Real estate isn't usually the first choice in careers for people who later become real estate agents. In fact, only five percent of Realtors chose real estate as their first career, according to the 2005 NAR Member Profile. Yet, several professions are highly compatible with real estate -- managers, salespeople, and teachers, to name a few. While only two percent of real estate agents were formerly architects or engineers, there's some terrific synergy there.

A former architect wonders how she, as a new real estate agent, can convert Internet leads into buyers.

Hi Blanche,

I am an agent who just became full time in Real Estate. I previously worked as an architect, and decided I need to invest more time in real estate in order to do it well. I managed to generate a handful of leads through internet advertising. But I am having hard time turning these leads to buyers or sellers. Do you have any advice?

Regards, Anne

Realty Times responds:

With 80 percent of homebuyers going to the Internet for home search information, its easy to assume that you should have a high rate of lead conversion, especially if you are using Internet lead generation sources.

Donna Richey, a Realtor who uses HouseValues for lead generation, told Realty Times that online lead generation is farming for the future and that using a system is going to take four to six months to see results.

"This is a different clientele than what you get from magazines and newspapers," says Richey. "They are tech-savvy and they are doing their research early, and that's when you want to capture them with the information they want, when they want it."

What a lead generation service does is fish further upstream to capture leads and then turn them over to you. They pay big bucks to traffic partners to get those leads. Witness HomeGain's recent alliance with Yahoo!. They do this in various ways, by offering a rebate -- like LendingTree --, along with information, or agent-matching and have various methods of qualifying the leads. HouseValues, for example, invites consumers in for information -- either listings or house values. Leads are qualified through their emails, phone numbers, and addresses. If one of three contact points is true, the lead is forwarded to the agent.

A lead may come to you from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., but keep in mind that there's a real person behind the alias, so treat that person seriously, and they'll come forward when they are comfortable.

That's what it's all about -- comfort. Why? You're a stranger. Worse, you're a real estate agent. If they contact you, it will cost them something -- anonymity, playtime, or money. Once they start talking to an agent, they have to behave like grownups and share information about themselves so the agent can serve them. Many people online simply aren't prepared to do that, at least not in the early stages of online exploration.

What you need to know is how Internet buyers and sellers behave and how to turn that into lead management, then you can close.

About 36 percent of buyers found the home they purchased through their Realtor, while another 24 percent found the home they bought through the Internet, according to the National Association of Realtors' "2006 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers."

Among all buyers who used the Internet, it took them about eight weeks to search for a home. First-time buyers took 10 weeks. What's significant is that they used the Internet for several weeks before contacting an agent, which means they search longer and took longer to decide on a home than home buyers who contact agents first. Internet searchers viewed a median of 11 homes before making a purchase, while buyers who didn't use the Internet bought after viewing a median of six homes.

In addition, Internet searchers also used other sources to find a home, much more than home buyers who didn't use the Internet. For example, 57 percent of Internet searchers used newspapers or advertisements to find a home, while only 45 percent of non-Internet users did so. Internet users also drove by more homes, with 64 percent using yard signs, while only 52 percent of non-Internet users did so. Forty-nine percent of Internet searchers attended open houses, while only 36 percent of non-Internet users did so.

The only sources non-Internet users used more than Internet searchers were home builders (30 percent to 25 percent), billboards and relocation companies.

So what does this tell you? Internet users are hands-on, I'll-do-it-myself kind of people. They're distrustful of single sources of information. They shop for homes for sale and neighborhood information, not agents. Now combine that with the fact that you're a stranger, and you can see why it's hard to reel them in.

For the Internet to work for you, you have to have information they want that allows them to keep their space and "raise their hand" when they want to. On Realty Times, we promote agents with our Market Conditions Reports. You just simply state what you think the market conditions are in your area, and we set you up like a news reporter or weather forecaster. That's a nice way to go because Internet searchers can ask you for more information about the neighborhoods they're interested in.

You can explore a number of lead generation sites to see what works best for your needs, but like the lady said, your results won't be immediate. That doesn't mean you should give up Internet leads, it just means you have to supplement them. You need something that will bring leads in right now, and the best instrument for that is the telephone. Why? Most real estate business comes from referrals and repeat business -- that people who know you or someone you know.

Get on the phone and start calling people you know -- friends, family, school chums, professional contacts, neighbors, and acquaintances. Tell them you're building your database and would like to ask a few questions. Find out information such as household members, ages, interests. How well does their current home meet their needs, and what would they prefer? Do they see themselves moving within a year? Why or why not?

Then you take their answers and start building your calendar to remind yourself to follow up. If your prospect's baby is due in July, call back in May and ask how things are going. Follow up again after the baby's birth. If your friend is looking for a job, call back in a couple of weeks to find out if he found one and if so, will that mean a move or not?

If you can make those calls for several hours a day -- every day -- you will quickly come across leads.

Now, what have you got to sell? Think about what a great advantage you have to build a niche. You should be creating your own inventory. With your background, it should be easy for you to advise people how to rehab older homes to live in or sell for a profit.

You can also do this for yourself, and with your background, you could get loans easily from banks.

You can also work with other agents to help their sellers rehab their homes for marketing purposes. Just because you're a real estate agent doesn't mean you can't consult. You could also offer your architectural services to other agents to help advise their clients for a small piece of their action, if your MLS allows that. If partnering with you helps the other agent get the listing, great. Half of something is better than all of nothing.

You could develop a niche of working with first-time homebuyers who are reluctant to rehab older homes because they don't have the experience or cash. You could show them how to do it.

These suggestions should give you plenty to do. Keep us posted on how things work for you.