I just passed my real estate exam, now what?

John, you're so right about the open houses and the 'neighbors'. I listed a property on Thursday and have now had conversations with two other neighbors who are thinking about selling.  Love those visitors!

Not a fan of door knocking, but I know it works for some.

John: The real estate business is tough and you have to earn your spurs. That means go out and find business. I can't believe that agents just expect to have business fall in their lap without knowing anything but passing the test. The competition is fierce out there especially in this market. Basically, it's hard work! 

John, what I would suggest is to get that new agent out and meeting all the people in her "sphere of relationships"... face-to-face.  I would help her come up with a script (that MUST fit her personality), and perhaps a letter... personally addressed to each person she meets with... "asking" for their help.  People LOVE to help other people... they really do.  Just my suggestion. 

And, speaking of suggestions... I have "suggested" this post.

Also... I see you are a Newbie... so... Welcome to Active Rain.  I have subscribed to your blog, and I invite you to do the same to mine.

When I started in mid 2003 there was a lot of low hanging fruit, not now. I do well talking to people at the grocery store Sun. afternoon.

John, thanks for your kind words.  There is just SO much that you can do with a new agent... IF she has a good attitude, and is brimming with excitement... and ready to go out and help people make their dreams come true.  The main thing, besides training that fits their personality... is making sure they keep that new-agent excitement.  Attitude is everything.

By the way... I have lots of Active Rain tutorials that I have written on my blog... so after you subscribe... you'll get lots of great ideas from reading it.

I will politely disagree, John. As a Broker, I would NEVER encourage my agents to hold an open house nor door knock. Those techniques seldom worked 10 years ago and unlikely to produce results now. In fact, the one thing it is like to do is diminish the drive a new agent possesses. Ask yourself, would YOU actually open your door to a stranger, interrupting your family time?

I find it an incredible boast that any agent would walk away from a 1-hour conversation and become productive. As an experienced certified real estate instructor, I can testify that a new agent requires a good deal of time investment in order to cultivate them in the mechanics of the profession.

I highly recommend 100 Days to Greatness as a terrific education tool: http://www.buffiniandcompany.com/100-days-to-greatness-training.aspx if you want your agents to be productive quickly.

I still do open houses and it seems like every time I do I tell myself that I won't do another one.  Mostly it is to pacify the seller, but really in our area they are usually a waste of time.  Last weekend my partner and I were treated to the retired guy that saw the sign the day before(put them out 2 days before to draw attention) while he was on his 5am walk.  He decided he would come by and torment us for a while.  He blathered on for quite a while, then proceeded to tell us that we were about 30,000 overpriced in his opinion because his neighbor bought his house for $45,000, but it did need a bit of work before it was live-able.

Mike in #7:  Open houses in Louisiana may be a dead end for you, but sometimes different areas experience great differences in success to many real estate activities, including open houses.  Also... if you go in to hold an open house expecting it to be a disaster... you will probably prove yourself right.

Have YOU ever held an open house in Sierra Madre, California ?  Perhaps John knows something you don't.

As far as the 100 Days to Greatness program, it can work, but you really have to work at it.  I am a Certified Buffini Mentor, and I have seen the results... and also the lack of them.  With that being said, I actually prefer the By Referral Only program of Joe Stumpf.

Training programs MUST be a good fit for the personality of the person being trained.  Buffini is not everyones cup of tea, so to speak.

Karen Anne #9 - that's exactly why I began my response "I will politely disagree."

Have YOU (or John) ever held an Open House in Houston? I have. They were ineffective despite the best of efforts. My comment to John was based on 11 years of experience in multiple states and markets. I'm not clear what brought on the negative mental attitude comment you interjected.

I've worked with programs from Joe Stumpf, Craig Proctor, Fast Track and even Floyd Wickman and prefer Brian's. It's a down-to-earth and back-to-basics approach offering a variety of methods to suit just about any style or personality. In my opinion, it's the lack of agent's commitment and accountability that spells failure. 

John:  It is interesting that you mentioned Tommy Hopkins from back in the 70's.  He was my first real estate trainer as well, when I got into real estate in 1973.  I remember going to three different three-full-day seminars with him.  One on Listing, on Selling, and on Closing Techniques.  He was professional, but quirkier back then... not so much as the "showman" he is today.  I liked him better, then.

Today I would put both Buffini and Tommy Hopkins in the same category, and Joe Stumpf in a different one.  Right now, I prefer Joe's methods rather than Buffini's... even though I am a Buffini Certified Mentor.  But... bottom line... each of them appeals to a different sort of personality.  I don't think I could say that one is absolutely better than the other... just that they are different.  But that in each case... one might work better for someone than the other would.  I find myself rambling, here, and wondering if I am making any sense.

I love doing open houses, and if one knows the demographics of the complex, and then finds out where others in that demographic hang out, and then advertises to that demographic, open houses can be very successful in getting new business, and even in getting the open house sold!

Open Houses can be beneficial.  It can definitely get the new agents some contacts to put in their database, which is how we get relationships started.

As Karen stated, Buffini is great, but he is for certain types of personalities.  I'm looking into to Joe Stumpf since Karen mentioned it. :) I've received a few of his FREE seminars and found them more interesting that Buffini's.