How to build a vendor network as a new real estate agent
Start with the vendors your team lead, broker and office-mates already trust. Fill the categories clients ask about first: inspectors, handymen, plumbers, movers and cleaners. Check each vendor's license and reviews, try them on a small job, ask your clients how it went, and thank the vendors who do good work.
Why does a new agent need a vendor network?
Your first clients will ask you who to call within days of going under contract. Who does inspections? Can you recommend a roofer for this repair request? Who moves pianos? If your answer is "let me look around," they'll search on their own, and you lose one of the easiest ways to be useful.
A good vendor network also keeps repairs on schedule, which keeps closings on schedule. And years later, it's a reason for past clients to call you: "Do you know a good electrician?" is a conversation that often ends with "We're thinking about selling, actually."
Where should a new agent find vendors?
Borrow trust before you build your own. The people around you have years of referrals behind them.
- Your team lead or mentor. Ask for their list, then ask the better question: "Who on here would you send your own mother to?"
- Your office. Many brokerages keep a shared list, or a group chat where agents ask for names. Read back through it. The vendors who come up again and again are your starting point.
- Your transaction coordinator. They see which vendors deliver repair receipts on time and which ones hold up closings.
- Home inspectors. A good inspector knows every roofer, plumber and sewer contractor in town, and which ones fix things properly.
- Agents on the other side of your deals. When their seller's repairs go well, ask who did them.
- Your own life. The plumber who fixed your water heater and the painter your neighbor loves count, if they did good work.
- Your clients. After closing, ask who they hired for anything you didn't refer. Clients find great people too.
Which vendor categories should you fill first?
Don't try to fill 40 categories in your first month. Cover what comes up in nearly every transaction, then expand.
- Home inspector
- Handyman
- Plumber
- Electrician
- HVAC technician
- Roofer
- House cleaner
- Movers
- Painter
- Locksmith
After those, add pre-listing help (stager, photographer, junk removal, landscaper) and then the homeowner-years trades. Our checklist of what to put on a realtor vendor list has the full set by stage.
How do you vet a vendor before you refer them?
A recommendation from a colleague is a good start, not the finish. Before a vendor goes on your list:
- Check the license. Most trades need one, and many states have a free online lookup. Here's how to check a contractor license in Oregon and Washington.
- Read reviews for patterns, not stars. One angry review is noise. Five reviews that say "never called back" is a pattern.
- Call them. How fast do they answer or call back? That's how fast they'll answer your client.
- Ask a few questions. What jobs do they like? What's their service area? How far out are they booked? Do they take small repair jobs from inspection reports?
- Meet in person when you can. Coffee, or ten minutes on a job site, tells you a lot.
- Start small. Send them a straightforward job before a big one, and ask your client how it went.
How do you introduce yourself to a vendor?
Keep it short and honest. Something like: "Hi, I'm Jordan, a new agent at Riverside Realty. Sam on my team says you're the plumber she trusts. I'd like to send you clients. Can I ask a few questions about the work you like to take?"
Vendors hear from agents constantly. What sets you apart is following through: send the client you said you'd send, and let the vendor know how it went.
How do you keep vendor relationships warm?
- Say thank you after every hire. A text, a handwritten note or a coffee card. Vendors remember the agents who notice.
- Share good feedback. When a client is happy, tell the vendor, with the client's permission.
- Share problems quickly and privately. A vendor would rather hear "the Garcias were waiting three days for a callback" from you than lose your referrals without knowing why. If it gets serious, here's what to do when a vendor you referred does a bad job.
- Keep sending work. Consistency matters more than volume.
- Check in a few times a year even without a referral. A holiday card or a client-appreciation invite keeps the door open.
- Keep track of who you sent where. You can't thank a vendor for a referral you forgot you made.
What should a new agent avoid?
- Payments for referrals. Some vendors offer gifts or fees for referrals. For settlement services like lenders, title and inspections in a transaction, RESPA limits what's allowed. Ask your broker before accepting anything.
- One name per trade. Give clients two or three options when you can.
- Listing vendors you haven't checked. Your name is on every referral.
- Lists vendors pay to join. If a vendor paid for the spot, the list isn't really your judgment.
- Letting it go stale. Review your list every few months and send clients the current version, not an old PDF. See how to make a vendor list clients can text.
Why share vendors with your office?
A new agent's list is thin. An office's combined list is deep. When agents in the same office share the vendors they trust, everyone fills gaps faster, and a bad experience one agent had saves another from repeating it. It's also how you get to know your office-mates as a new agent: "Who do you use for sewer scopes?" is an easy way to start a conversation.
Before you choose where to keep your list, compare the options in realtor vendor list apps compared.
Start your vendor network in Proferral
Proferral is a free app for agents that remembers every referral. Offices let you share providers with your office-mates, one at a time, free. Add a provider with a note on what they do well, log a referral in three taps, and the follow-up queue shows who you still owe a thank-you. Every client also gets a go-to list link that carries your name when they forward a provider. See how it works.