Chris PrefontaineSerious about making money in the real estate investment business? Free Webinar - REGISTER BELOW!, Smart Real Estate Coach · Chairman, Founder, 4x Best-Selling Author of "Real Estate On Your Terms," Forbes Business Council Member, 3x Inc 5000 Honoree, Global Rank TOP 0.5% Podcast Host

Understanding the Value of REFERRALS in Creative Real Estate

30 Jan 2025 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:54

In this conversational segment, Chris Prefontaine explains to Larry the importance of cultivating referral sources—referred to as Centers of Influence (COIs)—such as realtors, mortgage brokers, and personal contacts, especially in a market with low interest rates (2.7%). He emphasizes that referrals, including those from family members, can be a reliable pipeline if handled correctly. The discussion also raises the question of how a realtor should be compensated for a referral, indicating that compensation structures are a key consideration in referral strategies. Chris mentions that Rick will provide a high‑level overview of a recent situation to illustrate these concepts, and they plan to cover a dozen topics related to referral generation in creative real estate.

Going back to the beginning, as I understood it, you were hoping to get a number of referrals from this realtor in the future. Is that accurate?
Well, there's no realtor involved in this one. I'm saying in general, and I'll have Rick give a 10,000-foot view on this situation yesterday to get you guys thinking. I'm saying that this came from the To sell his mom. All I was saying is please be aware of, think about, and seek center of influence contacts, whether it's realtor, mortgage broker, or friends, that you tell people what you do because this market has never been better for what we're doing right now. And the whole punchline of this house is that it's 2.7% interest. And it's a strong referral, Larry, when someone, especially family members, says, call my daughter. You're likely to get that unless you screw it up. So all I'm saying is be aware of referrals, and Rick will tell you what took place yesterday, at least to wet your whistle. And then we'll move to a dozen or so topics. We'll get through the best ones we can.
Well, that part I get. But last Thursday we'd been talking about if you get a referral from a realtor, how would that realtor be compensated?
Go watch the video on originalre.com, Larry. It's also in ARC, but watch that video. That explains it. Not only does that explain it to you, but if you have a realtor, tell them to go watch it. It should be on your site. OriginalRE.com is me and Nick, and it's, it's top right. You'll see the video.