interested in real estate?
Are you thinking about becoming a real estate sales professional? That may be one of the best ideas you've ever had... or one of the worst. Let's determine which one. I have been training and mentoring real estate agents, most of them from the beginning of their careers, for well over 15 years. Many of my students have blossomed into top producing agents. I also have a much better track record training new licensees than most brokers, and certainly a lot better than the industry average!
Over 90% of new licensees will give up trying to sell real estate within their first two years. 80% of new agents call it quits in less than a year. Furthermore, 9 out of 10 new agents quit the business. Here's another piece of news.. according to the National Association of Realtors, half of all current licensed agents failed to close ONE deal in a year's time.. only 50%!
Although those stats can be heartbreaking, here I am telling you that selling real estate is an incredibly awesome, fulfilling business, and a great choice. In fact, I'll clue you in on what you'll need to do to become a top producing agent at whatever real estate brokerage you choose. It's not difficult, doesn't cost much money, but most licensees won't do it enough. Let's start with the Pros and Cons of getting your real estate license and helping clients buy and sell homes, then I'll key you in on how to be a Top Agent in your office.
Over 90% of new licensees will give up trying to sell real estate within their first two years. 80% of new agents call it quits in less than a year. Furthermore, 9 out of 10 new agents quit the business. Here's another piece of news.. according to the National Association of Realtors, half of all current licensed agents failed to close ONE deal in a year's time.. only 50%!
Although those stats can be heartbreaking, here I am telling you that selling real estate is an incredibly awesome, fulfilling business, and a great choice. In fact, I'll clue you in on what you'll need to do to become a top producing agent at whatever real estate brokerage you choose. It's not difficult, doesn't cost much money, but most licensees won't do it enough. Let's start with the Pros and Cons of getting your real estate license and helping clients buy and sell homes, then I'll key you in on how to be a Top Agent in your office.
pros
You can make unlimited income. You control your own destiny
You can set your own hours. If your children have after school sports, you'll be there! You can even coach a team, help out in the classroom, or volunteer for the PTA.
You are your own boss! You may be under your Broker's umbrella and you'll need to abide by law and regulations, and the REALTOR Code of Ethics, but for the most part this is your business. No one is going to control your activities and schedule.
Startup costs average less than $1,500. I'm talking paying for education to get your license, taking the exams, follow-up training, business cards, MLS, contracts, signs, and even marketing costs. The whole thing is going to cost you less than $1,500 and maybe you can get it all for close to $1,000. You'll need a smart mobile phone... but who doesn't already have one of those?
You'll always be learning. I bet you know people who say their job is boring and unfulfilling? They aren't realtors! There's too much variety in what we do all day. Every transactions seems to present different challenges.
You help people accomplish a life-changing task. Every time I close escrow I feel good... and that's before my commission check! It's not always about the money, even though the money is good...
You can set your own hours. If your children have after school sports, you'll be there! You can even coach a team, help out in the classroom, or volunteer for the PTA.
You are your own boss! You may be under your Broker's umbrella and you'll need to abide by law and regulations, and the REALTOR Code of Ethics, but for the most part this is your business. No one is going to control your activities and schedule.
Startup costs average less than $1,500. I'm talking paying for education to get your license, taking the exams, follow-up training, business cards, MLS, contracts, signs, and even marketing costs. The whole thing is going to cost you less than $1,500 and maybe you can get it all for close to $1,000. You'll need a smart mobile phone... but who doesn't already have one of those?
You'll always be learning. I bet you know people who say their job is boring and unfulfilling? They aren't realtors! There's too much variety in what we do all day. Every transactions seems to present different challenges.
You help people accomplish a life-changing task. Every time I close escrow I feel good... and that's before my commission check! It's not always about the money, even though the money is good...
cons
Money is not a good motivator. There’s plenty of Licensees who know they have Unlimited Earning Potential, but they don’t put in the time and effort to earn that income! Many of them will fall into that 80% who quit the business in the first year. I do think money is nice to have. If you are proficient in your job, you’ll make a lot of it.
Self-Motivation. If you want to have a successful career in real estate, you’ll need: DRIVE-FOCUS-DISCIPLINE. Pretty much without those qualities, you are not going to achieve your goals. You need to set some goals and create a budget and plan. Write it down. That’s important. If one of your goals is to make oodles of cash, you’ll need to close lots of escrows. That takes lots of clients, leads, and TIME.
Put away ONE year's total household income. Even though I said you can get into this business without a lot of money, unless you have another source of income, you’ll need to set aside money to pay for your living expenses. Most experts will suggest 6 months’ worth of cash to pay for your rent/mortgage, food, clothing, car expense, insurance. You cannot bank on a steady paycheck nor should you expect to be making oodles of cash right away. Most successful agents will tell you about the roller coaster of business they road during their first few years in sales. The job doesn’t cut you a weekly paycheck. You get paid when you close escrows and sometimes a transaction doesn’t close or it drags on for months. You should expect to sometimes work late at night, on weekends, even on a holiday. You may miss family events and you’ll work a lot of hours, so it helps if your loved ones understand and support your journey to success. In this business, there really are no guarantees. Failure is very possible. Look at the 90% that quit. But if you are persistent and do the right activities, you will succeed.
