• Pipedrive: Best for email marketing
• Wise Agent: Best for transaction management
• LionDesk: Best for texting and calling
• Follow Up Boss: Best for real estate teams
• IXACT Contact: Best for managing contacts
• Realvolve: Best for automating workflows
• Lofty (formerly Chime): Best for lead generation and nurturing
• Real Geeks: Best for multichannel marketing
• Market Leader: Best for lead generation
• Sierra Interactive: Best for real estate websites
• Top Producer: Best for lead nurturing

The Close’s Top Picks for Real Estate CRMs

Featured Partner

Top Producer has paid for this placement. However, our team of experts approved Top Producer as an appropriate product and our content remains editorially independent.

Get a 30-Day Free Trial of the Industry-Leading CRM.

• Automated lead follow-up: Text & email drip campaigns educate & engage leads
• All-in-one system: Manage contacts & transactions in a centralized, intuitive dashboard
• Powerful integrations: MLS data, 150+ lead providers, plus Gmail, Outlook, iCloud and more

Visit Top Producer

Why Real Estate Agents Need a CRM

As real estate agents, making connections and building a network are essential to success. You must consistently communicate with them to nurture leads from your sphere of influence or your other marketing strategies. If you try to do all this manually without keeping track of your contacts and communications, you’ll inevitably (and probably immediately!) see some potential clients fall through the cracks.

Real estate CRMs are designed to solve this problem. Instead of trying to manually keep track of things and do all of the marketing tasks you want to do, a CRM is like an all-in-one tool to maximize your productivity. This increased efficiency will generate more leads and more clients. In 2023, a survey from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that 36% of Realtors said their CRM gave them the highest volume of quality leads.

However, every CRM is different—just like every agent and team’s business is different. These are a few features to look for in a strong realtor CRM:

• Contact management: A CRM should make it easy to import contacts, keep track of their contact information and communications with them, and even evaluate how likely they are to become a client.
• Lead generation: This can look significantly different, but many CRMs include landing pages, real estate websites, social media contacts, or advertising.
• Automated follow-ups: This follow-up includes emails, texts, direct mail, and sometimes phone calls. 
• Task management: A good CRM will help you organize the tasks involved with leads, clients, and transactions and use reminders, calendar features, or workflows.
• Analytics: Reporting tools are key for helping you track progress and determine what is and is not working within your marketing and nurturing strategies.
• Mobile app: Not all CRMs have a mobile app, but this is ideal for real estate agents who are often on the go and not near a desk.
• Pricing & plans: There are plenty of free real estate CRMs. There are also plenty that cost two or three figures per month. For new or individual agents, it’s best to find a CRM with multiple package options or add-ons so it can grow with your business.

Pipedrive: Best for Email Marketing

Pros

• Most affordable CRM on our list
• 14-day free trial
• Easy to use
• AI Assistant
• Unlimited, customizable workflows

Cons

• Limited integrations
• Limited functions in mobile app
• Security alerts and two-factor authentication only available on higher tiers
• Phone support only available in higher tiers
• No free forever plan

The Close Score

4.9

Pricing:

5.0

General Features:

5.0

Advanced Features:

4.0

Customer Service:

5.0

Customer Rating:

4.7

Expert Score:

4.6

out
of

5

Why I Chose Pipedrive

• Pricing: Plans start at $14 per month

I chose Pipedrive as the top realtor CRM for many reasons, but it stands out for its extensive and easy-to-use email marketing tools and its affordable price. Pipedrive is designed for sales professionals, so it includes a variety of beautiful and functional email templates that realtors can tailor to their branding and audience. 

Their email marketing platform also includes segmentation, which connects to the data from the CRM to help you create the most personalized and effective emails. Plus, analytics make it easy to see your open rates, click-through rates, and engagement metrics. The variety of Pipedrive’s features at its affordable price makes it the best realtor CRM.

Additional Features

• Integrations: Pipedrive rivals the integrations of Follow Up Boss with a giant library of tools. These include integrations for lead generation, lead qualifying, nurturing, video meetings, document management, payment tracking and invoicing, and project management.
• Pipeline management: Pipedrive focuses on creating a highly visual platform to manage your pipeline without letting leads slip through the cracks. The dashboard is customizable, easy to use, and helps prioritize leads and deals.
• Lead automation: Tasks such as reminders and email follow-ups are automated, streamlining the agent client management process. Automation helps improve response times and gives agents a better chance of converting leads into clients.

Wise Agent: Best for Transaction Management

Pros

• User-friendly
• 14-day free trial
• Mobile app
• Customizable landing pages
• Unlimited document storage

Cons

• No phone dialer
• No mobile app
• No texting capability
• No live chat support
• Credit card required in the free trial

The Close Score

4.9

Pricing:

5.0

General Features:

4.8

Advanced Features:

4.8

Customer Service:

4.0

Customer Rating:

4.6

Expert Score:

4.2

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of

5

Why I Chose Wise Agent

• Pricing: Plans start at $49 per month

Wise Agent is one of the top real estate CRMs because it is designed to be a one-stop shop for agents and brokers, providing tools to manage clients from beginning to end. Some of my favorite Wise Agent features allow transaction and listing management and drip campaigns. Real estate professionals can also create customized landing pages and integrate them with multiple social media tools.

Additional Features

• Real estate content: The platform includes an extensive library of stock photos and real estate content for emails, written letters, text messages, newsletters, postcards, and flyers. There is even an AI writing assistant to help you create content more effectively.
• Customer service: Wise Agent has standout customer service available 24/7, unlike other real estate CRMs with strict business hours.
• Team and broker options: Although Wise Agent is often used by individual realtors, it includes multiple tools and add-on options built specifically for teams and brokers.

LionDesk: Best for Texting & Calling

Pros

• Affordable pricing
• 14-day free trial
• Power dialer
• Automated drip campaigns for text and email
• Customizable dashboard

Cons

• Unsophisticated transaction management
• Basic analytics
• Not ideal for scaling teams or brokerages
• Not the most user-friendly platform
• No AI assistant

The Close Score

4.8

Pricing:

4.0

General Features:

5.0

Advanced Features:

5.0

Customer Service:

3.5

Customer Rating:

4.0

Expert Score:

4.1

out
of

5

Why I Chose LionDesk

• Pricing: Starting at $25 per month

LionDesk is another top CRM for real estate because it was specifically designed for realtors. It offers a fully customizable dashboard that helps you decide what you want to see in your CRM. It also includes the most important tools for real estate agents, like contact organization, task reminders, email marketing, transaction management, lead generation, and a power dialer. LionDesk stands out because it includes automation tools for texting clients and email drip campaigns.

Additional Features

• Customizable landing pages: Although this is an add-on feature, LionDesk allows agents to create customizable landing pages. It also includes landing page templates to build high-converting landing pages tailored to your brand.
• Video email & texting capabilities: LionDesk is the only realtor CRM able to send videos through your emails and texts. Videos in real estate are compelling, and LionDesk is an ideal tool to leverage this marketing strategy.
• Integrations: It has a large library of third-party integrations for everything from lead generation, contact management, and communication to finances.

Follow Up Boss: Best for Real Estate Teams

Pros

• Easy-to-use platform
• 250-plus integrations
• 14-day free trial
• Phone dialer
• Great for solo agents and teams

Cons

• Setting up can be time-consuming
• Limited features in mobile app
• No live chat support
• Costly premium plan
• Difficult cancellation process

The Close Score

4.7

Pricing:

4.0

General Features:

5.0

Advanced Features:

4.3

Customer Service:

3.3

Customer Rating:

4.7

Expert Score:

4.6

out
of

5

Why I Chose Follow Up Boss

• Pricing: Plans start at $58 per month.

Follow Up Boss is a well-known realtor CRM with various features, such as texting, email drip campaigns, text automation, and built-in calling. It stands out for teams because it’s an open platform with over 250 integrations. Its collaboration features are woven into the platform, with public comments, communication tracking, lead distribution, and visual tracking of each agent and each lead. Plus, real estate CRM reviews praise the fact that the interface is simple and can easily be integrated with the majority of other tools on the market.

Additional Features

• Advanced lead routing: The platform automatically assigns leads to individual agents based on specific criteria and organizes leads for each agent.
• Mobile app: The mobile app is user-friendly and instantly notifies each agent of new leads. It makes it easy to send emails and texts or call new or current clients, even on the go.

IXACT Contact: Best for Contact Management

Pros

• 5-week free trial
• Mobile app
• Lead generation website tools
• Detailed contact profiles
• Email marketing tools

Cons

• No audience segmentation
• Lack of automation
• Clunky user interface
• Limited website customization

The Close Score

4.7

Pricing:

5.0

General Features:

4.3

Advanced Features:

4.5

Customer Service:

3.3

Customer Rating:

4.2

Expert Score:

4.1

out
of

5

Why I Chose IXACT Contact

• Pricing: Plans start at $46.75 per month

This CRM says it all in its name: IXACT Contact is an ideal tool for managing contacts from their first connection through every transaction. Every new lead, current client, and past client has a detailed contact profile that shows their phone number, address, email address, family information, birthdays, anniversaries, property details, and all your referral and communication history. Plus, real estate CRM software reviews say the interface is highly user-friendly, and users love the 5-week free trial.

Additional Features

• Direct mail: IXACT Contact includes various built-in direct mail newsletter options. “The Preferred Client Update” sends mail to your past clients, and “Homeowner Update” is for marketing to homeowners in your farm area.
• Social Stream: This add-on feature allows agents to select exclusive real estate articles and videos to share with their network. While you can’t create custom content, it’s a great way to automate social media content.
• Personalized agent roadmap: The IXACT Contact CRM includes a personalized roadmap. This feature allows agents to set specific goals within the platform, and it will generate a plan to help reach them with specific tasks and activities.

Realvolve: Best for Automating Workflows

Pros

• In-depth contact management
• Mobile app
• Great for individuals and teams
• Suite of marketing tools
• Efficient task management

Cons

• No 24/7 customer support
• No assisted onboarding for basic plan
• May be too complex for newer agents
• No website and landing page creation features
• One of the higher-priced CRMs on our list

The Close Score

4.7

Pricing:

4.0

General Features:

5.0

Advanced Features:

4.3

Customer Service:

4.3

Customer Rating:

4.1

Expert Score:

4.6

out
of

5

Why I Chose Realvolve

• Pricing: Plans start at $94 per month

Realvolve is one of the top real estate CRMs for individuals and teams. It includes the most important features in a CRM, like a visual dashboard, contact organization tools, and lead nurturing strategies. However, its most standout feature is its workflows and automation that help real estate professionals scale. There are many workflow templates to customize, and the Realvolve platform is remarkably flexible and adjusts to your activities. Realvolve is an ideal real estate CRM for individuals or teams focusing on productivity and efficiency.

Additional Features

• Document management: Realvolve keeps all your documents organized. Each workflow includes a comprehensive checklist of all necessary documents to complete a transaction. 
• Automated drip campaigns: Realvolve includes prebuilt lead sequences for buyers and sellers through email and text. These sequences are customizable and are designed to have a more personal touch than other automations.
• Integrations: The platform integrates seamlessly with some of the most-used apps, like Google and Zapier.

Lofty (formerly Chime): Most Advanced Lead Generation & Nurturing

Pros

• 33 different lead generation features
• Mobile app
• Google PPC advertising tools
• 360° marketing to target customers on multiple platforms
• Customizable IDX websites

Cons

• No free trial
• Steep learning curve
• Most expensive CRM on our list
• No 24/7 customer service
• Not ideal for solo agents

The Close Score

4.3

Pricing:

1.0

General Features:

5.0

Advanced Features:

5.0

Customer Service:

4.3

Customer Rating:

4.2

Expert Score:

4.6

out
of

5

Why I Chose Lofty

• Pricing: Specific pricing is not available on their website, but our team found that plans start at $449 per month, plus $15 per seat, per month

Of all the real estate CRMs I’ve found, Lofty offers the most extensive and impressive combination of advanced lead generation tools and features. It is one of the only CRMs to offer exclusivity to your farm area, which means no other agent who uses Lofty in your area can target the same leads. However, its real estate CRM pricing reflects its advanced features and is the most expensive on this list. It might not be ideal for beginner agents, but Lofty offers packages specifically crafted for agents, teams, and brokers.

