What do I know now that I wish I had known when I first went into real estate?
I believe we all would agree that we would do many things differently. I have learned so much by trial and error, and since I’ve been a real estate Instructor, I try to pass a lot of my experiences on to my students.
My wife Judy and I have said many times that we wish we had gotten into real estate years ago when we first got married, but when you’re young and have a family to support, there never was a time to stop our full time job to start out in real estate. I have always heard to never quit your day job with a steady paycheck for a commission job until getting established within the industry with marketing yourself to the area.
My first bit of advice to myself would be to go with a company that has a good training program, or at least have someone with enough knowledge of the real estate business that will help you get started. The first company I went with after just getting my real estate license left me floundering in an office with no guidance at all. I’m not one to just sit and wait for the knowledge to fall from the sky so after about a month of frustration with that company I left. Once you realize you’re responsible for your own destiny, you have to put forth an effort to make it happen.
After that, I was fortunate to sign on with a company that had a good in-house training program. They made sure that all their agents knew how to complete a contract and were made available to as much information as we could consume.
I started out selling houses, condos, and lots. But I mainly specialized in developments, and enjoyed working with the developers. I was so proud when I received a Platinum award for selling over $10 million within the year. That in itself was well worth working for. I have it hanging in my office to remind me of all the hard work it took to get that award.
The main advice I would give myself back then is to never defer commissions. I lost hundreds of thousands of dollars due to the real estate bubble. I had sold property for development, and deferred commission payment in order to get the listings on the back side after the condos were built. After the crash not only did I lose the commission on the property, but also lost my commission on the units presold. I ended up with a couple years of work going down the drain. If I had it to do over again, I would try and get commission at the time of the sale.
But now even with all that, I ended up with a profession I truly love. After the real estate school closed in our area due to the passing of the broker, there appeared to be a void in the Instruction business in the area, and I decided to open our school. I would have gotten my Instructor’s license years ago if only I had known how much I would enjoy teaching real estate.
Judy and I are always saying “if I only had known this”, or if I had only known that” how different things would be. But we can’t go back. My philosophy is to make the best of the present, and constantly strive to learn as much as I can while I am able.
April Challenge: What do you wish you knew...
~Captain Wayne Rowlett
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