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Those 8-10 that are very successful, what makes them successful ?
What makes the rest unsuccessful ?
I mean sure, I don't expect to make a million dollar from the first year, but you gotta look at it for the long run, like any other career.
They hustle. They go out and drum up business. Dedicated to succeeding. Go getters always working. Most are type A people
Lazy waiting for work to get to them. These are the people who dream about being rich and get into realty because they see the successful agents and the mobey thry make, but want the money without the heavy lifting. They assume once a agent people are just going to call them because their name is Jonathan Thorton Wainwright III. RE Agent Extraordinaire.
Most want to come in and be instant rock stars driving a Mercedes closing million dollar deals 3x a week.
It took me years to get my name out there and build a clientele when I had my own company
Most fail because they don't have the drive and capital to invest, or want to get rich quick and get frustrated by the glacial pace at which building name recognition moves.
I personally wouldn't go into real estate as my first career, and most of the successful agents I know (except for one) were successful in other fields first. For me, real estate was my third career. Prior to RE, I was a VP of a national publishing company and ran a 7-title newspaper group, then started and built a marketing and design firm from scratch, got burned out, sold it and decided to do something with more flexibility and opportunity for family time. As an agent, you are basically a small business owner, so having the experience of growing a business from zero before has been beneficial, if for no other reason than knowing that the process will take time.
I agree Bryan, and I also agree with whoever said that getting an MBA isn't helpful toward career development as a realtor. Self discipline, pounding the pavement, and persistence are very important things, however.
Could someone explain to me how leads work in real estate.
I mean does the brokerage provide you these leads ???
Is it for free for agents or do they have to pay for it ???
etc...
Real estate is a tough business. In fact any sales job is. There are a lot of NOs to one YES. The potential to make big money is out there but seldom do the stars align.
My wife and I started our real estate company in 2006 and it was a tough go through the recession. The competition is huge in our market due to many folks who get their license for something to do after already retiring from a career. These part timers cater to their friends and family and most are just OK at the job. We like to say "if you throw a rock around here you hit a realtor". This has made us concentrate on buyers more than listings and this has required a internet prescence.
My wife and I both had backgrounds in sales, she was in and out of real estate for years and I sold cars. Looking back I think we would have been better off signing up with one of the big established companies which would have saved us a lot of hard knocks. The big companies have big marketing that brings buyers and sellers in. All a new agent needs to do is get some up time.
There is so much more to being successful than just opening a door. There is also huge liability concerns. It is not as easy as the realty TV shows make it out to be.
I personally entered the real estate business in 1972, and remained in it till I retired.
Consider, that 80% plus of all agents fail out of the business, as they can not make enough money to earn a living after paying their expenses. Some never even make a sale, spending months in the business and spend all their savings to cover business expenses.
I had 20 years sales experience in big ticket retail businesses including managing stores for 10 years, and 10 years in the corporate world working up to division sales manager of a division that covered western half of country.
Before I went into the business, I evaluated it just like any other business, to find the best area for me to make money. I chose to work with real estate investors, in commercial/investments/farm and ranch/and 1031 tax deferred exchanges. I did not want to sell single family homes and only sold 6 to help friends find the right home and negotiate them a good deal.
Before I entered the business, I took courses on real estate in my chosen field at a major university. I took several short courses over 1 year. I took some classes taught by real estate experts in the field I wanted to enter. I understood the business before I went into it. This is not done by the agents that fail out of the business.
My first day in the business, I sold a 2 year old apartment house, and 3 days later sold the identical one next door. My next work week, I exchanged a 16 unit upscale apartment house for the down payment on a large irrigated farm. I did more business in those 2 weeks, than most agents do in a year. I was able to do this, because I was properly prepared for the business, just as I did when I went to work in any business. This is the problem for most new agents, they are not prepared for the business, know nothing about how to find clients, and wonder around trying to find their way. They studied to get their license, but did not educate themselves to know what to do after they went to work.
Since leaving the Navy (joined to beat the draft notice in my post office box) in 1954, I have never drawn a salary as most people do. In sales, I would only work on a commission, and in sales management I got a piece of the action as we called it for every sale my salespeople made. By 1953 I was earning selling furniture what in today's dollars be $125,000 a year, and life went up from there.
You can make money in real estate, in fact big money, if you know enough of what you are doing, have a good sales background, and know how to develop business. Most new agents do not, and that is why they fail. As a broker, I never put on a lot of agents, as I would then have been trying to herd people around hoping for business. I ran a one man investment office. My wife was also a broker, and ran the office. As she was a licensed broker herself, she could do anything I could do, handled the paperwork, set up closings, etc. That left me the time to list and sell. I had clients as far away as Iran oil fields when Americans were in Iran, and Malaysia oil fields. And clients around the western states. I bought, sold and exchanged real estate for my clients. Some may own a property for a year, before ever seeing it.
