I know by the look on his face he couldn't remember my name but didn't want to let me know (I know that look well cause I wear it often). We used to work together almost 20 years ago.

The reason I was upset about this was because he buys houses and rents them out. He was probably my first inspiration into real estate years ago - and dang, I didn't have a card to give him on the spot.

So the best tip is to NEVER leave the freaking business cards IN THE CAR - no matter where you go. You will probably miss a great opportunity to hand one out.

^^I agree Perky The best way to find and not get a hot prospect is to forget your cards! A never leave home without them.

The recovery though is to track his address down and send him a "It was great to run into today" letter and refresh his memory, and of course give him some cards.

I know exactly where he lives. I thought about doing that but thought it might be tacky. ??

You said he was your first inspiration in RE. You worked with him, he recognized you just had no idea what your name was. 20 years later you talk to him, you have a commen intrest in Real Estate, I don't find it tacky.

My wife had a teacher that inspired her. One day my wife mentioned that the house she lived in was FSBO. She has not talked to the lady in years. I got her address from tax records sent her a letter offering services, mentioned my wife etc.

The seller emailed me, she still refers to go FSBO for now, but my wife still talks to her via email all the time now. I go over and check on her property during the course of my work, she appreciates it. I arrange the lawncare for her property, she appreciates it. She offers to pay me, I decline as she is a friend and its not much trouble, she sends us giftcards for dinner out, I appreciate it.

After a year she is tired of the FSBO, tired of being a landlord, and wants to sell everything. She has deals with a couple of the renter, the rest I get.

It's tacky to beg for business. It's not tacky to offer to assist an old aquaintence with business deals (or to use your spouces SOI to further your goals).

Great post and I agree 100%.

Perky,

Have you forgotten what Buffini taught you? The handwritten note card should be sent after you talk to or run into an old acquaintance.

Like I said, I didn't want to be tacky. The last thing I need to do is appear like a desperate real estate agent. People already do not believe me when I say I'm doing well (I am. I was really excited to surpass the office top producer in closed transactions for the first quarter this year - even if only for a little while. LOL. She has another 3/4 million in pendings, I've only got a shaky 1/2 million...not sure if the one deal is going to close.)

Buffini is fine but I do not go around begging for referrals. That to me is tacky. I much prefer the SOI approach. True story:

I met with a seller yesterday in a HUGE homeowner development - the largest one in the area. She mentioned to me yesterday "Oh, I met Suzy Newhomeowner the other day - she told me you sold her her new home! She's very happy. Guess what, the guy across the street is selling and he's not happy with his agent. Give me one of your cards and I'll tell him to call you."

I gave her a few cards and thanked her very much. She just gave me a great lead without me even asking for it - because of the praise my last customer gave her - without my asking for it. "Suzy NewHomeOwner" is a SOI person. I didn't bribe her with anything to get her to brag about me - I just did a good job.

All that to say - I like what REO suggested - I may just write the guy a note and tell him how his buying/selling stories back in the day planted the seed that eventually led me into real estate. I just hope his wife doesn't think I'm coming on to him. LOL

I go to a lot of yard sales and I always ask the owner if they're selling.

My wife was at a yard sale about 5-6 years ago and someone backed into her car..that person was the president of a local bank and we ended up selling his house and getting him into another 500k one...yard sales do work:).

Dear Perky Realtor:
I'm from Ky. and I hate to admit it because I'm a broker, but I don't know much about getting leads from the net. I've been in real estate for 33 years and have just never been much on computers, but I would like to learn as I'm slowing down some and would like to prospect the net more. If you can give me any advice I'd appreciate it.

Thanks
Rusty Foley
rusty@rustyfoley.com

I can't bring myself to do the badge thing. But, ironically, I really like the Tshirt thing. Very bold and tasteful. I really like certain sports like tshirts and think I can make a shirt with my logo that yells my name. I can wear it to grocery, running, the gym, library. It's like a free billboard. I'm already thinking of catchy slogans that may gain interest.

KY Cowboy: blogging will be the best bet. learn all you can about it. Check out sites like The Real Estate Tomato and Active Rain to find "how to" articles and tips on blogging.

When you get leads do not try to close them immediately - some of them may need to be nurtured a long time before they're ready to buy.