Being a New Real Estate Agent
As you watch the real estate reality television shows you think, "I could do that." Or perhaps you bought a house recently with an excellent real estate agent and thought, "I could do that."
Two Mistakes New Real Estate Agents Make
So you signed up for a pre-licensing class, breezed through that and passed your real estate exam. Next up, interviewing with brokers. Unfortunately this is the first place where most new agents take their first misstep. Mistake number one, they interview with brokers that are close to where they live. Why? Why would you select a job just because it's close to where you live? Is that how you selected jobs in the past? Second, the freshly minted agent looks for the broker who will pay them the most money. With ZERO experience you think that someone should pay you top dollar. You have no idea what you are doing which makes you a liability, not an asset. In any event, you interview and decide to affiliate with a broker and wait for the business to roll in. But what you fail to realize is that it doesn't happen that way. You have to do some work, actually you have to do a lot of work and you don't have a clue where to begin.
Choosing a Broker
While in pre-licensing class you more than likely received snail mail and emails from numerous brokers wanting you to affiliate with them. Once you passed your exam you received even more letters. But how should you go about selecting a broker. As a Trainer and active real estate agent I highly suggest you affiliate with a broker who has on-going training. You may think you know all things real estate after passing your exam, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. If I had to guess I'd say that 90% of what you learn in your pre-licensing class is never used or at least not used on a day-to-day basis.
What Happens During the Transaction
You will need to learn how to get clients, how to talk to clients, how to write an offer and how to get the contract to settlement. Showing property is the easiest part of the job. Getting the contract to settlement is the most difficult. As a new agent you need to learn all of this and you need a broker who is willing to train you. The best broker for you may not be close to where you live. This shouldn't be a hard and fast requirement.
Show Me the Money
People often think that being a Realtor means you make bags of money. They see agents with the "Million Dollar Club" printed on their business cards so it's easy to understand why consumers may think that Realtors are making a lot money. The truth of the matter is that being in the million dollar club is only for show. If all an agent sold in a year was a million dollars, their income would be painfully low. When selecting a broker think about what you bring to the table and think about what the broker brings. What good is it to ask the broker to give you a 90% split when you don't sell anything. They may as well give you a 100% because 100% of nothing is still nothing. When you start having some steady clients you will be in a much stronger position to negotiate a higher split.
Real Estate Looks Easy
As I've said time and time again, at first glance, being a real estate agent looks easy. Just like any job looks easy when an expert is doing it. But what you don't see is what it takes or what it took to make the job look easy. Lots of mistakes were made, clients were lost and hopes were dashed, but the successful agents hung in there. They didn't give up when they couldn't get a client for several months or when they lost a client. Each and every day they woke up with purpose and the drive to succeed. They knew that it was just a matter of time and effort before their real estate business took off. Successful agents start with this; a positive attitude and mindset.
Have a Positive Mindset
A positive mindset is critical to not only your success in real estate, but your success in life. Think about it. There are tons of negative people in the world. You know who they are because they complain about everything. Nothing is ever the way they think it should be and the glass is always half empty. These are the very same people who begin to tell you that you made a huge mistake by becoming a real estate agent. They will never offer you the support and encouragement you need. Get them out of your life as fast as you can because their negative energy will have an impact on you. They will plant seeds of doubt that eventually grow. You'll lose confidence in your ability to be a successful agent. Your prospects will "feel" it before you and won't want to work with you. Be extremely careful who you allow around you as you begin your real estate business. Not everyone who says they're your friend is your friend.
It Takes Time to Build a Business
Know from the start that it will take time to build your business. That means having a steady stream of clients and having systems in place for work efficiently. It took me four months to get my first client. It seemed like an eternity, but it took other agents even longer. Some experienced success early on and thought it would always be that easy only to discover that it was mere luck. It's important to understand that you will get frustrated and want to give up, but that's when you lean on your attitude and your work ethic. Giving up is easy. Being successful, at anything takes dedicated effort. The National Association of Realtors estimates that over 75% of real estate agents leave the business within 5 years of starting. That's a huge number, but I can understand why.
Stop Making Excuses and Get Out There
You have to stop the excuses, get out your own way and start doing the work. Treat your real estate business like the business it is. No one is going to give you anything. Look for opportunities to talk about real estate. You can't afford to be shy. Every day is an opportunity to meet someone who is looking to buy or sell real estate, you just have to ask. Being a real estate agent is one of the best jobs on the planet, but it's not easy. Then again, nothing worth having comes easy.
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Inman News named Candy Miles-Crocker as one of the Top 25 Real Estate coaches in 2016. Candy, “The Real-Life Realtor”, coaches, mentors and trains new and experienced real estate agents to transform their business by mastering her proven systems for success. She is a firm believer in managing expectations. Her goal is to elevate the perception of real estate agents among the general public through education so every client has an amazing real estate experience. Candy’s unique training methods have shown agents what it takes to be successful!
Learn more about her training program at www.RLRETraining.com or send her an email at Candy@RLRETraining.com.
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