Additional Features

• Automated lead nurturing: Lofty automatically imports leads from multiple sources. It also creates property alerts for your leads, sends regular market analyses, and will match listings to leads automatically.
• Power Dialer: Lofty’s 3-line power dialer allows you to click to call leads until you connect. You can leave prerecorded voicemails, schedule follow-ups, or leave notes. When a call goes through, the call is transferred to you or an available agent on your team.
• Social Studio: This is a built-in social media management tool. It allows you to create content within Lofty’s platform and automatically share it on multiple real estate social networks simultaneously. 
• AI Assistant: Automated assistant helps you become more efficient and minimize the Lofty learning curve at every step. The assistant will customize workflows, manage and organize leads with tags and notes, set reminders, and send automated responses.

Real Geeks: Best for Marketing

Pros

• Modern, intuitive interface
• Multichannel marketing campaigns
• CRM available on desktop and mobile app
• Website visitor tracking analytics
• Variety of integrations

Cons

• Significant learning curve
• One of the more expensive CRM options
• Limited customization

The Close Score

3.7

Pricing:

1.0

General Features:

5.0

Advanced Features:

4.0

Customer Service:

2.3

Customer Rating:

4.4

Expert Score:

3.3

out
of

5

Why I Chose Real Geeks

• Pricing: Plans start at $299 per month + one-time $250 sign-up fee

Similar to some of the other top real estate CRMs, Real Geeks offers complete support from prospect to closing, including a website and lead generation tools. It’s a great all-in-one CRM for individual agents, small teams, and expanding brokers. Its website and CRM work seamlessly together, making managing leads and automating your marketing and nurturing strategies easy.

Additional Features

• IDX websites: Real Geeks offers some of the best real estate website templates, with IDX capabilities and built-in lead generation strategies. Websites include property valuation tools, landing pages, a property search app, and many other integrations.
• AI Chatbots: The GeekAI assistant helps you speed up the follow-up process with an automatic chatbot. There are premade scripts that you can customize to provide specific information for your clients.
• Email & SMS marketing: Automate your communications and follow-ups with all your leads with drip campaigns on email and text. These are built through CRM, so you can ensure each lead gets precisely what they need.
• Facebook & PPC advertising: Real Geeks has a unique Facebook marketing tool to streamline your ad creation and maximize your return on investment. Alternatively, Real Geeks also offers managed Facebook and PPC ads.

Market Leader: Best for Lead Generation

Pros

• Exclusive buyer and seller leads
• Powerful and user-friendly CRM
• Great mobile app
• Easily scalable to teams and full brokerages
• Transaction management

Cons

• No free trial
• No live chat support
• No advanced analytics feature

The Close Score

3.7

Pricing:

1.5

General Features:

4.5

Advanced Features:

3.5

Customer Service:

2.5

Customer Rating:

4.3

Expert Score:

3.8

out
of

5

Why I Chose Market Leader

• Pricing: Plans start at $189 per month for agents

Market Leader is primarily a lead generation company, but it also offers a CRM that is so good that it needs to be included in the conversation. Market Leader is one of the only CRMs to offer exclusive buyer and seller leads—plus, you can integrate the platform with virtually any real estate lead source! As if that wasn’t enough, the CRM is intuitive and includes some of the most valuable and powerful tools, like marketing automation, real estate websites, print marketing tools, and a mobile app.

Additional Features

• Customizable websites: Market Leader includes a variety of customizable, professional, prebuilt website templates for your brand. They have IDX capabilities, so your clients can search for properties on your site!
• Listing marketing system: Easily create single property websites for your listings, and Market Leader automatically generates a professional listing email and social media posts for Facebook and LinkedIn. You can also customize ready-to-print flyers and postcards for each listing.

Sierra Interactive: Best for Real Estate Websites

Pros

• SEO website optimization
• Powerful website lead generation tools
• Lead-specific action plans for personalized automation
• Mobile app
• Variety of integrations

Cons

• Pricey—which doesn’t work for some solo agents
• Relatively limited customizations
• Limited email marketing strategies
• No analytics and reporting

The Close Score

3.5

Pricing:

1.0

General Features:

5.0

Advanced Features:

3.5

Customer Service:

2.5

Customer Rating:

3.9

Expert Score:

3.3

out
of

5

Why I Chose Sierra Interactive

• Pricing: Starting at $499.95 per month

Sierra Interactive is a versatile real estate platform with a powerful real estate website creation tool, a good CRM, and marketing automation capabilities. Sierra Interactive’s websites are some of the most advanced in the industry, and they offer an unrivaled level of SEO optimization that can allow you to generate thousands of website views and organic leads.

I have personally worked with multiple brokers who use Sierra Interactive. Both teams had well-optimized content on their sites and generated millions of website visits from Google. Plus, the websites include various lead capture tools and are well integrated with the CRM, so it’s easy to attract high-quality, organic leads and nurture them through text and email.

Additional Features

• Powerful IDX platform: Users can search for properties using detailed search filters. Agents can also generate specific listing results on different pages throughout the website.
• Ad management: Multiply your reach by outsourcing advertising to Sierra Interactive. They manage a variety of ad types, including Google search, Facebook retargeting, and Facebook listings.
• Lead routing: It offers multiple methods of distributing leads to team members, like price, location, property type, or round robin.

Top Producer: Best for Lead Nurturing

Pros

• 30-day free trial
• Listing alerts for agents and clients
• Automated SMS marketing
• Excellent transaction management features
• Detailed reporting

Cons

• Many features not available on Pro Plan
• No storage system
• No document management features

The Close Score

3.4

Pricing:

1.0

General Features:

5.0

Advanced Features:

3.5

Customer Service:

3.5

Customer Rating:

3.6

Expert Score:

3.3

out
of

5

Why I Chose Top Producer

• Pricing: Starting at $129 per user, per month

Top Producer is one of the OGs in the real estate CRM space. It recently updated its CRM platform, which is called Top Producer X. This update includes tons of valuable features, like a 360° contact view that includes social media activity, branded MLS reports, email and text message templates, and an AI assistant. Top Producer also has dynamic workflows to help with transaction management, like syncing with calendars, contacts, and over 150 real estate lead sources.

Additional Features

• Market reports: Top Producer automatically creates and sends a branded “Market Snapshot Report” to clients periodically. This tool keeps your leads and clients engaged and educated and shows professionalism while saving you time.
• Automated communication: Like other CRMs, Top Producer includes email and SMS marketing. It also autosends new listings and price updates to each customer, so you don’t have to spend hours scouring the MLS.
• Training webinars: Top Producer has a library of support articles and bimonthly training webinars in addition to live onboarding.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are CRMs in real estate?

Do I need a CRM for real estate?

What is the best software for real estate brokers?

Methodology: How I Chose the Best Realtor CRM

As an experienced real estate writer, I’ve spent many hours researching and evaluating real estate CRMs over the last five years. However, you don’t have to just take it from me! At The Close, we have a team of real estate professionals, researchers, and editors who have developed a detailed rubric to evaluate a dozen top realtor CRMs objectively. You can read more about our methodology here.

We’ve based our evaluation on the following:

• Pricing (20%)
  • I checked, updated, and evaluated each CRM’s pricing, subscription plans, and whether there are free trials and bulk discounts.
• General CRM Features (20%)
  • I considered basic features such as contact management, text and email capabilities, task management, task reminders and notifications, lead management, pipeline or dashboard customizability, audience segmentation, transaction management, and integrations.
• Advanced CRM Features (25%)
  • This includes listing management, customized reports and analytics, document management, storage, AI lead assist or lead automation, team management, marketing tools, social media integrations, and mobile apps.
• Ease of Use (10%)
  • I evaluated each CRM’s user interface, customizability, and how easy it is to operate and set up each one.
• Customer Service (5%)
  • Should real estate agents need additional support, customer services such as live chat, phone, email, and ticket systems are necessary.
• Customer Rating (10%)
  • We collect information from multiple third-party sources to determine how real users have rated each CRM.
• ri
  • The Close reviews each realtor CRM for standout features, additional considerations, and value for money spent from a real estate expert’s perspective. 

Your Take

So, what is the best CRM for real estate? After reading this guide, you should understand that the top real estate CRMs are as different as the individual agents who make up the industry. We’ve evaluated, researched, and compared the top CRMs to help you make the best choice, but our advice is to try, try, and try again! Think about what is most important for you in a CRM, and then take advantage of the free trials to find what really clicks.

Which CRM do you use? Tell us how you like it!

The post The 11 Best Real Estate CRMs of 2024 appeared first on The Close.

Best 10 States for Real Estate Agents

1. West Virginia

• Cost of living ranking: 9th
• Agent competition ranking: 7th
• Median annual agent salary: $70,830 (18th in the country)
• Homeownership ranking: 1st

Within the tree-covered Appalachian Mountains, West Virginia, is the state that tops our list of best states for real estate agents. More than just its low cost of living, West Virginia ranks number one primarily because it has both the highest percentage of owner-occupied homes and homeownership rates in the country at 74.5% and 79.4%, respectively. This data tells us that listings are abundant and that homebuyers are financially ready to purchase.

Another reason that West Virginia ranks as the best state to do real estate is its low agent competition. With 0.486 agents employed per 1,000, it’s ranked seventh among all the US states. Combining this data informs us that agents wouldn’t have to market themselves too hard to find clients in West Virginia.

2. New Hampshire

• Cost of living ranking: 42nd
• Agent competition ranking: 3rd
• Median annual agent salary: $73,830 (18th in the country)
• Homeownership ranking: 6th

New Hampshire ranks high on our list of the best states to do real estate primarily because of its low agent competition. It has the third-lowest agent competition rate, and the mean annual wage of agents is $73,830—about $4,000 more than the national average. This fact means it’s ideal for new real estate agents to start their careers without worrying about a market saturated with many experienced agents. 

New Hampshire also ranks well in homeownership, with a 79.4% homeownership rate and 72.3% owner-occupied homes. In fact, the only area in New Hampshire that doesn’t rank well compared with other states is its cost of living—although it takes a specific type of person to handle the winters. With a love of winter gear and activities, a real estate agent could absolutely be successful in New Hampshire. 

3. Vermont

• Cost of living ranking: 41st
• Agent competition ranking: 8th
• Median annual agent salary: $100,750 (3rd in the country)
• Homeownership ranking: 4th

For agents looking for a reason to pack their bags and head Northeast, the salary of a Vermont real estate agent tops six figures at $100,750, which is the third highest in the nation overall. Another benefit of Vermont is the agent employment rate of 0.52 out of every 1,000 people!

Although the median home value is the 21st highest of all the states, this could actually benefit agents wanting to work with first-time homebuyers. It also has the 4th highest homeownership rate, meaning that Vermont residents are more likely to want to purchase a home. Time to start packing your snow boots and cross-country skis!

4. Tennessee

• Cost of living ranking: 10th
• Agent competition ranking: 26th
• Median annual agent salary: $84,110 (7th in the country)
• Homeownership ranking: 22nd

Based on our exclusive variety of calculations, Tennessee is the fourth-best state to be a real estate agent. Even if you have no interest in the country music scene, Tennessee has plenty of other things to offer as a home state, like a relatively low cost of living (10th overall), a high number of available homes (32,362, ranking 5th) for agents to sell, and a homeownership rate of 70.9% (15th). 

Combined with a high salary for real estate agents at $84,110, Tennessee would be an excellent entry point for any new real estate agent trying to start their business. Plus, Nashville is among our top 10 best cities for real estate agents.

5. Michigan

• Cost of living ranking: 15th
• Agent competition ranking: 4th
• Median annual agent salary: $68,430 (21st in the country)
• Homeownership ranking: 7th

As our fifth-best state for real estate agents, Michigan is ideal for agents who want to keep expenses low as they build their business. It boasts a low cost of living (15th on our list in terms of affordability) and has the 4th lowest rate of agent competition in the country. This combination means new agents could market to their farm area or niche audience more affordably.

The only perceived drawback of an agent starting in Michigan is the lower salary, which ranks in the 23rd spot at $68,430. However, with a low cost of living and low competition, agents could expect to be successful here and grow their knowledge. Plus, with its position near the Great Lakes, agents could have fun in unique real estate niches like lakefront properties!

