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9 best places to buy real estate leads in 2024 by Megan DeMatteo for HousingWire

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Let’s face it—a healthy pipeline of leads is the lifeblood of any successful real estate business. Buying real estate leads is one of the fastest, most cost-effective ways to build a new business or breathe life into a long-established one. If you’re looking to expand your client list quickly, buying real estate leads is the fast track you need. Some providers on our list even offer a guaranteed monthly volume of exclusive leads.

In this article, we’ll show you how and where to buy real estate leads based on our in-depth evaluation of dozens of providers. As experienced agents, we’ve spent money on high-quality, exclusive leads — and we’ve wasted money on cold leads that didn’t pan out. We want you to learn from our experience, costly mistakes and extensive research. We considered lead quality and exclusivity, affordability, ROI, practicality and ease of use. Let’s get started!

Best places to buy real estate leads in 2024

There’s not a single solution for every agent, but rather, a lead source that’s best suited to you and your unique needs. We compiled our findings to give you insight into how to buy leads for real estate in a way that works best for you, your business and your personal strengths.

Overview: The best places to buy real estate leads in 2024

Exclusive leads for solo agents

Market Leader

Jump to details ↓

From $189 / month + $15-$50/lead

VIEW

Lead nurturing and conversion

Zurple

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From $149 / month + $10-$50/lead

VIEW

Exclusive seller leads + no contract

Offrs

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From $399 / month

VIEW

Inherited property leads

CatalyzeAI

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$180 – $240 / month for 30 leads

VIEW

Buyer leads

Zillow

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$300 – $1,000+ / month + lead costs

VIEW

Targeted geo-farming leads

SmartZip

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Set up fee $396, $99 / month + lead costs

VIEW

Pre-qualified seller leads

Sold.com

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Set up is free; you pay referral fees

VIEW

End-to-end lead generation and nurturing

CINC

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From $899 / month for solo agents

VIEW

FSBO and Expired leads

REDX

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A la carte w/ lead packages from $50

VIEW

Overview: The best places to buy real estate leads in 2024

Exclusive leads for solo agents

Market Leader

$$$ / month

SEE IT

Jump to details ↓

Lead nurturing and conversion

Zurple

$$$ / month

SEE IT

Jump to details ↓

Exclusive seller leads + no contract

Offrs

$$$ / month

SEE IT

Jump to details ↓

Inherited property leads

CatalyzeAI

$$$ / month

SEE IT

Jump to details ↓

Buyer leads

Zillow

$$$ / month

SEE IT

Jump to details ↓

Targeted geo-farming leads

SmartZip

$$$ / month

SEE IT

Jump to details ↓

Pre-qualified seller leads

Sold.com

$$$ / month

SEE IT

Jump to details ↓

End-to-end lead generation and nurturing

CINC

$$$ / month

SEE IT

Jump to details ↓

Easy-access FSBO and Expired leads

REDX

$$$ / month

SEE IT

Jump to details ↓

Market Leader: Exclusive leads for solo agents

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5






Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Market Leader has a reputation for being an OG tool suite for real estate marketing. It dishes everything from email and SMS marketing to effective lead capture forms and an integrated CRM system. Market Leader’s in-house ad experts help generate exclusive real estate leads through social media and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.

Market Leader’s all-in-one system offers a comprehensive real estate lead generation solution, including a lead-generating website, CRM, and marketing automation. Market Leader focuses on nurturing leads for long-term client relationships, so it’s great for a solo agent just starting to build their email list.

Pricing

Solo agents: $189 per month + approx. $15-$40 per lead each month based on your location. You’ll get the Market Leader software suite, which includes a CRM, marketing automation, email, text, and the mobile app.

