Door-knocking

What it is

You choose a neighborhood, bring something useful — a just-listed or just-sold note, a market snapshot for their street — and knock. Most doors don't open; the ones that do become conversations about the neighborhood, and some become clients. It works best as a rhythm: the same streets, every few weeks, so you become the familiar face.

Who it fits

• Experience: any level.
• Wiring: energized by strangers in person; unbothered by closed doors.
• Lifestyle: has daylight hours on weekday evenings or weekend mornings.
• Budget: printing only.
• Runway: short.
• Database: any size; this builds one, street by street.
• Market: strongest in walkable neighborhoods; weakest in gated or rural areas. Check any local solicitation rules and posted no-soliciting signs.

What it costs

Money: a few dollars of printing per outing. Time: two to three hours a session, a few sessions a week. Safety: go in daylight, tell someone your route.

Time to first closing

Short horizon for agents who work the same area consistently.

Your first 30 days

1. Pick one neighborhood of a few hundred homes you'd like to be known in.
2. Find a reason to be there: a listing, a recent sale, a market change.
3. Knock with a one-page useful piece and one question: have you thought about what your home's worth now?
4. Note every conversation in your CRM the same day.
5. Return to the same streets within three or four weeks.

The trap

Knocking a different neighborhood every week. Familiarity is the asset; scattering it across the map throws it away.