TL;DR: Rank lead channels by the hours they take each week, not by how exciting they sound. For most small offices the order is: past clients and your sphere of influence, fast replies to enquiries you already get, your Google Business Profile and reviews, open houses, then paid social ads under the housing rules. New agents start with the sphere and open houses.
A broker-owner with two agents asks the same question every January: where will this year's leads come from? The usual answer is a new tool or a new ad campaign. The better answer usually starts with a list of names already on the office computer, and with the enquiries that arrived last Sunday and were answered on Tuesday.
This article ranks the channels by weekly effort for an office of one to twenty people. It belongs to our real estate agent online marketing guide.
How does a real estate agent get leads?
From three places: people who already know you (past clients, their referrals and your sphere of influence), people who find you online when they research agents, and people who see your listings, signs and open houses. The first group usually costs the least to reach, but it needs steady contact over many years.
The office you run probably looks like most others. NAR's 2025 firm profile found that 81% of US firms have a single office, typically with two full-time licensees (NAR, 2025). That means the same two or three people answer enquiries, list homes, show homes and do the marketing. Every channel competes for the same hours.
Online research has become part of almost every first contact. Zillow's survey found that 36% of sellers now find their agent through online channels, up from 15% in 2018, and 33% of buyers say online research was key to choosing their agent (Zillow Group, 2025). Even a referred client looks you up before calling.
Which lead channels take the least time each week?
The channels that use contacts and enquiries you already have. Answering existing enquiries fast and keeping in touch with past clients take a few hours a week and need almost no money. Content, open houses and paid ads take more hours or more budget, so add them only once the first two run every week.
The hours below are our planning assumptions for a one- or two-agent office, not measured averages. Replace them with your own after a month.
| Rank | Channel | Planning hours per week | Money needed | What it depends on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fast reply to enquiries you already get | 1–2 | None | One inbox for portal, website and phone enquiries |
| 2 | Past clients and sphere of influence | 1–2 | Low (postage, a CRM) | A clean list with closing dates |
| 3 | Google Business Profile and reviews | 1 | None | Asking every closed client for a review |
| 4 | Open houses | 3–4 per event | Low | A listing, your own or a colleague's |
| 5 | Local social media posts | 2–3 | Low | Photos and neighbourhood notes |
| 6 | Direct mail to a farm area | 1–2 plus print time | Medium | A defined set of streets |
| 7 | Paid social or search ads | 1–2 plus budget | Medium to high | A landing page and a fast reply routine |
Ranks 1 and 2 come first because they lose leads you already paid for or earned. Rank 7 comes last not because ads fail, but because an ad lead that waits two days for a reply is money spent twice.
How do you get leads as a new real estate agent?
Start with the people you know and with other agents' listings. A new agent has no past clients, but has a sphere of influence (friends, former colleagues, neighbours) and can host open houses for listings in the office. Both cost hours rather than money, which is usually what a new agent has more of.
Becoming an agent already takes time: every US state requires a licence, usually with prelicensing courses and an exam, and the work often runs into evenings and weekends (BLS). Plan lead work around the showings you will be booked for, not after them.
Example (illustrative, not a real case): a newly licensed agent joins a three-agent office. In week one she writes a list of 120 people she knows, sorts them into "would welcome a note" and "would not", and sends a short personal message to the first group saying she has joined the office and what area she covers. In weeks two to four she hosts two open houses for a colleague's listings and collects visitor names on a sign-in sheet with permission to follow up. Each visitor gets a same-day message with the floor plan and one comparable sale. After a month she has 40 new names in the office CRM and two buyers asking for a buyer representation agreement.
How do you get more leads from online channels?
Make the free channels complete before you pay for any. A full Google Business Profile with recent reviews, a website page per area you cover, and listing pages with good photos and a virtual tour do most of the work. Paid channels then send people to something worth finding.
Google sets real estate rules worth knowing. A property for sale or rent cannot have a Business Profile; a sales office can (Google Business Profile Help). So the profile belongs to the office or to you as an agent, never to a listing.
