How to make moneyyour first year in Real Estate!
We’ve all heard the horror stories, right? And the input from the nay sayers! The ones who say we’ll quit within the first six months of being a Real Estate Agent because we won't closea deal; Because we can’t get over hearing the word “no” 97 out of 100 times; Because we don’t like working weekends; Because we think we can pick our own schedules but really we’re just on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and we don’t like answering the phone; Because we spend hours, days or weeks on leads only to have something fall through; Or the biggest one: we don’t really like people!
Well if any of those things apply to you, you’re in the wrong business. Real Estate is all about building relationships with every type of personality out there. You have to be able to mingle with the best (and worst) of them. Luckily my 12 years in the bar business prior to my career change really made me an expert in this area. I do a pretty good job of handling all the different personality types. Besides, we aren’t really selling homes - we are selling ourselves. The quicker you get this through your head, the better you’ll do.
Step One: PROSPECT
If you aren’t prospecting, you simply will not grow. Build your pipeline now to secure your future. Even if you are rocking and rolling, continue to build your pipeline because deals fall through and prospects drop off. Never stop! What you do in the next 30 days will show results in 90 days. That is referenced constantly in this industry.
Step Two: COMMUNICATE
Otherwise known as “following up.” It’s so simple, yet some find it impossible to do.
We are all busy! Find a method of organization that works best for you to be able to remind yourself that you need to follow up with a lead. If you don’t have time to get to something right at that moment, take 30seconds to send them an email or a text to let them know you can’t get to it right now, but you’ll be in touch soon. That way hours don’t go by while they wonder if you’ve even seen their inquiry. Guess what? If I were them I’d have already moved on to another agent - one who doesn’t leave me wondering and waiting.
Step Three: DON’T BE GREEDY!
I’ve already written a blog aboutanother agent cutting out the middle man (me!) due to his own greed. Reputation is everything in the business world. Don’t tarnish yours over something silly. Be the kind of agent you’d like to do business with. Let’s all practice having GOOD MONEY KARMA! That sounds awesome to me.
Step Four: BUILD AN ONLINE PRESENCE
This is tedious, but worth it. When I was a bartender, I worked in a few major cities: Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Naples FL. A majority of my business came from establishing myself on social media. I’d have guests add me and stay in touch and come back to see me next time they were in town. I’ve had people reach out online and tell me they are sending people in to see me that were there on vacation. I’ve turned strangers into lifelong clients and our sole way of communication was social media. This same concept works in Real Estate. People humanize you when they see your life online. And guess what? If you don’t want them to see what you post, you shouldn’t be posting it because private pages can easily be seen through someone else who IS on your social media sites. One agent said to me “you’re short on money and long on time” as a new agent so you should focus on building your brand and presence early on so you’re not scrambling to create good sites later when you’re extremely busy. In addition to that, social media brings great leads!
Step Five: TAKE ADVANTAGE OF FREE ADVICE
Join webinars, seminars, meetings, groups…. Anything and everything to open your eyes to multiple ways of doing things. The more information you gather about how to generate leads, stay organized, market yourself, etc, the better you can taylor your own strategy.
Step Six: LISTEN
I was blessed with the gift of gab but the first thing I had to learn was
when to shut my mouth and really hear what the client was saying/asking.
That’s all I’m going to say about this ;)
Step Seven: STICK TO THE BASICS
Get proper training
Find a mentor
Research research research (everything!)
Work smarter, not harder
Step Eight: BE OPEN TO RENTALS
This is my main focus of this blog. There will be thousands of agents out there who will tell you to not waste your time or energy on rentals. Yes rentals can be just as much work as selling a property, especially since the market is so hot right now things disappear from the market as quickly as they were listed. The “small” payout might not seem worth it. You’re dead wrong. While you’re busy building your pipeline for that first sale, you probably have a ton of people you personally know in your SOI (sphere of influence) who are looking for a rental. I’ve had several friends reach out to me on Facebook and ask if I do rentals. WHY would you turn down money?
EARN WHILE YOU LEARN! You don’t get your license and immediately know everything about how to sell a home. There is a lot to learn. Way more than you could ever imagine. So, while you might not think a $300-$800 paycheck for a rental is very much comparatively speaking, it allows you to stay afloat while you are waiting for that big sales commission. My broker said to me that a rental closing puts money in your pocket in 1-3 weeks vs several months for a sale, and in the meantime “you’re not eating your couch!” It all helps to pay your start up fees, broker fees, living expenses, etc.
Rentals put you in real life situations where you will learn to deal with several types of people, how to do negotiations, contracts, learning neighborhoods, how to get organized, and how to market yourself. And the best part? You’re building that pipeline! You are helping someone to find a home, and in a year or two as long as you maintain the relationship, you could potentially have a sales client! In addition, you never know how many referrals that client can send your way for sales or rentals in the future!
So in a business where hardly any agents want to deal with rentals, dive in, get your feet wet and learn in real-life scenarios. You can run around with a buyer for weeks and months and never see a cent. You might as well build a relationship with rental clients and learn every aspect of the market. Then when your business is booming you can solely focus on sales. AND you will be knowledgable and have an upper hand when you have an investment buyer looking for places to purchase to rent out.
As I said before, this is a relationship business. You never know what type of relationship can grow from each lead. Explore them all, nurture them, help them find what they want and you will be successful. Allow yourself to be open minded to all aspects of the business and you’ll have a faster return on your investment than if you just wait for that big commission!
"The fortune is in the follow up!"
