Tools of the Trade are a MUST
Imagine walking into a pizza place and asking for a slice of pizza and a drink, but being declined the drink because the owner didn't have enough cups in stock and didn't run to the grocery store to cover when his stock ran out. What if there were only two tables in a larger open area and both are full and the owner tells you, AFTER you have your pizza in hand, they will run and check with the neighboring cafe to see if you can sit there and eat. Or maybe they printed their own menus and their printer was so cheap that the pages were illegible. All of these things would make it so you wouldn't 
want to frequent that pizza place again. You would think the owner a clown for not being prepared.
Sadly, day after day, I run into real estate agents who have, for all intents and purposes, opened up their own shops when they got licensed, and still don't have the tools of the trade.
Just last week, I had to run to my office to drop off a clean copy of a signed contract to an agent who had found the cheapest printer on the market and couldn't get a clean copy. Apparently, he also doesn't own a scanner, because a missing document discovered after the fact has to be delivered to me HARD COPY. And this is a man who is making thousands selling one listing. And presumably, this isn't his only listing. He's owns his own brokerage. Puzzling, isn't it?
And then there's the buyer's agent I'm working another deal with. She doesn't have an electronic signature program. Every time a document needs to be signed by her clients, there is too long a delay while she flags down her broker to have him do the electronic signature for him.
When you get into the business of helping buyers and sellers with real estate purchases, it is assumed that you will find a way to get the job done. If you don't have a great printer at home, you'll go to the office. Same with a scanner. If you don't have enough lockboxes, but just picked up a new listing, you will buy another lockbox. Or if you haven't yet purchased a camera, but have a listing, you will put out the money for the camera, or a photographer, to service the listing that the seller is paying you tens of thousands of dollars to sell.
Real estate isn't a hobby. This is business. If you expect to stay in business, you best have the tools of the trade and know how to use them. Budget for expenses like a camera and lockboxes to market your listings. Don't wait to sell one or two, THEN get the items necessary. If you can't impress the clients you have NOW, you aren't gettting repeat business.
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