Agents who use the social networking sites to market properties say they hope to generate referrals — just as you might tip off a friend about a new for-sale sign on a lawn.

“Tweeting is the same way,” says Duane Hopper, an owner and broker at Century 21 Real Estate Center in Seattle, referring to the term for posting messages on the microblogging Web site Twitter.com.

“There is a multiplier effect that can take place, particularly on very hot information,” adds Hopper, who posts information about homes he’s trying to sell and promotes himself on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and ActiveRain.

It looks like a lot of agents are jumping onto the social networking wagon, and it can bring volumes of traffic.

A search for the term “real estate” in Twitter turns up hundreds of people or businesses tweeting on the subject. So one way is to sign up to receive real estate agents’ tweets and then engage them with details of your home.

How do you use social networking in your overall strategy? Have you outlined your goals? Need help?