Being a real estate agent is hard.
You’re constantly trying to find new leads and ways to convert them into customers. You want to know: are you doing it right? Are you getting the most out of your efforts? How can you make your efforts more efficient?
So now you’re looking for the latest statistics on real estate lead conversion. You know that knowing the numbers is important, but you don’t have time to sift through dozens of different sources and make sense of them all.
You’re not alone. It’s tough to get a handle on what’s happening in your industry right now, and it’s even tougher to know where to look for answers. But we’ve got you covered!
We’ve compiled a list of real estate lead conversion statistics that will help you answer questions like:
- What are the best practices for converting real estate leads?
- How do people find your website?
- What percentage of leads convert at different stages of the funnel?
We’ve made sure that all the information in this guide is up-to-date and relevant so that you can be confident in your decision-making process based on our numbers alone! And if you want even more, we’ve included links to the sources so you can dig deeper into each stat.
Lead Conversion Statistics in the Real Estate Industry (Editor’s Picks)
- The average lead conversion rate in real estate is 0.4% to 1.2%.
- More than 85% of leads who will respond will do so after the sixth follow-up attempt.
- On average, online real estate leads take up to 6 to 24 months to convert.
- On average, a lead requires 8 to 12 touches before being ready to transact.
- Calling expired property listings typically has a conversion rate of 1% to 3%.
- Email advertising in real estate converts 1.4% of leads.
- Roughly 2% of door-knocking leads convert to a new client.
General Real Estate Lead Conversion Statistics
1. The average lead conversion rate in real estate is 0.4% to 1.2%.
(NAR)
This means that for every 200 leads realtors have, only one or two turn into clients. However, some brokers and agents are optimistic, reporting a lead conversion rate of 3% to 5%.
If this keeps you up at night, there are various methods you can employ to improve your lead conversion rate, which include:
- automating responses to inquiries
- following up with leads
- asking for their preferred form of communication.
2. On average, the incubation period for online real estate leads is 6 to 24 months.
(BoomTown!)
Compared to other types of leads sourced from other platforms, online leads in real estate take longer to convert. This is because most of these leads belong to the top of the sales funnel, so they’re likely just beginning their search for a home and could be months away from transacting with real estate brokers and agents.
So, don’t feel discouraged or frustrated if the leads you got online are taking a while to turn into paying clients.
3. The average real estate lead requires 8 to 12 interactions with a sales agent before that person is ready to transact.
(Stuccco)
A home is a purchase that buyers don’t take lightly. They need to think things over and over again, and most potential homebuyers require a lot of time before they’re even ready to transact with a broker or real estate agent.
That’s why it’s important to touch base with your leads from time to time to see how they’re doing and check if they’re ready to take the next step in purchasing a home.
4. Home buyers typically look at a median of 8 homes before making a purchase.
(Top Producer)
Before purchasing a home, there are a lot of things that buyers consider, so it’s only understandable that it would take a while before they make their purchase. That said, the average buyer searches for a house for eight weeks and looks at a median of 8 homes before buying one.
5. Of the 8 houses the average home buyer looks at, 3 are viewed online.
(House Digest)
Technology plays a huge role when it comes to buying a home. Real estate agents can now make use of photos, videos, and virtual tours to show a home. That said, 95% of home buyers searched for homes on the internet, and 51% found a home to purchase through online channels.
Statistics on Increasing Real Estate Lead Conversion
6. 90% of clients prefer to communicate over text.
(Top Producer)
When left to choose between calls, text messages, and emails, 9 out of 10 clients prefer to keep in touch via text message. That said, text messages have a 98% open rate, so it’s probably best to listen to pay attention to your client’s preference.
7. 41% of home sellers search for an agent through referrals from a friend.
(Stuccco)
With the advent of digital marketing and the internet, people still look for real estate agents the traditional way—through a referral from a friend. It has been this way for many years now, and it doesn’t look like this will stop being the number one source of real estate leads.
As such, you can touch base with previous clients and make sure they know that you’re available to help if they have friends or family who need your services.
8. The qualification rate of new leads drops by at least 10 times if realtors respond after five minutes.
(Smart Alto)
To increase your lead conversion rate, you need to reply to the inquiries of new leads within five minutes because qualification rates decrease significantly after five minutes and increasingly decrease over time. One thing you can do to expedite responses is to automate them.
9. More than 85% of leads who will respond will do so after the sixth follow-up attempt.
(Smart Alto)
Additionally, only about 40% of your leads that will respond will do so in the first follow-up attempt. So, what’s the lesson here? You can’t really consider your leads to be dead unless you’ve followed up at least six times.
You may not want to seem pushy or needy, so you avoid following up, but you can follow up with your leads tastefully. For example, allow some time before following up because your lead may just be busy.
10. About three out of four (73%) home buyers interview only one real estate agent.
(Top Producer)
On the other hand, 82% of sellers reach out to only one agent. Most potential clients are likely to work with the first agent they meet, so you can capture more potential clients by responding to every lead right away when they send you an inquiry. You can do this through automated responses.
Conversion Rates of Various Real Estate Prospecting Methods
11. Calling expired property listings typically has a conversion rate of 1% to 3%.
(Hacking Real Estate Marketing)
When calling expired property listings, you call homeowners who weren’t able to sell their houses. However, they still need to.
