u/CuriousProfession177

Hi all, I'm just getting started and want to build a small agency that generates leads for realtors and mortgage agents, with website work and automation (CRM, speed-to-lead follow-up) as add-ons later.

My background tech sales
Where I am now: beginner experience with meta and google PPC Ads
Budget: [e.g., around $5k CAD to start, plus whatever I need for test ad spend]

A few things I'd love input on from people who've done this:

1. Is it smarter to start with a paid pilot or a performance-based deal to land the first client? How did you structure yours?
2. For realtors and mortgage brokers specifically, what lead source worked best (Meta lead forms, Google Ads, landing page with a calculator)? Any compliance traps I should know about (CASL, ad-category restrictions, brokerage disclosures)?
3. What's the most common reason new agencies in this space lose their first client?
4. If you were starting over, what would you skip learning or buying?

I'm not looking for a shortcut, just trying to avoid the obvious mistakes. Thanks in advance, and happy to share what I learn along the way.

Hey everyone,

Realtor here based in Greater Toronto Area

I've recently started getting more serious about selling pre-construction and I'm running into a few walls that I haven't been able to figure out on my own. I know there are a lot of experienced people here so I wanted to lay out my specific pain points and hear how you've dealt with them. already talked to my broker but the brokerage I work for doesn't do lot of pre con deals.

**1. Finding the right buyers**

This is probably my biggest challenge right now. I know the projects, I have the details, but I'm not sure where to actually find people who are genuinely interested in pre-con — not just curious. Should I be building a buyer list before launches happen? Is cold outreach worth it or do most of your buyers come from referrals and your existing database? I'm also wondering whether channels like Instagram, YouTube, or even local investor groups are worth the effort, or if that's more noise than signal. I've tried fb ads which led to me getting a few leads (some tire kickers, some buyers but they either ghosted me, had 3 appointments where we did the site visit but they changed their mind after.)

**2. Why would a buyer work with me instead of going directly to the builder?**

This one genuinely keeps me up at night. I can share floor plans, pricing, incentives, assignment details — but the moment I hand all that over, what's stopping someone from just registering directly or going with another agent? I feel like I'm either giving too much and losing people, or holding back too much and not getting anyone interested in the first place. How do you strike that balance? Do you gate information behind a call? Do you drip it out? I'd love to understand what your actual process looks like from first contact to signed registration.

**3. Not getting overwhelmed by how many projects are out there**

There's genuinely no shortage of pre-con launches at any given time and I have no idea how to decide which ones deserve my focus. I don't want to be mediocre across 20 projects but I also don't want to be overly selective and miss out. Do you specialize — by area, by price point, by developer reputation? Do you keep a tight roster or try to cover the market broadly? What criteria do you actually use to filter?

I know these are three pretty different questions but they all feel connected to me — like I can't really solve one without understanding the others. Any advice, even just on one of them, would be genuinely appreciated. Thanks in advance.