6. Maine

• Cost of living ranking: 38th
• Agent competition ranking: 10th
• Median annual agent salary: $73,110 (9th in the country)
• Homeownership ranking: 3rd

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of spending a summer day in Maine or even a crisp fall morning, you will understand the appeal of living in the country’s furthest state in the northeast. Maine is one of the best states for real estate agents primarily because of its low agent competition (ranking number 11 on our list) and high rates of both homeownership (77.2%) and owner-occupied homes (74.1%). With such high homeownership rates, agents can potentially help clients across varying generations of home buyers and sellers. 

On the other hand, Maine doesn’t rank as well in cost of living (38th among other states) and home values, with the median price being $373,700. However, if you’re prepared with a financial cushion, Maine offers plenty of listing opportunities.

7. Connecticut

• Cost of living ranking: 39th
• Agent competition ranking: 1st
• Median annual agent salary: $84,810 (15th in the country)
• Homeownership ranking: 31st

Even though Connecticut is the seventh-best state to get a real estate license on our list, it is the number one state for low agent competition, with only 0.27 agents per 1,000 people. This statistic alone is a great reason to start or grow your real estate career in Connecticut. However, another huge benefit of doing real estate in Connecticut is the high annual wage of $84,810—the 4th highest in the nation.

Even though Connecticut ranks exceptionally well in agent competition and salary, the major drawback is its high cost of living, ranking 39th in affordability. However, such a high salary could be worth the risk for aspiring agents. The housing market in Connecticut is also growing at a healthy rate, with a 9.6% increase in home prices year over year. Check out our 2024 housing market charts if you’re considering the move.

8. New Jersey

• Cost of living ranking: 40th
• Agent competition ranking: 2nd
• Median annual agent salary: $82,490 (5th in the country)
• Homeownership ranking: 43rd

New Jersey ranks eighth on our list of best states to be a real estate agent because of its low agent competition (second on our list, just below Connecticut) and high agent salaries (sixth overall). Agents can expect to make an average of $82,490, the fourth-highest salary overall. 

However, this state has an undeniably high cost of living, being just a stone’s throw from Manhattan, ranking 40th. It ranks just slightly more expensive than Connecticut, which ranks 39th. However, the higher agent salary may balance out this drawback for experienced agents. In addition, New Jersey has a low homeownership rate of 59.9%, which could limit potential business.

9. Minnesota

• Cost of living ranking: 21st
• Agent competition ranking: 13th
• Median annual agent salary: $62,050 (39th in the country)
• Homeownership ranking: 8th

Aside from bordering Canada and Lake Superior, Minnesota has a great real estate market for agents. It’s one of the best states to be a real estate agent because of its homeownership rate of 71.8% (eighth overall) and its rate of owner-occupied homes at 72.1%. These two real estate statistics show that Minnesota residents generally choose to buy instead of rent, making it a great place to get real estate listings.

Minnesota also ranks better in terms of cost of living than our previous three states, with an index of 94.1 (ranking 21st). It also has a relatively low competition rate for agents, with only 0.654 agents for every 1,000 residents.

10. Mississippi

• Cost of living ranking: 1st
• Agent competition ranking: 11th
• Median annual agent salary: $67,770 (22nd in the country)
• Homeownership ranking: 11th

The main reason that Mississippi is one of the top 10 best states to be a real estate agent is due to its low cost of living—ranking number one among all states! Mississippi also has high homeownership rates (10th highest) and low agent competition, with only 0.635 agents per 1,000 residents—better than Minnesota and Tennessee.

However, the flip side of its low cost of living is that its homes have a low median home value of $271,200. This affordability is almost the lowest in the US, ranking 50th. To combat the decreased income from lower home prices, agents will have to sell more houses—but the combination of homeownership rates and agent competition makes that extremely possible.

Full Data & Methodology for Best States for Real Estate Agents Data

The complete data can be viewed here, but read our breakdown and methodology below.

Our proprietary tool collated and analyzed data sets from numerous verified sources, ranking each state. We started by dividing all the data into five categories and then gave each category an equal weight of 20%. In addition to the categories, multiple data points were gathered to depict each location’s ranking accurately. This ranking system ensured objectivity and resulted in a score for each city. 

Cost of Living Ranking

• Cost of living index (data from World Population Review): The cost of living ranking is based on the cost of living index per state. The lower the cost of living, the more agents can afford. 

Agent Competition Ranking

• Agent employment per 1,000 people (data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics): Fewer agents per 1,000 is better for agents as they will experience less competition.
• Location quotient (data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics): This measures the density of and occupation in an area compared with the US average; fewer agents per location gives less competition and more opportunity for agents to succeed.

Agent Salary Ranking

• Annual mean salary range (data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics): Higher salaries indicate better opportunities for agents to make more money in the specific state. 
• Hourly median salary range (data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics): Similar to above, there are more opportunities to earn a higher wage, but also research hourly for more accuracy and to account for part-time agents. 

Home Value & Commission Ranking

• Median home price (data from World Population Review): The higher the home prices, the higher the agent commission. 
• Average rent (data from World Population Review): Similar to above, rental commissions are typically one month’s rent, so the higher the rental price, the more money agents earn. 
• Number of homes available (data from FRED): When there are more available homes in the area, agents will have more opportunities to work with clients, increasing their likelihood of completing more transactions. 
• Median days on the market (data from FRED): When median days on the market are lower, homes sell quicker, meaning agents can complete more transactions. 

Home Ownership Ranking

• Homeownership rate (data from Census Bureau): If the state has a high homeownership rate, this indicates that people relocating to this area will likely buy instead of renting.
• Percentage of owner-occupied homes (data from PropertyShark): Similar to above, if homeowners are occupying properties in a particular state, it indicates interested buyers and sellers, which gives agents more business opportunities. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the best state to be a real estate agent?

What are the worst states to be a real estate agent?

What state pays real estate agents the most?

Bringing It All Together

Choosing the best states for real estate agents isn’t quick and easy. We used extensive data on various important factors, like cost of living, agent salary, median home values, homeownership rates, and real estate agent competition. However, other factors can’t be calculated for all agents, like the location of their family and climate preferences. If you’re looking for a fresh start and the highest chances of real estate success, pack your bags and business and head to one of our top ten states.

Which state do you live in? Let us know how the market is by you!

The post 10 Best States for Real Estate Agents for 2024 appeared first on The Close.

Disclaimer: This article contains suggestions for informational purposes only and does not offer legal advice. Laws and restrictions vary by area. Before using any of the techniques listed, check with your local real estate commission and attorney for guidance.

What Is a Cash Offer in Real Estate?

“Cash is king” is a common phrase in many industries, but it definitely applies to real estate purchases. A cash offer is when a homebuyer doesn’t require financing (like a mortgage) and can pay for the property in full with cash.

Why Is a Cash Offer Better?

Cash is an appealing choice for sellers because it is usually ready to go, and they don’t have to risk many hiccups in the closing timeline. The mortgage lender usually requires inspections, appraisals, and repairs, so there are more logistics and obstacles to overcome when buyers are financing a home.

10 Ways to Complete With Cash Offers

Since you’ll have clients with many financial backgrounds, agents need a strategy ready to make their offer stand out for every different type of transaction. When you don’t have a cash offer, here are the top 10 ways to successfully beat them—even in a red-hot market!

1. Use a Cash Lender

If you’re wondering how to beat a cash offer on a house, one of the most straightforward methods is to transform your offer into a cash offer with a cash lender. Cash lenders were born to help mortgage buyers compete with cash buyers. They will buy the home with cash and then work with the buyers to refinance or purchase the property after closing.

Here’s an example of how it works:

• Get qualified with a cash lender like Homeward Mortgage
• Find a house to purchase
• Homeward will place a cash offer on the property
• Once the property is purchased, the buyer rents the property from Homeward while the loan gets finalized

Cash lenders typically charge 2%, but Homeward Mortgage’s fee is reduced if the buyer uses them for their final loan.

2. Submit Your Offer Early 

Some investors and buyer’s agents believe the best strategy to win bidding wars is to wait until the last minute before submitting an offer. Don’t do this, especially when figuring out how to compete with cash offers! The adage “the early bird gets the worm” is very accurate in this situation. The more time you give before submitting your offer, the higher the buyer’s chance of giving more (and better) offers if their offer is rejected.

Also, if you have clients looking at homes and you find they’re not quite ready to buy—you should stop right now and help them get everything in order. Use our home buying checklist to make sure they’re prepared. This prep will help you get offers in quickly and compete with even the most competitive cash offers.

3. Offer a Signing Bonus

The best way to overcome a situation where there are multiple offers is to offer a “signing bonus” if your buyer’s offer is accepted quickly. To do this successfully, you have to present the highest and best offer, but it can be a great way to compete with cash offers.

This approach allows your buyer to stand out and potentially eliminate the competition—and the seller and agent both feel like they get a fair price. Plus, if the seller doesn’t accept the offer, it stays in the mix, so your buyer can still have a chance to win.

4. Be Memorable & Likable

Getting an offer accepted over others is a competition. Home sellers compete for cash, but you must compete to get your buyers to the closing table, and slipping through the cracks is no way to win a competition. Being likable and memorable is key!

Listing agents might deny it, but professional and polite agents are more likely to get their offers accepted. An agent who lacks professionalism, is unfriendly, or oversteps boundaries isn’t someone people like to work with. So, if you want to beat out a cash offer, kill them with kindness. 

Here are easy ways to be more memorable and likable to the listing agent:

• Communicate consistently: Start building trust with the listing agents as soon as you schedule the first showing. Be friendly, answer texts quickly, and be respectful of the listing.
• Leave unique feedback: Instead of leaving generic feedback on the listing, mention specific things your buyer loved, like the style of the home, the neighborhood, or how they can see themselves living there. This extra effort can leave a great first impression and make them feel emotionally connected to you or your buyers.
• Send an introductory video: Record a quick introductory video of yourself to the listing agent. Due to Fair Housing regulations, don’t include your clients. Let them know you will submit an offer and ask them to keep you updated on any status changes. Videos make people feel like they’re talking directly to you and are more personal than text—plus, they stand out from all the other buyer agents.

5. Offer to Cover the Appraisal Gap

One of the main reasons why a cash offer is better is that it’s simpler—there are more requirements when a mortgage is involved, like an appraisal. Bidding wars can sometimes cause sales prices to rise far beyond what agents or appraisers can realistically justify, which can cause financing issues for buyers. 

The difference between the actual sales price and the lower appraised value is called an appraisal gap. If your clients are in this situation, buyers can mitigate the risks for the seller by offering to cover an appraisal gap. This strategy means your buyers will put up additional money for the down payment and closing costs.

For example: if a property is marketed for $400,000 and it gets bid up to $420,000, the financed buyer may agree to bring in an additional $20,000 if the property doesn’t appraise at $420,000.

Of course, buyers may not jump at this idea, but it can be instrumental in highly competitive situations. Remind them they will only need this money if the appraisal is lower than the agreed sales price. However, here are a few ways you can suggest to your clients on how to offer an appraisal gap:

• If they don’t have the additional funds for an appraisal gap to try to restructure their loan to a lower down payment option
• Have them ask parents, grandparents, or even borrow from their 401(k) to cover the gap in the event the appraisal comes up short

Pro Tip: It may be wise to discuss this with your clients when you start looking for houses, not when their emotions are tied to a property. Use a house hunting checklist to help you broach the subject.

6. Have Your Buyer Pay Your Commission

Figuring out how to beat a cash offer on a house is challenging because there isn’t a single method that will work every time, so you’ll have to get creative. If you’re still stumped, think about how many sellers feel that it isn’t fair that they pay commissions for both their agent and the buyer’s agent. Commissions have always been a touchy topic, so here’s how Sean Moudry used the commission to beat a cash offer:

7. Add an Escalation Clause

An escalation clause can be part of a real estate contract, stating that the buyer will increase their offer if a higher bid is made. They often get a bad reputation, but when used correctly, they allow buyers to make their strongest offer without the risk of overpaying. This technique can place a financed offer ahead of a cash offer on a house, meaning success for you and your client.