Reviews decide whether a searcher calls. BrightLocal's 2026 survey (all local business types, US) found that 68% of consumers only use a business rated four stars or more, and 89% expect owners to respond to reviews (BrightLocal, 2026). Ask every closed client for a review in the closing follow-up, and reply to each one in your own words.
When are paid ads worth the hours?
When the free channels already run, when you have a page that converts a visitor into an enquiry, and when someone can reply within the hour. Paid ads for housing also come with targeting limits, so plan the creative around the property and the area rather than around a chosen audience.
On Meta, housing ads run under the housing Special Ad Category: in the US, Canada and Europe the age range is fixed at 18–65+, all genders are included, the location radius is at least 15 miles (15 km), and ZIP code targeting and lookalike audiences are not available (Meta for Developers). Google Ads blocks targeting by age, gender, parental or marital status and ZIP code for housing in the US and Canada (Google Ads Help).
With the audience mostly fixed, the ad itself does the selecting. A specific hook (the street, the view, the floor plan, the walk to the station) reaches the right people within a broad audience. The article on real estate agent Facebook marketing shows formats that do this.
How do you keep new leads from going cold?
Reply fast, personally, and in the channel the person used. Many buyers and sellers hire the first agent they talk to, so a lead answered tomorrow may already have an agent. A short reply with two showing slots and a direct answer to their question is enough for the first contact.
Zillow's survey found that 47% of buyers and 59% of sellers hired the first agent they spoke with (Zillow Group, 2025). Speed needs a system, and small offices often lack one: in one-office firms only 23% provide or encourage a CRM, against 45% in firms with four or more offices (NAR, 2025).
A four-week start for a small office:
- Week 1: route every enquiry source (portal, website, phone, social) into one inbox or CRM, and agree who replies on evenings and weekends.
- Week 2: clean the past-client list and add closing dates; send one useful local market note.
- Week 3: ask the last ten closed clients for a Google review, with the direct link.
- Week 4: plan the next open house and the follow-up message for its visitors.
The follow-up itself is covered in follow-up emails after a showing or inquiry, and the hours fit into a marketing plan for a real estate agent. For the full picture, go back to the online marketing guide.
If you do move to paid ads and want hooks and formats built from your clients' own words, we are building the Ad Creative Hooks and Formats Pack. Get notified when it launches.
FAQ
What is the lowest-cost way to get leads as a real estate agent?
Usually the contacts and enquiries you already have. Answering every existing enquiry quickly and keeping in touch with past clients and your sphere of influence cost hours rather than money. Add a complete Google Business Profile and a review request after every closing before you spend on ads, because paid leads need the same fast follow-up to be worth anything.
How many hours a week should an agent spend on lead generation?
There is no reliable published figure, so start from your own calendar. Block the hours you can protect from showings and listing appointments, put the first hours into replying to enquiries and past-client contact, and add a new channel only when those run every week. Review the split after a month and move hours to what produced conversations.
Can I target first-time buyers with Facebook ads?
Not by age or other personal traits. Housing ads on Meta run under the housing Special Ad Category, which fixes the age range at 18 to 65 and older, includes all genders and does not allow ZIP code targeting or lookalike audiences. Write the ad about what a first home buyer looks for, such as price, floor plan and transport.
Should a new agent buy leads from a portal?
Only after the free basics are in place and only if someone can reply within the hour. A bought lead that waits a day costs the same as one answered at once, and many people hire the first agent they speak with. A new agent usually gets more from the sphere of influence and from hosting open houses first.
Sources
- 2025 Profile of Real Estate Firms — NAR Research Group, 2025.
- Zillow report: Online research now shapes how most agent relationships begin — Zillow Group, 2025.
- Real Estate Brokers and Sales Agents, Occupational Outlook Handbook — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026.
- Business eligibility and ownership guidelines — Google Business Profile Help, accessed 2026.
- Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 — BrightLocal, 2026.
- Special Ad Categories — Meta for Developers, accessed 2026.
- Personalized advertising policy — Google Ads Help, accessed 2026.