I went to college so I wouldn’t have to dig ditches anymore, but then I got into real estate because I couldn’t get a good job with my degree. I got licensed to sell oceanfront condos in Myrtle Beach, then started working with buyers. You know the roller coaster – one month I’d sell a few properties and then I wouldn’t sell anything for the next two. I knew what I was doing wasn’t working well, so I kept my eyes open, looking for something new.

I joined a new office and met a guy who listed tons of properties. I followed him out the door one day and asked him what he was doing differently. He told me three things: 1) he had a coach, 2) he prospected every day to generate new business, and 3) he had a consistent amount of leads to prospect. I was sitting around waiting for something good to happen, and he was out making good things happen. While I spent 3-4 hours a day combing through classifieds to find people to call, he spent 3-4 hours a day on the phone actually talking to people.

He had a highly predictable business because he knew all his metrics. He knew how many calls, contacts, appointments, and contracts he needed to get a sale. He told me, “If you have 50 buyers, you can’t show them all a property this week. But if you have 50 listings, they could all get shown today.” So I started building my business around that. I got a schedule, went out on a limb, hired a coach, and started prospecting REDX leads every day. That led to where I am today. Back then REDX only did Expireds, but now they have all sorts of leads to call.

One of my favorites from REDX is their For Rent By Owner Leads. These absentee-owner leads are great because I find many owners unsuccessfully trying to rent out their properties. That means they’re paying a mortgage on an empty rental. Talk about a stressful money hole! So I approach them to see if they’d be interested in selling the house and cashing out. If they’re interested I set an appointment, and if they want to keep the property I follow up every week or so to see if it’s still vacant. Because most prospectors are just focused on Expireds and FSBOs, these leads generally haven’t talked with a bunch of other agents by the time you talk with them.