It’s Freddie Sahhar, co-founder of OSIRS (and for those of you who don’t know me personally know me, I have been selling homes in San Diego for quite some time, before starting OSIRS with Jeff). This weekend, as I was avoiding the storm (don’t laugh, it’s raining in San Diego and any rain is considered a storm to us native San Diegans ?) I was hanging out with some Realtor friends of mine. Some of us have been in the business for a decade and others are much, much greener. 

My friend, Phil, was talking about what he was doing to fill his pipeline for Q1 of 2023 and how much he was spending to provide himself and his team with leads. 

I looked over at one of my buddies, Jake, who is coming into his 3rd year of business and he looked like he had seen a ghost! He is ready to ramp up his business this year and fill his pipeline. But, being newer and not on a team, his budget is smaller.

I knew that most of his budget is already spent on his CRM and his IDX website, which we all no you can’t live without. He certainly didn’t have the $1,000s+, that agents and teams spend per month.

Before Jake could express his anxiety, our colleague Ashley said,

“What about all the ‘Free’ Referral sources, you know, the ones you only pay at closing?”

I won’t bore you with the rest of the story, but through the rest of this conversation I learned that not all agents, even those in business for decades, are aware of all the different types of these “free” i.e. no upfront cost lead sources, we have access to!

Whether you are a Solo Agent, an Agent on a team or you run/own a team, you NEED to be taking advantage of all these different referral lead sources. AND NO, I do not just mean Zillow Flex, I did not even include that on the list as there are so many more, that are easier to get access to! Click on the on the name of each lead source below, for a direct link to their website!

10 referral leads sources to take advantage of in 2023:

1. Agent Pronto

Agent Pronto has buyers and sellers sign up for their service, so they can be matched with the perfect agent for them. You are notified via text message when you are matched with a lead. They typically take 25-35% of the gross referred-side commission.

2. OpCity

Now owned by Realtor.com, OpCity generates leads, nurtures them and sends a notification to a group of local agents, to claim the lead. OpCity takes a 30% referral fee for homes that sell for $150,000 or less and 35% referral fee for homes that sell for more than $150,000. 

3. UpNest  

UpNest prefers agents with a minimum of 3 years and at least 6 transactions in the last 12 months. They offer both buyers and seller, but are a great source of listing lead referrals. Their process involves having you compete for the listing, against a group of other agents that also received the referral. UpNest referral fees can be up to 35%. 

4. Redfin Referral Network

Yes, Redfin is a brokerage that has salaried agents. No, you do not need to hang your license there to take advantage of the Redfin Referral Network. There are parts of the country where Redfin either does not have salaried agents OR they generate more leads than their agents can facilitate. They are looking for agents that have closed a decent amount of transactions (they don’t state a specific number). They charge between a 33-40% referral fee. 

5. FastExpert

FastExpert is a website where agents (even those not getting referrals) can have a profile page. BUT, to be qualified to receive referrals, you must be in the top 5% for transactions, in your local market. They rank agents on their website, based on recent sales, years in the business and customer satisfaction (reviews). FastExpert’s referral fee is 25%. 

6. Rocket Homes 

Rocket Homes is owned by Rocket Mortgage. They focus on providing leads that have stated and verified their timeline, are approved for a mortgage and they only give the lead to ONE agent. Rocket Homes provides support from referral to close, for both the agent and client. They want to see a minimum of 24 months experience working as a full-time agent, with a minimum of at least 8 transactions in the last 12 months and you need to complete their Verified Partner Agent training program.

7. Ojo 

Ojo focuses on both buyer and seller referrals to highly qualified agents. You need a minimum of 3 years of experience and a minimum of 25 transactions in the last 12 months. After the referral, Ojo is looking for the agents to maintain frequent contact with the clients and concierge support team. Their referral fee is 30%. 

8. Estately 

Estately is owned by Anywhere and only partners with a handful of agents in every market. They ask for a minimum of 3 years of experience, but prefer 5+. They may even ask you to send in past client recommendations. Currently their referral fee is not listed, however in the past it has been 30%. 

9. HomeLight

Homelight works as a website where you can customize your profile to highlight your expertise and past sales, in your local market. Homelight touts using a data-driven algorithm to match buyers and sellers with experienced agents; they use stats like your average list-to-sales price percentage, number of transactions over the last 12 months and what your clients will say about you in your reviews. Their referral fee is 25% under $4 million and 30% over $4 million. 

10. Veterans United Realty

Veterans United Realty is an affiliate of Veterans Home Mortgage and they specialize in providing agents with Veteran buyer referrals. The leads are already approved for a VA home loan and will be relocating to your area. Veterans United favors agents that have past experience helping VA buyers and good reviews online. They expect you to reinforce the relationship with the Loan Officer, stay in contact with the clients and regularly update the Realty Coordinator they assign you. 

Take advantage, these leads are “free” upfront!

These 10 referral sources are a great way to build up your pipeline and database, without increasing your upfront expenses. Leads are great. BUT, it is imperative that you are able to facilitate the leads. At the very least you need a website that can send them drip emails with listings and a CRM to manage follow up. Any CRM and any IDX website is better than nothing!

If you feel that your leads are falling through the cracks of your business and systems, OSIRS is here to help.