Buyers Box Podcast
Welcome to The Buyer’s Box Podcast — where real estate meets real results.
Join Ally and Andrew Burnett, founders of the Secure Home Finder Team at Realty One Group Dockside, as they unpack the tools, strategies, and stories that help agents and buyers shift their business, mindset, and life.
Each episode dives into real-world conversations on:
đź§ Building Structure & Systems for long-term success
đź’¬ Coaching-Level Insights to help agents scale confidently
🏡 Buyer & Market Trends across the Coastal Carolinas
⚙️ Automation, CRM, and Tech Tools that make real estate smarter
đź’Ş Leadership & Faith-Based Motivation for growth in every season
Whether you're a new agent hungry for guidance, a seasoned professional seeking clarity, or a homebuyer wanting confidence in your next move, this podcast is your ultimate toolbox for a secure foundation in real estate and beyond.
🎧 Tune in weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Buzzsprout, and YouTube.
Buyers Box Podcast
EP 31: The Buyer Lead Conversion Playbook How to convert Online Leads into Appointments, Clients & Closings
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
📥 GET THIS EPISODE'S EBOOK + FREE ACCESS TO OUR REAL ESTATE LIBRARY!
👉 https://joinshft.com/free_ebookep31
âś… Online lead conversion frameworks
âś… Buyer consultation strategies
âś… Follow-up scripts for internet leads
âś… Lead nurturing systems
âś… 30+ FREE Realtor Resources
In Episode 31 of The Buyer's Box Podcast, Ally Burnett sits down with Karlton Utter, Head of Training & Agent Development at Reside, to discuss one of the biggest challenges Realtors face today:
👉 Converting online buyer leads into real clients.
Generating leads is only the beginning.
The Realtors who consistently grow their business know how to respond quickly, build trust from the first conversation, and follow up with purpose—not pressure.
Whether your leads come from Zillow, your website, Facebook, Google, or other online sources, the principles Carlton shares will help you increase lead conversion and create a more predictable real estate pipeline.
You'll learn:
• How to convert online buyer leads into appointments
• Why speed-to-lead is critical for real estate lead conversion
• The biggest mistakes Realtors make with internet leads
• How to build trust during the first conversation
• Follow-up strategies that keep buyer leads engaged
• The mindset top-producing Realtors use to convert more leads
• How consistent systems lead to consistent closings
⏰ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Meet Karlton Utter & His Real Estate Journey
03:10 – Why Online Leads Are Different
07:45 – The Speed-to-Lead Advantage
13:20 – Building Trust With Internet Buyers
19:15 – The Biggest Online Lead Conversion Mistakes
25:40 – Follow-Up That Actually Works
31:50 – Turning Conversations Into Appointments
38:10 – Final Advice for Realtors
🎯 WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR
• Realtors working online buyer leads
• Agents struggling with lead conversion
• New Realtors learning buyer consultations
• Team leaders improving lead accountability
• Realtors wanting more appointments and closings
📥 GET THIS EPISODE'S EBOOK + FREE ACCESS TO OUR REAL ESTATE LIBRARY!
👉 https://joinshft.com/free_ebookep31
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Hi, everybody. This is Allie Burnett with the Buyer's Box Podcast. And today we have a very special guest, Carlton Udder. Welcome, Carlton.
SPEAKER_00Oh, thanks for having me, Allie. Excited to be here.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. Um, Carlton is one of our friends from Reside. Can you tell everybody a little bit about your role at Reside? Um, and your history, your work history, I guess. A little bit.
SPEAKER_00Sure. Uh, I've been at Reside now since April 1st. That was my official start date. So just a couple of months. And I am the head of training and agent development. But like with most companies, you jump in and do whatever you can to help. So I'm pulled in a lot of different directions. And because of my background in real estate, I've had the privilege of working in this industry now for over 26 years. And I have been lucky enough to do almost every job you could possibly do in this business. I started off on the corporate side of real estate doing marketing. I then helped build and run a recruiting team. I then moved into sales, was very successful in sales. And when they saw that, they were like, oh, well, you recruited, you did sales, maybe you should manage. So I moved into management. I managed office for a few years before moving back into the corporate side of supporting a couple of different franchises for several years on the training, recruiting, development side, as well as specialized consulting and training for franchise owners, team leaders. And then went back to work for some independent companies and did some consulting. And, you know, I've I've I've done it all.
