Twitter and the Real Estate Agent

November 20th, 2009 by Kim Tracy Prince in Diary of a Moving Mom, Features

In the world of selling a home online, others have gone before me, and much farther.  Kim Moldofsky set up a blog for the house she is selling, as did Jonathan  Blundell. People have varying degrees of success with that, and I am watching them closely.

But all I’m trying to do right now is find a real estate agent on Twitter.

Back when Stewart and I had just started talking about moving, I tweeted it, of course. And wouldn’t you know, I instantly got about 20 new followers, all of whom had something about real estate in their user name or profile. “Wow, this thing works great!” I thought. But I wasn’t ready to act yet. Now I am. I’ve interviewed two REALTORS – the first was a personal referral, the second was an agent who moves a lot of inventory in my neighborhood (her words, sort of). I thought I’d try to find a third who thrives on the internet the same way I do.

Email is the best way to get in touch with me, followed by direct messages through Twitter. (Facebook works too but I have an unidentified chip on my shoulder about Facebook. That’s an investigation for another blog.) I’m a blogger, and I use the internet for EVERYTHING. Why wouldn’t I want to do business with someone who feels the same way?

twitter_logoWithin the last two weeks, then, I put a call out for REALTORS in my area to get in touch with me. I was actually kind of nervous to do it – I thought I’d be overwhelmed with responses. I waited. And waited, and waited some more.

I got one little tiny bite, and that was through a friend who said “I know a REALTOR, want me to hook you up with her?” My answer? “Only if she contacts me on Twitter.” Yes, it’s starting to sound spiteful and a little bit childish, but hey, sometimes that’s how I roll.

Either I have a very overblown sense of my own reach, or there are very few REALTORS who are paying attention to Twitter in Los Angeles. If it’s the former, well then, I have some work to do. And if it’s the latter, I think that’s a shame. Real estate professionals have so much to gain from using social media tools, and coming late to the Twitter game may mean losing out on opportunities.

I’d love to hear thoughts from this peanut gallery, and get some followers who can help me!  I still haven’t met that third agent.

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  • greenboxhomes
    Dear Kim,

    Your Twitter post is amazing! And I think you should stick to your plan to find an agent in a way that suits you ~ via Twitter. My favorite L.A. agent is not on Twitter. But believe me, I will tell him the boat he is missing!

    Good luck and by all means, if you need something in San Diego, your Tweet will be heard (by me).

    I wish more potential clients would do EXACTLY what you're doing.

    Cheers,
    Kimberly Dotseth
    broker/owner

    @greenboxhomes
  • I'm not sure if you're serious, and nothing in this post indicates where you might be in the Los Angeles vicinity, but I find it difficult to believe that you expect to make a good real estate connection by putting a tweet or two on Twitter.

    I am a longtime agent in South Orange County, and have been on Twitter for a couple of years, steadily gaining conections. I presently have 300+ followers, and follow more than 500 tweeple. I keep it ON all the time, but rarely read the posts, spending 95% of my time on F/B to get more meaningful updates from the same people.

    I'm also a dedicated blogger - http://tr.im/BobPhillipsSouthOCblog and, of course, conduct a successful real estate practice - over 33 years in my area.

    Here's a point I felt compelled to make. The reason I don't spend much time on Twitter is that with 800+ connections, there is a steady stream of activity, almost like a 24/7 stock ticker. The chance for me to have noticed one solitary tweet, especially since we're not conected, anyway, is probably less than one in a billion.

    There is a more logical way for you to connect. Go on Google and Bing, and plug in the name of the community(s) you'd like to target, and add the words real estate, and then start to analyze the results. Look at some websites of agents and see if any of them start to resonate with you.

    That, to me, sounds a lot more effective, than hoping that someone might have noticed your plea for help as it sped by in an Internet instant. Good luck in your search. If it's in MY area, I would be pleased to be of service.
  • Bob,

    I appreciate your sentiments. Not everyone has embraced Twitter as a tool. However, I have, like many of us who are on the leading edge of Web 2.0. I have made successful connections on Twitter in other areas of business, so why not real estate? An agent simply has to keep a search open for certain keywords in order to see tweets that are relevant to his business. Also, most of the power of Twitter is the re-tweet: and they told two friends, and they told two friends...isn't that the way many real estate agents are found anyway? Twitter just makes it electronic, and far more immediate.

    If you have Twitter and never use it to join the conversation, you're missing the benefits.
  • I refer to and get referrals from Realtors and I've just RT'd your blog to my tweeps and FB friends. They need to hear this from potential clients.
  • "Social Media" is a hot topic these days; some REALTORS like myself are embracing it, some aren't. I truly feel sorry for those who don't.
  • Interesting perspective, Tracy. With all the noise in the social media, especially twitter, it is hard to pluck out the good stuff. I use Tweetdeck, Google Alerts and rss feeds from pertinent search terms like "memphis real estate," "memphis realtor", etc, but I always feel that something might be slipping through the cracks. Another great conversation starter begins with monitoring twitter activity on your neighborhood, or town. You might be able to answer a question that will start a conversation.
  • kimtracyprince
    To Kimberly, Jeff and John,
    Thank you for your encouragement. What I love most about using social media tools in my home selling/shopping adventure is that most of the RE professionals I encounter there do not live in my area, yet they are incredibly helpful. Passing on requests to people who can actually provide you a service is, to me, one of the main reasons to use social media tools. Sure, we can use Twitter to tell our followers what we had for lunch, but the real value is in making connections. I hope you continue to follow my story.
  • Okay, Kim, I think you've set the topic for my weekly post once again, :-)

    @joespake You get it! Social media is a conversation--answering a questions for someone is a much better way to connect than merely broadcasting your latest sale, etc.

    Kim TP's most recent comment about connecting to RE professionals outside of her selling area speaks to another value of Twitter- it's a fantastic way to build your network without leaving your home or office. By connecting with RE folks around the country, you can can build a fantastic referral network.

    Bob had a good point about not catching every tweet from every person. I follow about 1,500 people (3,000+ followers) and I do almost all my tweeting from the web (gasp!). Sure, I don't catch *everything* that happens on Twitter, but I'm on there so often, I catch enough. I also know the handles of my good friends, so it's easy for me to peek in on their streams. Speaking of which, I'm going to see what @houseofprince is up to.
  • kimtracyprince
    Since this post went up I've gotten a lot of tweets and new follows from RE pros. Thanks everyone! I knew you were out there!
  • I just happened to stumble on this today, about a month after it started. I'm not in Los Angeles, so I'm not crying in my coffee because I missed the opportunity, but I am fascinated by the story. It's interesting to find someone who is on the consumer side doing exactly what we all hope they will do. Find us via Twitter (or any other social network).

    I do agree with you that while you may not find what (or who) you're looking for at times, the RE.net folks are always willing to share, pass on your info, or help point you in the right direction. They do it for consumers and other agents as well. I recognize several of the names of commentors from my own contacts in the social media world.

    By now, I hope you've found an agent and a house and are loving every minute of it.
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