Over the years, I’ve read a lot about the great American work ethic, but I have yet to see signs of it in the general population. Perhaps I’m being cynical, but I believe the reason “get rich quick” books, audio programs and workshops sell so well is that most people are looking for a way to get around the hard work and long hours that lead to individual success.
The field of real estate sales is a classic example of this. In most areas of the country, a person simply has to take a course or two and pass a state licensing exam. Then whammo, they become licensed to assist buyers and sellers with their most valuable assets: homes, land and businesses.
Each year, I interview a few dozen newly licensed agents who tell me that they’re becoming realtors because the earning potential is virtually limitless, often adding that since my firm is well known they would be glad to help take advantage of all the buyers and sellers who are, clearly, desperately in need of their services. I can’t begin to calculate the number of fresh new realtors who have come to me, nurturing the notion that, if they show a half dozen homes to a young couple, and write an offer, they can make ten thousand dollars. How tough could that be, they say?
It’s true that the earning potential of a realtor can run into the millions. However, building a multimillion dollar career in real estate means working exceedingly hard, taking on the difficult tasks that most people would never dream of tackling.
Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I make a great deal of money by teaching licensed realtors techniques to improve their ratios and dramatically increase their incomes. However, a newcomer must put a lot of effort and time into building their personal business in order to be successful and avoid becoming a statistic in the extremely high fall-out rate of licensed Realtors.
Most new realtors sit at their desk, or hang around the water cooler, while waiting for that big break to show up on their floor time. I know that I started my career with the same mistaken beliefs. For my first few months in real estate, I bought into the myth that I could simply wait in the office for the phone to ring. Actually, when my first client did appear, it was one of the worst things that could have happened to me.
He called me after seeing a “For Sale” sign on a property our office had listed on South Fifth Street in Allentown. Prepared to do everything right, I called the owner of the home and left a message saying that I’d be showing the house later that afternoon. We set up showings through an index card system. Each home had an index card with showing instructions, and we were to follow the showing instructions and then write our name and the time on the card so the listing agent would know who had been at the property. We simply had to let the owner know we were showing it, leave the showing time on their answering machine, and use the lockbox on the front door.
Just after one that afternoon, I drove to the home, a three story brick row home with a covered front porch, to find my new clients already there. I rang the bell and knocked on the door. No one answered, so I dialed the combination on the lockbox and called out as I opened the door, just in case the owner was home and hadn’t heard us knocking.
Like most Pennsylvania row homes, this one was long and narrow. Just inside the front door, a long staircase led to the second floor, while to the right, a long living room – dining room combination stretched to a kitchen at the very back. After viewing the first floor, we heard a muffled noise as we proceeded up the long staircase. When my client asked about it, I explained that, although sometimes they might hear something from an adjoining home, I was certain that their privacy would be insured by the brick, lathe and plaster walls which separated this townhome from the next.
The couple did not seem particularly impressed by the size of the bedrooms on the second floor. They mentioned that their bedroom furniture wouldn’t fit in the relatively small front bedroom of the second floor. Additionally, the noise persisted, and I was concerned that the couple would not purchase the home because the walls were obviously less thick than I had assumed.
However, when we reached the third floor, which my notes told me featured a large master bedroom suite, we found ourselves in a room with a mirrored ceiling and walls, in the center of which, on a king sized bed, the owners were absorbed in enjoying some mid-afternoon delight, an exercise made all the more striking by the fact that it was reflected above us and on every side.
I’m fairly certain my cheeks turned several shades brighter. I had, I admit, never thought of voyeurism as a sales gambit, but the fact was, that despite everyone’s embarrassment, the buyers made an immediate bid.
Oddly enough, however, I never received a referral from the sellers.
Sometimes gratitude is too much to hope for
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