They Didn't Teach Me That In Real Estate School!!

NEW TO REAL ESTATE??  Prepare yourself for a few surprises. 

I took the real estate licensing course at the University of Maryland.  The instructor was a wonderful real estate broker with many years of real estate sales and brokerage management.  I have always believed that that gentleman was responsible for any success I've had.  I easily passed the course and the test.  Then, surprise in my mail box.  I was recruited by mail by a few brokers who routinely recruit from the new licensee list available.  I chose to join a company close to my home thinking I could "walk to work".  HA!  Little did I know then that the only walking I'd be doing was from my vehicle to the front door of homes for sale.  I learned that I had to have my vehicle "at the ready" in case I had an opportunity to show a home.  But, like most new licensees, most of what I thought was wrong. 

BASIS TRAINING.  I believe that I was more fortunate than some new licensees because the company I joined when I passed the real estate test maintained and required that all new licensees attend two full weeks of classes that covered a long list of "how to" skills.  I had no choice.  I couldn't get a desk until I finished the course of instruction.  This was not easy because I lived in Maryland and the classes were held in Northern Virginia.  But, the classes were well organized and the instructors were all experienced agents with that company. 

New licensees learned:

How to complete the Contract of Sale form (4 pages 11X 14).
Basic financing including loan qualifying for new buyers.
Working with the Mortgage Loan Calculator.
Buyer's Estimated Closing Costs.
Seller's Estimated New Proceeds.
The basics of showing homes for sale.
The basics of a Comparative Market Analysis.

And a lot more that I don't remember.  Five hours of instruction a day with a lunch break every day for 2 weeks was a
vigorous schedule. 

"OPPORTUNITY TIME".  Now that I was on board with a large real estate company, I was ready to get to work and sell some real estate.  I was assigned a desk and phone and added to the "DESK DUTY" schedule to answer phone calls and engage consumers who called, primarily from yard signs, real estate magazine advertising and Sunday Open House ads.  I did manage to convert one of the sign callers into a buyer/contract and I was on my way.  Or so I thought.   I actually lasted only about 8 weeks in that office.   The atmosphere turned out to be a fairly negative one.   I left the day before I was to begin a required three hours a day cold calling. 

Fortunately, at a company meeting, I had met another broker with the same company and his personality was just what I was looking for, helpful.  After interviewing with that broker, I moved my license.  I remained with that broker for the next 5 years.  I learned a lot, sold a lot of real estate and earned a fairly good income for a new agent.  I also learned that my heart was with working with home buyers and not listing properties for sale.   This was well before Buyer Agency was introduced in Maryland and it wasn't easy.  Fortunately my broker recognized that fact and gave me a large number of relocating home buyers.  I was the "go to person" in that office for relocating home buyers coming to our office through the company Relocation Office.   However, since the buyers came to me through the company relocation office, the commission turned out to be:

30% to the Relocation Division
35% to the broker/company
35% to the agent making the sale, (me).

So, Lenn, WHAT DIDN'T THEY TEACH YOU IN REAL ESTATE SCHOOL??

1.  BE PREPARED TO WAIT FOR COMMISSIONS.  Real estate school doesn't teach students that they will need to survive on savings, spousal income, retirement income, other for about 6 to 12 months before they'll have a reasonable income from their full time work. 

2.  YOU'LL BE PAYING YOUR OWN WAY.  Real estate school doesn't teach students that, with the exception of your personal sphere of influence, the costs associated with identifying buyer or seller clients is high.  AgentS pay for much of their own promotional materials, newsletters, advertising in magazines (very popular in those days), open house ads in the Sunday newspapers, etc.   Back in those days, few agents invested in a camera.  I purchased a Minolta 35 .mm camera as soon as I had an out of town buyer.   Other agents in the office were quick to want to borrow it. 

3.  THERE IS NO LEAD TREE!  Just as there is no "money tree", there is no "lead tree".   

4.  Brokers feed leads to agents they like.

5.  There may be personality conflicts in real estate offices. 

6.  There are Prima Donnas in real estate offices. 

QUESTION:  If I had learned all of the above before registering for real estate school, would I have still have taken the course?

ANSWER:  SURE.  I just wouldn't have believed them.

QUESTION:  What else did you learn?

ANSWER:  I learned that most real estate agents, like most of the population, are some of the most wonderful, caring, smart, honest, hard working people I've ever known. 

 

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988.   Still serving home buyers in MD and VA.

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