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Real Estate and Cosmetics Sales Don't Mix!

Many of you know that I generate a lot of referral leads from the Internet. I share these leads and I've found that it is a great way to make money, and allow others in the industry to share the wealth. Recently leads are picking up, and many agents seem to be pre-occupied with side show distractions. It is amazing in this down market how many agents become counter productive with their own bad personal choices. They compound their slump by making choices that insure they can no longer work real estate. A good referral lead skillfully worked until it closes may pay a commission from anywhere from $3000 to $30000. That could worth almost a month or a years wage to some. Instead many real estate agents today are too busy to work real estate. They've chosen another line of sales to supplement their income, and yet the reality is it won't even pay the monthly electric bill.

It flawed thinking is not new to real estate. Years ago we dealt with 'Amway' 'tupperware' parties, today it has evolved into 'Mary Kaye' 'Noni Juice' etc. The reason? Many agents lament of a lack of money, seems to be the culprit. Selling cosmetics, juice, and soap seems irrational but somehow appeals to those that have mentally retired from real estate. They have left the building in more than one way.

Jewelry sales, juice sales, and Mary Kaye sales in the office are the first sign that an agent has lost their appitite and nerve to sell real estate. I can personally attest that no one I've know over the years has ever retired from juice sales, Tupperware, Avon, Amway or Mary Kaye. However I know many that have earned great incomes in real estate, own second homes, put children through college without student loans, and buy a new car every few years from working real estate. It can still be done today even in a lousy market except if you are too busy to work the leads. "Are you in or out?" Commitment matters.

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Posted by Jim Crawford ~ Atlanta Real Estate-ABR E-PRO on 08/21/2009 08:18 AM

Comments (40)

Real Estate Agents and Part Time Distractions in the ActiveRain Channel

real estate careers, committment, career choices, bad carreer choices, real estate agents, sales, referral leads, working the leads, closings, income

Originally posted at: Atlanta Real Estate | Atlanta Housing News for Real Estate: Real Estate and Cosmetics Sales Don't Mix!

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40 Comments on Real Estate and Cosmetics Sales Don't Mix!

AUG

Jim, "Are you in or out?" speaks volumes, staying in is tough in this down market, but it is essential for success. Don't lose focus. Keep working those leads until they tell you to stop or sign on the bottom line. :)

Hi Jim! All I can say is AMEN to that! I can't believe that the desire to take command of your 'real' business doesn't prevail in times like these. Like you, I've NEVER known ANYone who has retired from these businesses that actually have money in the bank for their retirement--they may retire from it because it wasn't as lucrative as they were promised!! LOL

Have a wonderful weekend...

Jim,

The broker that mentored me in real estate sales always pointed this out...and he frowned upon a person rehabbing even their own investment properties...!!! While their nailing up a sheet of dry wall they could be out chasing down leads which bear much more monetary fruit...!!!

Thanks, Fran

Jim, I am with you on this!

I'm trippin' in fact on a local property manager ~ who has at LEAST 125 units she manages now . . . I just noticed she is Tweeting - ABOUT ACAI BERRY JUICE or somesuch. What is that?

She needs to be parlaying those units into MORE units!

Priorities!!!

Jim:

I think some people are doing those things out of fear. However, they are not realizing that it's not only a huge distraction from the fact that they should be focusing on their real estate business, but, when I see someone peddling cosmetics and trying to push people into joining their MLM, it screams the word "unsuccessful". And, that is going to do more harm to their career than they can ever make up selling Tupperware.

Gail Tassey**South Austin Real Estate Austin Texas **512-217-9482 (Sky Realty Austin) Agents that are committed to their careers are still doing well. Maybe not as good as previous years, but they are making money. Others are just too easily distracted from obtaining their goals. They are not committed.

Debe Maxwell, Realtor® Let's Talk CHARLOTTE! (Helen Adams Realty) Debe you are so right. I am not say these are bad products or even that money cannot be made selling these products...it is just that a house divided cannot stand.

Fran 'The Title Man' Gaspari Title Insurance-PA & NJ (Patriot Land Transfer, Inc.) Fran you are so right. It isn't just sales...I know agents that lost out on really big referrals because they did not want to work a high end lead because they were busy doing yard work or some other project that they could have even delegated to someone else.

Jim - Your title of your post quickly reminded me of my sour moments just prior to real estate sales.

I joined Mary Kay and really wanted to give it a try since I see these ladies driving "free" company cars, right? I never imagined that I could work 3 hours a week to earn $300K a year so I knew I had to put in some real efforts.