For example, a home listed for $460,000 gets multiple offers for $470,000, $480,000, and $500,000. Most likely, the $500,000 offer from the most earnest buyers will get accepted at $500,000.

However, the buyers could offer $475,000 with an escalation clause offering $1,000 more than any viable competing offer up to $500,000. This creates the potential for them to get their offer accepted at $481,000, since the highest offer at $480,000 + $1,000 = $481,000. If this offer were accepted, it would save them $19,000 because of the escalation clause!

8. Pay the Seller’s Closing Costs

In most real estate transactions, the seller pays for the costs of the title insurance, escrow, agent fees, and homeowner association (HOA) fees. These costs can add up to between $2,000 and $29,888. However, having the seller pay is just standard practice, not an actual legal requirement, so the buyers offering to pay closing costs can be a huge advantage.

This may seem like a small gesture, but this strategy can go a long way with some money-conscious sellers. Make sure to get estimates of the fees before including this in your offer, or set a limit on the costs your buyers will pay based on their budget.

9. Give the Seller a Flexible Possession Time

Many sellers need to buy a home at the same time that they’re selling, which can be nerve-racking. You can give some peace of mind to sellers and compete with cash offers by offering a flexible purchasing timeline. Of course, cash offers can also have flexible possession dates, but they aren’t always offered. There are two main strategies buyers with financing can use to give the seller more time to move:

• No-cost rent-back or leaseback: If a seller needs time to stay after the home is sold, then a no-cost rent-back can give them time to stay in the home long after it’s been sold. Most states provide a pre-approved form for post-occupancy. If your state doesn’t provide these forms, advise your client to have a lease drafted by a local real estate attorney. Remember that FHA and conventional loans only allow 60 days of flexibility, but buyers can qualify for an investment loan to extend the time further.
• Replacement home contingency: This is a two- to four-week contingency for the seller to find, contract, and inspect a replacement home. If the seller cannot complete this by the end of the time period, they may extend the time, or either party can terminate the contract. This technique avoids the 60-day occupancy requirement, but the contract could be terminated if the seller cannot find a replacement home.

10. Communicate

It sounds simple, but many buyers’ agents send offers without calling or texting first. It’s best practice to make accepting an offer as easy and appealing as possible for the listing agent and seller—and it’s just smart business to build trust during the process.

Consider what a cash offer on a house means for the seller and the agent—easy and hassle-free. To compete with that, you must build a relationship and keep your communication clear and consistent. A great way to do this is by calling the listing agent (yes, on the phone!) to clearly understand the seller’s situation and how you can draft an offer that meets their specific needs. Always call or text the listing agent to let them know the buyers submitted an offer and ask the listing agent to confirm they received it.

FAQs

How do you counter a cash offer?

Do all cash offers ever fall through?

How are so many people making cash offers on homes?

Bringing It All Together

What does a cash offer mean in real estate? For home sellers, it’s usually appealing because it’s easier. For competing homebuyers and agents, it means that the home is more competitive. However, there are plenty of strategies on how to compete with cash offers. Stay positive, think about the other concerns a seller may have, and craft an offer to meet their needs.

Got other ways to beat the cash offer competition? Let us know below!

The post How to Compete With Cash Offers: 10 Ways to Write Winning Offers appeared first on The Close.

What Is the Housing Market Cycle?

The real estate cycle is the natural process of growing, expanding, and receding in the real estate market. It’s generally divided into four stages: recovery, expansion, hyper-supply, and recession. Each cycle phase is unique and impacts the real estate market differently, like price, vacancies, and inventory.

People generally estimate that the real estate market cycle takes an average of between 10-18 years. However, this can change pretty drastically depending on some of the factors that affect the market. Many different things affect the natural flow of real estate cycles, like the following:

• Interest rates
• Economic health
• Demographics
• Government policies
• Real estate development
• Business growth
• Employment rates

Use this real estate cycle chart to help identify the state of the market (we’ll use this chart throughout the article to show the various stages):

Why Investors Need to Understand the Cycle

If you want to be a successful real estate investor, you need to understand the market beyond a real estate cycle chart. Investing is a long-term strategy, and it’s easy to make poor decisions if you don’t understand how the market naturally ebbs and flows. Understanding the real estate market cycles will help you to do the following:

• Know when the optimal times are to buy and sell
• Adjust your pricing strategies for buying and selling based on the state of the market, demand, and pricing changes
• Generate a higher profit because you have a long-term perspective
• Avoid poor investments by making choices before the market makes a downturn

Understanding the housing market cycle is essential to make profitable investments. Learn how to plan even more effectively in our guide to making a real estate investment business plan.

Stages of the Housing Market Cycle

At any point, many factors affect the real estate market. However, every change in the market can fit into one of four stages of the real estate cycle: recovery, expansion, hypersupply, and recession.

1. Recovery

The first part of the real estate cycle is right after a recession when the market is trying to recover. At the beginning of the recovery phase, people still feel the effects of the recession. There is typically an excess supply of properties that doesn’t match a decline in demand. This phenomenon creates a drop in the prices of rent and properties.

What investors should do during recovery:

• Purchase below-market properties (best to do in the early stages of recovery)
• Sell renovated properties that were purchased during a recession
• Negotiate property prices to get undervalued properties or the best value for your flipped homes

2. Expansion

As recovery continues, some call parts of this phase “the honeymoon.” This is when the general economy is growing, employment rates are starting to improve, and demand for real estate is increasing. You’ll see signs of the expansion phase when properties sell more quickly, rent prices are starting to increase, and there is a higher competition for bank foreclosures. This is the part of the real estate cycle when supply and demand are the most balanced.

What investors should do during expansion:

• Research growing areas to invest in locations that are in high demand
• Renovate or develop properties (high demand justifies the cost)

3. Hypersupply

The next part of the housing market cycle is when the pendulum swings a little too far in the opposite direction, and now the supply of real estate exceeds the demand for it. This can be caused by overbuilding during the expansion phase. Watch for this part of the real estate market cycle by looking for low unemployment rates, quickly selling properties, and increases in property and rent prices.

It’s common for some investors to panic when they find themselves in this spot on the housing market cycle graph because they know a recession is coming. You can always liquidate your assets, but it’s often a wise strategy to hold properties and generate short-term cash flow. However, it’s smart to prepare for an upcoming recession by adjusting your pricing strategy.

What investors should do during hypersupply:

• Hold properties and let them appreciate
• Focus on generating short-term cash flow
• Prepare for upcoming recession

4. Recession

Of all the real estate market cycles, the recession stage is the most daunting for investors. At this point, there is an overabundance of inventory that surpasses demand. This means there are more vacancies, and prices start to fall again. During this stage, job growth slows down, leaving fewer buyers and renters to fill your rentals. At the same time, home values increase more quickly. Even though recessions are typically challenging for rental property owners, slow periods of the economy are the best time to invest in real estate.

What investors should do during a recession:

• Buy distressed, undervalued properties with high long-term potential
• Look for distressed properties or those in foreclosure
• Develop a long-term rental or flip strategy for investments

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the four cycles of real estate?

How long is the housing market cycle?

What phase of the real estate cycle are we in in 2024?

Bringing It All Together

Understanding the real estate market cycle can be overwhelming at first, but it’s an extremely important concept to master for aspiring real estate investors. Make sure to understand the ins and outs of each part of the cycle and learn how to recognize shifts in the housing market cycle to make the best decisions for your business.

The post How Smart Investors Decipher & Respond to Real Estate Market Cycles appeared first on The Close.

Key Takeaways:

• Social media algorithms can help agents target and attract their audience effectively
• Each real estate social network is used in unique ways and has a different type of audience, so consider where your audience is most active
• Facebook is the most-used social platform for realtors, but other platforms have made more of an impact on agents’ brands and lead generation
• You can repurpose content across multiple social networks, but not all content fits on every platform. You may have to tweak your content or simply not share it all on every platform.

Online Rent Payment Software	Best for	What You Can Do	Learn More Below
	Targeting a variety of demographics	Reach multiple generations with text, photo, and video content	Facebook ↓
	Visual content: both photos and videos	Connect with your audience and followers more personally	Instagram ↓
	Building professional connections	Build a strong network of professionals	LinkedIn ↓
	Long-form video content	Create long-form videos that showcase your expertise, personality, and brand	YouTube ↓
	Positioning yourself as an expert	Attract and inspire potential leads and generate website traffic	Pinterest ↓
	Showcasing your personality	Build a large following with unique, short-term video content	TikTok ↓
	Audience interaction	Address and discuss time-sensitive news and events	X (Formerly Twitter) ↓

1. Facebook: Best for Reaching the Largest Age Ranges

Pros 63% of users are between ages 25 and 54 (homebuying age). Facebook ads can be extremely well targeted. It has the ability to create various engaging content.	Cons Facebook ads can get pricey. Pages can get less engagement than personal profiles. Posts from pages can get buried in the feed.
How to use Facebook for real estate: Set up an individual real estate agent Facebook page. Create a strategic Facebook cover image to build brand awareness and drive traffic to your website. Consistently share a variety of real estate Facebook posts, like educational content, testimonials, client successes, and listings. Consider promoting your website, content, or individual listings with Facebook ads. Create or engage in local Facebook groups to build brand awareness.

Facebook has over 3.03 billion users worldwide, making it the most popular social platform in every industry. Plus, 92% of agents use Facebook for their businesses, making it the most-used social network for realtors. It’s also important to note that out of all the real estate social network examples, the audience on Facebook is the most likely to be buying, selling, or even investing in real estate.

Educational real estate Facebook post (Source: Facebook)

Example real estate Facebook page (Source: Facebook)

Additional Features

• Meta advertising: If you have patience and resources, real estate Facebook ads are a great way to generate traffic for specific goals on all Meta platforms, like building an email list or advertising a listing.
• Friends list groups: Facebook allows users to separate people into different groups and specify which groups will see which posts.
• Easy to add call to action (CTA) buttons: Unlike other free real estate social networks, Facebook makes it easy to add links directly into posts with any kind of content.
• Facebook groups: Groups are a powerful tool that you can leverage to build your network, increase brand recognition, and generate leads.
• Facebook Messenger: This is the best way to create authentic one-on-one or small group connections with new leads on the platform. You can even advertise or use automation tools on Messenger.
• Facebook Marketplace: This is a great additional place to add listings because you can automatically share them to local groups.

2. Instagram: Best for Real Estate Agents With a Knack for Aesthetics

Pros You can target local audience with SEO, hashtags, and geotagging. You can create both long-form and short-form video content. It is an ideal platform for maximizing engagement and connecting with potential leads.	Cons Organic posts tend to get less reach than paid or sponsored ads. You can’t post clickable links. Algorithm changes can limit your reach.
How to use Instagram for real estate: Optimize your profile with a strong Instagram bio that displays your brand and generates leads. Use real estate hashtags to attract your ideal audience and increase the reach of your content. Consistently share all kinds of real estate Instagram posts, from still photos, stories, memes, carousels, behind-the-scenes videos, and Instagram reels. Jump on trends with your Instagram reels to maximize your reach with trending sounds or themes—it helps you create content ideas and get a high level of engagement! Connect with other real estate Instagram accounts to increase your reach and take inspiration from their ideas. (But don’t copy them directly!) Use premade templates to bring new life to your posts.

Instagram has over two billion active users, which is only surpassed by Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp. Its audience is also much younger than Facebook, with 62% of its users under 34. Because it’s a younger app, it has more unique ways to connect with your audience than Facebook, and it’s a platform that operates more in real-time than other real estate social networks and apps like Pinterest or YouTube. However, almost all content on Instagram is visual, so if you prefer text-based content, it might be challenging to master.

Example caption (Source: The Broke Agent)

Oklahoma realtor Instagram reel (Source: Instagram)

Additional Features

• Instagram stories: Stories are only available for 24 hours, which makes them more appealing and intriguing than feed posts or Instagram reels. Plus, you can create story highlights with evergreen content about your brand, successes, or educational content.
• Direct messaging: The direct messaging feature allows potential clients to contact you and respond to your stories or posts easily. This makes it easy for potential clients to build a relationship with you before they hire you as their agent.
• Add links to Instagram stories: Users can add links directly to your Instagram stories, making it easy to send traffic to your website, a listing page, or YouTube video.
• Instagram Live: Live videos allow you to interact with your Instagram audience in real-time and even collaborate with other agents.
• Instagram Threads: Threads is a relatively new app from Instagram that rivals Twitter. It’s connected to Instagram but is all text-based content. This is another great way to repurpose your content on a new social network.
• Broadcast channels: Broadcast channels are invite-only, so you must have a following for this option. However, they are a new way to invite your followers into a more exclusive community by subscribing to your content.

