This was a post on yahoo answers, any comments welcome.
Hello,
I am a new agent and I am hoping to get some suggestions on what is the best way to get customers for real estate sales. So far I have contacted people I know and asked for them to refer me and have cold called some people I do not know. There has got to be better ways…please could anyone help? Thank you in advance,
Jim
If you want to be successful in real estate, you need to realize that you are going into business (not just becoming an employee). This means you need a business plan. I guarantee if you draft a business plan and get the education where you need to in order to answer the questions that you don’t have answers to, you will succeed. Your plan will have to take into account marketing and advertising, which requires a budget.
There is no “best way” to network, it depends on who you are. For example, some people like to teach home buyers courses, others go to large churches where they network, others market through the web, and others go to social functions such as Chamber of Commerce gatherings.
Get a mentor, not just a manager (I made that mistake years ago when I got into real estate -1992), but find someone who is successful that has the business level that you want to have and see what you can learn from them. Tell them up front “hey, I want to know what you know about this business”. Serve them – sit on thier open houses (another good way to meet prospective buyers). Offer to do the little things for them such as attend home inspections, and/or closings so you can see how all of the pieces fit together.
Lastly, you mat consider finding a niche in the market. For example, do you want to focus on one region, do you want to work with buyers, sellers, apartment renters, investors? (you get the idea).
You can take this to the bank 
I am not a real estate agent, however I have been investing in real estate for over forty years. I have some observations for you.
You my not like my observations, however if you are serious about making the business of real estate your lifetime occupation, I think that my observations will be very helpful to you.
First:: when I was 18 years old and a freshman in college I wanted to buy my first house. None of the real estate agents would even talk to me because they thought that I was just a kid. They did not think that they would make any money by working with me.
I bought my first house from a man who was selling his house on his own without a real estate agent.
Not long after that I bought several more houses to use as rental properties.
By the time the real estate agents figured out that they could make some money off me and started talking to me I discovered that I already knew much more about the process than they did.
The first thing that you must do is get enough training so that you have something of value to offer.
In my experience most real estate agents that I have met are very poorly trained.
I never use real estate agents when I purchase a property.
I only use an attorney who specializes in real estate law and a real estate appraiser who is a Member of The Appraisal Institute.
I recommend that you first go to a law school and get your law degree and pass the bar. A real estate contract is a legal document.
The standard real estate contracts are worthless. You must write a lot of your own language if you are going to make that contract worth anything, and that contract must be enforceable if you have to go to court to enforce the terms of the contract. You need an attorney or you must be an attorney yourself to know what to write and how to write it.
I have seen real estate agents write some of the most ridiculous unenforceable nonsense in contracts because they do not know or understand the law.
Also, real estate agents do not even know what they have to write in a contract to protect their clients interests.
Next, you must take the training that is available from The Appraisal Institute and you must go to work for an Appraisal firm that is run by a Member of The Appraisal Institute. That is the only way that you will learn how to do a competent job of providing an estimate of the fair market value of a house.
Once you have done those things only then will you have the training and experience to provide the service that your clients need and the justification for your fee.
References :
My experience. Over 40 years investing in real estate.
I'm a Mortgage Assistant in the Toronto area. I'm newer at it too but here is what i know so far.
1) Ask for the business. Don't give your card and say "when you guys DO want to sell, call me" they will often forget. It has already happened to me by friends and relatives. Instead, hand them a card or material, but also get their contact info, and follow up periodically.
2) Make an e-mailing list: this goes really well with 1). You get contacts and keep them close by sending out real-estate related info once a week. Stuff like, "Did you know" type info, real estate news, etc. Even if they don't read it and just delete, as long as they don't put you on the block list, it's another way to remind them you exist.
3) Ask for referrals: any clients you help close, tell them if they liked your services, that you would appreciate a referral, as it's your main source of business. If they liked your service, it's no sweat off their back to tell their friend that they like you.
References :
If you want to be successful in real estate, you need to realize that you are going into business (not just becoming an employee). This means you need a business plan. I guarantee if you draft a business plan and get the education where you need to in order to answer the questions that you don't have answers to, you will succeed. Your plan will have to take into account marketing and advertising, which requires a budget.
There is no "best way" to network, it depends on who you are. For example, some people like to teach home buyers courses, others go to large churches where they network, others market through the web, and others go to social functions such as Chamber of Commerce gatherings.
Get a mentor, not just a manager (I made that mistake years ago when I got into real estate -1992), but find someone who is successful that has the business level that you want to have and see what you can learn from them. Tell them up front "hey, I want to know what you know about this business". Serve them – sit on thier open houses (another good way to meet prospective buyers). Offer to do the little things for them such as attend home inspections, and/or closings so you can see how all of the pieces fit together.
Lastly, you mat consider finding a niche in the market. For example, do you want to focus on one region, do you want to work with buyers, sellers, apartment renters, investors? (you get the idea).
You can take this to the bank
References :
The voice of experience as a real estate agent, mortgage banker, & business / marketing consultant, since 1992.