Successful
Real Estate Agent
Many people like the idea of becoming a real estate agent, for various reasons. Some assume that it doesn’t require much training, or they simply enjoy working with people, while others have general interests in the industry.
A lucrative career in real estate requires much more than just passing the licensing exam… in fact, it takes true commitment, effort and drive to become, and remain, a successful real estate agent. Below are some steps to help guide you in deciding whether a real estate career is right for you - so you can flourish.
8 Steps to Start Your Real Estate Career - Join the Top 10%
- 1Obtain your Real Estate license.
- 2Have a Designated Broker agree to manage you.
- 3Learn the forms and how to use the MLS computer programs.
- 4Create your beginning business plan.
- 5Learn the basics of Real Estate Marketing.
- 6Learn how to work with Buyers.
- 7Learn how to work with Sellers.
- 8Finish creating your business plan.
There are many real estate pre-license programs however, the idea is to get the license as quickly and efficiently. We recommend only one pre license program because it has the highest passing percentage of any program and you can go at your own pace. I will provide you their forms when we have our online meeting if you qualify.
Ready to get startedState of Washington requires all new licensee to have a Broker responsible to manage your activities for the first six months after obtaining your license. You want to make sure the Designated Broker has time to give you their personal attention and has a new agent program that is not a “cookie cutter” training. Real Estate Sales requires work on your part to become good. The training must entice you to learn and push you to become successful.
Ready to get startedThis part is more of a “How to” at this point. The MLS system includes such basics as filling out a listing and purchase agreements. Learning how to use online signatures. How to set up listing alerts for buyers and many other day-to-day activities.
Ready to get startedWorking with your Manager and/or Designated Broker you need to design an interim business plan that you will commit to the activities and time required. This should include how many classes you will take and how much practice you will do on how to work with buyers and sellers. Learning the company services, how they benefit clients and customers you will work with.
Ready to get startedThis is where you will create your personal brand. Success in real estate is determined largely on how well you market yourself to potential buyers and sellers, find out their needs, then have the skills to provide the services that will meet their needs. Real estate marketing involves learning how to analytically evaluate when, where, and how to market to people whom you want as clients and customers.
Ready to get startedThis requires you to find a few mortgage lenders you can work with who will show you different lending programs. Until you find your “niche” of buyers you will need to know financing from zero down to jumbo loan programs. Learning how to find buyers and how to ask questions to discover what buyers want, what they can afford, their motivation. Then learn how to estimate what their cost will be to buy and how to stay in communication with them until they buy. Most important, how to get a written agreement from them to work with you.
Ready to get startedLearn how to find sellers, how to prepare market evaluations for sellers, why different evaluation come out differently, what the closing cost for sellers will be. How to present your marketing plan for their property and how to communicate with sellers. How to get a listing agreement and how to work through closing the sale. Then after closing, learn how to get a referral.
Ready to get startedOnce you have completed the seven steps above, you can now go back and complete a full business plan, putting everything you learned in steps three though seven to work
Ready to get startedHow to Realize a Successful Real Estate Career!
What Makes You Successful?
Real Estate sales is a non-discriminating career. Your age, sex, sexual orientation, race, disabilities, speech impediment, or any other issue you may think you have holding you back, does not matter to determine if you will be successful. What does matter is, who you are internally.
Latest National Association of Realtors (NAR) statistics show that there are more women than men in Real Estate. More people of all backgrounds are obtaining licenses than before and that the fastest growing ethnicity of real estate agents is Hispanic.
So how do you find out if you have the right personality to become successful? For years there has been a personality analysis called DISC that helps people see their personalities. See link below to take assessment here.
This analysis helps you understand your strengths and weaknesses but does not determine your probability of success in real estate sales by itself.
A career in sales, which is what being a Real Estate Broker really is has a lot more to do with determination and grit. Angela Duckworth has written a book about Grit and the “Power of Passion and Perseverance.” She has a free site where you can obtain your Grit Score that will show your determination. See link below or here.
While being a people oriented and outgoing personality from the DISC score above is important. How gritty you are and how well you face setbacks has a lot to do with whether you will be successful or not.
By going through the testing, you will find out where you fit on the above chart as far as your personal Grit. Every sales career requires overcoming setbacks and rejections. Can you set your goals and achieve then even when faced with setbacks?
Finally, there is a third analytical program when added to the two above can help you see how likely your success will be in real estate sales. It is the VIA institute on character strengths https://www.viacharacter.org/topics/achieving-goals. You can find out how you do with achieving goals, building a career and other aspects of your life.
The five steps on how to reach your goals according to VIA:
- Write down your goal. Use your hope strength to envision something that links with your interests and values (referred to as self-concordant goal).
- Make the goal SMART.Use this acronym to remember to make your goal specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Use your prudence strength to plan it out the SMART way.
- Weave in your character strengths seamlessly. How can your signature strengths serve as a means to help you reach your goal? Might other character strengths support you in reaching your goal as well?
- Take action toward your goal. How will your perseverance strength support you in overcoming obstacles and staying focused on your goal ahead?