3. LinkedIn: Best for Making Professional Connections

Pros It is great for business-focused leads and referral partners. It is great for building a professional network. It has high engagement rates. Users typically have a higher income.	Cons Inconsistent posting will severely limit your reach. It has a much smaller pool of residential buyers and sellers. It can be difficult to repurpose content from Instagram and TikTok on this platform.
How to use LinkedIn for real estate: Create an optimized profile with a professional realtor headshot, cover photo, a compelling headline, contact information, “about” section, and skills. Gather recommendations and testimonials from previous clients, coworkers, and other business owners to build trust. Consistently expand your network by engaging with relevant content and sending requests to local businesses and potential clients. Consistently share real estate posts of all kinds, including text, photos, videos, links to your website, and infographics.

According to the National Association of Realtors, 52% of realtors use LinkedIn for their businesses, surpassed only by Facebook and Instagram. It is one of the best social media platforms for real estate agents because there is less competition from other realtors and because over half of its user base is between 25-34—a likely age to buy and sell houses. LinkedIn users generally have a higher income than the average users of other, younger social media platforms, making them ideal clients.

However, consistency is especially important on LinkedIn. It’s a great platform for making connections and building engagement, but the algorithm will limit your visibility if you don’t share content consistently. Think about doing our 30-day content creation challenge to boost your LinkedIn strategy.

Realtor LinkedIn profile (Source: LinkedIn)

Realtor LinkedIn post (Source: LinkedIn)

Additional Features

• Connections: Since the platform is built around making connections, it’s easier (and expected) to reach new people on LinkedIn than any other social network for real estate. It’s ideal for building your network with potential referral partners.
• LinkedIn groups: Similar to Facebook groups, this feature allows groups of people with similar interests to connect more easily and share content. Joining groups where your ideal clients are active is a great way to build authority and position yourself as an expert.
• Advertising: If your ideal audience is professionals, investors, or commercial real estate professionals, advertising on LinkedIn generates a 33% increase in brand recognition and higher conversions.

4. YouTube: Best for Video Content

Pros It is great for both long-form and short-form real estate videos. It is SEO-friendly. It is ideal for home tours and educational series. It is easy to repurpose YouTube content on other platforms.	Cons It lacks a direct messaging feature. Building a YouTube following takes long-term consistency. Creating long-form video content can be time-consuming.
How to use YouTube for real estate: Optimize your YouTube channel with a strong headshot, banner, description, links to other social profiles, and add a channel trailer. Share a variety of real estate video content, like home tours, local market updates, neighborhood tours, behind-the-scenes, and educational videos. Categorize your content into playlists. Maximize your reach and engagement with short-form videos (YouTube Shorts) and long-form videos. Learn how to optimize your videos for real estate SEO.

YouTube isn’t always considered one of the best social media platforms for real estate; only 26% of realtors use it to generate leads. However, combined with a solid social media strategy, it can be incredibly powerful and generate high-quality leads who are excited to work with you. Google owns YouTube, so if you optimize your content for a search engine, you can get in front of an audience that is actively searching for your help.

Katie Lance YouTube channel (Source: YouTube)

LeAnn Henri YouTube videos (Source: YouTube)

Additional Features

• YouTube Live and Premier: Share a new YouTube video in a live format to interact directly with your subscribers.
• Add CTAs: YouTube makes it easy to add outside links to your videos through YouTube cards, end screens, and the video description.
• Playlists: Organize your content to appeal to specific types of users and make it easy to build an authoritative presence.
• YouTube Shorts: These are TikTok-style videos that can be repurposed to and from TikTok or Instagram Reels.
• Community tab: This tab is a feed of text- or photo-based content where you can create polls and interact with subscribers.

5. Pinterest: Best for Generating Traffic & Brand Recognition

Pros It is ideal for promoting evergreen content. Boards can easily categorize different types of content. You can share photos, videos, and carousels.	Cons General real estate topics is highly saturated and competitive. Messaging function is limited. Pinterest algorithm can be complex to learn and master.
How to use Pinterest for real estate: Create a Pinterest business profile to access important features like analytics and advertising. Optimize your profile with a strong headshot, tagline, description, and a link to your real estate website. Create boards that cover different topics that fit your audience, like homes in the area, real estate tips, home design, renovations, or real estate market updates. Share content from your website, blog, email, or other social media platforms with links to the original source. Optimize your content with real estate-related keywords in your titles, photos, and descriptions. Include logos on the photos you share on Pinterest. Use the platform regularly to give yourself a boost in the Pinterest algorithm.

Pinterest has 518 million monthly active users, typically looking for new ideas or inspiration. Although it isn’t one of the most common apps for realtors, it can be a great place to build brand awareness by sharing images of houses and educational content with your logo and branding. Plus, Pinterest is a search engine that can help you appear in more Google searches. Ensure you understand how to find and use real estate keywords to increase the chances that your pins or boards will appear on Pinterest and Google searches.

Optimized real estate agent Pinterest profile (Source: Pinterest)

Real estate Pinterest boards (Source: Pinterest)

Additional Features

• Themed boards: Create boards for different categories, like kitchen decor, curb appeal, or cozy bedroom ideas. Pinterest users are looking for inspiration, and an agent who inspires them is someone they want to work with.
• Group boards: Create or join group boards to increase the visibility of your pins. You can also create group boards with referral partners or clients to gather inspiration and ideas.
• Secret boards: Even though your goal is to generate traffic to your Pinterest profile and your website, Pinterest allows you to create secret boards. This is great for saving ideas for yourself or for sharing a board with clients without making it public.

6. TikTok: Best for Showcasing Your Personality

Pros It has a large pool of young homebuyers. It has a huge variety of unique video effects and editing tools. Educational content performs very well. It is easy to repurpose various video content to and from other platforms.	Cons The average age of users is young. It requires a high posting frequency. You must have 1,000 followers to add a link in your profile.
How to use TikTok for real estate: Create a TikTok profile and optimize it with a headshot, bio, and link. Add links to your other social media profiles. (You don’t need to have a certain number of followers for these links!) Create a content strategy to attract targeted viewers and build your following. Use real estate hashtags and geotagging to help your target audience find you. Hop on TikTok trends to boost your visibility.

Many realtors think TikTok is just for teenagers, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, 49.7% of its users are between 25 and 44 years old. As an avid TikTok user, I know many realtors and investors who have built a large following (from hundreds of thousands to millions of followers), primarily from TikTok, like Heider Real Estate and Trent Miller.

TikTok is ideal if you like to be creative with videos, memes, and music. For example, Trent Miller consistently goes viral with “speed tours.” On the other hand, North Valley Group is a brokerage with a huge following (1.8 Million!) from creating content that isn’t even real estate-related. Many realtors repost their TikTok content on YouTube or promote their YouTube videos on TikTok with great success since the platforms are both video-based. TikTok may not seem like one of the best social media platforms for real estate agents, but it can build your brand recognition like almost no other online marketing method.

Trent Miller speed tour (Source: TikTok)

@caramelexpress TikTok profile playlists (Source: TikTok)

Additional Features

• Playlists: Create playlists with different categories, like buyer information, seller tips, home tours, success stories, or testimonials.
• Pinned videos: All TikTok accounts can pin up to three videos at the top of your profile. You can create an introduction video or listing video that stays at the top of your profile even months after you create it.
• Engagement tools: TikTok uniquely includes many different ways to engage with other users and followers, like video replies to comments, pinning comments, stitching videos, and even reposting videos on your profile.
• Easy sharing: TikTok makes it easy to share videos on other platforms with direct share buttons for Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, Instagram stories, Facebook, email, or text.

7. X (formerly known as Twitter): Best for Audience Interaction

Pros Agents can essentially post a play-by-play of what they are doing in real time. It is great for building an authoritative presence. It is great for various content, text, photo, videos, and GIFs. You can share links directly in your posts.	Cons X feeds move very quickly; you can miss things if you aren’t active daily. Character count in posts is limited. You’ll have to compete with a lot of ads.
How to use X for real estate: Create and optimize your profile with a good headshot, banner, title, description, and location. Post content consistently—X content is primarily text-based, so don’t overthink it! Take advantage of industry updates, trends, or news. Use hashtags and geotagging to attract your target audience. Consistently follow and engage with other real estate profiles and content. Share your open houses and local events multiple times.

Twitter has 245 million monthly users—the lowest number on our list of real estate social network reviews. Plus, only 19% of realtors use X for their businesses. It isn’t the most common or popular social network in the industry, but that means you won’t have a ton of local competition. Plus, X has some unique benefits, like its text-based content. Unlike other platforms, it’s easier to simply write a sentence or two on the go and post it—no need for photo or video editing. Of course, you should still have a social media strategy, but X can be a great tool for realtors to make local connections.

Real estate agent post (Source: @smartbroker)

Example of real estate agent profile (Source: @tracegoble1)

Additional Features

• Communities: X Communities are similar to Facebook groups; you can join a community to share and engage about specific topics with a specific audience.
• Content with links: Twitter is one of the few social networks for realtors where you can post a link directly in your posts—this makes it great for generating traffic.

Benefits of Real Estate Social Media

It’s common knowledge that social media is a powerful marketing tool. In fact, 57% of realtors use social media on a daily basis to promote their businesses and connect with leads and clients. The most obvious benefits of using a real estate social network are reach and visibility; there are billions of users on each platform, so it’s the most accessible strategy to reach a large number of potential clients in your ideal area.

A few other benefits of social media for realtors include the following: 

• Flexibility and creativity: Each social network is unique, so you can choose the platform that best fits your audience and your creativity, whether it’s humor, infographics, writing, or photography.
• Detailed targeting: You can take advantage of social media algorithms by using hashtags, geotagging, and keywords to automatically attract a local, targeted audience without having to find them individually.
• Brand recognition: Sharing content on social media puts you in front of potential leads and makes people feel like they already know you. Instead of having to build a large number of individual relationships from scratch, you can build trust from social media content.
• Networking: Social media is like a networking event available 24/7—you can easily find and connect with potential leads and other business owners.
• Generating leads: By using links, calls-to-action, and engaging with people individually, you can get high-quality leads from social networks. In fact, 54% of agents said that social media gives them the best quality leads.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the best social network for real estate?

What is a real estate social network?

Which platform is best for real estate?

Methodology: How I Chose the Best Real Estate Social Network

Here at The Close, we are a team of real estate experts who combine our experience buying, selling, investing, and marketing to give you the most accurate and helpful information. We have a detailed methodology and are always on the reader’s side, writing reviews that help agents and brokers make good decisions from the reliable information and perspective we provide.

We looked at a variety of information about each social network for realtors, but we focused especially on this criteria:

• Age and audience demographics of each network
• Interactive features for relationship building
• Platforms conducive to real estate content
• Lead generation tools
• Types of content each platform accepts (i.e., photo, text, short-term or long-term video, links)

Your Take

There are multiple social networks that can help realtors build a following, brand recognition, and generate leads. We’ve looked into the benefits of social media as a whole and the pros, cons, and unique features of the seven most common, most popular, and most effective real estate social networks. Use this information to choose one or two platforms to master as you grow your business.

The post The 7 Best Real Estate Social Networks appeared first on The Close.

What Is the BRRRR Method?

“BRRRR” is an acronym for buy, repair, rent, refinance, and repeat. It can be done by anyone who can purchase a property, allowing investors to build equity immediately after renovating or repairing it by doing a cash-out refinance. Plus, the exact process can be repeated over and over, massively increasing your equity and investment portfolio.

The price of rent has jumped 30.4% nationwide between 2019 and 2023, so renting out a property is likely to be profitable. However, learning as much as possible before diving into any real estate investing strategy is always important. To find out if BRRRR is right for your next project, check out Kiavi’s free Breaking Down BRRRR e-book below. It covers the method’s pros and cons, tips for getting the right loan for your project, and even the best home rehab trends to attract high-income tenants.