Self-Motivation. If you want to have a successful career in real estate, you’ll need: DRIVE-FOCUS-DISCIPLINE. Pretty much without those qualities, you are not going to achieve your goals. You need to set some goals and create a budget and plan. Write it down. That’s important. If one of your goals is to make oodles of cash, you’ll need to close lots of escrows. That takes lots of clients, leads, and TIME.
Put away ONE year's total household income. Even though I said you can get into this business without a lot of money, unless you have another source of income, you’ll need to set aside money to pay for your living expenses. Most experts will suggest 6 months’ worth of cash to pay for your rent/mortgage, food, clothing, car expense, insurance. You cannot bank on a steady paycheck nor should you expect to be making oodles of cash right away. Most successful agents will tell you about the roller coaster of business they road during their first few years in sales. The job doesn’t cut you a weekly paycheck. You get paid when you close escrows and sometimes a transaction doesn’t close or it drags on for months. You should expect to sometimes work late at night, on weekends, even on a holiday. You may miss family events and you’ll work a lot of hours, so it helps if your loved ones understand and support your journey to success. In this business, there really are no guarantees. Failure is very possible. Look at the 90% that quit. But if you are persistent and do the right activities, you will succeed.
how not to fail
If you want to be a top agent, meet and talk to a lot of people about real estate. You’ll need to be comfortable asking friends, family and strangers for their business, and you’ll need to know they aren’t always going to give it to you. Don't worry about that. After they have a bad experience using someone else, they’ll probably give you a referral lead.
You’ll also be inundated with a zillion (almost rhymes with Zillow) marketing solutions designed to get you quality leads. You’ll hear about success stories; seldom about failures. You’ll hear about the latest technology that’s guaranteed to generate more business for you. You’ll usually be told it will take at least 6 months to a year before you get good results and of course there’s no guarantee.
If you are spending hours a day talking to people about real estate and offering your service, you will get business. Lots of it. Most agents know it. However, I’ve known plenty of agents who spend lots of time in the office, attend lots of training classes, spend lots of money on new business generating systems, and are really nice people who would do a great job for their clients,if they only had clients but they don’t. They aren’t engaging in the activity that will get them business. If an agent tells me they don’t have clients, I know they aren’t consistently talking real estate to their friends, friend’s friends, family, strangers, or anyone who will listen.
Websites like Yelp and Zillow will tell you they have the best and newest technology to get you a bunch of internet leads for a fee. Did you hear what I just said? No, not about the fee. I’m saying, Internet Companies will TELL YOU, they will CALL YOU to share their good news. Top Internet Companies have learned that the best way to get business is to TALK with Prospects! In this case, they call real estate agents and follow up with emails and more calls. If you do decide to get your license, expect lots of phone calls from Internet and Technology Companies who want your business. They are really really really good at getting leads for themselves and closing deals because they spend all day long calling real estate agents and asking them for business.
That’s Sales. That’s Real Estate. Spend your time meeting and talking to people about real estate, and you’ll not only achieve your goals; you’ll also believe, as do I, that helping people achieve their real estate dreams and goals is the best job in the world! Want to learn more? Call me!
You’ll also be inundated with a zillion (almost rhymes with Zillow) marketing solutions designed to get you quality leads. You’ll hear about success stories; seldom about failures. You’ll hear about the latest technology that’s guaranteed to generate more business for you. You’ll usually be told it will take at least 6 months to a year before you get good results and of course there’s no guarantee.
If you are spending hours a day talking to people about real estate and offering your service, you will get business. Lots of it. Most agents know it. However, I’ve known plenty of agents who spend lots of time in the office, attend lots of training classes, spend lots of money on new business generating systems, and are really nice people who would do a great job for their clients,if they only had clients but they don’t. They aren’t engaging in the activity that will get them business. If an agent tells me they don’t have clients, I know they aren’t consistently talking real estate to their friends, friend’s friends, family, strangers, or anyone who will listen.
Websites like Yelp and Zillow will tell you they have the best and newest technology to get you a bunch of internet leads for a fee. Did you hear what I just said? No, not about the fee. I’m saying, Internet Companies will TELL YOU, they will CALL YOU to share their good news. Top Internet Companies have learned that the best way to get business is to TALK with Prospects! In this case, they call real estate agents and follow up with emails and more calls. If you do decide to get your license, expect lots of phone calls from Internet and Technology Companies who want your business. They are really really really good at getting leads for themselves and closing deals because they spend all day long calling real estate agents and asking them for business.
That’s Sales. That’s Real Estate. Spend your time meeting and talking to people about real estate, and you’ll not only achieve your goals; you’ll also believe, as do I, that helping people achieve their real estate dreams and goals is the best job in the world! Want to learn more? Call me!
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Joe Thomas, Owner
(909) 942 - 3003 |