How to Navigate Real Estate Lead Pipelines

You’ve launched your marketing campaigns to start attracting inbound real estate leads, and they’ve started flowing in! 

Now what?

Follow this workflow to manage your real estate leads through a systematized pipeline. 

1. Call the Lead, Set a Path

When a lead first comes in, you want to call the property owner back as soon as possible. 

If you reach them, you can move on to the next step. But if not, you want to start them on an automated drip campaign. 

That campaign might start with assigning the human task of trying the seller back at regular intervals. If each call attempt fails, it might then proceed to an automated series of direct mail outreach, emails, and possibly ringless voicemail or SMS campaigns. 

2. Determine Live or Dead Lead

Once you connect with the seller, you can discuss their intentions. Do they actually want to sell? 

If so, great, you can proceed with some simple due diligence. Get the property address, and ask the owner about any existing mortgage balances and liens. 

If they don’t want to sell right now, get a sense for whether they’re open to selling some time in the future. You could put them on a long-term drip campaign, to occasionally follow up to see if they’d like to sell. 

Or you can mark the lead as dead in REsimpli’s CRM platform, and stop devoting resources to it. 

Note that you may still be able to refer the lead to some other service provider, perhaps for a fee. For example, you might refer a distressed seller in foreclosure to a bankruptcy attorney, if they want to stay in their home rather than sell it. 

3. Run Comps

If you have a live lead, it’s time to look up comparable property sales (comps) on Zillow or other market research platforms. 

What’s the property worth in prime condition? How confident are you in the range of values? 

Get a sense for the property’s value, which you can refine later after seeing the property in person. 

4. Determine Equity

You already asked the owner about their mortgage balances and any other liens against the property. And you’ve now estimated the property value. 

Is there enough equity in the property to make it worth pursuing further? 

If the owner owes $250,000 and the property is worth $255,000, there’s probably not enough meat on the bone to leave you many options. Consider referring them to a real estate agent, attorney, or other service provider who may be able to help. 

If the owner only owes $150,000 on that same property, that changes matters. You may have a truly live lead on your hands.

5. Deeper Lead Qualification

Pick up the phone and call the owner back to dig deeper. 

Start by asking why they want to sell, if they didn’t already tell you the first time around. Get a sense for their urgency: when do they want to sell? Do they have a sell-by date written in stone, such as a foreclosure date? 

Then start asking for details about the property’s condition. How old is each mechanical system? How old is the roof? When was the property last updated?

From there, you can ask how much they’re hoping to walk away with. It may or may not be a realistic figure — you don’t need to respond with any commentary right now. You can make your own offer later if all else checks out. 

Finally, ask about any other factors impacting their situation. Are they going through a divorce? Did they inherit the property along with several other siblings, each of whom has a different vision for the property? Get as much information as you can. 

6. Set an Appointment — Or Not

If you still think you could potentially put the property under contract, schedule an appointment. The sooner the better, to avoid competitors swooping in and snatching the deal out from under you.

If the property owner isn’t quite ready to sell now, but may be open to selling in the future, put them on a long-term drip campaign. You can follow up with them every few months to see if they’re ready to sell yet. You’d be surprised how often owners reach out years after you first met with them, to let you know they’re finally ready to sell.

You can also mark the deal dead of course, if it just won’t work out. 

Final Thoughts

Speed matters in closing real estate leads. Get back to leads as soon as you possibly can, schedule appointments immediately, and start planning for a potential settlement. 

Consider using a system like REsimpli’s Speed to Lead to respond to leads within seconds, not minutes or hours. The best deals come from the most urgent, motivated sellers, who need to move at lightning speed.