If the homeowner previously asked for the help of a real estate agent to sell their home, you’re going to have to convince them that you’ll do a better job than the previous agent they hired.
This prospecting method is similar to cold calling.
12. Organic searches yield an average conversion rate of 3.2% in real estate.
(Ruler Analytics)
Organic searches are unpaid results in a search engine after entering a query. Organic searches have a higher conversion rate than paid searches, such as pay-per-click advertising.
For leads you get organically from social media platforms, the average conversion rate is 0.9%.
13. The average real estate lead conversion rate for paid searches is 1.5%.
(Ruler Analytics)
PPC, or pay-per-click advertising, is a digital marketing method where the advertiser (in this case, you) pays a certain amount for every click the ad gets. This means you buy the traffic that goes into your site. If you choose to put up paid ads on social media platforms, the average conversion rate is 0.7%.
14. Real estate direct mailing yields a conversion rate of 1.8%.
(Ruler Analytics)
This type of prospecting includes sending prospecting letters to houses in your neighborhood. In these letters, you can include a comparative market analysis to entice homeowners to sell their homes for a hefty profit. You can also simply send letters or postcards to market your real estate services.
15. Email advertising generates a 1.4% conversion rate for real-estate leads.
(Ruler Analytics)
Before sending out emails for real estate marketing, you have to get the consent of the recipients. You can do this by providing an option to sign in.
For example, if you have a website, you can dedicate a space where they could sign up for your newsletter. Typically, you need 33 visitors to your website before you can get one lead for email newsletters.
16. Referrals convert an average of 1.3% of real estate leads.
(Ruler Analytics)
Although it’s not as good as organic searches, referrals are a good source of leads because the conversion rate is on par with paid searches and email advertising. Referrals make sense because the source of the referral can already vouch for you because they were satisfied with the service you provided.
17. Real estate direct mailing yields a conversion rate of 6.6%.
(Hacking Real Estate Marketing)
This type of prospecting includes sending prospecting letters to houses in your neighborhood. In these letters, you can include a comparative market analysis to entice homeowners to sell their homes for a hefty profit.
You can also simply send letters or postcards to market your real estate services.
Statistics About Door Knocking in Real Estate
18. The response rate for door knocking in real estate is 33% if you knock during evenings and Saturday mornings.
(Agents on Fire Publications)
On the other hand, the response rate drops to only 20% if you knock during mid-day on weekdays. Of course, people would likely not be at home during mid-day since they’d either be at work or in school.
Realtors who plan on doing door-knocking should be aversed with this statistic so they can save time and money.
19. Roughly 2% of door-knocking leads convert to a new client.
(Inalign)
This means that for every 100 houses you knock on, two will likely become new customers—and they likely happen during the initial meeting. No wonder real estate agents utilize this sales method.
20. Leaving door hangers when you get no response can generate a callback rate of 0.5%.
(Hacking Real Estate Marketing)
If no one answers the door, it’s best that you leave a door hanger on their door. This is probably one of the best resources to invest in if you start door-knocking.
For every 200 door hangers that you leave, you’ll likely get one callback. That translates to a 0.5% response rate.
Related Questions (FAQs)
What is the average conversion rate for realtors?
Most real estate brokers and agents report a lead conversion rate of 3% to 5%. However, this could be a tad optimistic, as the National Association of Realtors reports this rate to be 0.4% to 1.2%. For every 200 leads, realtors can covert one or two clients.
What are real estate leads?
Generally speaking, leads are people who may want to do business with you. In real estate, these are people looking for a property to buy. It is a realtor’s job to look for these people, find out what they need, and give them a sales pitch.
How do you convert real estate leads into sales?
Getting leads is the first step to making a sale in real estate. To convert your leads, you have to understand the needs of each client and follow up with potential clients. Maintain their interest by meeting up, following up, and responding to their inquiries right away.
How long does it take to convert online real estate leads?
On average, it takes about 6 to 24 months for online real estate leads to convert into sales. So, if you’re frustrated because your leads don’t seem to be converting, you can rest easy; it is typically a long process.
Why do some real estate leads convert better than others?
The conversion rate of a lead is measured according to where is in the lead funnel—a lead’s journey from acquisition to activation. Leads close to being activated as a seller or a buyer have the highest conversion rate. Another factor is how realtors nurture their relationships with their leads.
What are the best ways to improve your real estate lead conversion?
There is a lot of competition in the market. You can beat other real estate agents by being systematic and fast. You can automate responses to your leads when they send an inquiry. You should also know your lead’s preferred form of communication; more than 90% prefer texting.
Conclusion
If you’ve read this far, thank you!
We’re so glad you took the time to get a better understanding of the best ways to convert real estate leads into clients. It is how crucial to have a plan of action in place for converting your leads into clients, or at least for tracking the results of your efforts.
So there you have it. We hope this list of stats has helped you in your search for the latest information on real estate lead conversion.
If you have any questions or would like to share some statistics, feel free to reach out! We’re always looking for new data to add, so if you know of any that we missed, please let us know by contacting us.
Now go out there and make things happen!
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