SPEAKER_01I love it. And you've seen a lot of like little teams, medium-sized teams, large teams, and even through Reside, you've worked with a lot of different um types of agents. And so one thing I really want to talk about is one of Carlton's many superpowers is Zillow. He knows a lot about Zillow. He's worked with Zillow agents, teams, and single agents. And so I want to kind of take a deep dive into what are some of the Zillow products that are out there that could be available as a single agent or if you were to partner with the team.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I think the main two programs that they're offering right now is you have the market-based pricing, which is if you're a solo agent and you're looking to invest and get started in Zillow, what you would do is go in and you would end up bidding on a zip code. And depending on basically how much you were investing in, it would translate over to how many leads uh you ended up getting each month. There was no set amount, um, but it was typically done by percentage and amount put in. And then the other size, they used to have what they called the flex program. Now it's called preferred. And with the preferred program, if you are part of a team, then you have um these lead flows that are coming directly into the office. And based on how the team is operating, that will directly correlate over to your overall lead allotment, how many are coming in. And then based on how well you're working the system, it will actually correlate to what percentage of lead flow you get within your own team. Uh, it is my understanding that Zillow is moving away if they haven't done so already from the market-based pricing. So, really kind of moving forward, if if you're really looking to get going with Zillow leads, and these are some of the, I'm telling you, the best leads out there. They are high intent, ready-to-go leads. Um, you know, really the way to do that is to get on a team that's providing that lead flow.
SPEAKER_01Awesome. Yeah, and there's several Zillow teams in our market. And I'll tell you, Andrew and I wore this like badge of honor that up until maybe like three, four months ago, like we've never bought a Zillow lead, like we've never given money to the portals. And I think what we have come to realize, um, just you know, having the proximity through Reside and other team owners, is that um it doesn't have to be a hundred percent of your business and it shouldn't be a hundred percent of your business. Um, you know, it should be, you know, a good topper and continue doing everything that you're doing. And if for some reason like you're falling more into a Zillow bucket, then you increase it. You know, of course, as more money comes in, the commissions start coming in from that. Um in our market, like the other night Andrew and I were on the computer late at night, like we're looking to see what Zillow zip codes are available. Um, can you talk a little bit about like I think of what it's it's 300%? Like, talk to me a little bit about like I'm a single agent, I'm going on my computer, like I want to go buy the market-based pricing because I do know it's available here in Myrtle Beach.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you would just go in, you would probably get hold of somebody at Zillow, and you'd just go in and you'd be able to see, okay, what zip codes are available, um, what amount you know are they looking for me to invest? And this is how a lot of a lot of teams actually get started in it as well, is they go in, they buy the zip code, they start working the leads. Um, you know, you're kind of left a little bit out on an island, right? When you do that, where if you were to join a team, those teams then have growth advisors, um, the teams that are in the preferred program are actually they're really like partners. It's really kind of cool because you're now working with all these other Zillow teams in your market area, and you get a growth advisor that's going to help support that. And the level of training goes up in how to work it. You also surrounded by other teammates that are working the system. So you're learning from them. Uh, I look at it as you know, you're a Myrtle Beach market area that you guys are in, and that that whole coastal region, all the way gone to like Conway. I mean, you got a huge market that you're covering. Um, you know, for those of you that are trying to figure it out and having challenges getting your business started, a lot of that is just because you might be new to that market and you don't have a sphere where the Zillow lead flow coming in is going to put you in front of high-intent buyers right away that are ready to go out, look at real estate, purchase properties, which is then going to give you the experience level to build your chops to then have more confidence to go out and build your sphere business. So if you're kind of struggling with getting your business going, it doesn't mean that you're not good at real estate. Don't give up. I don't ever want to see anybody give up, but maybe look into some options like purchasing leads, working with Zillow, working with other programs out there. There's a lot of third-party lead generation systems that are they're gonna give you those leads that are gonna allow you to start learning how to sell real estate by doing. And you could listen to this podcast, you can listen to trainers, you can you can train to train to train. You're gonna learn by actually working with clients and doing it. And that's why I'm a big advocate of Zillow. You can decide what percentage of your business you want to have come from that. Um, so yeah, I mean, you just look and decide what your budget looks like um and how much you want to invest in, and then you'll talk to Zillow and they'll be able to kind of give you an estimate of how many leads will be coming in on the market-based pricing.