- Enlist support. Might you include the help of family and friends to reach your goals? This could involve deploying your strengths of teamwork, curiosity, and love.
If your goal is to have a successful real estate career, you should take all three of these analytical tests. Here are links to all three free testing sites
1. DISC assessment free
https://www.tonyrobbins.com/disc/
2. Grit Assessment
https://angeladuckworth.com/grit-scale/
3. VIA is institute on Character
https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/account/register
The VIA Institute [email protected]
“Show Me the Money”
Know Your Compensation Models
Types of Compensation Models
- 100% commissions programs
- Splits that change to 100%
- Splits with caps
- Salary
- Salary with percentage of commission
- Referral fees
Income from office perspective
No matter what programs a company is offering, as a broker with that company keep in mind the company needs to make money to provide the services the company provides for you. The question becomes how does the company make the money to provide the services? As a newly licensed broker the company is taking a risk that they money they spend on providing you services will be returned plus a profit. No profit no company. Since less than 30% of the people who start in real estate make enough money to sustain a career, the risk for the company is very high.
What is the typical cost to you from the different compensation models?
100% commission programs make money on additional fees that are charged. Typical cost for agents with a 100% program include monthly associate fee any where from a couple hundred to up to a thousand dollars a month; transaction fee for each listing and sale weather they close or not; technical support fee on top of the monthly associate fee; and fees for using services such as copies, marketing materials, customer relationship program.
Splits that change to 100% upon reaching a certain amount of compensation to the company. While these programs usually have a less costly monthly service fee, they usually have the transaction fee for listings and sales including Errors and Omission Insurance, and monthly fee can increase when you reach 100%.
Splits with Caps are typical compensation programs in majority of real estate companies. Many have a small monthly fee that covers technical assistance, and some will have transaction fees for certain cost like the errors and omission insurance. Companies may or may not pay some of your marketing costs but normally anything with your name on it they will not provide. Use of addition programs such as customer relationship management and transaction management are an additional cost to you.
Salary for specific parts of the real estate transaction while still only used by a very few are becoming more available to some real estate associates. Companies that have “teams” may hire licensed brokers to preform actions like showing homes, holding open houses, calling expired listings or cold calling target homeowners or home buyers. Income is limited to hours worked.
Salary with percentage of commission is used by a few national companies that control the process of buying and selling real estate by splitting up activities into very small segmented activities and rate the licensee by response from the clients. Exceptionally high response from clients leads to bonus from the overall commission, low response from clients leads to termination of working for that company. Again, income is limited but so is hours worked.
Referral fees are rarely talked about with new licensees but can be an attractive income source of income. When a company markets a home for sale, they can find leads for buyers looking outside of the company’s market area. A well-organized company will refer these leads to agents located in the market area the buyer is looking to buy for a percentage of the commission. This also happens when marketing for seller leads. Some 100% companies will sell the leads from marketing the listings of their own licensed agents to brokers from other offices. Many offices set up referral only agents as part of their overall company program. These agents do not list or sell but only refer friends and people they know to the company that then gives the referral to a broker in their company for a fee.
What services do I as a newly licensed agent need from my Brokers?
As you can tell from above every commission program has many options for real estate Brokers. Frankly the 100% commission program for a new agent is the least likely to have the support and services you need. While salary is the easiest to make money immediately and will usually have training, that training will be very narrow, and the income is limited.
There are three things every new agent needs to become successful:
- Training: you start out your training learning basics of the multiple listing service and basics of the paperwork and completing a transaction. At the same time, you will need to be part of a proven training program that teaches you real estate sales. You also need a mix of training programs because no one training program has everything you need.
- Organization: you need to set up your personal real estate marketing program that will generate buyers and sellers leads for you. It is not as simple as putting a couple of ads in Facebook, or sitting an open house and waiting for buyers to walk in. You need help with organizing your business.
- Customer Relationship Management System: the bread and butter of every successful real estate broker is their follow up with leads, friends, family, and designated marketing groups. Having a working system with the technical help needed to make it work correctly is critical.
Are You Ready to Join Our Team?
Ask yourself these questions?
- Do you have a desire to learn how to work independently and learn how to create professional growth?
- Do you have a strong work ethic and desire to be successful and want support to make it happen?
- Do you want to find outhow to have excellent communication skills and the ability to network, to build your business?
Are you ready to enjoy!
- Flexible Schedules
- Top Notch Coaching
- Total Company Support
- Program Proven to Help New Agents Succeed
- Independence and Autonomy
- Learn Who is Your Buyer and Seller Market
- Supportive, Knowledgeable and Generous Colleagues
Ready to see the difference we can help make in your business?
We're committed to your success!
- Office staff is available to provide hands-on assistance with marketing, technology and administrative functions!
- We do more of the office tasks for you, so you can do more activities working with your clients!
Whether you are looking for a new career or are a licensed real estate agent looking for a new opportunity, we’d love to speak with you. We provide education and support for wherever you are in your career journey!
Fill out the form to set up a meeting to get your real estate career going!