How to Get More Real Estate Listings: 9 Proven Strategies

Real estate agents get more listings by staying in touch with homeowners who already know them, working motivated sellers such as expireds and FSBOs, and showing off how well they market the homes they list now. Most sellers pick an agent they know or the first one they speak with, so steady contact with past clients matters more than any single tactic.

Below are nine strategies that work, the data behind them and a weekly plan that fits around a full schedule. They apply whether you are chasing your first listing or trying to double the number you take each year.

How do real estate agents get listings?

Real estate agents get listings mainly from past clients, referrals and sellers who find them online or through their marketing. NAR’s 2026 Member Profile reports that the typical Realtor earned 28% of their 2025 business from repeat clients and another 22% through referrals from past clients. That is half of all business coming from people the agent already served.

The online share is growing. Zillow’s 2025 Consumer Housing Trends Report for agents found that 36% of sellers found their agent through online channels, up from 15% in 2018. The same research found 59% of sellers hired the first agent they spoke with.

Sellers still want an agent. In NAR’s 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 91% of sellers used an agent, and the typical seller had lived in the home for 11 years, an all-time high. Eleven years is a long time to stay memorable. The strategies below are built around that gap.

What are the best ways to get more listings?

The best ways to get more listings are the ones that keep you in front of future sellers before they decide to move. Here are nine, roughly in the order we would start them.

1. Work your past clients and sphere every month

Past clients are your best listing source because they already trust you. Send each one something useful every month: a sale on their street, a home value update on the anniversary of their purchase, or an invitation to a client event. Ask plainly: “Is anyone you know thinking about selling this year?” Our guide to working your sphere of influence shows how to build and tier that list.

2. Help your sellers buy, and your buyers sell

Every seller you represent probably buys next, and many buyers own a home they will sell. Ask early in every relationship about the other side of the move. Keep in touch with buyers after closing too, because they are your sellers in a few years.

3. Call expired and withdrawn listings

Owners of expired and withdrawn listings already wanted to sell. Your pitch should explain what went wrong, such as price, photos or exposure, and what you would do differently. Be specific and kind; they are often frustrated.

4. Help FSBO sellers before they need you

For-sale-by-owner sellers are rarer than ever: the highlights of NAR’s 2025 Profile put FSBO sales at 5% of the total, an all-time low. Offer them something useful with no strings, such as a pricing snapshot or a list of disclosure forms, and check in every couple of weeks. Many of them list with an agent later.

5. Use open houses to meet neighbors

Open houses bring in neighbors who are curious about values. Have a one-page market summary for the neighborhood ready and use a digital sign-in so every visitor goes into your CRM. Follow up within a day with something they asked about.

6. Farm one neighborhood

Pick one neighborhood you know well and show up there consistently: market updates by mail or email, a sale recap after every closing, and local events. Describe the area by its homes, amenities and commute, never by who lives there, to stay within Fair Housing rules.

7. Build your reviews and Google Business Profile

Sellers check you out before they call. Ask every closed client for a review with a direct link or QR code. Google’s review guidelines say reviews “must reflect a genuine experience” and that offering incentives in exchange for reviews is “strictly prohibited.” Our guide to Google reviews for real estate agents covers how to ask.

8. Become the local voice on podcasts and video

A homeowner who has heard you explain the local market for 30 minutes is far more likely to call you than a stranger. Guest on local podcasts, or start with the ICONS of Real Estate Podcast, which is free to guest on. Our guide to local podcast guesting shows how to find shows in your own area and turn each appearance into a local search asset.

9. Partner with people who meet sellers early

Estate attorneys, financial planners, divorce mediators, builders and property managers often hear about a move before anyone else. Build real relationships with a few of them and refer business their way too. Check RESPA and your broker’s rules before any referral arrangement that involves lenders, title or settlement services; our guide to RESPA co-marketing rules covers what can be shared.

How do you promote real estate listings to win more listings?

You promote real estate listings in a way that wins more listings by making every current listing a public example of how you market a home. Sellers watch how agents treat other people’s homes. Zillow’s 2025 seller research found 78% of sellers were more likely to hire agents offering high-resolution photography, and 75% were more likely to hire agents offering virtual tours and interactive floor plans.

A strong listing promotion plan includes:

• Professional photos and, where it fits, a 3D tour and floor plan
• A dedicated page on your own website for the listing, not only the MLS and portals
• A short walkthrough video for social media and YouTube
• A “just listed” note to neighbors with an invitation to the open house
• A “just sold” recap with results, sent to the same neighbors
• A short case study on your website after closing, with the seller’s permission

The “just sold” step is the one most agents skip, and it is the one that tells neighbors you can get the job done. Our list of real estate marketing apps covers tools for tours, video, design and open house sign-in.

Do paid ads help agents get listings?

Paid ads help agents get listings when they keep you in front of homeowners who already showed interest, such as people who visited your home value page. Retargeting ads to past website visitors and “what is my home worth” campaigns can produce seller leads, but only if you follow up quickly and keep in touch for months.

Treat ads as support for the strategies above, not a replacement. Sellers move on long timelines, so judge an ad campaign by appointments and signed listings over a year. Our comparison of organic and paid Google Ads for realtors explains when each makes sense.

What rules apply when prospecting for listings?

Prospecting for listings by phone, text and mail must follow federal and state telemarketing rules, your MLS rules and your brokerage policies. The FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule guidance says callers “must synchronize your lists with an updated version of the National Registry every 31 days.” It also bars calls to a person’s home outside 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time without consent.

Before you start calling expireds or FSBOs, ask your broker which lists you may use, how to handle numbers on the Do Not Call registry and what your state adds. This is not legal advice; your broker and a qualified attorney are the right people to confirm your process.

How long does it take to get more listings?

Getting more listings takes months for most strategies, because sellers decide on long timelines. Expired and FSBO calls can produce appointments within weeks. Sphere work, farming, reviews and podcast appearances usually take six to twelve months to show steady results, then keep producing for years.

Measure activity weekly and results quarterly. Count conversations, appointments and signed listings by source. If a strategy produces conversations but no appointments, change the pitch before you drop the channel. For the wider picture of where agents’ business comes from, see our real estate lead generation statistics and our channel-by-channel guide on how to get real estate leads.

The final step is the simplest: give every seller an experience worth talking about. Half of the typical agent’s business comes back through repeat clients and referrals, so the listing you sell well today is the source of your next two.