SPEAKER_01Okay, yeah, for sure. And some of the um markets like down here, like the zip codes, totally unavailable. You know, we we try to wait to see like when they may become available. And so I think, and a lot of markets I think are probably shifting this way since they're shifting more towards the flex, like it is kind of going more towards the team side, and it and it does make sense because um, you know, there's so many places, and we talked about on our podcast where you can buy leads, you know, you can get it from you know, like sync and lofty and Google PPC and all those other places. Um, but I have noticed with Zillow Leeds that it's a little bit of a different process. So we talk a lot on our podcast about the typical LP Mama stuff, and so with Zillow, it's what ALM?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01All right, talk to me about that.
SPEAKER_00ALM to me is like it works with every aspect of real estate. Um, real quick before we get into ALM, I did want to touch on though, just just think about today's consumer, right? And think about the branding and power that Zillow has, right? So if you're like, who do I want to partner with for leads? I would want to partner with the company that's providing the most leads, has the most exposure, and has the most branding out there and relationships and trust with the clients, right? So I think the the last stat I saw is Zillow is like a top 20 website in the country. And when it comes to consumerism, like so you take away like Google and Chat GPT and Reddit and all those like information sites. If you're looking at like consumer sites where you can go and purchase something and look at items, it is typically like in the top three in the country, right? So just think about where is everybody going? They're going to Zillow for everything. But getting back to ALM, ALM stands for appointment, location, motivation. And you know, where we go wrong with internet leads is we treat them the same way we would treat a lead that we met at an open house. Or if Ali said, Hey, Carl, I got somebody moving up to Wilmington, I'm gonna refer them to you. In those cases, you're gonna want to sit down, have a conversation. You're gonna want to do a buyer consultation, explain your value prop, try to get them to sign the um the buyer exclusive buyer agency agreement. You're gonna walk them through the market, all that stuff. Internet leads, you gotta look at them a little bit different. Any internet lead that you receive. These are folks that have been online looking at real estate, and they finally hit that point where a property caught their attention enough that they were ready to click on something to get handed off to a realtor or to get more information. So, like they're up here, right? They their motivation is like it's above the screen level. Like they're like, we want to see this house. We clicked on the button. Here's what you don't want to do is take that person up here and be like, oh no, no, no, I got to bring you back down here before we go look at any real estate. They're gonna be like, no, no, no. I've looked at real estate, I've been online, I did the virtual tour, I saw the drone footage, I looked at all the data, I've done all the research on Google Maps. Like, think of all the information they have to go through. And they're like, let's go see it. I used to tell people, don't be a key, don't ever meet somebody in a at a house. Since I've gotten more intimate with the Zillow Lead program, you meet them at the house, right? So when you get that warm handoff or you get that internet lead that comes in and you call them or text them right away, or you get a real-time tour, right? You are meeting them at the house. The key is hands down, if you want to see your incur your conversion at the maximum level, if you want to make sure you're giving yourself every opportunity to convert this lead, build the relationship, meet with them. The first thing you're doing is, hey, are you available tonight or would tomorrow work better? It's you're going for that appointment. It's not, hey, so are you working with a realtor or how long have you been in the business? You know, how long you've been looking? And what was it about that? No, it's hey, this is Carlton Utter with the Reside platform. And I see you're interested in one, two, three, Main Street. Are you available tonight or tomorrow to look at it? Right now, we'll get back to the objections in a little bit because you'll get those. But your goal is you're trying to get them to commit to that and have that time set up. And even if they're coming from out of the area, which is another powerful reason to use Zillow, is you're you're now exposing yourself to the entire country, right? And we have a lot of people moving to Myrtle Beach that are coming from California, they're coming from Texas, coming from the Northeast, Ohio, Pennsylvania, right? So you're giving yourself that exposure. They're coming in. They may not be available tonight or tomorrow to go see it. But as long as you have that time blocked out, guess what you can do? Is you can go do a virtual showing with them. If they're interested in the home, don't be like, oh, well, can you come down in a few months? Just be like, look, if you guys want to see this home, it's it's 10 minutes for me. I'm gonna shoot over tonight, I'm gonna FaceTime it, and I'm gonna be able to show you that property and keep their motivation here. That is the key with any client. Keep the motivation high. So after you get the appointment now, the the next question is is is based on location, right? So are there any other properties that you've you've seen in that area that you'd also like to look at? And they may say no. And then what you want to do is you want to be able to say, well, I'm aware of of at least two or three others that are similar in that market. I'm gonna check on their availability as well. And here's what we found is that people that initially go out, when clients go out and they look at two to three properties, their conversion goes up rather than just live and die by that one showing. Because what it's doing is it's giving you more time to build the relationship with the client and expose them to the market area and expose them to other properties to do what? Keep the motivation.
