Finding Cold Calling Lists -Where?

Question

Hello everyone (thanks for taking the time to read),

I have gotten my RE license in Washington D.C. and I'm researching ways to lead generate through cold calling. My question to you, the more experienced agents, is which lists have you used or are using that you like? And what is better to target, expired listings or FSBOs? Also please consider that as a new agent my budget may be a little tight.

Thank you!

Russell Brazil · Answer

@Edward Dumitrache Id say the most effective thing to do then is to increase your SOI.  Go to every party and social function you can and talk real estate with people. Talk to your bar tender, your grocery check out person...meet and talk to every person you can, and talk to them about real estate.

Farming is great but costs a good penny. I spend about $12,000 a year on farming..so thats not the way to go if you have a limited budget.  Most other things fill up your time, but do not give you a return on that time.

Patrick Britton · Answer

@Edward Dumitrache I don't think anyone could have said it better than @Russell Brazil.  SOI is absolutely key.  I think if you ask Google, or NAR where Realtors get their clients something like 30% - 60% come from SOI and referrals.  I think a paltry amount, like 5% come from open houses and cold calling is even less than that.

However, I wouldn't dismiss open houses or cold calling entirely.  I think they are necessary activities for both rookies and veterans.  Consider trying this out, every week for one hour, no less and no more, call listings that expired between 30 and 90 days ago.  Of course, check that they haven't relisted with a broker first.  But I think you will find that during the first few weeks after a listing expires, the seller is frustrated not only because the property has sold, but also because they've received dozens of calls from other realtors trying to get the listing.  This bombardment of calls typically stops after the 3rd week.  It is been my experience that sellers are more open to chatting with a realtor when the phones go silent and their frustration level decreases.

Because calling expired listings can initially feel very uncomfortable, you only need to start off by spending one hour per week.  That's only 2.5% of the 40 hour workweek.

Personally, I wouldn't break up that hour into smaller bits over the course of the week because I think you'll find that after the first 15 or 20 minutes of calling you get into a rhythm and flow, and your performance dramatically increases.

Also consider this, you should probably be able to knock off anywhere between a low of 5 to a high of 20 actual conversations during that hour.  And that should be your goal: to get conversations.  Whether they are good or bad it doesn't matter.  But speaking to someone is infinitely better than not.

Now, assuming you can speak to only 5 people during this hour, after little practice working on your "pitch," for lack of a better term, you should be able to get at least one appointment or callback.  But let's assume you need to speak with 10 people before you have a chance at a listing presentation, and you only get a quarter of all listing presentations convert to actual listings.

That means you'll have to speak to 40 people in order to get 4 listing presentations, and of those 4 you close one.  Considering you're in Washington DC, I assume the median sales price is $300,000?  Perhaps a lot more?  And assuming you walk away with 3% and takes 3 months to close that means your gross commission would be $9000?  So a way you could look at it is that for every 40 conversations with people over the phone, you get $9000 within 3 months.

Admittedly, this is a very rough and crude example but I hope it demonstrates the power of doing something, no matter how big or small, repeatedly and over time.  Perhaps those numbers are better or worse, I don't know.  Perhaps you will need to test it out for a number of months to get a sense of what your return is.

But I think it is worth one hour per week if for nothing else, to improve the quality and performance of your elevator speech and value add.

Russell Brazil · Answer

I think that cold calling, expired listings and FSBO's are all a waste of time for an agent. I would spend your time marketing to your sphere of influence. And you really do need to market to them. Do not assume they will use you or refer to you . You need to actively market to them.  Capture rates for your sphere of influence are infinitely higher than any other segment of the population.

Matthew Olszak · Answer

If you want to straight cold call neighborhoods - colerealtyresource.com. They've got landlines, cells, and emails, all which you can pull based on a map. Couple that with a 3 line dialer from mojosells.com. There are multiple groups on facebook that can get you a discount on Cole, PM me and I'll send you an invite.

Also, check out this huge thread of cold-callers:

http://www.agentsonline.net/forums/ubbthreads.php/...

Make sure if you are cold calling you have a decent CRM setup to database your contacts. The vast majority aren't selling this instant, but if you stay in contact with them via mail/phone/email, you'll be at the top of their mind when it comes time to sell. Also, you'll likely be unchallenged unlike expireds/fsbos that can receive 50+ calls from other agents.

David Hunter · Answer

I preferred contacting expireds, but I rarely cold called.  I just send a 3-step direct mail campaign including a home seller's guide and a mini trash can (yep... a mini trash can!!).

If you're looking for lists to call, just pick up the whitepages and start dialing.  You'll eventually get someone.

Robert O'Keefe · Answer

Check email twice a day and do an open house every weekend

Edward Dumitrache · Answer

Thanks @Russell Brazil! Thanks a lot for sharing. It is very helpful and I totally appreciate it.

Edward Dumitrache · Answer

Thanks @Russell Brazil, but in the case my SOI is very small, what other ways are there to generate leads effectively, which 2-3 have worked best for you?

Finding Cold Calling Lists -Where?

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