Kristen Genovese · Realtor Co-Marketing

12 ways to grow with an agent

Value-first plays that win partners — and stay RESPA-clean.

Co-marketing isn't about gimmicks or kickbacks — it's about showing an agent you make their business easier. Here are 12 plays across open houses, events, classes, and content. Each one tells you the effort, the RESPA status, and why it wins. Start with the three at the bottom.

12 playsEffort + RESPA chipsRanked start-here
How this fuels Monday

These plays move agents L3 → L2 → L1

Monday is your Realtor Acquisition day. A brand-new agent is Level 3 (cold), a warming one is Level 2, a closing partner is Level 1. Co-marketing is how you graduate them: a class or a lunch-and-learn turns an L3 into an L2; co-hosting their open house and nailing it turns an L2 into an L1. Pick plays that match where each agent is — and let the work, not a kickback, earn the relationship.

01

The one rule behind every play

RESPA §8, in one breath — and how the chips flag it.
You can give value. You cannot give a thing of value for referrals. That's RESPA Section 8. In plain terms: bring your own expertise (teach, host, show up) freely — but the moment money changes hands on shared marketing, it must be split at fair market value, documented in a written agreement, and never tied to the number of referrals. The chips below flag which plays are clean as-is and which need that FMV split + agreement before you run them. When in doubt, route it to compliance first.
02

Open-house plays

Get in front of an agent's buyers in person.

Open housesShow up where the buyers are

Top 3
1 · The Open House Science Fair
Effort: MedRESPA-clean*
Co-host an agent's open house as the on-site financing expert. You bring a "what could this home become" station — renovation & financing education tiered to Hampton Roads budgets (not the specific listing). Visitors who want help opt in via QR; you follow up.
Why it wins: the agent gets a more valuable open house and a reason to invite you back; you get real buyers in conversation. *Keep it clean: metro-level content only (never listing-specific), file the Things-of-Value worksheet within 48 hrs, and stay under the 3-events-per-6-months cap per agent.
2 · The financing table
Effort: LowRESPA-clean
A lighter version: you staff a simple "ask the lender" table at the agent's open house. Answer financing questions, hand out your guides, capture opt-ins. No production needed — just you and your expertise.
Why it wins: lowest-lift way to get in front of an agent's buyers and show you're reliable in person. Easy yes for an L3 agent testing you out.
3 · Broker-open financing Q&A
Effort: LowRESPA-clean
Offer to be the financing voice at a brokerage's broker-open or agent caravan — a 5-minute "here's what's moving in lending for your buyers" with a VA/first-time angle for Hampton Roads.
Why it wins: one stop, many agents. A pure Monday Level-3 prospecting motion that positions you as the local expert.
03

Event plays

Bring both your spheres into one room.

EventsDouble your reach in one night

4 · First-time buyer happy hour
Effort: MedFMV split + agreement
Co-host a casual evening for renters/first-time buyers — you cover financing, the agent covers the search. Invite both your spheres.
Why it wins: doubles your reach and pairs you publicly with the agent. Run it right: split the venue/food cost at fair market value with a written co-marketing agreement — never cover the agent's share.
5 · Joint client-appreciation event
Effort: MedFMV split + agreement
A thank-you event for both your past-client lists (a pie giveaway, a family movie night). Warm, low-pressure, referral-friendly.
Why it wins: reactivates both databases at once and deepens an L1 partner. Run it right: each party pays their pro-rata share at FMV, documented.
6 · Community / charity presence
Effort: MedRESPA-clean
Show up together at a 5K, a school fundraiser, or a base/community event with your own booth or sponsorship. Visibility, not a sales pitch.
Why it wins: builds local goodwill in Hampton Roads and gives you and the agent shared "in the community" content. Sponsor your own portion to keep it clean.
04

Class plays

Teach your way into the L3 → L2 graduation.

ClassesTeach the room, own the room

7 · First-Time Buyer Class
Effort: MedRESPA-clean
A free class where you teach the financing half (credit, down payment, pre-approval) and the agent teaches the search/offer half. Each brings expertise — no money exchanged.
Why it wins: positions you both as the local experts and fills the top of both funnels. The cleanest, most repeatable L3→L2 graduator you have.
Top 3
8 · Brokerage lunch & learn
Effort: LowRESPA-clean
Offer to present a 30-minute session at an agent's office — "what's new in VA/FHA/self-employed lending" — and bring lunch you pay for as your own marketing.
Why it wins: meets a whole office of Level-3 agents in one shot. Your time + your lunch = your marketing cost, fully clean.
Top 3
9 · VA / military buyer class
Effort: MedRESPA-clean
Your Hampton Roads superpower: a class on using the VA home loan, taught with an agent who serves military families. Run it near a base or with a military-spouse group.
Why it wins: owns your #1 niche in the country's biggest military market and makes you the go-to VA lender for every agent in the room.
05

Content & AI plays

Modern, low-lift reach — organic stays clean.

Content & AIStay top-of-mind for free

10 · Co-hosted "Ask a Lender & Agent" live
Effort: LowRESPA-clean
A short monthly IG/Facebook Live or reel where you and an agent answer buyer questions together. Organic, no ad spend, each posts to their own audience.
Why it wins: cross-exposes both audiences for free and gives you evergreen content. Pure organic = no FMV math to worry about.
11 · Co-branded market-update reel
Effort: LowFMV if paid/boosted
A quick monthly "Hampton Roads market + money minute" you film with an agent. Organic co-post is clean; the moment you boost it with shared ad dollars, it's co-marketing.
Why it wins: keeps you both top-of-mind with a steady, useful drumbeat. Run it right: if you boost, split the spend at FMV with an agreement.
12 · Teach the agent your AI toolkit
Effort: LowReview — teach, don't do
Show an agent how to use AI for listing descriptions, social captions, and follow-up — a skills session, not a service you perform for them.
Why it wins: makes you genuinely useful and memorable. Run it right: teach the tool (clean); doing their marketing work for them can be a "thing of value" — route that version to compliance first.
06

If you start anywhere, start here

Three plays, in order — then make it a rhythm.

Your top 3 — in order

The brokerage lunch & learn (Play 8). Lowest effort, fully clean, and it puts you in front of a whole office of new agents in one hour. The fastest way to fill your Monday Level-3 list.

The VA / military buyer class (Play 9). It owns your strongest niche in the biggest military market in the country — and makes you the VA lender agents remember.

The Open House Science Fair (Play 1). Higher effort, but it gets you in front of real buyers and gives a warming (L2) agent every reason to make you their go-to. Run it clean: metro-level content, Things-of-Value filed, under the rotation cap.

Make it a rhythm: pick one play a month and run it on a Monday. One class or lunch-and-learn a month is a full agent pipeline in a year.