SPEAKER_01Dopamine hit, dopamine hit, dopamine hit.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's get them excited about buying and keep them excited about it, right? So you really want to make sure that the location piece is more focused on other properties in that location, not like, oh, do you want to be on Main Street and focused on the brick and mortar? Get away from that. Look, people are are buying based on lifestyle decisions, right? That's the reality, is that about 20 years ago, everything shifted. When we lost that ability to be the gatekeeper of real estate and everything went out, when when people started reaching out to us as realtors, we found it was typically a lifestyle change. They wanted to upsize, they wanted to downsize, they wanted to be closer to the kids' schools, they want to be closer to their commute, they have friends, family that live in the area, it's near a park, it's there's a lot of dogs in the air, whatever it might be, they were making decisions based on that. So lock down the location, and then very quickly, it's what was it about this home or this area that caught your attention, right? The motivation piece. I don't want to know their wants and needs at that point. I'm not interested in how many garages you need. I'm not interested if you want a pool. It's, hey, just what was it about this home? Because I want to know what initially caught their attention on the property. Was it the area? Was it proximity to the beach? Whether it was price, whatever they say, when I ask them what was it about that home, whatever they say first is their main deciding factor. It's their main want in what they're going to be purchasing. So at that point, I should have that call done. And whether it's a warm handoff, whether it's an email lead that you're following up with, it's two and a half minutes with those three questions. And then it's great. I'm going to go check availability, make sure I can get that appointment scheduled for you tonight or tomorrow, and you'll hear back from me in the next 30 minutes. So it's a two and a half minute conversation. I'm not getting caught up in selling myself, my value prop, any of that. All I'm trying to do is make sure I can get them and meet them at the house. And that's where I'm going to start building the relationship and have those conversations in the driveway about hey, how are we going to work together moving forward after I do those showings?
SPEAKER_01Correct. And what I like, what I like about this approach is um Andrew and I were total nerds. So we like to learn about buying behavior, like the thought process of that buyer, how they ended up in front of us. And so what I like about that approach is it's just a little bit different than Google PPC Leads because the Google PPC Lead type person, they're at their house in Ohio, they're like best places to retire in the United States. You know, like they're like way in the dreamer phase. Whereas with Brazilla leads, like they're just that higher intent, like they're like down to the nitty-gritty at that point. And your approach with ALM is more of like a server approach where the person is already in your restaurant, sitting at the table, and now you're taking their order, and it's and you're asking open-ended questions to figure out you know what they need versus us just like you know, throwing up on somebody about all these different things in the market, and oh, you should live in North Road Beach because of this or this. And so that's what I really like because that approach is tailored to the buying behavior of Brazil lead. And I can see how that could work um with any lead, because ultimately, like what it's come down to, and I tell agents this all the time, um, most real estate agents are actually pretty okay real estate agents because you know if they're in it for a long time, you know, over a couple years, because you have to be a caring person to be in real estate, and you just mostly have to. Um, you have to care about people and helping them through their journey. But the very, very hardest part is getting in front of the person. And so with this sort of resource resource, you are getting in front of the person. And I talked to an agent actually in Wilmington, talked to her this week, and she said to me, She said, Um, I don't get it, Allie. You know, three people on my team, they they all get zilities, but only one of them is successful. And I said, Well, the difference is it's the agent, it's the agent, it's the approach, right? So that person's probably getting more appointments, they probably are meeting the person. And I said to her, I said, you know, insert name here. It's because when they meet you in person, they're hiring you because you're you, and then you get them on the hook over everything else once you see them. It's just a little bit, it's a it's a mind shift of how you're getting in front of that person in the first place, I think.
