Real Estate Lead Nurturing: Understanding the Home Buyer’s Journey

In a perfect world, the process of guiding a potential client through a new home purchase goes something like this: You capture a real estate lead through your website or a referral. You make contact with them within 5 minutes (like always) and you qualify them as an opportunity. You set up a few showings and within 30 days you have something under contract.

Unfortunately, it's usually not that fluid. Most of the time, you have to put much more time and effort into nurturing a relationship with a potential home buyer before they convert. And the needs of today's home buyers are changing. It's more important than ever to understand your client's journey to buying a home.

The home buying journey takes around 11-27 months. Your lead nurturing plan could span several months — even years — so it's important to build a foundation for a long-term relationship. Here are the different stages of a real estate lead lifecycle and what you should know about nurturing leads the at the right time and in the right way to maximize your pipeline ROI.

Consideration (2+ years before closing)

At this stage, home buyers are thinking: What type of home do I want? What areas do I want to consider? Is now a good time to buy? Leads in this stage are just thinking about buying and have likely not actively pursued an agent. Your first contact should be an introduction, letting them know you're available to answer questions without pressuring them to make a decision. Let them browse, but make yourself known. Remember, the first agent to make contact with a real estate lead is 238% more likely to convert.