Coming from a society used to instant gratification, the time-honored saying, "patience is a virtue," must grate on the nerves of business-hungry real estate agents. But, as anachronistic as it sounds, patience is its own reward when it comes to online lead generation and incubation, according to HouseValues customer, real estate agent Jesse Vasquez.

In February 2004, Vasquez, an agent with RE/MAX Reflections in the red-hot Tampa, Florida, market, bought subscriptions to lead-generation services provided by HouseValues. Seller leads come from HouseValues.com and buyer leads come from HouseValues subsidiary, JustListed.com. Officials say the company was founded on the premise that building a pipeline of business from prospective home buyers and sellers is the lifeblood of the industry.

At the time, Vasquez thought this sounded great. He signed up for a one-year subscription for HouseValues.com and Justlisted.com, and then watched as the leads flowed in. But several months passed before any of them came to fruition.

"I was very negative at first because sometimes I didn't get complete phone numbers or some information was not valid," Vasquez said. "Looking back, I realize I was really just focusing on the negative and had a 'me, me, me' attitude."

Despite his skepticism, Vasquez continued his subscription with HouseValues in early 2005. The leads continued to flow in, but Vasquez said he closed only a couple of them through last June.

"I stuck it out and had a couple of closings but I was just impatient and decided to close out my account. I took my prospects, about 80 of them, with me when I closed my account."

But then, something interesting happened that Vasquez hadn't expected.

"I kept working those leads and found out that out of 80 leads, I closed more than 20 buyer and seller transactions, or about 25 percent of the leads I had received online," says Vasquez. "So I said to myself, 'Hey, I need to get back with those folks -- HouseValues and JustListed -- who got me those more than 20 closings.'"

Vasquez said the experience did two things for him: One, it reinforced that maintaining an online presence is critical for the simple reason that it's where potential customers are, and, two, it helped him rediscover that, when it comes to leads, you can never be too patient.

His advice to other agents who may be thinking nurturing leads is a waste of time (If they want to buy, they'll buy, right?) -- "Work your leads to death. Don't give up on them, because many of them will come true and become closed transactions. Hang in there, don't get impatient, and just keep working your leads and the system. It will pay off."

Vasquez also said that Internet leads can also balance out his business during traditionally slow months.

"In December of 2004 and December of 2005, I had record months -- which is especially motivating considering that's traditionally the slowest month of the year for most agents. In those two months, I pocketed over $50,000 in commissions."

Published: February 1, 2006

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.