SPEAKER_00Well, it's a little robotic and scripted, and that's uncomfortable for realtors. We get into this business because we like talking to people and we're typically social, and so it's like, hey, how are you today? Well, now you just turn the whole conversation over to that client who's gonna, oh, you know, I'm having that kind of day or this and that, right? Where it no, no, no. I if you just stick to the script, that went it it's as as easy as can be. And when you join a Zillow team or you become a Zillow agent, like you have to go through their certification and they they talk about ALM constantly because they know that if you just follow that script, you will be successful at getting the appointment. And if you get the appointment, what are you gonna be successful at converting the lead? Right? So if you get on, you're like, hi, how are you today? Yeah, so how long? Oh, you've been working with a realtor. Oh, I can't help you, then you should go back to them. No, like I don't want to know that. What's the worst thing that happens if they're working with a realtor? I go show the property and I get to preview some real estate, and then maybe I can go call a couple of my clients and tell them about this home and try to kickstart their motivation and maybe get a few more appointments out of it. But like if they're working with a realtor and you took time to go show them and you're respectful about it and you're like, oh, I'm I'm sorry to hear that, and you just ask them a few questions, you can ask them, well, who are you working with? How long have you been working with them? Do you have an exclusive agency agreement in place? And here's what I find is that if you're respectful about it and you go show them the property, that if their agreement expires, they're calling you. They are sending you referrals, right? They're deciding to cancel their agreement to work with you because you were available and their realtor hasn't been, or their realtor is in a different state or doesn't even work in the market area that you're in, and they just think, oh, I still have to work with that person. Well, the exclusive agency agreement, if it's with a realtor in Florida, they're there, it doesn't work here, right? So it just makes sense to go see the house, try to build the relationship and see what that ripple effect. I'm a big believer in ripple effects. Like you showed them the house, yeah, they have an exclusive agency agreement, they're happy with their realtor, but they also have a friend moving to the area. Now they refer the friend to you because you took time to go do that, right? Find reasons to work. Don't don't go out of your way to come up with excuses and find reasons not to work. Don't try to pre-screen people and look for look for reasons not to go show them real estate. If you're in real estate, be in real estate. Go go find reasons to go look at houses. And if that's you know a reason to go do it, you know, book the appointment and then figure it out later. And, you know, you get the people that'll ask for listing realtors, you know, just ask them, ask them a simple question. You know, may I ask why you're you're looking to talk to or work with the listing realtor? And then maybe bring up your fiduciary responsibilities and that look, the listing realtor is going to be representing the seller fully. So, you know, what are you looking to get out of contacting the listing realtor? Because I probably have just as much information or can get you that information, plus, I would be fully representing you through this transaction. And, you know, doesn't that make a little more sense? Right? So it's just asking why and having conversations rather than oh, they just want the listing realtor. Fine, it's it's alley click, you know what I mean? Like look for those opportunities and and ask questions and and keep talking to them.
SPEAKER_01Sure. The good news about our market is um I'm not gonna say all of them. I would say eighty percent of the listing agents in our town don't answer the phone. So it's like it's good luck. We tell them good luck and they can call us back in you know, twenty, thirty minutes 'cause it's they don't call but they don't answer the phone. I don't know why. Or maybe they're just they're difficult to get in touch with and there are listing agents that do a great job. But there's also people don't really realize like when they're looking at um Listing agent and and somebody's like a FISBO, and then they had like a third party agency that listed listed it just listed in the MLS, like you're not gonna get in touch with an agent because there isn't really a true agent to talk to, and so sometimes we've been able to get people on that. I'm gonna hit you with um uh agent objection because I'm sure agents say that have said this to you and your sales experience. Okay, so if we don't if we don't ask them about the exclusive agency agreement, and then we we're we get to the property, you you pull up, you meet the people, are we doing it right then and there? And then and then I guess they would say if they're already under agency and if they are, then you just gotta say, unfortunately, I can't help you because you're under exclusive agency. Like what are you what were you coaching your agents on there?