But I didnt have the right "leader" to mentor me. She had asked me to swipe my credit card (go into debt) to buy the products to sell. She would not "share" or "exchange" products that I needed. She wanted me to go ALL in, spending thousands of dollars not knowing if I was going to succeed.

If you had read my blogs, you would know that getting into debt would never fly with me. It sets me off on the wrong foot.

Mary Kay sets off your business with a good plan - 30 faces in 30 days. A challenge if you want to say it. When I sent out the email to my friends, no one responded. That's when I figured people will start running away FROM me into TO me if I ever did this business.

That was 7 years ago. I can't sell a $20 lipstick but I can sell a $200K house.

I think it's a personality thing. I dont like spreading myself too thin. Hence, I quit my FT job to do real estate FT. I realize my clients, my former boss/ company are not getting the BEST of me. Until I fully commit, I can never be ALL I am suppose to be.

Thanks for this post, Jim. You reminded me again why I took on this important job.

Candice A Donofrio, Broker/Owner NEXT WAVE RE Invsts FM, AZ So true. I know agents that pursue the ridiculous and turn down real work. There are too many schemes to name....Telephone, travel, natural gas, and they come with all sorts of convoluted kickback schemes. Foolish agents are willing to work for a dream and neglect to do the real sales on their table.

Claudette Millette - Metrowest Mass Exclusive Buyer Broker (The Buyers' Counsel) I agree, and to add insult to injury many of these agents contact their data base and try to peddle these ideas on their past clients. I do not think that advisable.

Loreena Yeo - Broker|Realtor(R) of www.Frisco-TX-Homes.com (214) 783-2210 (3:16 team REALTY) Loreena, God bless you for sharing this. I think many in our business need smelling salts to wake them up from their delusion. There are a lot of things that a person needs to figure out before deciding the best path to go on in life. There are those too that have gone down other paths and freely share the realities of their experiences just as you did. We can learn from the experiences of others. You mentioned that friends move away, and for the effort involved I can get more enthusiastic over selling a home for 200K vs. selling a tube of lipstick etc....

"If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen". I too hate these "side businesses" that muddy the real estate field. Thanks for your great post.

OMG... you have nailed it on the head! This is one of my pet peeves. Do you sell real estate or do you sell juice? I find myself trying to avoid these agents in the office so I'm not constantly hit up to buy something. If they are selling something for their children, then fine but I don't want to buy juice or jewelry or anything else they have to sell. Unfortunately, people are looking for anything to keep the cash flowing.

Hello Jim, I agree with you whole-heartedly on this one! I have never signed up for an MLM HOWEVER, in a past life I did work for a start-up MLM at their corporate offices. This start-up was sponsored by the nation's No. 2 MLM and had tremendous resources at their disposal. I did meet the supertsars that had 64,000 members in their down-line -- and those very, very few individuals worked very hard (and with corporate help) to achieve staggering results (i.e., monthly 6-figure checks). From what I observed, comparing the same amount of effort required: real estate vs MLM; real estate will consistently yield superior results to the individual applying themselves to it full time. Thanks! John

PS - In my opinion, if a person wants to be successful in MLM start your downline when the economy is going great, for when the next down-time hits you will really cash in -- as MLM "Opportunities" have their greatest popularity during slow times in the economy.

Tom Boos (Sine & Monaghan GMAC Real Estate) I have a real estate card in my wallet that I keep to show friends. I picked it up at one of my listings. On the front side of the card is a regular real estate business card, and on the back side is another business. They are also magicians, and they are pulling a rabbit out of a hat. My friends cannot believe it, and they cannot stop laughing. It is the same laugh when they have a god laugh at those selling jewelry, Avon etc. at the office.

David Slavin, ABR, SRES RE/MAX Grand, Katy, TX (RE/MAX Grand) I have some agents...that used to be very big agents now doing the same thing. That is scary.

Alexander-Slocum REMAX Team - Vancouver WA Real Estate (RE/MAX equity group, inc. - Vancouver Washington) Wow. Thanks for that information. Very enlightening. BTW...con men also thrive in a soft economy. The reason is that many persons that are up against it believe in the 'Tooth fairy.' If it sounds to good to be true, it is!

I've noticed the same thing in my area. It does make you wonder where their focus actually is.

