Getting real estate leads through contractors

The increasing number of Realtors in a single location has made realtors turn to better and more creative ways of looking for real estate leads. You can do a house to house survey of the members of your community, or you can advertise in the local dailies for real estate leads. However, you can be more creative and get friendly with the neighborhood contractors.
Contractors usually know who among your neighbors are planning to buy or sell real estate property. It is their business to snoop around and determine who are likely to avail of their services. In the same manner, it is also your business to find sources that can snoop around for you and get you your real estate leads.
People who are planning to buy real estate property will most often consult a contractor regarding the design, materials and possible costs of building or rebuilding a house or any construction work. Thus, contractors are always on the go and are almost often the first ones who are told about real estate buying plans.
Getting the contractors to tell you about possible leads would be easy, if you maintain regular contacts with them. If you are already friendly with them, then getting such information would be an easy job.
And getting contractors to give leads to you does not only mean you have to meet with them personally. After initial meetings, you also have to keep in touch so they would know you are still around and are still interested with the business. Call them often just to say hi, or you can send them emails or fax messages. If you have promotional materials, calling cards and brochures, then better give them as well because they might be able to pass it on to possible clients.
Once you have gotten a lead from a contractor and you have gotten the transaction on its way, make sure to thank the contractor for his help. No need to make it appear that the transaction did not push through because you are in the same area of business and such transactions can easily be made known to business insiders.
You can mention the contractor’s name to your real estate buyer who may perhaps be looking for someone to do the construction work for them. This may produce a cycle of the contractor giving you a real estate lead, and you recommending the contractor to your buyer.
A word of caution though. Not all contractors have good reputations so be careful in recommending contractors to your buyers. You might recommend someone with a bad reputation and bad work output that your buyer may later on refuse to give you business because of a bad incident with that contractor.