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I think there's a couple of different approaches. Um personally, my belief is is not to push the exclusive agency agreement on them right away. Uh, you're going to need something signed. If you're working on a Zillow team or with Zillow, Zillow actually has a touring agreement. It's a non-exclusive uh agreement that you could have the client sign just to show them the property. Uh, it's typically set up for seven days, so it's like a temporary agreement. Um, you could actually adjust that if the client is not happy about it or just wants it set for one day or for one house, you know, you you can adjust it. Um, but I I like utilizing either the Zillow Touring Agreement or you can utilize a non-exclusive agreement because if you're just meeting them at the home, you don't have time to qualify them or really know what they're looking to do or how hard you're gonna be working for them. So, like I'm kind of looking at it as an interview process for me as well. I'm trying to decide, okay, is this somebody I want to work with? And then am I gonna go all in? Or are they honestly like better suited working with somebody else or whatever the case may be? So I like the Zoe Touring agreement. Um, you can send it right through the follow-up boss system. Uh, so they have it, and you could just say, guys, I'm gonna be sending you over some information. Uh, take a look at it, I'll talk to you about it more in depth when I meet you at the home. Uh, and then at that point, when you get there, you can just say to them, hey, there's a few things I need you to look at and sign before I can show you the houses today, and just walk them through it, explain it to them. So that way they have it ahead of time and they can review it and then ask you questions about it. Uh, or when you get there, you can have a copy of it and say, hey, let's let's get this signed. Um, if you use um like dot loop or docusign, you could actually, you know, send it over to them if you want them to sign it before you meet and create that conversation. I'm a big believer though, is hey, we're gonna review this when I meet with you on Saturday morning at the house, um, and I'll talk you through it then. And then just, you know, at that point, hey, there's a couple things I want to review with you. This is how we're gonna work together today. This is the plan for today. Here's what I need you guys to sign, and then we're we're going right into that first house.
SPEAKER_01Sure. And we stress to our agents, we always tell them to, you know, do the disclosure brokerage uh relationship form uh because we do feel like that's very important and legally, you know, you're supposed to substance, sub substance. I can never say that word. Substance. I can never say that word.
SPEAKER_00Substance?
SPEAKER_01Substance. Substantial first substantial context.
SPEAKER_00It's like it's like jewelry. That's one of those weird words, jew jewelry. I always have a hard time with that one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So okay, so I think that's great. Um, last question I have for you is um so we have the the Zillow Um market base pricing, and so we bought Georgetown. And so there was a listing um that actually um an agent that we know you know pretty well, great guy, he listed a home that it was like $90,000. And so it generated a lot of interest. Um, however, I don't think this I haven't been there personally, so I don't know, but like it had no like subfloor and like it was probably gonna be an all-cash sort of thing. And it was crazy because we got like seven or eight leads off this one house. And so then I was texting this agent, I was like, hey, like I keep getting all these Zilla leads from your house. Like, what's up with this house? And so uh we made it like a joke of where I kept sending them to our one agent, John, and then he finally called me and he's like, I am not showing this house again, I'm not doing it, but if you really want me to, I will. But I'm not doing it. And so, like, what do you tell agents who all that to say, like this home? I would say was definitely in a condition that could not have been financed. Like, what are you telling agents to do when that sort of property comes up and you're getting all these zillow leads? Like, what same process? Or do you explain to the person that you know the the prop, like what do you what are you doing?
SPEAKER_00Well, look, first of all, I'm a big believer in filling a pipeline. Like that solves all your problems as a real estate professional if you have a full pipeline. And you know, a $90,000 piece of property, I'm sure you guys have, you know, up in Brunswick County, which is right between Myrtle Beach and Wilmington, you have a lot of land that's listed for like 30 grand. You have uh manufactured homes and mobile homes that are typically under 100,000 sometimes. You you don't know who you're attracting. So are you attracting flippers and investors that are gonna turn into multiple transactions for you? Uh, are you looking at, you know, fixer-uppers that are gonna come in and flip properties and then you know they're gonna buy a $90,000 home from you, flip it, and now you're selling a $250,000 home. So I don't know why you would ever not want weeds of any price point. Uh I just, to me, it that's your job. It's to talk to people and fill your pipeline. And you know, where agents go wrong is they don't have enough people to work with. And when you don't have enough people to work with, you're living and dying by every transaction, right? It's oh, I got this one client and they decide to rent, and now it's like now I have no one and I made no money. Where if you have, you know, five buyers, five clients you're working with, if one falls, well, I still have these four that are keeping me busy that I'm hoping to get paid on. So to me, I I would not be setting any like regulations on that. I know that in the the preferred program, which was Flex, uh, you can go in and you can actually set like the price point if you don't want to get weeds under a certain amount. I don't know how that works, quite honestly, with market-based pricing. I don't know if you can set that or not. I think it's whatever you get, you get and you don't get upset, right? So, but to me, I look, I'm an optimist. I I want all the weeds because I don't want to say no and miss out on something that could be incredible. You have no idea who these buyers are just because they're looking under 100,000 doesn't mean that they don't have money or they may not be looking to do something else.
