How to Get Listings in Real Estate: A 25-Year Agent’s System

Most agents do not struggle because they lack leads. They struggle because they cannot keep their marketing consistent, prospecting hard for two weeks, landing a deal, then going quiet until the pipeline dries up and the scramble starts again.

Carolyn, an associate broker who has sold real estate in greater Philadelphia for nearly 25 years, learned how to get listings in real estate by building her business on the opposite habit. She grew from 12 to 16 transactions a year up to 20 to 30 a year by doing the same handful of things every single month. Her advice is refreshingly blunt: “It’s the consistency of the marketing and the staying in front of people. That’s really what it comes down to at the end of the day.”

This guide breaks down how she does it, and how you can build the same kind of listing machine.

Co-authored by the REDX Publishing Team and:

Carolyn Prante

Carolyn Prante is is an associate broker with more than 25 years of experience building a successful real estate business. She has grown her business with referrals, consistent marketing and a commitment to staying involved in her community.

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How Do Real Estate Agents Get Listings?

Agents get listings by combining accurate homeowner data with marketing they run on a schedule, then following up until a seller is ready to talk. The lead source matters less than the rhythm behind it, which is the part most agents miss.

Carolyn frames her own day around that rhythm. Her first couple of hours are pure marketing strategy. After that, she handles the live transactions: inspections, finances, townships. Then she gets in front of people. The marketing block comes first because it is the part that creates next month’s business, and it is the easiest part to skip when you are busy.

The mistake she sees most often is agents treating prospecting like a faucet they turn on only when they need money. “They don’t understand the longevity of our business,” she says. “Don’t rely on just things coming to you.”

What Is Real Estate Prospecting, Really?

Real estate prospecting is the daily work of identifying potential sellers and reaching out to them before they list. It is proactive, not reactive, and it is how you control your income instead of waiting for it.

Prospecting does not have to mean cold calling all day. Carolyn is honest that the phone is not her favorite tool. “Nobody wants to answer their phone these days. I’m one of them,” she admits. So she leans on a mix that fits how people actually communicate now:

• Email follow-up using contact data she has already pulled
• Text messages a few days later: “Hey, did you get that email?”
• Handwritten letters for homeowners who need a personal touch
• Phone calls when the situation calls for a real conversation

The point is that prospecting is a system of touches, not a single channel. “I know they saw my text,” she says. “They didn’t have to answer the phone, but I know they saw my text.”

Which Lead Sources Actually Turn Into Listings?

The most reliable listings come from a combination of lead types, not one magic source. Carolyn calls her setup “the tripod,” and she credits it for keeping her steady through every market since 2008.

Her three legs are fresh lead data, direct mail, and past-client relationships. When one slows down, the other two carry the business, which is exactly why she built it on three legs instead of betting everything on one. “Something goes wrong here, something comes out of this over here,” she explains.

Fresh Data You Cannot Get From the MLS

Carolyn is direct about why a tool like GeoLeads™ matters: the contact information simply is not available anywhere else.

“People can say, oh well, I can go into the MLS and get these things. You can’t get their phone numbers. You can’t get their email addresses. You can’t know what their mortgage might be or if they’re current.”

She also points out that this data is durable.

“People really aren’t changing their email addresses, and they’re not changing their phone numbers. So it’s evergreen information.”

Pull a neighborhood list once, and you can work it for a long time.

Homeowners Who Actually Need Help

Carolyn’s personal favorite is Pre-Foreclosure Leads, because the work lets her do well by doing good. She spent the 2008 crash helping people stay in their homes, and that purpose still drives her. Roughly 15% of Pre-Foreclosure Leads relist per year, so this niche is both a service to homeowners and a steady source of business that few competitors will touch, according to REDX MLS tracking data.

How Do You Get Listings From a Neighborhood You Farm?

You get listings from a farm by becoming the familiar face in that neighborhood and showing up consistently enough that people remember you when it is time to sell, because repetition is the entire strategy.

Carolyn has farmed the same few neighborhoods for her whole career. “They see your face enough, they remember you.” Her mail is the engine. She uses Every Door Direct Mail for postcards, and over the last two years she has added handwritten letters in nicer envelopes so they actually get opened. She even sponsors a Reading Phillies game so those invitations feel personal.

One open house showed how fast farming can compound. Before the doors opened, she called the surrounding neighbors, using their real contact info, to give them a heads-up and an invitation.

That single listing became “one of the quickest listings that got me repeat business in a neighborhood than anything I’ve ever really done.” If you want a deeper playbook, this guide to real estate farming with REDX walks through the full approach.

What Are the Best Real Estate Lead Generation Ideas for a Slow Market?

In a slow market, the best ideas are the low-cost, high-trust ones you can repeat forever: targeted mail, helpful outreach to homeowners in transition, and staying visible to people who already know you.

Carolyn survived the post-crash years by focusing her marketing on life events that force a move. She calls them the five Ds:

1. Diapers (a growing family needs more space)
2. Death (an estate or inherited home)
3. Divorce (a household splitting up)
4. Diversity of jobs (a new position or career change)
5. Drive time (a commute that no longer works)

These triggers exist in every market, up or down, and the agent who is already in front of those homeowners is the one who gets the call when life forces a move.

How Do Past Clients and Referrals Generate Listings?

Past clients and referrals are the highest-converting source you have. According to REDX internal data, your sphere of influence turns into listings at roughly 3% to 5%, far above the 1% to 2% you see from cold internet leads.

Carolyn calls this the most important leg of her tripod, and the math backs her up. Sellers are also the more efficient side of the business: the average seller deal takes about 7 working hours versus 29 hours for a buyer deal, according to Redfin.

The catch is that referrals do not run on autopilot. Her coach warned her years ago that if a past client sees another agent’s video before they see her face, that client might call the other agent. So she treats social media as ongoing maintenance for relationships she already has. A teammate of hers put it well: social media is your “living resume,” full of past clients leaving the kind of positive comments that work as social proof.

Why Do So Many Agents Quit Prospecting Too Early?

Agents quit because they mistake a few good months for a permanent career. They sell a couple of houses, ease off the marketing, and then disappear when the pipeline empties.

Carolyn’s take is characteristically direct: “They get too big for their britches too quick.” Her fix is not motivation, it is structure. She has kept the same coach since her second year in the business specifically because someone needs to hold her accountable to the work when the sun is out and the pool is calling.

Her best prospecting advice fits on a sticky note: “Just do it. It doesn’t have to be the favorite part of your business, but just do it, and then have fun with it.”

How to Get Listings in Real Estate: Your Starter Checklist

If you want to put this approach to getting listings in real estate to work, start with these five steps. None of them require a bigger budget, just a commitment to repeat them.

1. Block your first two hours for marketing before transactions eat the day.
2. Pick two or three neighborhoods to farm and commit to mailing them on a fixed schedule.
3. Pull accurate homeowner data so your outreach reaches real sellers, not dead ends.
4. Build a follow-up rhythm across mail, text, and email so no lead goes cold.
5. Schedule monthly touches to past clients, because that 3% to 5% is some of the easiest business you can earn.

The agents who keep getting listings are not the most talented or the loudest. They are the ones who, like Carolyn, still mail the postcard and make the call in month 300 of their career, because the system only works if it never stops.