Teams: Call for pricing

Pros & Cons

Lead exclusivity

Built-in lead management CRM

Email and SMS marketing services

Lead capture forms

Guaranteed number of leads per month

Minimum six-month contract

No trial period

Limited analytics

Limited features compared to competitors

No built-in dialer

Limited customization

What We Love

The best thing about Market Leader is that they guarantee exclusive leads are delivered to you each month. Market Leader takes the reins, generating the leads and delivering them directly to your CRM each month without you lifting a finger. And they do it at a price even a relatively new agent can afford. You can even opt-in for Market Leader’s social media ad program to generate top-of-the-funnel leads and let the automation keep you top-of-mind until those leads are ready.

Check out Market Leader

Market Leader Review

Zurple: Lead nurturing and conversion

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5






Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Have you ever wanted an assistant to help you keep track of your email workflow and leads? Zurple is the assistant you’ve been looking for. It’sn a real estate lead generation and nurturing software that focuses on personalized communication and behavioral analytics.

While Zurple’s expensive setup fee and contract terms may not be ideal for all agents, Zurple’s emphasis on lead quality, lead prioritization, and automated nurturing campaigns make it suitable for real estate professionals aiming to streamline the efficacy of their email marketing efforts. Customer reviews highlight the platform’s unique engagement and analytics features, which facilitate more effective lead nurturing and conversions. However, limited customer support and the absence of SMS marketing capabilities may not meet the needs of larger teams or agents looking for extensive customization options.

Pricing

$799 setup fee + $149 / month + $10-$50/lead

Pros & Cons

Advanced behavior-driven tool for personalized and targeted email and SMS follow-up

Hot Behaviors feature notifies you when leads are ready for follow-up

Highly-qualified exclusive leads

Done-for-you PPC ads

Excellent analytics

Easy-to-use platform

Minimum six-month contract + steep setup fee required

No trial period

Limited integrations with other systems

Customer service limited to email only

What We Love

Zurple has one of the most impressive lead gen and nurturing systems out there. You get the benefit of having marketing pros place ads for you, generate and capture leads from those ads, and then have a powerful behavior-based lead nurturing system warm those leads until they’re ready to take action. Sure, these leads can be on the expensive side once you factor in the steep setup fee, but the quality of the leads is so high that the investment easily pays for itself each month.

Check out Zurple

Zurple Review

Offrs: Exclusive seller leads + no contract

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5






Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

If you’re looking to get more listings, Offrs is a great lead source. Offrs has honed its AI-powered predictive analytics tool for over a decade. Algorithms improve their accuracy with each successful property sale. Offrs can help you find the most promising sellers based on hundreds of data points. You can purchase exclusive leads with no contract.

Pricing

From $399 per month; buyer leads around $12, seller leads range from $13 to $17 (varies by zip code)

Pros & Cons

High degree of accuracy in predicting sellers

No contract required

Excellent customer service

Exclusive leads

Automated email marketing

Free marketing plan

RAIA A.I. lead nurturing system

No free trial

Lack of CRM integration tools

Leads are not exclusive at lower tiers

Long nurture period

Lacks long-term nurturing tools for leads

What We Love

Their latest AI feature, RAIA, is an automated chatbot that can help qualify and nurture your inbound leads, letting you deal with only the most qualified ones who are ready to sell and who have answered a series of relevant questions like “When are you thinking of listing your home?” and “What’s your expected listing price?” Licensed real estate agents trained RAIA to interact with your leads so the conversations come across as natural and organic. It’s like having your own personal inside sales assistant 24/7.

Check out Offrs

Offrs Review

Catalyze AI: Inherited property leads

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5






Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Catalyze AI is an innovative platform that leverages big data, predictive analytics and real-time insights to identify and target inheritance leads with a high probability of selling their property. Catalyze AI’s competitive edge lies in its lead quality and accuracy.

