Articles · for agents and brokers

Where do realtors get most of their leads?

Amber Pember, MBA · business broker and marketing technologist, E² Exits™ (eXp Commercial) · October 2, 2026

Most closed business for established agents comes from people who already know them: past clients, their sphere of influence, and referrals from partners such as lenders, attorneys, and other agents. Online portals, paid leads, and social media account for a smaller share and convert at lower rates. New agents without a sphere lean more on open houses, sign calls, and bought leads until their own referral base exists.

The honest ranking

Past clients and sphere first. Referral partners second: lenders, title reps, attorneys, CPAs, agents in other markets, and business brokers who meet owners with real estate attached. Then geographic or niche farming done consistently for more than a year. Then open houses and sign calls. Then online portals and paid leads, which are real but expensive and slow to convert.

The exact split varies by market and tenure, and anyone quoting a single national percentage is guessing. What does not vary: the warm sources close more often and cost less, and they only work when you stay in touch.

Why agents still buy leads

Because the warm sources require a system and patience, and bought leads require a credit card. A bought lead is a stranger who clicked something. It can work, but each one needs the same twelve touches a warm lead needs, with far lower odds. Agents who buy leads without a follow-up system are paying for names they will contact once.

The source most agents under-work

Referral partners. A lender sees every buyer before you do. A business broker meets owners who will sell a building with the business or buy a house after the exit. An attorney handles estates. One coffee a week with a partner, with a clear agreement about what each of you sends the other, produces more over a year than most ad budgets.

Turning sources into a daily count

Whatever your sources, the question is the same: how many people do you need to reach today to hit the commission you want by July 1? The free tracker walks that back for you, split across direct contact, email, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, and tells you plainly when the goal does not fit a working week. brokeropsai.com/day. Planning math, not a promise.

Your financial goal by July 1st. That tells you your daily count.
Type the commission you want by July 1 and what you take home on one closing. Get today's count, then a text every morning for 30 days. Free. A guide, not a guarantee.
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More: all articles. Questions this answers come from what agents actually search; if yours isn't here, ask it in the Real Estate Broker Launch & Scale Systems group.