SPEAKER_01Correct. Correct. So if anybody didn't pick it up, Carlton is open-minded, has a mind of abundance, and is trying every opportunity until it's not an opportunity, and then you're still continuing to hopefully make it an opportunity. And I think that's what I really I can admire. I can admire that. And I think if more agents had that mindset, there would be more top producers.
SPEAKER_00Um, and I think Again, stop looking for reasons not to do your job. Like people, you'll ever you'll come up with a hundred reasons not to work in real estate. And you should be looking for a hundred reasons to work in real estate, right? Like you should be like, what do I want to do today? How do I meet people? How do I talk to folks? You should be excited. I'm getting 10 leads. I don't care if they're 90,000. If I sell all 10, that's a million dollars, right? So I know maybe you don't have the properties for them, but it doesn't hurt to have them in your nurture phase in your CRM. Set them up on automatic updates, let them know what's going on anytime a property hits. Like typically investors are looking for multiple property, they're not just a one-off. I'm not just looking for one $90,000 home, right? They're they're usually looking for multiples. And and I used to find like the lots, you know. If in when I sold real estate in New Jersey, I would list all the $30,000 lots because I would need all the spec builders who would always say, Hey, if you find me the lot, I'll give you the listing. So I would sell a $30,000 lot, wait a year, and then get the $300,000 listing. So again, ripple effect. If you're not picking up like that ripple effect of everything that you do should be creating more opportunities for you, and you may not like it because they're not immediate, but stop looking for immediate gratification in this business. It very rarely exists, right?
SPEAKER_01Unless you're on a unless you're on like a mega team that has an abundance of opportunities and they can just like slap that easy button for you. But you know, but that's not always the reality, too.
SPEAKER_00Well, I will say that Zillow has a stat that 50% of the folks that go under contract every month with the Zillow Preferred program are leads that were generated within 30 days of them going under contract. So there is a little bit of immediate gratification, but that's 50% of all the leads that you also need to continue to work on, follow up with, nurture, set a really strong follow-up program in place. But they're they're, you know, those leads they they're high-intent leads. When those folks are finally at that level where they're clicking to connect with the realtor, they they typically want information or they're ready to take action.
SPEAKER_01Even with the land, you think?
SPEAKER_00Uh yeah, you know, the land look, land is gonna sell, people are gonna buy it. Even Brunswick County, you get a lot of land that you can't build on, but you have people that you know they want to camp on it or they want to hunt on it, and you know, depending on where it's located and how it's zoned, you you know, it's you people put those little houses on them now. They those little houses are awesome. I'm always jealous when I see those. I was like, wow, that thing's pretty nice on all that land. So yeah, I mean, you just stockpile, fill your pipeline, especially if you're a new agent. What else are you doing? You need people, you gotta talk to people. So fill your pipeline with those leads. When I first started, um, there's a uh up in New Jersey, um, there was an area of town that that people didn't market to because the homes were priced under 100,000. And I remember my my manager at the time sat me down and was like, Carl, you want listings? Market yourself to that area of town because nobody else is doing it, because all the homes were under 100 and they all wanted the four, 500,000. So I started marketing and I just started listing them and I got instant business.
SPEAKER_01And you probably made more money than the other guy that wanted the one, four hundred thousand.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, look, you can wait all day for the one, four hundred, or you can go sell five hundred thousand ones of who's making more money. And I'm getting experience and I'm meeting people and creating referrals. So it's all about perspective of your approach.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I love that. Thank you so much for um sharing and telling us about Zillow and the approaches there. And um I think that's all I have. Do you have anything else you want to add?
SPEAKER_00No, I I appreciate you having me on. It's always a pleasure speaking with you, Allie.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. Well, we will hopefully see you soon.