Pricing

30 Property Leads (less than $1MM) $180/month

30 Property Leads (over $1MM) $240/month

Pros & Cons

Straightforward pricing model

No contract or commitment required

Highly motivated seller leads

Easy-to-use dashboard

Lacks marketing tools

Requires good follow-up and conversion skills

Large 50-mile radius may be more than a solo agent can handle

What We Love

Catalyze AI’s ability to predict property sales with 40% precision within a 50-mile radius makes it a compelling choice for agents looking to optimize their listing lead generation efforts. By leveraging data for intelligent lead targeting, it can help you identify and target the highest-converting real estate leads, saving you time and marketing dollars and increasing conversion rates. The platform provides exclusive leads, although its availability may be limited in some markets.

Check out Catalyze AI

Zillow: Buyer leads

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5






Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Whether you love or hate Zillow, they’re still the biggest game in town when it comes to buyers. Zillow continues to dominate as the most searched real estate platform. Zillow Premier Agent can help you get in front of the millions of potential buyers and sellers who use it daily.

The program is designed to help agents connect with buyers, improve their brand recognition, and convert leads into clients. As a Zillow Premier Agent, your display ads appear next to listings in your chosen ZIP codes. Many Zillow users are actively seeking both a property to purchase AND an agent to represent them. Unlike generic Facebook or Google ads, the leads you’ll get from Zillow are further along in their buying journey.

Note that costs vary, and leads are shared among agents who share your zip code. This makes Zillow Premier Agent a better fit for brokerages with a substantial marketing budget (and even better follow-up skills) looking to earn some good reviews.

Pricing

Price per lead: Zillow Premier Agent costs can range from $20–$60 per lead 

Average cost: $300–$500 per month in non-metro areas, $1,000+ per month in metro areas

Pros & Cons

Ready-to-buy leads — users actively search Zillow for real estate when they are most likely to convert into clients

Lots of tools for agents

Built-in CRM

Easily integrates with other platforms

Targeted advertising to your leads

Not exclusive leads

Leads are expensive, more than many other platforms per lead

CRM is very basic and lacks functionality

Customer service is limited

Six-month minimum contract required

What We Love

Zillow Premier Agent is a powerful tool for real estate professionals looking to boost their online presence — as long as you know how to use it to your advantage. Beyond lead generation, Zillow Premier Agent offers a suite of tools, including a CRM with a mobile app, analytics to measure your results an ROI calculator and more. It’s an excellent way to increase exposure and steadily grow your lead volume, connecting you with Zillow’s partners like Trulia, Streeteasy and RealEstate.com.

Check out Zillow Premier Agent

Zillow Premier Agent Review

SmartZip: Targeted geo-farming leads

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5






Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

SmartZip uses predictive analytics, big data, and a scoring system to predict potential sellers likely to move within the next 18 months. It aggregates data from more than 25 sources and uses its predictive analytics to determine the homeowners most likely to move, maintaining a 72% accuracy in its predictions.

Pricing

Pricing for SmartZip can be customized to fit your budget. Whether you’re a solo agent or a growing team, you can choose the number of leads that will work best from 350 to more than 7,000 per month. The average cost per lead (CPL) is $0.35, plus a one-time setup fee of $396 and a monthly platform fee of $99. Add-ons include social media ads, print mailers and handwritten notes. Many agents report an average monthly spend of over $1,000 on qualified leads.

Pros & Cons

Designed to be hands-off for agents

SmartTargeting product provides targeted automated marketing

High degree of accuracy in predicting sellers

Customizable plans to fit your budget

Easy-to-use CRM platform built-in

Long nurturing time

Not exclusive leads

No free trial

Long nurture period

Annual contract required

What We Love

SmartZip is a platform designed to make lead generation easy for agents. When combined with its SmartTargeting product, SmartZip can potentially elevate any agent’s game within their specific geographic area. You can choose as few as 350 leads per month to get started and easily scale over time as your business flourishes.

Check out SmartZip

SmartZip Review

Sold.com: Pre-qualified seller leads

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5






Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Sold.com is a pay-at-closing referral lead generation system. It entices would-be sellers by promising a cash offer on their home. When a prospect enters their information into the capture form, they’re matched up with a real estate agent to help them through the home selling process.

