Real estate agents get listing agreements in a variety of different ways depending on their markets. A real estate agent in an expensive area of a city such as Manhattan – trying to win the listings of New York's elite – must entertain potential clients with dinners and outings. Other agents might make a name for themselves through online strategies and community events. Regardless of the market, building up an invaluable personal network and becoming an expert in a particular area or region is crucial to being a successful real estate agent.

Getting Listings Through a Strong Network

Getting listings first begins with building a strong network. Real estate agents are constantly creating and maintaining relationships. Many of them first start by connecting with everyone that they know. This includes family, friends, and acquaintances. They meet with these people, discuss real estate, follow any leads, and make it known that they are in the business. Even if the people they speak with might not be in the market for selling or buying properties now, chances are they will be later or know people who are. New agents use the methods of warm calling and cold calling to drum up leads for listings as well.

Invest in Yourself

As a real estate agent, it is important to invest in yourself. To create a brand through marketing strategies, various ads, and an online presence is essential. Like anything else in a capitalist economy, you are marketing yourself as a brand to show why people should choose you over the competition. As a brand, you constantly have to work with integrity, do what is right for your clients, and provide the best possible value. If you do this, and start making a name for yourself, it will lead to another great way to get listings, and that's through recommendations. If people are happy with the service that you provide, then they will recommend you to the people that they know.

Social Media

In today's digital age, an online presence is crucial. It is the quickest way to reach people with the furthest scope. Creating social media accounts on different platforms, sending out newsletters via email, presenting a certain aesthetic, listing homes you have shown previously, all help in displaying who you are and what real estate stock is out there. It's a way for people to come to you when they see what you're selling, in terms of both a brand and the homes.

Be in Touch With the Community

A great way to find out about new listings is by creating a relationship with local developers. As they are the ones building new properties or converting existing ones, they are some of the first to have a pulse on what is happening in the real estate market. It is important to be in touch with them. You can also create relationships with local real estate companies. You never know what kind of information or relationships they are also looking to build and work with.

Strategic Targeting

There are certain demographics out there that will usually always be buying or selling homes, and it is important to be aware of these individuals in your market. For example, people inherit homes all the time. Plenty of these individuals end up selling the home as they do not wish to carry the responsibility of maintaining another piece of real estate, it is in a location they do not live in, or it requires too much maintenance. These people are looking to sell the property and cash in.

Another demographic to focus on is recently divorced couples. Many times a divorced couple will sell their shared property and buy two completely different homes. Or even if they do keep the current property, one of the individuals will be looking for a new place to start a new life. It can be your role as a real estate agent to help them in this difficult time and make the transitional process much easier.

As a real estate agent, one has to constantly be networking and keeping abreast of what is happening in their community. Knowing as many people as possible, constantly being in contact with the right groups, performing valuable services, all help in generating new listings.