Archive for the ‘New Agents’ Category

How to Sell Your First House in Your Real Estate Career

Aug 18, 2008 New Agents

If you’re new to the real estate business, one of the most challenging things to do is sell that first house. Once you have the first one down, several soon will follow. But just selling your first house is something many new real estate agents never do, since it can be exasperating and some people will quit before they even get to that point.

Here’s Some Tips on How to Sell Your First House in Your Real Estate Career:

    1. Prospect everyday: If you are new to real estate, you don’t have a past client list to fall back on, and you don’t have very many people who even know you are in the business. Make it a point to talk to at least 5 new people everyday. Knock on doors and call anybody you can without violating the do not call laws. Make sure you also have a good SOI (Sphere of Influence List) that consists of anybody and everybody you know - friends, family, neighbors, etc, that you can use.

    2. Learn how to Network: Networking with other business professionals can be a great way to get referral business. Join your chamber of commerce or local networking group, or if you can’t find one you like, contact a few business professionals in your area to see if they would be interested in starting a breakfast club that meets once a month to swap marketing strategies and business talk. Follow up with anyone you meet in between networking events through email or a quick phone call.

    3. Pick up Floor Time: Many agents hate floor time and will gladly give you theirs. I know one agent when he was new did floor time everyday. While you might have faster results through being proactive instead of reactive, there’s no harm in answering floor time calls 2-3 times a week. I had a floor time call that resulted in a $789,000 sale, so it IS possible to get good leads. When not on floor time, take some time listening to the more experienced agents take calls - you’ll pick up some tactics for converting those calls into appointments.

    4. Go FSBO Hunting: FSBO’s are great practice, even if they don’t end up listing with you or selling their home on their own. It gets you in the habit of learning how to talk to people and follow up. It can possibly even lead to a few listing presentations. Talk with your office manager on what the most effective way to approach FSBO’s are in your area.

    5. Talk to Your Office Manager: As a new agent, it’s your office manager and support staff’s job to help you be successful. In a lot of cases, they don’t make any money if you don’t make any money, so they should be more than willing to steer you in the right direction.

Starting in real estate does not usually give you instant results. However, if you do these things everyday, you should have clients within a month or two if not sooner. Stay focused, don’t give up, and that elusive first sale will come.

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7 Things To Do With a Real Estate License Besides Sell Houses

May 13, 2008 New Agents

Sometimes after obtaining a real estate license the harsh reality sets in that life as a real estate agent is not quite as glamourous as it’s cracked up to be. Other times personal circumstances might change where a steady salary or work hours are necessary. If you find yourself thinking that being a real estate agent might not be quite the right career fit for you, there are many other things you can do with a real estate license besides selling homes.

1. Apartment leasing agents: Many landlords and agencies need someone who can show property to prospective tenants, write lease agreements, and take care of other details. Rather than hiring an outside broker to perform this work they will manage this process in-house and hire their own leasing agent as an employee.

2. Licensed Assistant: This can have its perks as you will probably have set hours, steady paychecks, and not get the complaint calls from clients. Become friends with the top producers in your area or watch for ads to see if any are needing extra help with their workload. You can also consider becoming a virtual assistant.

3. Writer: The internet is an open market for writers, especially those who can offer a viewpoint in a specialized field such as real estate. You can start your own website or publish articles on sites such as AssociatedContent.com. You can also search for paying writing jobs on sites such as sologig.com.

4. Real Estate Scout: Many companies often need someone to scout out properties for new locations or developments. There are also many investors who can benefit from having a full time employee on hand who can help find houses that have good future profitability.

5. Marketing Assistant: After having my daughter I just couldn’t see myself going back into real estate full time. I partnered with a few high profile agents and became their marketing assistant by helping them with mailing campaigns, brochure designs, newsletters, and other marketing related activities.

6. Home Stager: While you may need additional professional designations this can be a profitable business by meeting with potential sellers and helping them decide what changes are necessary to sell their home as quickly as possible and for the highest price. Bonus: You might even be able to earn some referral dollars by referring your clients to agents to sell their home.

7. Title and Closing: There are many title and closing companies that can offer jobs in gathering and coordinating the necessary documents and procedures for closings. As more and more banks depend on larger companies to do this for them, many job opportunities are available.

These are just a few of the many possibilities available in finding a new career where your real estate license won’t go to waste! If you have any other ideas, feel free to share them in the comments below.

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Are You Wasting Your Time at Agent Opens?

May 6, 2008 New Agents

We always tell our clients that having an open house specifically for agents is one of the best ways to find a buyer for their home. Some of these open houses are quite elaborate with fancy dinners, drinks, and even prizes and other incentives for attending.

But how many of us are there are really there to see the house? We end up spending a half an hour at a house gossiping with the other agents over lunch. (Some of you may call this networking). And many of us suffer what’s known as the real estate “freshman 15″ when we first start out.

It is important to tour other homes on the market. And it’s equally important to have good relationships with other agents. But if you find yourself spending more time looking at the food than you are the house, you may want to reconsider previewing the home at another time or only spending about 10 minutes max at each house you visit. This way you’re maximizing your time…not building up your waistline!

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10 Things Your Broker Won’t Tell You

May 5, 2008 New Agents

During your initial interviews in selecting a broker, the discussion usually focuses on wonderful training and marketing programs - but don’t be fooled, there are many things your broker won’t tell you. There are several things no recruiting manager will bring up until after you’ve signed your contract…and maybe not even until you’ve put in a few months of blood, sweat, and yes, tears.

While I hope that not every one of these on my list of 10 Things Your Broker Won’t Tell You holds true for any particular broker, this list is designed to help you better prepare yourself with a list of questions and see through the promises every broker makes to new recruits.

Here are 10 Things Your Broker Won’t Tell You:

1. This market is oversaturated with agents. In fact, if you pull up the multi-list statistics, you’ll notice there are more agents than houses for sale.

2. Our agents typically compete against 3-4 agents for listing appointments, sometimes even agents from the same office.

3. Our aggressive two week training program will only eat up all of your available time and is probably not the most effective way to teach you how to succeed in this business.

4. Our marketing tools and advertising are targeted at marketing our company name only, not houses for sale or individual agents.

5. Relocation leads all go to the veteran agents, so you probably won’t get any of those in your first year with the company…maybe even longer if your sales aren’t high enough.

6. Our errors and omissions insurance has a high deductible you’ll ultimately be responsible for if a lawsuit should ever arise

7. We have a high turnover rate; the last 3 agents I hired no longer work here.

8. You will be ethically and morally challenged within the next 6 months.

9. We hardly get any leads on floor time.

10. You have a better chance of making a million dollars on Survivor.

Choosing the right broker can be an intimidating process, whether you’re a veteran looking to see if the grass is greener somewhere else or a new agent just starting out. Keep these points in the back of your mind and make sure you find out if any of these are true or not before you sign that contract! Knowing the 10 Things Your Broker Won’t Tell You will make sure you choose the right real estate broker to work with.

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