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CHALLENGES OF A NEW AGENT

It's been a long time since I was a "new agent"

This is how I began: Fresh from the Real Estate class. I thought I was ready. I got a broker to sponsor me And I showed up at office.

I will always remember the sales manager. She told me not to expect to be in this business for very long and she assured me that I would not be successful. Now that was encouraging!

Not knowing any better, and since I wasn't going to be a success anyway, I decided to show up at the office every day. There would not be any additional training. The broker said he didn't do any training because then I would leave with his great training to be put to use somewhere else.

Again, not knowing what else to do, I continued to show up every day. There were no computers. fax machines. Just no technology. I was given copies of the office listings and a weekly update of MLS that you had to drive to get.

The first lead I was given without any training was a listing lead. Which I did get. I had no clue if it was priced correctly or not. As I found out, it was extremely overpriced, which is why no other company wanted it.

The second lead was a "walk-in". They wanted to see one of our listings. This listing was in a town that I did not know even existed. I wasn't about to let anyone know I didn't know where this listing was. I got completely lost. Figured that out when a sign welcomed us to Connecticut. And the the worst thing happened:I almost ran of gasoline. I truly wasn't prepared for this. I had very little cash, no credit cards. So I filled up and the attendant reluctantly accepted a check.

Now the people in my car decided to speak another language( I'm sure talking about me). The child with them became sick in my car. That was fun! I eventually found my way back to the office. These people were never heard from again.

I did learn from this experience that previewing is a must. Keep your car full of gasoline and always have emergency money with you. Also, I kept coins in the cars for the phones.(no cell phones then).

So if you are a new agent, do not despair. Take all the training offered. Go to the office every day. I wish you great success.

Success is a journey- no beginning and no end. I have been doing this for over 25 years and am still on the journey.

Posted by Janice Lipka on 12/27/2006 10:30 AM

Comments (18)

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18 Comments on CHALLENGES OF A NEW AGENT

DEC

2006

Great advice for a Newbie or even for a seasoned agent who wants to get to the next level. Happy New Year it will be a prosperous one!

It's always nice to reminisce; I also remember getting lost & the weekly mls update books. Technology has made our lives so much easier. Do you remember when you had to travel all the back to your office because you forgot the key or because you needed the map, or how about getting more comps? Now, we have access to the database from our home and car, we have GPS, laptops, cellphones, fax, etc. It's amazing to me what we have and I wonder what we will have 10 years from now.

tough start to an awsome career! I guess that sales manager is still your mentor :)

Hi Janice--Did you ever think of trying a different brokerage back then? I was thinking for a long time that I had wished I had gotten into real estate years sooner--I think now I am glad I didn't. Good job on the perseverance.

Training seems to be the secret to success. I look at the list of training I attended during my first year and it looks like a school catalogue with offerings for the semester. I couldn't stop attending classes. Then I got me a team leader that coached me along the way to apply those academic jewels. You're right, it's like an airport (if you notice when you fly into an airport - construction is ongoing for years), it never stops improving.

Ken

As a new agent, I feel lucky to be at a firm that pushes training all the time. At first, I wanted to just take my license out there and start doing business. I was so annoyed that my team leader signed me up for classes the whole month of August. How was I supposed to sell homes? Then, we had even more training in September. Eventually, all the training has helped and I am now getting regular business. I'm glad I didn't join the industry when I originally wanted to - I appreciate all the technology now. I could not have lasted.

HI JANICE:

SINCE WE MET, I KNEW YOU WERE THE RIGHT SPONSOR FOR ME. YOU SHARED AND CARED THAT I GOT OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT IN TRAINING AND GAVE ME PLENTY OF GUIDANCE. THANK YOU FOR THAT. YOU ARE AND WILL ALWAYS BE MY MENTOR.

THERE IS NO DOUBT...YOU ARE THE "REAL ESTATE DIVA" CUDOS TO YOU!!

When I started in 2004, I was too was told that it takes at least 6 months to get your first deal. But I didn't listen. I had set a goal for myself of 24 closed sides. And I went into the office every day. I studied online, I read books, I listened to tapes, I absorbed everything I could. And guess what? I closed 22 sides my first year. My first client was a walkin my 1st month and since I had no other clients I gave him lots of time and we closed a deal within 30 days. And so it began. One closing a month for the first 5 months and then it snowballed into 22 by the end of the year. I think you can have success regardless of how new you are. As long as you adopt the personal mantra "failure is not an option" like I did and go to it!

I am looking back on my first year in real estate. I was told that the market was changing, I had no idea what that meant. The office manager was supportive, and I showed up every day. I was told that to try to get three or four closed sides this year would be over zealous. I am a single mom, three or four sides would not be enough. I closed only 7 sides this year, and found out in August I was in the top ten of the office for the first half of the year. The last half of the year, has been a bit discouraging. I am regrouping and next year is going to be spectacular!

Great advice about getting all the training you can get! It's a shark eat shark world in real estate!

I've heard some people say..."you only keep what you have by giving it away"...If a new agent needs my help or wants direction, I will not deny them my responsibility to teach!

Great post and thanks.

Gee what an uplifting person your sales manager was. I always wonder about that type of motivation.

Great learnings from the past. Thanks for sharing - we have all had these or similar experiences. Embarassing at the time but chock full of lessons for the future. And, as you point out, we never stop learning (or shouldn't!)

One evening I showed a house...spent a good amount of time in it. After the showing I called the listing agent...gave her feed back and told her she was out of packets.

Next day I got call from the listing agent who asked me why I told her I had shown the house when I did not. Her sellers had been home...waiting for me and I never arrived. LOL...I showed the WRONG house...the house I showed wasn't even on the market! I'll never forget it... I wish I could tell you I was a new agent when it happened but I wasn't! Thing happen in real estate.

Congratulation on your featured post. I too believe in training. By the way I met you at the SRES training in Albany.

I like the war story! Somewhat question that first broker of yours, however....?

DEC

2006

Hi Janice,

I'm the guy who sits diagonally across from you every day. Great post, obviously I've heard this story before. You've finally found a venue to share your 25 years of experience with the masses. Keep up the good work.

Your wonderful, smart and of course cute business partner,

Carmine

JAN

2007

Janice - I read your post and just smiled away - what silly stuff we go through, isn't this business great? Congrats for your 25 years - and it does not take away the fact that you will have a lot more crazy things happen to you.

Ines

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