For agents, they’re connected with hot seller leads they can work with without any upfront cost. They only pay for the referrals when the deals close.

Pricing

It’s free to set up a profile on SOLD.com. When you accept a referral from Sold.com, you pay a referral fee that will be a percentage of your gross commission.

Pros & Cons

Only pay for leads that close

No contract

Easy to sign up

Both motivated buyer and seller leads

Lack of transparency on referral fees agents will pay

Must be a producing agent to get the best leads

Lacking in customer service

Long nurture time

What We Love

Sold.com is a pay-at-closing real estate lead generation company so agents can take advantage of all the leads, work them for however long it takes, and not have to worry about paying for the leads until they actually get to the closing table. For agents looking for a cost-effective way to get deals, you can’t get much easier than Sold.com.

Check out Sold.com

CINC: End-to-end lead generation and nurturing

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5






Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

CINC is an all-in-one real estate lead generation and nurturing platform focusing on hyperlocal leads. If you want to be the go-to agent in your targeted local area, CINC might be an excellent option for buying real estate leads in your specific location.

Like Zurple and Market Leader, CINC offers agents an end-to-end solution, including optimized IDX websites, a robust CRM, automated follow-up, and lead generation for both buyers and sellers. CINC’s unique angle features agents as the go-to experts in their hyperlocal area with added content, Pay-per-click (PPC) ads, and social media advertising.

Pricing

Unlike other platforms, CINC leads are included in the price. So you’ll always know how much you’re spending each month with no surprises.

Solo agents: Starting at $899 per month

Teams: Starting at $1299 per month

Pros & Cons

All-in-one platform with IDX websites

Dedicated ads account manager

Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot Alex instantly engages fresh leads

Built-in lead capture

Exclusive leads

Automated lead nurturing

Expensive–large investment for newer agents

Chatbot is an add-on cost

Steep learning curve

What We Love

CINC stands out as a powerful all-in-one website, lead generation, and nurturing platform delivering high-quality, hyperlocal leads to agents using the service. When agents sign up for their designated geographic farm area, they instantly look like neighborhood experts thanks to the extensive marketing initiative and content provided on the CINC sites.

Check out CINC

REDX: FSBO and expired leads

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5






Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

REDX is a lead platform that helps you take control of your business.. With REDX, you pay for the type of leads you’re interested in and they’re delivered to your lead management system every time you log in. REDX gives you complete control over your lead supply without a commitment so you can scale your business at a pace you’re comfortable with.

Pricing

Everything is a la carte at REDX, making it easy to scale up your business as your skills grow.

Expired leads: $70 per month

FSBO leads: $50 per month

Pre-foreclosure leads: $50 per month

Power dialer: starting at $59 per month

Pros & Cons

A la carte straightforward pricing

Build lead list quickly and easily

Built-in auto-dialer to speed up your cold-calling efforts

Vortex built-in lead management system

Scripts to help agents convert leads

User-friendly interface

Limited integrations with other platforms

Some data may be incomplete or inaccurate

Leads are cold and take more work to convert

No integration with other CRMs

What We Love

REDX is a straightforward, no B.S., pay-for-what-you-want lead source. And the leads are decent for any agent willing to put in the work to convert them. To be clear, these leads haven’t come through a pipeline or nurtured until they’re warm. These are the leads you need to pick up the phone, make contact, and then put into your pipeline to start the nurturing process. They will take more work to convert, but any agent who has developed those muscles will appreciate the inexpensive lead source and the pipeline they can quickly build.

Check out REDX

Our methodology: How we chose the best places to buy real estate leads

HousingWire is the destination for industry professionals to stay informed and ahead of what’s happening in the constantly evolving U.S. housing market.

When determining which sources for buying real estate leads are best for real estate professionals, HousingWire evaluated dozens of platforms, weighing the pros and cons of each alongside both quantitative and qualitative data like price, special features, ease of use, return on investment, client support, and customer reviews.

