Looking at real estate as an industry and as a profession can be a pretty intimidating thing.  Unless your family was involved in investing and bought multiple properties, chances are you hadn't been exposed to much of the how to's of the profession.  It took me years of consideration before I finally decided to take the plunge and if I can share with you a few things I've learned along the way, I hope it will help you undertand what it's like to start and how you can be successful.

In this land of over 6300 licensee's what you won't hear when you go to real estate school is approximately 35% of all the agents on Oahu will do 2 or less transactions within a 12 month period.  Had I heard this when I started, I probably would've headed for the door, but my goal is not run you out the door but to give you a real world idea of what to expect and some ideas to put you well past the two transactions a year (or less) track.

1)  Choose the right school. Even if you have a business degree (in Hawaii you can waive the classes with a BS/BBA) there is so much to learn, if you skip the class you will miss out on key points that will make your life easier later on.  Training is crucial in this business.

2)  Save enough money or prepare to be supported by friends, or family while you begin your business.  Becoming a realtor is not a job, you are starting a company.  In that vein you must act and respond as an Entreprenuer.  Meaning, you live, work, eat and sleep the business until it is no longer a start-up.

3)  Choose an excellent company to hang your license at.  Excellent companies don't hire just anybody.  They INTERVIEW you to make sure you are a good fit, and you should also INTERVIEW them to make sure they are a good fit with you. An excellent company will be well established, have full time, extremely experienced management, coaches and support, as well as systems and technology you can use to build your business.

4)  Sundays are your friend, your very best friend.  One of the best ways to get better versed on your real estate dialogue is to work open houses (every Sunday at least initially), practice presentations on friends and family and have regularly scheduled business appointments with prospects and or busines contacts that can provide you with referrals. Help other agents with their open houses if you don't have a listing.  It's a great way to meet buyers who don't have an agent.

5)  This business is constantly evolving.  You will be evolving too!  Training is ongoing and what you don't have to take you should consider as an addition to your arsenal. Recognize your shortcomings and develop those skills that are weak.  

6)  Set goals for your business and your personal life.  Without goals you have nothing to achieve, no benchmark.  Strive for balance - it can be a saving grace.

7)  Embrace technology.  It's not an option if you want to survive in the Internet era.

8)  Know that nothing says more about you than your clients.  Treat them well, have a good sense of Ethics, integrity and do the right thing.  It goes a very very long way.

9)  If you are worried about money, prospects and people can sense that and will not respond positively to you.   

10)  Make your work fun and understand that you are making a difference in people's lives.  You are helping them with the single most important investment in their life.

It can take up to two years, for some even longer, to get their businesses to a point where they are making enough money to make them comortable.  A real full time agent is one who makes their bread and butter from real estate, they invest in real estate and they do what they tell their clients to do.  This is an amazing business and it takes guts, a desire to learn and a need to do the right thing to be truly successful.