I Wish Someone Had Told Me This! Insights for New and Struggling Real Estate Agents.

If you are new to real estate, you will quickly learn that the licensing course taught you very little about how to make money in real estate sales. The good news is that there are many people who can help you to focus in on a good plan to start making sales. There are also some great courses to help you select a plan of action, educate you and help you succeed.

Some agents want to work with buyers, others want to specialize in short sales or relocation clients or new home sales.  Regardless, you need a stream of clients. It’s great to have a “center of influence”. In fact many hiring managers will ask you about yours. Well, it’s okay if you do not have a big family or church group or rotary. There are plenty of people out there who want to buy and sell homes. You just need to find them and then offer great service. 

Great service comes with good information. You can only share what you know (and ideally have some experience with). So if there is an area you plan to specialize in, take some classes in that area. 

  

Working with buyers is a place where many new agents begin to make sales. If you plan to work with buyers, it’s really key to know the local inventory of homes and also have some good time management skills. There are courses that can help you with that.

My company, Prudential California Realty offers a terrific course called Firmed Foundations. This is a great course for those who need an occasional refresher or, are just starting out in their real estate career. Firm Foundations course covering topics such as the Listing and Purchase contracts, disclosures, escrows, successful open houses, time management and much more. Where ever you are located, look for a company with frequent and lively courses and updates. You will benefit from the information and the energy.

Since this is my first blog on the topic of real estate production, here is my quick introduction. I have been a real estate broker in California since the dawn of creation. (Okay, since 1981) I was also a broker in Hawaii for a few years. I have had great years and some that were just terrible. I have relocated four times throughout my real estate career. This means that I had to totally start over four times. Starting over included everything from choosing a brokerage to partner with and building / rebuilding a group of clients and a pipeline of transactions. My current clients including a wonderful group of private individuals and families, corporate clients and even our federal government. I am also the office manager for the Prudential California Realty office in El Dorado Hills California.