We crawled the web so you don’t have to, analyzing a broad sampling of reviews across social media, the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and online discussion forums. Our goal is to arm you with the best place to buy real estate leads, no matter what type of leads you’re looking for.

FAQs: How & where to buy real estate leads

Where do Realtors get most of their leads?

It really depends on the sales style of the real estate agent as to where they get most of their leads. An effective real estate lead generation strategy blends leads from several sources. For example, you can buy real estate leads from one or more platforms alongside traditional strategies like networking, tapping into your sphere of influence, and seeking out referrals. Don’t forget to consider some free lead-generation techniques like social media and YouTube videos.

Is it worth it to buy real estate leads?

The way to determine if buying real estate leads works for you and your business is to evaluate your monthly return on investment. If you spend $500 per month on lead generation but close a couple of transactions each month, chances are your lead generation is working for your business. But it’s also important to scrutinize each lead source to ensure you’re getting the best return from all of your lead generation efforts. For example, if you are getting leads from multiple paid sources, it’s important to keep track of how many leads from each paid source you close so you can decide if your budget could be maximized with a different lead source.

How can I get real estate leads fast?

The fastest way to get real estate leads is to look at who you already know – your sphere of influence. You may already know people who need real estate services, and those people know, like, and trust you. They will be the easiest to convert. After you’ve explored your sphere of influence, you should focus on developing your lead conversion skills. That skill will help you close more deals than any other.

Once you’re strong at converting leads, you might consider a tool like REDX for outbound leads like FSBOs, expired, and pre-foreclosure leads and start calling them to get your business off the ground quickly. Or you can sign up for buyer leads through Zillow Premier Agent to get in front of buyers actively looking for homes.

How much do Realtors spend on leads?

How much real estate professionals spend on buying real estate leads depends on their business level. If you’re just starting out, you don’t want to overspend and get into a financial hole.

It makes a lot of sense to diversify your lead generation to include some free and low-cost options until you get a couple of transactions under your belt. There’s nothing wrong with starting out by sitting open houses, cold-calling FSBOs and expireds, or networking in your community.

Couple that with a solid and consistent social media campaign to get the ball rolling. Once you build enough cash reserves for a bigger marketing budget, you can consider scaling your business with higher-level paid leads.

But you might consider hiring an assistant to help you function at that level. You can scale your business once you get some processes in place to handle the influx of paid leads without letting too many slip through the cracks.

How do new Realtors get leads?

Believe it or not, many Realtors never pay for leads. They rely on referrals and repeat business from their past clients. That will come once you’ve been in the industry for a few years. In the meantime, you’ll most likely start with the people in your orbit you already know. That’s the fastest and easiest way to drum up your first couple of deals.

Think of places you go, things you do, etc. Do you attend church? Do you participate in volunteer work, hobby groups, or social networks? Are you involved in sports or your children’s school. Get in the habit of telling everyone about your career path and encourage questions about the industry to show off your local expertise.

Does Zillow provide seller leads?

Zillow focuses primarily on buyer leads. However, buyers searching for a home on Zillow often have a house they need to list. Savvy agents can capitalize on this and guide their buyers through their big life changes. Your buyer lead on Zillow can also turn into a seller lead and result in a new listing.

Even if your buyers are moving from another area, you can still help them by referring them to an agent in their area that you vet on their behalf.

What is the best company to buy leads from?

This will depend greatly on where you are in your real estate career, your business goals, and your budget. Your skills will also come into play when deciding which company to buy leads from. If you’re excellent at converting people over the phone, you might consider choosing a lead source like REDX, where you are in complete control of your leads. If that’s not your strongest skill, you might consider an all-in-one platform like Zurple or CINC that nurtures your leads for you and hands them over to you when they’re ready to make a decision. The key is to understand your strengths and your shortfalls. Be honest with yourself–if you don’t like cold-calling, you probably don’t want to sign up for a company that requires it.