Jim, to play devils advocate-some agents were in a 2 working person household and now the spouse may be unemployed-that solid income has stopped but their mortgage and other bills have not. They may be trying anything they can to avoid bankruptcy. It might not be the money they used to generate in the "write-um up" years of "sign here" in the past, but maybe it will generate enough money to keep them out of bankruptcy or losing their home. Some have additional elder care issues. I can't judge what others do to put food on the table. Right now they are probably just trying to cover their bills one day to the next. I think you are correct that few will "retire" from doing those other things-but maybe they aren't looking at it as career change. In fact, maybe if they meet some people doing those other things they will get some "qualified" referrals and slowly get back on their feet. Just because some agents are struggling more than others doesn't mean they are a failure or that they are no longer worthy of a real estate career. Even "The Donald" has had his ups and down and turned it around.

If Congress keeps poking their nose in the mortgage and real estate business-it may soon all be destroyed for all of us forever.

Irene Tron (McColly Real Estate in Valparaiso, IN) I saw a big SUV today that had a real estate sign from a major company on the side and rear of the vehicle. Next to the real estate company banners was an ad that said "I Sell Vitamins!" What signal does that send to the public?

Rhonda Mapp-Solid Source Realty-Alpharetta, GA (Solid Source Realty, Inc.) Rhonda I fully understand that scenario. However, many agents in our business right now are not thinking. They have allowed their emotions to overtake their common sense. They have lost their focus. Perhaps they are depressed or distressed, but they are not working real estate. I can give out sure fire leads these days and the leads are being dropped. One deal can make a major difference of pulling oneself out of a jam. However, I get calls from irate buyers everyday that no one has called them back.

These are leads I assign to another agent, but it seems that many agents are preoccupied with other non productive items. These are supposed full time agents that really do not have their heart in real estate anymore. If I give the leads to another agent they are writing contracts, and closing the deals.

Jim I can understand your frustration. I was thinking of agents that had NO leads so they had turned to something part-time to generate a dollar or two. But to walk away from a current, qualified lead is clouded thinking for sure. Even if they were doing one of the pyramid deals, that still isn't full time work-they are independent contractors and could toss the part time stuff aside and work your sure-fire leads.

I must confess that I am suprised though-I thought consumers were cutting back on just about everything-so who would figure that lipstick and food storage containers were bigger business opportunities than real estate?

I don't know of anyone who has retired from the pyramid real estate offices either but they are here. I love selling Real Estate but it is the investing that will lead to my retirement. As agent we have access before anyone else even know the properties for sell.

I try to buy one of my listings a year and turn into a rental. Price is king and I try to prove to my clients when you price it right even I might buy it.

Rhonda Mapp-Solid Source Realty-Alpharetta, GA (Solid Source Realty, Inc.) Yes, they are turning down real work. Many years ago I had something similar happen. We received a call as we were going out of town for an upper end buyer coming in from overseas...and we called around and all the regulars did not want to work the referral. We received every lame excuse under the sun. The dilemma was that no one wanted to work a lead at the last moment, and we had plans that took us out of state for a week. We gave the lead to another agent we that was grateful for the lead, and even though we'd not worked with her before, and she sold him in 2 weeks. The lead was a cash deal for over 2 million dollars.

So again, too many people in real estate are really not working real estate. They are dabbling a little real estate, a little jewelry, a little bit of vitamins, cosmetic sales, and a part time job...they are too exhausted from chasing their tale when the million dollar buyer comes buy that would save them in one closing.

This is not an isolated incident, and we always have buyers agents working several million dollar referrals at one time. The key is that leads and referrals have to be worked. If it meant I could just show up and collect a check, I would not refer them out. I'd close them myself.

Charles Stallions Real Estate 800-309-3414 Pensacola, Fl. There are some tremendous opportunities in this market. A few times we sold our own home and it was because we were actively working buyers. It was a private sale and no other agents or commissions were involved. There are many perks in the business that really could add up, but they are available when you are really working the business.

This is the natural progression for all the" realtors" who joined during the boom years when most agents were just glorified order takers making huge easy money, and these same opportunists are chasing after what appears to be the next easy buck and saying goodbye to real estate. It shows you the licensing standards are too easy to become a realtor when so many realtors areso unprofessional, just like in Georgia the builders and contractors are finally required to have a license after the general public has had to suffer from previous unprofessional "work"!