Why the BRRRR Method Is an Excellent Investment Strategy

BRRRR investing enables you to build a portfolio without buying properties in cash. Because you will do a cash-out refinance once the property has been renovated and leased, you’ll make a quick profit that you can use to reinvest in another property while enjoying the advantages of owning a rental. 

When done correctly, the BRRRR method can grow your net worth, generate passive income, and eventually lead to financial independence by enabling you to own and rent real estate uniquely and continuously. Here are some of the more specific pros and cons of using the BRRRR strategy to invest in real estate:

How to Use the BRRRR Method

Let’s take a closer look at the BRRRR, meaning going through it step-by-step. While the process is relatively simple in theory, finding the right property, renovating, financing, and managing a rental can be challenging—even for experienced real estate professionals. Let’s dig into each part.

1. Buy

For the BRRRR method to be profitable, you have to find the right undervalued property. Look for homes you can do low-cost improvements on to increase their value, which will increase your equity in step 4. The more discounted a home you can secure, the more equity you’ll have at this step in the process.

Also, look for properties likely to rent out easily and quickly. For example, condos or apartments near a university will be in high demand. Once you’ve found an undervalued property, it’s time to consider the best option for financing. The typical finance options for the BRRRR method are as follows:

• Hard money loans: These loans are typically short-term and come from a private, non-bank lender. The application process for hard money lenders differs from a typical mortgage; the lender will prioritize the property’s investment potential over your credit. Interest rates are generally much higher than a typical mortgage, generally between 10% and 18%.
• Cash: This means that you would not use any financing and would simply pay for the property entirely in cash. 

Rule of 70%

A smart investment rule of thumb is the Rule of 70%. This rule says you should only spend 70% of the property’s after-repair value (ARV) minus repair expenses. For example, if you’re looking at a $400,000 investment property that requires $80,000 of repairs and renovations, you shouldn’t spend more than $200,000 on it. Ideally, the remaining 30% can be used on closing costs and realtor commissions while still leaving a healthy profit leftover.

2. Rehab

The rehab or renovation part of the process is the part that requires the most elbow grease—but not necessarily your own! Focus on renovations and repairs with the lowest costs that will make the property attractive to tenants. You should know how much you have to spend on repairs after purchasing the home.

The rehab process has three main parts:

• Finding a trustworthy contractor: You’ll need a professional contractor with experience with the types of repairs and renovations you need. Ask other investors and realtors for their recommendations, and then build a relationship with a contractor you can (hopefully) use again.
• Staying on schedule and on budget: Renovations always take time and money. Plus, the longer a renovation takes, the higher your carrying costs. Keeping your project on track is possible, but it takes plenty of work.
• Maximizing your ROI: Make sure you choose the renovations that will have the best ROI and set the property up for long-term success.

3. Rent

If you were doing a fix-and-flip, this is the time you would sell the home. However, with the BRRRR method, this is when you turn your property into a cash-generating asset by finding tenants and renting it out.

You will have to move relatively quickly here because, at this point, your expenses will likely be chewing a hole in your wallet. Make sure you analyze your cash flow thoroughly as you price your new rental. You could hire a property management company to market your property and screen renters, or you can do it yourself with the sales, finance, and communication skills you’ve learned as a real estate agent. 

4. Refinance

After your property has been refurbished and leased, do a cash-out refinance to turn the equity in the house into cash. This moment is when the BRRRR method literally proves its worth in profits! Not only does this save you money, but cash-out refinances also have a lower interest rate than a home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC). Plus, you can deduct the interest from your taxes.

5. Repeat

If you want to build a real estate investment portfolio, you can use the money from the refinance as a down payment on your next BRRRR property. This time, you’ll have more expertise, a growing network of contractors, and a cash-generating rental property under your belt. You might even use the BRRRR method to create a large rental portfolio. By choosing smart properties and the right renovations, the sky’s the limit.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the 70% rule for BRRRR?

What are the disadvantages of BRRRR?

Is the BRRRR method worth it?

Bringing It All Together

The BRRRR method is an excellent real estate investing strategy that can help agents become investors, build equity, and scale their investment portfolios quickly. However, it takes a lot of time, research, and effort to do it successfully. Make sure you thoroughly research and plan each step of the process using our guide to be successful. Good luck!

The post What Is the BRRRR Method & How Does It Work in Real Estate? appeared first on The Close.

In a rush and just want a free template you can customize now? Download ours below:

Free Open House Flyer Templates

There are many places online to create real estate flyers using free templates. These free resources are a budget-friendly solution, especially since you’ll still need to pay to print and distribute your real estate flyers.

1. Neutral Modern Real Estate Flyer

• Price: Free on Canva
• Best for: Updated listings with great photography or competitively priced
• Why we love it: With its unique font choice and warm neutral colors, this template is inviting and professional. If you have a competitively priced listing, this flyer could be a great option since the price is highlighted directly in the middle of the template and pops out before any other details.

2. Colorblocked Open House Flyer Template

• Price: Free on Marq
• Best for: Listings with great curb appeal
• Why we love it: The use of bold colors and classic font on this listing template offers a simple yet striking way to showcase the listing photos. This template would also be ideal for an open house advertisement since it has just enough photos, an agent headshot, and enough room for a detailed property description.

3. Minimalist Open House Flyer

• Price: Free on Canva
• Best for: Modern or luxury listings
• Why we love it: Some listings just need more than one page to highlight all their unique features. This open house flyer template is double-sided, with enough room to share five photos, a detailed property description, and a brief agent bio. Its modern fonts and design elements make it great for luxury listings or modern listings with top-notch photography. This template or style could make a real estate brochure with more in-depth information.

4. Photo Collage Open House Flyer Template

• Price: Free on Marq
• Best for: Modern homes or homes with a few specific features to highlight
• Why we love it: With space for three large images, this house for sale flyer does an excellent job of showcasing the right listing. Its simple design with white space, modern font, and a simple color scheme makes the property and flyer feel high-end. This listing template would work well for a luxury listing or a listing with a few specific home features that local buyers want.

5. Black and White Open House Flyer Template

• Price: Free on Marq
• Best for: Agents who want to provide more written detail about a property instead of photography
• Why we love it: Many open house flyer ideas focus on photography, but let’s face it—sometimes photos of the home just aren’t worthy of marketing. This open house template shows just one listing image and provides enough room for a few short paragraphs with details. It even includes a decently-sized realtor headshot and room for a few branding elements like your logo, a review, and contact info. This template is highly versatile, fitting for luxury listings, agents building brand recognition, or even fixer-uppers.

6. Hexagonal Design Open House Template

• Price: Free on PosterMyWall
• Best for: Agents wanting a unique and eye-catching flyer design
• Why we love it: Sometimes your open house flyers need a creative twist to draw attention. The unique hexagonal designs of this template, combined with the warm color palette, will grab the attention of potential guests who want to learn more about your listing. It provides a short list of home features and a QR code in the corner to direct traffic to your website or online listing. The simplicity of this template could easily be transferred to other marketing materials like real estate postcards.

7. Trendy Aesthetic Open House Flyer

• Price: Free on Canva
• Best for: Printed or digital flyers or for listings that are ideal for trendy buyers
• Why we love it: The use of simple design elements on this flyer makes it more likely to spark interest from younger or trendier buyers and realtors. This type of design would be great for flyers or farming postcards when you want to attract a specific kind of buyer. For example, it would be great to highlight a listing in a hip and trendy neighborhood or a retro-inspired home. This flyer’s font choices, design elements, and color palette make it easy to read, fun, and professional.

Pro Tip: Take note that many open house and real estate agent flyer templates choose color palettes that complement the real estate photography. In this example, the green and beige colors directly reflect the color of the wood slats and the lawn in the listing photo.

8. Simple Open House Flyer Template

• Price: Free on PosterMyWall
• Best for: Keeping the flyer focused on essential information
• Why we love it: Some open house flyer ideas are too busy with multiple images, graphics, logos, and text; ultimately, a lot of the information gets lost. That’s why we love this incredibly simple, elegant template. It makes it easy to simply choose one photo of the listing, input the basic information about the property and event, and leave potential buyers wanting to learn more. Plus, because this template is so simple, it would be ideal to repurpose it as a door hanger or even a thank-you note.

Paid Open House Flyer Templates

While plenty of great free flyer templates exist, sometimes investing in a paid template is worthwhile. Here are some open house flyer examples that require a subscription to a resource that can offer an incredible return on your investment. 

9. Bold Open House Flyer Template

• Price: Included in Canva Pro subscription ($15 per month)
• Best for: Listings that don’t have high-quality photos
• Why we love it: There are so many ways to make bold flyer designs, but sometimes the most simple solution is the most effective. We love how this template uses a large, bold font to show the “open house” and the property address. Plus, the faded background is a great way to draw attention to a listing that may not have high-quality photos, like a fixer-upper.

This template is only available to Canva Pro members. Learn more about Canva features for real estate agents in our complete guide, or click the button below to visit Canva directly.

10. Co-listed Open House Flyer

• Price: Available with a subscription to Lab Coat Agents Marketing Center ($59 per month)
• Best for: Agents or teams listing a property with more than one agent
• Why we love it: If you’re co-listing a home with another agent, then this flyer from LabCoat Agents Marketing Center is made for you. This flyer features just one eye-catching photo of a modern property at dusk, leaving enough room for company details, event details, and two headshots.

11. Agent Introduction Flyer Template

• Price: Included with Coffee & Contracts Subscription ($54 per month)
• Best for: Introducing yourself to your farm area or open house guests and marketing your services
• Why we love it: Although this example isn’t exactly an advertisement for an open house, it is a great flyer to give the guests of your open house! Including this personal introduction is a great way to get more leads from your open houses or events. You could also repurpose this flyer template within a direct mail or email campaign, along with regular real estate newsletters.

12. Colorful Photo Collage Open House Flyer Template

• Price: Included in Canva Pro subscription ($15 per month)
• Best for: Mid-century modern homes or trendy neighborhoods
• Why we love it: This flyer features a bold color and three colorful listing photos. The layout and text are simple and minimal, which keeps the focus on the property photos and the trendy design. The combination of color and font also gives this flyer a retro charm that will attract a younger audience of buyers.

13. You’re Invited Template

• Price: Included in Canva Pro subscription ($15 per month)
• Best for: Delivering to potential guests directly or by direct mail
• Why we love it: Since the goal of an open house is to get a steady flow of visitors, it’s hard to go wrong with a flyer that starts with an invitation. Plus, this template uses three images with a similar color scheme to show a cohesive home.

14. Photo-centric Luxury Listing Template

• Price: $5 on Etsy
• Best for: Showing listings with beautiful images and multiple property features
• Why we love it: This listing flyer packs in a lot of information without feeling cluttered. There’s enough room for a hero image at the top, event details, icons with important home features, a description of the listing, four additional listing photos, and your name, contact info, and headshot.

15. Simple Collage Flyer Template

• Price: Included in Canva Pro subscription ($15 per month)
• Best for: Visually attractive homes, like luxury listings or Victorian homes
• Why we love it: This listing template includes only the most important information about the open house event and the agent. The primary focus of this template is the four photos in the center of the flyer. This option is a great way to promote a recently updated listing.

16. Modern & Muted Open House Flyer

• Price: Included in an Agent Crate subscription ($29 per month)
• Best for: Personal branding, luxury homes
• Why we love it: This beautifully modern flyer from Agent Crate is perfect for agents who are building their real estate brand within their farm areas. The headshot is front and center, highlighted against a muted background and a circle graphic. The image is also muted and focused on one space in the house—not even a whole room! This really draws interest and makes potential buyers want to see more.

