Picture this: you wake up in the morning, pour a cup of coffee and check your email. You’ve got messages from friends, maybe a note or two about an upcoming deal, some junk mail… Now imagine that you’ve also got dozens of high-quality leads from expert real estate agents in your area. They’re just turning them over, handling all the heavy lifting, pre-qualifying and preliminary back-and-forth and turning these rock-solid leads over to you. Believe it or not, you aren’t dreaming. You’re simply on your way to mastering real estate agent enrollment—which is exactly what we’re going to tackle in this post.
We are excited to show you why real estate agent enrollment is the most talked-about topic in real estate investing right now. All the gurus, coaches and podcasters are bombarding investors with tips, tricks and must-tries, charging tons of money for their insights and expertise. It makes sense—what’s better than getting free leads on autopilot, and having them land in your inbox morning after morning? The best way to do that is, hands down, with agent enrollment.
Now the big question: how do you get there? How do you wake up to those not just warm but full-on hot leads from real estate agents day after day? The old guard says bandit signs, direct mail and other traditional marketing techniques—all good approaches but, to be honest, they’re probably not the best use of your time.
What is Real Estate Agent Enrollment?
Agent enrollment is, simply, engaging and building a relationship with the real estate agents in your market. As a real estate investor, you need properties. And who wants to sell you their properties? Motivated sellers. But who knows motivated sellers—and lots of them? Real estate agents.
Real estate agents are in the market, have boots on the ground and speak with multiple sellers on a daily basis. If there’s a motivated seller to be had, chances are they’ve already sniffed them out. Your job is to convince those agents to send you those leads.
Here is the tricky part – real estate agents are paid on commission so, naturally, they want their deals to be as big as possible. Real estate investors are motivated by price—they want low-cost properties. Do you see the immediate disconnect between investors and agents? While agents would rather their deals be larger, if they can quickly turn properties, that’s a huge incentive for them to work with an investor.
Think like a Real Estate Agent.
The average agent’s commission is 3%. The difference between selling a house for $80,000 and $100,000 is small. If the house is sold for $100,000, 3% would be $3,000.
If that same house sells for $80,000, that real estate agent would make $2,400. Think about their motivations and their business. Do you think they would rather sell a house today for $80,000 and make a $2,400 commission, or wait for weeks (or even months) to sell that same house for $20,000 more just to make another $600?
That $20,000 difference is big for the seller because it goes right into their pocket, but to the agent it’s only $600. You can clearly start to see how we as real estate investors can incentivize agents to work with us.
Your Real Estate Investor Edge
Real estate investors can be a gold mine for agents because of the potential for serious volume. But that doesn’t mean local real estate agents are going to be lining up around the block to send you leads. So how do you convince them to work with YOU, specifically, and not all the other real estate investors clamoring for their leads?
In short, you do it by adding value to the agent’s business. The best way to add value is through CASH and TIME – offer the agent a cash close – no jumping through hoops, no banks, and the guarantee of a fast, seamless transaction every single time.
That alone is an enormous asset to real estate agents. To be able to bring their clients a qualified buyer who wants a quick close, one who pays cash and closing costs, and can structure the deal with a few seller-friendly add-ons is a huge win. If agents know you have the potential to sell their properties fast without any bumps in the road, they will come to you.
The next step is to implement your agent enrollment process in a big way with this 4 step solution.
1. Build Your List of Agents
Use the MLS to start building your list of agents. Run a search for all transactions in the last 12 months and export it right into an Excel file. This should provide you with the seller’s agent and buyer’s agent names, phone numbers and emails. Upload this list to an email service provider like MailChimp or Aweber and boom—you’ve got an agent list.
If you don’t have access to the MLS, you can use Google to find agents, buy a list, or form a partnership with an agent in your area so you can get access to the MLS.
This is one of the most important tools you’ll have as a real estate investor. You’re going to use this list to contact agents on a weekly basis, ideally by phone (initially) and email (every week). So really focus on this first step and make sure your list is as strong as it can be.
2. Deliver Your Elevator Pitch
Your list is in place—so now it’s time to pick up the phone and start calling agents. With that being said, you can’t just call without a plan in place. You need to be prepared with a script that lets agents know who you are, why you’re calling, how you can provide value to their business, and what they need to do next. This all needs be done in the first 10 to 15 seconds of the phone call.
The best part? If you deliver this script correctly, it works 99% of the time—really. But if you try and fly by the seat of your pants with no real plan in place, agents won’t take you seriously or, worse, will hang up on you. Know exactly what to say that will get agents to send their best deals your way.
3. Handle Any Objections
Your elevator pitch will no doubt, get agents interested in what you have to offer—so if you haven’t already studied the guides from our labs, do it now.
Even though this script is solid, real estate agents will definitely have some questions for you to make sure that you’re worth their time. Keep in mind lots of investors are probably coming their way, trying to get their leads, too. So you need to make sure you really stand out and that you can roll with any objections that come your way. Some examples?
If you’re licensed as an agent or you know other agents and I send you a deal, why wouldn’t you just do the deal yourself?
“The reason I wouldn’t just do the deal myself is I’m looking for more inventory—I want to do more deals. I’m looking for more business and repeated business. I want you to get paid because that means you’re sending me deals. Experts like yourself won’t keep sending me deals if I burn bridges.”.
Where do you go? What do you buy? What condition are you looking for?
“Anywhere”, “Yes”, and “Anything”.
Here’s a simple tip:
Just say yes to everything. It’s a simple conversation. Yes, yes, YES. “I’ll go anywhere if it’s a good deal, I work with any price range and any condition.” Get the agent to send you the deal so you can do your due diligence.
4. Build a Feedback Loop (aka Get Great Deals)
In the beginning, agents will probably send you subpar deals. If you don’t respond to their outreach, these valuable contacts will stop sending you deals. And that’s no good.
Since you don’t want to discourage agents, it’s extremely important to provide feedback to every agent, every time. Let them know why it is/isn’t a good deal for you, so they:
1) see that you’re serious and
2) can make sure that the deals they send your way syncs with your investing strategy. Staying in constant communication will also keep agents engaged—always a plus. This builds the relationship and makes them feel that all-important connection to you, which will ensure they send more deals your way. Everyone wins.
When a real estate agent helps you close a great deal, shout it from the rooftops. Make sure every single agent on your list sees how good—and lucrative—it is to work with you. Send a quick note that says something like:
Do you see how simple real estate agent enrollment can be? Now imagine the possibilities—imagine the best real estate agents in your market sending you the best deals every single day. No more pounding the pavement, posting flyers, or sending direct mail that goes nowhere and costs a fortune. With these tips, you’ll be well on your way to getting amazing deals emailed directly to you for free.