I won't name names, but the only time I saw real estate and cosmetics mix was when a female realtor was showing me high end Buckhead houses many years ago and regardless of what I said about each house she still held a fake smile the whole time hiding behind the mask of too much cosmetics. Anyways, it was a great learning experience for me as I have found the true professionals don't play games like second businesses or telling buyers what they want to hear, etc. they spread facts and good advice...

phil - You know me, I try to tell it like it is. I can't help myself.

Well, I won't name names either. But one day, back in the day of the last housing mess in the late 90's and early 2000, an agent that I knew a very good on-site agent. She no longer had a new home community to represent. Many developers and builders went belly up. Subdivisions were in foreclosure. She was also going through a divorce. And she was working behind the cosmetics counter at a leading department store. Had NOTHING to do with her being any less of an agent than anyone here on this post.

The market improved and she was back on-site-first as an on-site agent then later as a sales manager of a prestigious country club coummity. Great lady-I have so much respect for her personally and professionally.

Times are difficult. Most agents are not closing the transactions they did in 2005 and 2006. But they are working with buyers and often things beyond their control stop the transaction. Yet they were working hard and good agents. Agents are out there listing homes like crazy-yet so few are selling. It's not because the listing agents are poor agents. There are a lot of outside influences the transaction-and some are not going to close-but the agents are still very good agents.

Rhonda Mapp-Solid Source Realty-Alpharetta, GA (Solid Source Realty, Inc.) I agree there a a lot of very good agents, but the number of agents has grown dramatically in the Atlanta area from the late 1990's. In the late 1990's we had 8500 agents in our FMLS for about the same amount of sales we are doing today. In 2003 we had about 13000 agents and by 2007 we were at 46000. Today we are about 33500. We still have about 20,000 agents too many. All the agents are not going to survive, in fact most won't. That is why almost 70% of Atlanta real estate agents never even sold 1 home a year. Those are not the persons I refer business to, or like to work with. They have already made a statement they don't have their heart fully in the business, and they are just waiting in the wings til the market improves. A person that wants to survive this, understand the changes in financing, loans, understand the changes in the contract verbiage... they are doing this full time.

AUG

Jim, you really do tell it like it is, that is what I like and respect about you, my kind of professional, keep it up!

Steve Mattison (Souvenir Realty, Inc. ) Steve, thank you for the kind words. I do this business full time, and no one is served by those that do not have their heart in it. Other agents end up doing all the work in a deal when the other agent does not have their heart in it, Lawyers and processors are delayed when they cannot stay on schedule, and brokers are put at risk when there are missing amendments, signatures missing, and their E&O insurance rates go up. This is not even mentioning their clients...what items are they missing out on?

Well said, "except if you are too busy to work the leads."

I am convinced that what separates people from success is persistence and follow up.

Mark MacKenzie Real Estate Planning I think many agents to not get this part. It is all about "success is persistence and follow up."

Maybe the real estate commission should take the lead and eliminate that independent contractor clause and make real estate a real "full time" job only, no side jobs allowed. Anyone doing 1 transaction a year would not put in a real estate commission "regulated" 40 hour week.

What is going on right now is capitalism at work. The strongest survive, no matter what industry you are in. Hits the real estate industry every few years-just like other businesses like furniture and coffe shop businesses. Agents drop out. When the economy improves, agents jump in. Until the next economy shift. It's a cycle. It's predictable.

But it seems the shift took even some long time, well seasoned brokers by suprise though-many brokers had not prepared for this extended economic shift.

Rhonda Mapp-Solid Source Realty-Alpharetta, GA (Solid Source Realty, Inc.) Thank you for your thoughts. I don't believe in doing away with independent subcontractor, and persons should be able to hire and work with whom they choose. We have a long way to go in this cycle because this downturn is much more severe than past downturns in the economy. In the meantime, I also am a big believer in Capitalism, and I will continue to refer business to those that treat real estate as a full time profession. I also have a right for choices when referring out business.

Many people jumped into Real Estate when the market was hot and never took the time to learn how this business works and now they are chasing pennies.

Cameron Wilson: Murrieta/Temecula/ Menifee California Real Estate (Century 21 Tri Valley Realty) You are right on the money. When many thought they were figuring out short sales - full time agents were closing real daels and makine full commissions. They did not lost 6 to 8 months doing one deal to make 1%.

Wow Jim, how was this not featured. Commitment certainly matters no matter your career choice. When things get a little tricky it time to focus even harder not become distracted.

AUG

Erik Hitzelberger, --Louisville-Bullitt County Real Estate (RE/MAX Alliance) Exactly! Double your efforts on your career.

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