Tools & Software to Create Open House Flyers

Now that you’ve seen various examples of open house flyers, you probably have a better idea of what you want your flyer to look like or include. To create real estate flyers, you need to use an online tool or software to customize the details and the design. Here are a few of our favorite design tools for realtors and how they compare:

Platform	Features	Starting Price	Learn More
	Over 1,000 open house templates User-friendly editing tools Templates made for printing	Free	Visit PosterMyWall
	Digital and print marketing templates User-friendly templates and design tools Paid plan for more templates and capabilities	Free	Visit Canva
	Library of real estate postcards, videos, logos, flyers, and more Social media-specific templates and resources Real estate AI assistant for help with designs and marketing	$29 per month	Visit Agent Crate
	New editable marketing content every month Modern templates for print and digital marketing Extensive library of resources	$54 per month	Visit Coffee & Contracts

Platform	Features	Starting Price	Learn More
	Over 1,000 open house templates User-friendly editing tools Templates made for printing	Free	Visit PosterMyWall
	Digital and print marketing templates User-friendly templates and design tools Paid plan for more templates and capabilities	Free	Visit Canva
	Library of real estate postcards, videos, logos, flyers, and more Social media-specific templates and resources Real estate AI assistant for help with designs and marketing	$29 per month	Visit Coffee & Contracts
	New editable marketing content every month Modern templates for print and digital marketing Extensive library of resources	$54 per month	Visit PosterMyWall

Why Open House Flyers Are Important

With so many online marketing methods to promote listings and events, you may wonder if real estate flyers are worthwhile. However, statistics show that direct mail has an average ROI of 161%, significantly higher than other methods like email marketing or paid search. Plus, you can multiply the effectiveness of open house flyers by distributing them in multiple ways, like by mail, in person, or online.

To make sure your flyers generate traffic to your open house, make sure you include:

• Property address
• Clear, professional photos
• Date and time of the event
• Home features
• Your contact information
• Your logo or broker logo
• Any other enticing details you choose to add about the event (i.e., refreshments, a raffle, etc.)

FAQs

What do you say in an open house flyer?

How to make a flyer for an open house?

What to put on real estate flyers?

Bringing It All Together

Open house flyers can be incredibly versatile. You can customize them to fit almost any listing and any brand. This article should help you find a flyer template that suits your needs and a tool to help you find or create one.

The post 16 Open House Flyer Templates that Get Leads (Free & Paid Examples) appeared first on The Close.

What Is Project Management in Real Estate? 

Project management is an essential element of successful businesses in practically every industry, but there are specific skills and tasks for project management in real estate. Real estate project management refers to coordinating, planning, and overseeing a project from start to finish. Of course, real estate projects can vary drastically for sales agents, brokers, construction projects, or investors.

For example, a few types of real estate projects include the following:

• Acquiring commercial property for development
• Basic residential building construction
• Interior design remodeling projects
• Building commercial properties such as retail, medical facilities, or factories
• Building multifamily homes
• Developing raw land

Importance of Project Management for Real Estate 

Think of all the ways that a typical real estate deal can fall through, then multiply that number by 10. The potential is endless! Commercial real estate projects inevitably have construction setbacks, communication snafus, permitting issues, and so much more—especially without the guidance of a PM.

There were approximately 919,000 construction sites across the US in the first quarter of 2023. With such a high number of ongoing projects, the need for property project management is higher than ever—just think about the impact that such a large number of real estate developments could have on the economy.

What Are the Duties of a Real Estate Project Manager? 

Not all brokerages or companies have a dedicated real estate PM, but it can be an incredibly valuable role. A PM wears many hats to oversee each project’s progress. A few of their primary duties are as follows:

• Project planning: A PM should identify a project’s goals and objectives to create specific tasks, checklists, and timelines. Planning is particularly important in commercial real estate project management.
• Resource management: Budgeting and proper resource allocation are essential to project management real estate success. A PM establishes a budget from the beginning and ensures that all expenditures throughout the project stay on track.
• Schedule management: Construction projects are notorious for missing deadlines and taking longer than anticipated. A considerable part of a PM’s job is to track a project’s progress and ensure deadlines and milestones are met on time.
• Collaboration and communication: A PM is, by nature, the go-to role between investors, brokers, bankers, contractors, and all other parties involved. It’s important for them to have good communication skills to effectively communicate between all parties and ensure everyone is consistently looped in. Most PMs benefit from using real estate apps to help them manage collaborations.
• Data collection: Since PMs typically work on multiple projects and the same types of projects, having data is absolutely essential. PMs should be skilled at gathering, interpreting, and applying real estate data analytics, such as competition, costs, housing market trends and changes, and relevant industry trends.

Tips & Tools for Project Management in Real Estate

A real estate PM is ideal for large teams and companies but isn’t always possible for growing agents and brokers. If hiring a PM role isn’t in the cards yet, plenty of options exist to help with your project management tasks. Here are the most essential tips and tools to manage projects for individuals and teams.

Tip 1: Set Clear Expectations

Since project management in real estate varies so much and encompasses various tasks and roles, a successful PM will immediately set clear expectations. Expectations include communicating with all parties and creating solid legal contracts. Project managers don’t need to be legal professionals, but they should do plenty of due diligence to prevent major issues before, during, and after the project.

Tip 2: Establish Clear Communication Channels

Communication is one of the primary roles of a PM. Since many different parties are often involved in each project, the manager should create one or two places where parties can communicate with them or with all involved parties. This involvement prevents missed messages, wasted time, and miscommunications.

Tip 3: Build a Strong Team

Real estate project management connects to every part of a project, from finances to construction to sales. If team members aren’t carrying their load, the project management tasks can become overwhelming for even the best manager. It’s important to have strong experts in each area of the project so the manager can focus on keeping the wheels running smoothly—not on trying to compensate for lacking areas.

Tip 4: Strategically Choose the Right Project Management Tool

Since residential and commercial real estate project management includes such a wide variety of tasks, choosing the right tools will be instrumental. From using a customer relationship manager (CRM) for follow-ups and communication to using predictive analytics tools to market to new leads, the software is vital for dedicated PMs or individuals who need support to manage their tasks.
A few of the best real estate software for project management include the following:

Platform	Best for	Key Features	Starting Monthly Price	Ready to Purchase?
	PMs or agents who want a user-friendly interface with a free plan	Built-in project and resource management tools Collaboration features Various third-party integrations	Free	Visit ClickUp
	New PMs or small teams wanting an affordable option with basic management features	Affordable pricing Various automation Customizable Gantt charts to keep your timeline organized	Free	Visit Zoho Projects
	PMs and agents wanting an all-in-one CRM to organize and manage contacts	Lead scoring & routing Built-i n team collaboration tools Over 250 third-party integrations	$58 per user	Visit Follow Up Boss
	Professionals wanting a real estate-specific CRM with visual calendars and pipelines	Easy-to-use platform Customizable onboarding and automation Detailed planning and reporting tools	$24 per user	Visit Pipedrive

Platform	Best for	Key Features	Starting Monthly Price	Ready to Purchase?
	PMs or agents who want a user-friendly interface with a free plan	Built-in project and resource management tools Collaboration features Various third-party integrations	Free	Visit ClickUp
	New PMs or small teams wanting an affordable option with basic management features	Affordable pricing Various automation Customizable Gantt charts to keep your timeline organized	Free	Visit Zoho Projects
	PMs and agents wanting an all-in-one CRM to organize and manage contacts	Lead scoring & routing Built-i n team collaboration tools Over 250 third-party integrations	$58 per user	Visit Follow Up Boss
	Professionals wanting a real estate-specific CRM with visual calendars and pipelines	Easy-to-use platform Customizable onboarding and automation Detailed planning and reporting tools	$24 per user	Visit Pipedrive

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do I break into real estate project management?

How do you manage a real estate development project?

What is the difference between a real estate developer and a PM?

Bringing It All Together

When most people hear about real estate project management, they just raise their eyebrows and think, “What is that?” Even though it’s not a well-known or well-understood role, PMs are essential for keeping real estate projects on time and within budget. Using the project management tips suggested above or working with a dedicated PM, you can complete projects (almost) seamlessly.

The post The Complete Guide for Real Estate Project Management appeared first on The Close.

1. Create a Real Estate Business Plan

Anyone wondering how to be a top realtor should start with a business plan. This plan is a way to track goals and make the wisest decisions—like a roadmap to success for real estate agents. Your real estate business plan should include your mission, who you want to work with (your ideal client), your farm area, your marketing strategy, and an honest evaluation of your strengths and weaknesses.

For more details, check out our free guide on creating a real estate business plan.

Key Takeaways: 

• Creating a solid business plan is imperative to grow your real estate business
• Your business plan is your roadmap to success, helping you track and achieve goals
• A business plan for real estate should have specific elements to help you decide how to best spend your time and resources, so it’s wise to use a business plan template.

2. Choose the Right Brokerage

One of the first tasks you’ll do when you get a real estate license is to choose a brokerage to work with. This decision can be daunting because it can greatly impact your career and the support you receive. For instance, brand new agents often value a robust training program to help their business get up and running. On the other hand, more seasoned agents may instead look for a brokerage with higher commission splits and may not necessarily need a brokerage with extensive training or mentorship options.

As you choose the best real estate company to work for, make sure you also consider what they offer in terms of marketing assistance, lead generation, real estate software, or additional income opportunities. The company you choose will impact your real estate salary and, ultimately, your success. Make it a point to interview several brokerages before choosing the one that fits you best.

Key Takeaways: 

• Ask yourself what is most important to you looking for in a brokerage—is it training, the highest commission splits, leads, software, mission, or marketing expertise?
• Interview multiple brokerages to understand your options
• New agents may benefit from a brokerage that emphasizes training, while seasoned agents may value commission splits

3. Determine Your Mission, Vision & Values

Another way agents can learn how to be successful in real estate is by defining what’s most important and meaningful personally and how they can apply it to their business. Perhaps it’s giving to local charities, helping renters become homeowners, or even having an honest, professional rapport with your clients. Ask yourself questions like these:

• Why do I want a career in real estate?
• Who do I want to help?
• What’s important to me as an entrepreneur?
• What impact do I want to have on my local community?

Often, business owners turn to their real estate mission statement when making business decisions. Determining your ultimate goal in your real estate career will help you define your overall mission, vision, and values. Knowing these crucial aspects of your business will not only drive your success but also give you a sense of purpose. 

Key Takeaways: 

• Determining your mission, vision, and values will help you make appropriate business decisions
• Your unique mission and priorities will also help you connect with clients who have similar priorities
• Consider who you want to help, why you want to help them, what impact you want to have to define your mission

4. Work with a Real Estate Mentor

Whether you plan to jump into real estate full-time or begin a part-time real estate career, having a mentor in the beginning is extremely valuable. As a new agent, every new transaction and interaction will bring up new questions—many of which aren’t covered in your real estate training. Although your broker can be helpful, it’s important to have both a broker and an agent that you can reach out to with questions or to bounce ideas off of.

The best place to find a mentor is from your brokerage or at local networking events. Some brokerages, such as eXp, have a mentorship program where you can pick or be assigned a specific mentor to help you with your first three transactions. However, if you don’t have an official mentor relationship assigned to you, you can always ask around your brokerage for senior agents who may be willing to meet with you.

Key Takeaways: 

• Having a real estate mentor is separate from being in a real estate brokerage
• The right real estate mentor can offer unique training, personal expertise, and personalized support
• You may be assigned a mentor from your brokerage, but if you aren’t, you can form your own mentorship

5. Build a Strong Network

If you ask, “How do I become a successful real estate agent?” you should consider your network. A common real estate saying is, “Your success is directly tied to who you know.” You may have also heard the saying, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” In real estate, your network is the foundation of all success. Your network consists of everyone you know, including potential clients, other real estate professionals, and other business owners or professionals like mortgage brokers, home inspectors, lawyers, etc.

Potential buyers and sellers are more likely to hire someone they already know and trust than a stranger. They’re also more likely to hire someone who has been personally recommended by someone else they trust. This means that your network—also called your “sphere of influence”—is your bread and butter, where most of your leads and referrals will come from.

This is why building a strong network is crucial if you want to become a successful real estate agent. A strong network that generates consistent, valuable leads doesn’t happen by accident—you have to nurture it and actively reach out to create new relationships. Keep in touch with your network in various ways throughout the year, like email, text, phone calls, snail mail, social media, or in-person events.