Is it better to call or text real estate leads?

You should do both! Reach out to your leads via phone call first. Then, follow up with a text letting them know you tried reaching them. Some will call you back. Others will text. Respond to them in the manner they responded to you. Everyone’s communication preferences are different, so if you’re in tune with your lead’s preferences, you’ll make the most of your communications with them.

Are Zillow leads good?

Honestly, yes. Zillow is the single greatest source of hot buyer leads. It’s the most searched database for homes in the U.S. and beyond. If you want to get in front of all those buyers, Zillow is where you need to be. You will get a lot of leads that are not quite ready to buy, but they’re looking ahead and anticipating (and maybe dreaming about) their next move.

Many of the prospecting from Zillow could have a lead time of six to twelve months, so you’ll want to set up an effective (and ideally automated) system to stay in close contact with them. Check out our favorite lead nurturing and marketing tools here.

The secret is not to lose touch with your network of leads. To stay top of mind, it’s a great idea to reach out with a friendly phone call every so often.

How many real estate leads turn into sales?

According to NAR, real estate agents convert at a rate of 0.4% to 1.2%, which isn’t a heartening statistic. But this goes back to what I mentioned earlier about honing your skill set. Get comfortable talking to people about real estate and converting them from someone you know into a potential client. The better you are at having these conversations and converting leads into clients, the higher your conversion rate will be.

Having said that, not all leads are created equal. Some leads will be better qualified from the start, while others, like social media leads, will need a lot more time and effort to convert. Some leads will be easy to turn into clients, ready to make a home-buying decision this week. While others may be looking 12 months out.

You won’t convert all your leads, but aim for one to two out of ten listing appointments and one to two out of 100 top-of-funnel leads (like those from social media) who may need a longer nurturing period. There are immediate pay-offs, and there’s also a long game. Get good at your long game!

How do real estate agents generate leads?

Buying leads can complement traditional lead generation strategies like hosting open houses or first-time homebuyer seminars.

There are so many ways to generate leads — including many free ways. Start by telling your friends, family and former colleagues that you’re embarking on a new career in the real estate industry. Then, make an announcement on all your socials about your new career.

If you’re an experienced agent, remind your friends and followers on social media and in person that you’re open to referrals and looking to help people reach their financial goals.

Raise the topic of real estate in conversations, go to networking events and talk about your market, answer homebuyers’ and sellers’ questions with posts on social media, ask for referrals from people you know or meet.

If you need more great ideas, don’t forget to check out our article on how to generate leads here.

The Full Picture: Where To Buy Real Estate Leads in 2024

Real estate is evolving and if you want to stay ahead of your competition, you need a source for high-quality leads. Relying on a paid real estate leads source can be crucial for your success for the rest of this year and into 2025.

Market Leader, a comprehensive real estate lead generation system, is suitable for solo agents, offering features like email and SMS marketing, lead capture forms and an integrated CRM to manage your leads. It focuses on nurturing leads for long-term client relationships.

For those who want to focus their energy on buyers, Zillow Premier Agent provides major brand recognition and exposure on the Zillow platform while offering tools and resources to connect with buyers and convert leads. Offrs and SmartZip focus on potential home sellers interested in cash offers, and Catalyze AI uses predictive analytics to help agents identify high-probability inherited property leads.

And for personalized email follow-up and task reminders, Zurple is your inside sales assistant with insights into lead behavior analytics. This makes it suitable for agents looking to streamline email marketing efforts. Meanwhile, REDX is an option for individual agents who prefer phone-based outreach and a provider that offers subscription plans, script templates and pre-verified leads.

No matter which source you buy real estate leads from, weighing the pros and cons of paid leads is a must. When it comes to real estate lead generation, make sure to diversify your lead generation methods, and don’t overlook organic methods like referrals and traditional networking. Get out there and meet new potential clients and build relationships, too. The investment in conversations with new people will prove invaluable down the road.

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