How referral agents actually find clients.

Start with the list you already have

Almost every referral fee a part time agent earns comes from someone they already know. Before you think about strategy, build the list.

Open your phone contacts, your email, and the platform where you are most social. Write down every name where the answer to "would this person tell me if they were moving" is yes. Most agents find between eighty and three hundred names.

Then sort them into three groups.

• Close. Family, close friends, people who would take your call today. Twenty to forty names.
• Warm. Former colleagues, neighbors, parents from your kid's team, your service providers. The bulk of the list.
• Connectors. People who know everyone. A hairdresser, a bartender, a youth coach, a church or club organizer, an HR manager. Rare and valuable.

The one message that starts it

Most agents never send it because it feels like an announcement about themselves. It is not. It is a piece of useful information about you that the other person genuinely cannot guess.

Send it individually, never as a group text or a mass email. Ten a day for three weeks covers a two hundred name list. Some of them will reply with a name in the first week.

The two things that make this work are that it is short and that it names what you actually do. Nobody responds to "I would love your business."

What to say when someone says a name

This is where fees are lost. Move fast and keep it simple.

Ask three questions

• Buying, selling, or both?
• What city or area?
• What is the timeline, and has anyone else been helping them?

Then do this in order

• Ask permission to make the introduction. Never hand out someone's number without it.
• Send us the referral form so the agreement gets signed before anyone talks price.
• Introduce by email or text with both people on it, and say one specific good thing about the agent.
• Check in at day three, day fourteen, and after closing.

Picking the receiving agent

Your name is on the introduction, so the agent you choose reflects on you. It also determines whether you get referred to again.

• Someone who actually works that specific area, not just that county
• Active in the last ninety days, not a name you remember from years ago
• Responsive. Test it by texting them yourself first and timing the reply.
• Willing to sign the referral agreement without friction. Hesitation is your answer.
• Willing to keep you updated so you are not asking your friend how it is going

If you do not have someone, ask us. We have active agents across California and a referral network beyond it, and the broker will make the match.

Negotiating the percentage

Twenty five percent is the common starting point. Push toward the higher end when the client is ready to transact now, when you have done the qualifying, or when it is a strong listing. Take the lower end on a long timeline or a heavy lift.

Agree the number before the introduction, not after. Once the agent has met your friend, your leverage is gone.