Key Takeaways: 

• One of the most important ways to be a successful real estate agent is through your real estate network
• Your real estate network is also called your “sphere of influence” (SOI) and includes potential clients and potential referral sources
• Building and maintaining a strong network is key to generating leads and referrals
• Nurture your SOI in a variety of ways, like email, text, phone calls, social media, snail mail, or in-person events

6. Improve Your Business Skills

Real estate agents are entrepreneurs, so it’s well-known that they wear many different hats. As an agent, you’ll schedule, plan, and run face-to-face listing appointments, choose and manage your marketing methods, write emails and social media posts, track your income and spending, and do administrative tasks. Chances are that you’re already great at some of these tasks but not others. It’s imperative to know your strengths and weaknesses and how they align with your responsibility as an agent—using our business plan template above will help with this.

Remember that your weaknesses do not prevent you from learning how to become a successful real estate agent. Instead, seek CE courses, additional brokerage training, or speak with a mentor about honing the skills you need to improve.

Key Takeaways: 

• Becoming a real estate agent requires a diverse set of skills from marketing, negotiation, and finance
• It’s important to consistently improve your skills in every important area of real estate, including marketing, sales, communication, lead generation, administration, real estate law, and the housing market

The CE Shop is a great option to expand your real estate knowledge. They provide a wide array of courses for continuing education and Real Estate Business Builder professional development. Check out their classes today.

7. Specialize in a Real Estate Niche

Choosing a specific niche is one of the most effective ways to become a successful real estate agent. New agents are usually tempted to take any and all possible clients regardless of their specific needs, but this method usually takes more of the agents’ time and energy. It’s much easier to learn everything there is to know about one particular type of client, neighborhood, or type of property than it is to learn the entire market.

Some popular real estate niches include:

• Farm areas or specific neighborhoods
• Military clients
• Rentals
• Buyers or sellers
• First-time homebuyers
• Vacation rentals
• Luxury real estate

Sometimes, a niche will come naturally as you start your career, but other times, it will require intentionality to find a gap in the market. Once you find a strong niche, put yourself in the shoes of your potential clients to determine their needs and how you can help them. Make sure to brush up on common real estate terminology specific to your clients or properties.

Key Takeaways: 

• Building a niche means learning everything there is to know about something specific instead of focusing on learning the entire market
• Having a specialized niche helps you build more authority within a specialized area
• Niching down also helps you stay consistent and market more strategically to a specific audience
• A few popular niches include buyers, sellers, rentals, investors, military movers, and luxury real estate

8. Focus on Your Unique Personality & Strengths

One of the most important concepts for those learning how to be successful real estate agents is that you don’t have to be like other successful realtors. Many new agents think that they have to do X, Y, and Z to succeed since that’s what they see. However, your personality is an important part of your business, so your business and marketing strategy should match.

For example, cold-calling FSBOs and door-knocking would not be enjoyable for introverts. Even if it’s an effective strategy for another agent in your area, trying a method that doesn’t suit your strengths will cause you to feel exhausted and burnt out. This is why it’s important to learn your unique real estate sales personality and choose marketing strategies that best suit you.

Take our free real estate sales personality quiz and learn which personality and marketing methods fit you best; you might be a creative, a sales pro, an introvert, a community expert, or an innovator.

Key Takeaways: 

• Successful agents choose marketing strategies that best fit their personality
• Learning your strengths, weaknesses, and unique sales personality will help you generate and nurture leads more effectively.

9. Leverage the Right Tools

The motto for learning how to be a successful real estate agent is to work smarter, not harder. You could do most real estate tasks manually. Still, you can massively increase your productivity and results by choosing the right lead-generation tools and marketing software to boost your business. 

Of course, in a world of AI and an unlimited number of software programs, it can be confusing to choose the best ones. Focus on tools that keep you organized and accountable, such as a quality CRM (customer relationship manager) and a robust website builder with lead gen and marketing tools.

Key Takeaways: 

• The right tools can maximize productivity and efficiency
• Strategically selecting the right tools and software can make or break your success
• Consider tools like a CRM, website builder, email marketing platform, or social media manager

If you want to work smarter, check out Wise Agent (smart, wise—see what I did there?). It is an all-in-one CRM, lead generation, and marketing tool that will help you save time while making money.

10. Build Your Personal Brand

It’s obvious that relationships are crucial to your success as a realtor, but building a unique, personalized brand is just as powerful. Your personal brand should incorporate your personality, mission, values, and niche. A strong brand will set you apart from your competition and help you effectively communicate your value to your ideal audience.

Key Takeaways: 

• A real estate brand combines your niche, personality, values, and mission
• Building your personal real estate brand is the best way to differentiate yourself from the competition
• If you struggle to define and build a brand, read Real Estate Branding: The Complete Guide for Agents.

11. Be Prepared for Slow Months

Even for the best realtors in the country, success in real estate varies from month to month. Out of all the pros and cons of being a real estate agent, this inconsistency is one of the biggest challenges of this career choice. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the slowest period of the real estate market is typically December to February, and the peak season is April to June.

The best way to become a successful real estate agent is by being prepared for the slow times in the market. Start by setting aside a percentage of your commissions from your busier months. Another way to make up income is by taking up a real estate side hustle like photography, teaching, or managing properties. Plus, there are other jobs you can get with a real estate license to supplement or even replace your sales income.

Key Takeaways: 

• All real estate agents experience ups and downs in their real estate business
• Preparing for slower months is key to being successful in the real estate industry
• Plan ahead for low-income months by setting aside a portion of your income from each sale
• Consider taking on side hustles or other jobs in the real estate industry as you build a consistent income

12. Learn How to Bounce Back from Rejection & Failure

The cold, hard truth is that in real estate, you will get rejected—a lot. FSBO prospects will hang up on you mid-sentence, doors will be slammed in your face, people you thought you connected with will ghost you, and deals will fall through at the last minute, no matter how hard you work. This happens to all agents, and the more successful you become, the more often you will fail.

But if you’re willing to learn, the real estate industry will force you to be resilient and to learn how to bounce back from failures. Reach out to other realtors to vent, share experiences, and remind yourself you’re not alone. Find an in-person community to combat loneliness; this could be your brokerage office or a public workspace. Prioritize self-care to remove stressors, like meditation, exercise, and good quality sleep. These items will help you maintain a healthy lifestyle as a real estate professional. 

Key Takeaways: 

• One of the most important parts of learning how to become a successful real estate agent is learning to become resilient
• Rejection and failure as a real estate agent are inevitable, no matter how hard you work
• Embrace the lessons that come from your failures, and bounce back by connecting with other realtors who have had similar experiences
• Don’t forget to practice self-care as a way to stay resilient!

FAQs

Is it hard to become successful in real estate?

What are the chances of becoming a successful real estate agent?

How do you survive your first year in real estate?

Bringing It All Together

Learning how to become a successful real estate agent may seem simple, but it requires a ton of dedication and strategy. You’ll give yourself the best chances of success by following the steps in this guide, including a comprehensive business plan, intentionally building a network, leveraging technology and tools, and preparing for the inevitable ebbs and flows of the market.

The post How to Become a Successful Real Estate Agent: 12 Simple Strategies appeared first on The Close.

What Does a Property Manager Do?

Generally, a property manager manages rental properties, which can include either commercial or residential properties or units. Property management is extremely important and is often the core of what makes a rental successful for the investor and the tenants. Property managers are usually employed by property management companies or real estate firms, and they handle many properties and units simultaneously.

The responsibilities of a property manager include: 

• Marketing and advertising vacant properties
• Screening potential renters
• Developing lease agreements
• Showing the property or units to potential renters
• Coordinating move-in and move-out inspections
• Handling communications between the tenant, maintenance teams, or owners
• Collecting rent payments and deposits
• Maintenance and repairs of the property

Pro Tip: Since property management is a salaried position you can get with a real estate license, it can be a great option for new real estate agents who don’t have the financial cushion to focus on real estate sales alone. You can be a part-time real estate agent and a part-time or full-time property manager. Although the positions are very different, you can learn a lot about the real estate investment industry by getting into property management.

How Much Do Property Managers Make?

The average salary of property managers in the US is around $50,000 to $55,000. However, like most jobs, the salary can range significantly depending on the location, your experience, and the type of property management you do. However, here are the averages found from a variety of reliable sources: 

• ZipRecruiter: US average of $58,335, with a range of $28,000-96,500
• Glassdoor: US average of $53,889, ranging between $47,000-75,000
• Payscale: US average of $55,831, with a range of $36,000-82,000

Another interesting fact about becoming a property manager is that many companies offer bonuses for specific criteria that ensure the properties stay profitable with high occupancy and renewal rates. This benefit of property management could make it an ideal real estate side hustle. These bonuses can be offered per lease, quarterly, or annually. One study reported that the average property management bonus rate is 12.9%.

Steps of How to Become a Property Manager

If you’re wondering how to get into property management, the process varies slightly from state to state. Interestingly, some states require official licenses, like a real estate license and/or a property management certification, and other states have almost no requirements. Here are the general steps to learn how to become a property manager.

1. Learn About Each Type of Property Management Certification

The first step to answer “How do I become a property manager?” is to understand the different types of management certifications available. Not all positions require a certification, but knowing this information will help you figure out how to become a property manager.

A few of the most common property management certifications and niches are:

• Certified Property Manager (CPM): This is the most well-known certification for general property managers who want to handle a variety of residential and commercial properties.
• Accredited Residential Manager (ARM): This certification, specifically for residential property managers, is ideal for getting a job or improving your skills quickly when you’re new to the industry.
• Certified Apartment Leasing Professional (CALP): This certification is for experienced property managers who want specialized education in leasing and managing apartment complexes.
• Master Property Manager (MPM): This is the most advanced certification available for property managers. It requires at least five years of consistent property management experience. Property managers with this certification are typically the industry leaders and the highest earners.

There are even more property management courses and certifications that will help you increase your success in the real estate industry. Check out national associations like the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM), the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), and the National Apartment Association (NAA).

2. Define the Key Qualifications to Become a Property Manager

Learning how you become a property manager can be confusing because each state and property management company has different requirements and qualifications. However, a few general requirements are similar to getting your real estate license.

Some of the most common requirements to become a property manager are:

• Being at least 18 or 21 years of age
• Having a minimum of a high school diploma or GED equivalent
• Being a legal US citizen or permanent resident
• Passing a criminal background check
• Completing a certain number of hours of real estate license coursework and a passing score on the Real Estate Licensing Exam (although there are exceptions; see section below for more info!)

3. Complete Your State’s Requirements

The requirements to become a property manager vary drastically from state to state. In many states, property managers must have a real estate license and/or a property management license—this includes managing short-term rentals like Airbnb and VRBO. 

However, in four states (Idaho, Vermont, Kansas, and Maine), the only requirement is being over 18 and having a high school diploma. In addition, many states won’t require you to be licensed if the property you manage is a property you own (such as an Airbnb). Here are a few examples of requirements across different states:

4. Find a Property Management Position

Once you have the requirements to become a property manager, celebrate! It’s time to start applying for positions. One of the best ways to find a property management job is by connecting with local real estate brokers, agents, and investors. Even if you want to start your own property management business, you may want to learn the ropes inside of a company at the beginning of your career. Other than using your connections, property management positions are almost always posted on job listing sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, and LinkedIn.

Keep in mind that your first property management position doesn’t have to dictate your entire career. If you decide to go out on your own, switch brokerages, or go for a different property management position, you can do that with no penalty.

5. Find the Right Property Management Software

Whether working for a brokerage or independently, having the right software is essential for growing your real estate business. Many property management tools offer features for everything from marketing to lead management to accounting.

For example, TenantCloud includes tenant screening, rent collection tools, communication portals for maintenance and communication, and easy-to-read marketing and financial tracking reports. It may be the all-in-one tool you need to be a successful property manager.

6. Stay Up to Date

The best way to flourish in the property management industry is to stay educated about industry trends, regulations, and best practices and to continually improve your skills. There are plenty of resources for property managers, like networking events, seminars, and continuing education courses. Plus, taking courses and earning certifications is a great way to stand out and increase your success and earnings even if you stay at the same company.

You might also consider joining a local professional organization for property managers, such as the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM) or the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM). These organizations will give you access to training, resources, and networking opportunities to help you grow in the business. 

Bringing It All Together

Overall, learning how to become a property manager is doable for anyone interested in real estate and willing to put in the time and effort. It’s a great career that can help you learn more about the industry and provide consistency for aspiring real estate agents.

The post How to Become a Property Manager in 6 Easy Steps appeared first on The Close.