WELCOME TO THE DANCE!
I encourage all new agents to bring your enthusiasm and new ideas to the world of real estate, while you learn some of the basic steps. As we all know too well, real estate licensing classes don't really provide the day to day "how to's" that mean the difference between success and failure in this business. So here are a few practical suggestions from an old pro:
1. Preview, preview, preview. Any day that you don't have a live warm-bodied client to work with, preview properties on the market. This will help you develop a comfort level with what's available at what price. It also helps you find your way around your marketplace, as you go from one listing to another (good idea to try out that new GPS system before you have clients in the car). And knowing the inventory will give you something to talk about in social and business situations. Previewing is to real estate success, what crawling is to walking.
2. Practice using a lockbox. You laugh. Well, let's pretend you were the lucky agent on duty in your office when a homebuyer came in and wanted to look at homes. He didn't know you were new, and he was very impressed with your professionalism. You made appointments to show him homes, and off you went. "This is going great!", you thought to yourself. But you couldn't figure out how to open the lockbox when you got to the first listing... Why don't real estate managers teach new agents how to work their lockboxes?!?!?!
3. Practice your presentations. Now that you have graduated from licensing school, you are expected to share your wisdom with consumers... to come across as knowledgeable about real estate, while being enthusiastic and natural. Believe me, there is nothing "natural" about it - that takes practice!
Assuming you already have a listing presentation (purchased, corporate, or one that you created yourself), sit down at your dining table and turn the pages (or power point presentation on your laptop) in the direction of an imaginary home seller across the table, and go through your presentation OUT LOUD. You must be able to look at it upside down, and know what your script is for that page. Same thing with contracts: Turn a contract towards an imaginary buyer on the other side of the table, and summarize each and every paragraph OUT LOUD without peeking. My children did grow up to be normal healthy adults, in spite of sitting through many practice presentations over the years before I took them to the pool.
4. Reach out and touch someone. Many someones. Personally speak to at least 5 people a day about real estate - it can be purely conversational, such as "I saw the most beautiful home today..." - but it has to be about real estate! When you run out of friends and family, go to the grocery store and talk to the person in front of you and behind you... and the clerk. Go to the gym and talk to the person on the treadmill next to you. 15 seconds and a business card. It works. Do it every day for a week, and you will probably get an appointment with a live warm-bodied buyer or seller - especially if you've been previewing and have some houses to talk about.
5. Read, read, read. Your clients and prospects are reading the newspaper (or news online), and they are watching/listening to news reports in the broadcast media. They are very interested in learning about interest rates, market trends, and local political decisions that may impact their home value. If you want to carry on an intelligent conversation which convinces others that you know more than they do about real estate (you're not just another real estate licensee), you have to read, listen to and talk about anything you can find that has to do with real estate.
One of the things I love about being a REALTOR is the community of agents, lenders, and other professionals that I interact with every day. Not to mention the clients who have become friends, and the friends who have become clients. It doesn't matter what age, ethnicity, or years of experience - we can all enjoy the real estate dance. Hopefully some of this advice from an old pro will help make it more fun for you a lot sooner than learning from the school of hard knocks.
Hey, old pros, if you're still reading this, please share YOUR advice to new agents in the comments.
I encourage all new agents to bring your enthusiasm and new ideas to the world of real estate, while you learn some of the basic steps. As we all know too well, real estate licensing classes don't really provide the day to day "how to's" that mean the difference between success and failure in this business. So here are a few practical suggestions from an old pro:
1. Preview, preview, preview. Any day that you don't have a live warm-bodied client to work with, preview properties on the market. This will help you develop a comfort level with what's available at what price. It also helps you find your way around your marketplace, as you go from one listing to another (good idea to try out that new GPS system before you have clients in the car). And knowing the inventory will give you something to talk about in social and business situations. Previewing is to real estate success, what crawling is to walking.
2. Practice using a lockbox. You laugh. Well, let's pretend you were the lucky agent on duty in your office when a homebuyer came in and wanted to look at homes. He didn't know you were new, and he was very impressed with your professionalism. You made appointments to show him homes, and off you went. "This is going great!", you thought to yourself. But you couldn't figure out how to open the lockbox when you got to the first listing... Why don't real estate managers teach new agents how to work their lockboxes?!?!?!
3. Practice your presentations. Now that you have graduated from licensing school, you are expected to share your wisdom with consumers... to come across as knowledgeable about real estate, while being enthusiastic and natural. Believe me, there is nothing "natural" about it - that takes practice!
Assuming you already have a listing presentation (purchased, corporate, or one that you created yourself), sit down at your dining table and turn the pages (or power point presentation on your laptop) in the direction of an imaginary home seller across the table, and go through your presentation OUT LOUD. You must be able to look at it upside down, and know what your script is for that page. Same thing with contracts: Turn a contract towards an imaginary buyer on the other side of the table, and summarize each and every paragraph OUT LOUD without peeking. My children did grow up to be normal healthy adults, in spite of sitting through many practice presentations over the years before I took them to the pool.
4. Reach out and touch someone. Many someones. Personally speak to at least 5 people a day about real estate - it can be purely conversational, such as "I saw the most beautiful home today..." - but it has to be about real estate! When you run out of friends and family, go to the grocery store and talk to the person in front of you and behind you... and the clerk. Go to the gym and talk to the person on the treadmill next to you. 15 seconds and a business card. It works. Do it every day for a week, and you will probably get an appointment with a live warm-bodied buyer or seller - especially if you've been previewing and have some houses to talk about.
5. Read, read, read. Your clients and prospects are reading the newspaper (or news online), and they are watching/listening to news reports in the broadcast media. They are very interested in learning about interest rates, market trends, and local political decisions that may impact their home value. If you want to carry on an intelligent conversation which convinces others that you know more than they do about real estate (you're not just another real estate licensee), you have to read, listen to and talk about anything you can find that has to do with real estate.
One of the things I love about being a REALTOR is the community of agents, lenders, and other professionals that I interact with every day. Not to mention the clients who have become friends, and the friends who have become clients. It doesn't matter what age, ethnicity, or years of experience - we can all enjoy the real estate dance. Hopefully some of this advice from an old pro will help make it more fun for you a lot sooner than learning from the school of hard knocks.
Hey, old pros, if you're still reading this, please share YOUR advice to new agents in the comments.
Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. Margaret Woda
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