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A Real Estate License is a Difference Maker

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Wynd Realty

An Evolution in Mindset

The real estate industry continues to be mired in its worst slump in history.  And, without any radical changes coming anytime soon; it hardly appears to be that great a time to be a sales agent.    

Well, it’s all a matter of perspective.

For many, real estate sales are incredibly stressful.  The industry’s own membership association confirms this by citing fairly large percentages associated with agent turnover and burnout.  You would hardly think those statistics as a ringing endorsement.  But, for tens of thousands of area agents, real estate sales are just fine; as a matter of fact, they’re great.    

Again, it’s all a matter of perspective. 

If you are a full-time sales agent solely dependent on income realized from commissions, there couldn’t possibly be a worse time to be in real estate sales.  This article is not about your perspective.  But, if you view real estate sales as an incremental opportunity that enhances upon your other forms of income, then you have already realized how important your real estate license can be. 

Take the following sentence: “I made 12K in real estate sales last year”.  If you busted your butt full-time to make that 12K, you may want to reconsider your position going forward.  But, if you worked part-time, on your own terms, to make 12K, your real estate license becomes a huge quality-of-life advantage for you and your family.

As mentioned, the real estate industry has incredibly high sales agent failure rates.   These failures are in large part due to the fact that success is often judged against those who work on a full-time basis.   The vast majority of people entering real estate, “think” they can do sales.  Truth be told, very few can.  To be a successful full-time, self-sustaining, real estate sale agent you must have a skill set that not many have.  Unfortunately the skill set required to be a successful sales agent has little or nothing to do with an actual transaction of real estate.  It has everything to do with lead generation, networking, database management and continually hunting for the next customer.  If you don’t have those skills, you will be a failure as a full-time agent.  But, that doesn’t mean you will be a failure in real estate; it’s just a matter of perspective.

Instead of having the, I need 5 new clients every month to survive type pressure, part-time sales resets the expectation level.    As a matter of fact, don’t set any expectation.  What would make sense, a transaction every year?  How about two transactions in five years?   Think of your real estate license as a skill set.  A skill set that when used, generates income.   Do a personally inventory; how many of your skills sets can actually make you money?

If you enter real estate with the dreams of turning over a steady stream of McMansions, chances are you will fail.  Instead of that unrealistic expectation, why not have the perspective of;  real estate being a great tool you can use that could actually yield money. 

Consider how many part-time jobs are actually challenging?  Every real estate transaction is different, with its own set of unique obstacles.   How many part-time jobs allow a person to flex their communications and strategy skills?    If you think negotiating a sales price isn’t strategic, you probably are bad at it.   How many part-time jobs have the flexibility of real estate?  So what if you only do showings after 5pm and on weekends; you’d be surprised how many clients really don’t mind.  And finally, how many part-time jobs have real estate commission-like paydays?  Outside of part-time doctors, lawyers, CPA’s and such, I challenge you to think of a single instance.    

Having a part-time mindset allows you to keep all the fun traits that where probably the reason you got into of real estate in the first place.    Working full-time in real estate is unbelievably stressful from very high expectations that will ultimately spiral into burnout.   Working part-time in real estate is low stress, low impact and can be done for the rest of your life. 

There was a time, not too long ago actually, when it took over 100 dollars a month to have a license fully activated with a brokerage.  One hundred dollars a month, and you still really weren’t that welcome.    “We have only closers” you are told.   And, just because an agent is holding down two jobs doesn’t mean they get a pass on meeting the expectations of their Broker in terms of time and energy spent on real estate.    If you’ve ever had that “we not seeing the effort and focus from your Broker speech”, you know how difficult writing that $100 check can be. 

Times have changed.  Today, Brokers like Wynd Realty promote real estate as the greatest part-time job of all time.  And for agents, casting a line out for business is so much easier and cheaper than it used to be.   You can activate your license at a fraction of the old cost.  Have a professional website for less than $10 a month.  And if you are computer savvy, you have access to an entire new universe through social media.  And it’s all free!      

Yes, the industry continues to slump.  Should that stop you from trying?  Unemployment stands at 10%.  That is absolutely horrible, until you consider that also means 90% are working.  Which type of person are you: half full or half empty?

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