The man in charge of the electrification of Iranian oil fields (American Electrical Engineer), would get his weekly call with his family who would tell him to call me. As he could not talk business on the phones, he would catch the company shuttle to London on his days off, and call me from there. If he agreed we should buy a certain property he would give me the go ahead, and his daughter in my town would use a power of attorney to sign. When we closed, he would leave the country to do it. Example: I took the papers on a big purchase to his daughter, who drove 50 miles in a snow storm to the airport to meet another sister who was flying to Turkey to meet her parents for Thanksgiving. The papers were witnessed by the Ambassador To Turkey instead of a notary. She brought them back to the states, where her sister picked them up and brought them to me. It was about 9 months later when he came home for his annual month long vacation, that he saw the property. The people in the oil fields made very big money and needed a place to invest it, and he sent me clients.
I am telling you this, to show you have to find a niche in real estate and understand what you are doing, if you want to make big money. I want to warn you, most people will not. Some of the best Realtors I have known around the country, do not have degrees from any college, but they have educated themselves in the real estate business. They find a niche, and work that niche as I did. There are a few that do very well selling single family homes, but the ones that make big money look for a specialized niche market as I did. They build contacts of similar people around the country that t hey can contact when they want some help or information. The level of real estate I worked, was not just local. I have handled property in exchanges as far away as Costa Rica and Belize.
What I am really trying to say, there are a lot of aspects of Real Estate from selling single family homes, to heavy duty commercial. The thing is too look around in your area, find a niche that needs filled, get yourself educated to handle that type of business, make a business plan and work the plan. Don't expect business to seek you out, as you just sit there waiting for something that does not happen. If it was that easy, 80% plus of the people that get their real estate license would not fail as they do now.
I would say 10% make the money. Of those 10% it can be incredibly lucatrive. Depends how much drive you have and how much time you put in. The first couple of years can be hard since you need to build up a referral base.
I personally entered the real estate business in 1972, and remained in it till I retired.
Consider, that 80% plus of all agents fail out of the business, as they can not make enough money to earn a living after paying their expenses. Some never even make a sale, spending months in the business and spend all their savings to cover business expenses.
I had 20 years sales experience in big ticket retail businesses including managing stores for 10 years, and 10 years in the corporate world working up to division sales manager of a division that covered western half of country.
Before I went into the business, I evaluated it just like any other business, to find the best area for me to make money. I chose to work with real estate investors, in commercial/investments/farm and ranch/and 1031 tax deferred exchanges. I did not want to sell single family homes and only sold 6 to help friends find the right home and negotiate them a good deal.
Before I entered the business, I took courses on real estate in my chosen field at a major university. I took several short courses over 1 year. I took some classes taught by real estate experts in the field I wanted to enter. I understood the business before I went into it. This is not done by the agents that fail out of the business.
My first day in the business, I sold a 2 year old apartment house, and 3 days later sold the identical one next door. My next work week, I exchanged a 16 unit upscale apartment house for the down payment on a large irrigated farm. I did more business in those 2 weeks, than most agents do in a year. I was able to do this, because I was properly prepared for the business, just as I did when I went to work in any business. This is the problem for most new agents, they are not prepared for the business, know nothing about how to find clients, and wonder around trying to find their way. They studied to get their license, but did not educate themselves to know what to do after they went to work.
Since leaving the Navy (joined to beat the draft notice in my post office box) in 1954, I have never drawn a salary as most people do. In sales, I would only work on a commission, and in sales management I got a piece of the action as we called it for every sale my salespeople made. By 1953 I was earning selling furniture what in today's dollars be $125,000 a year, and life went up from there.
You can make money in real estate, in fact big money, if you know enough of what you are doing, have a good sales background, and know how to develop business. Most new agents do not, and that is why they fail. As a broker, I never put on a lot of agents, as I would then have been trying to herd people around hoping for business. I ran a one man investment office. My wife was also a broker, and ran the office. As she was a licensed broker herself, she could do anything I could do, handled the paperwork, set up closings, etc. That left me the time to list and sell. I had clients as far away as Iran oil fields when Americans were in Iran, and Malaysia oil fields. And clients around the western states. I bought, sold and exchanged real estate for my clients. Some may own a property for a year, before ever seeing it.
The man in charge of the electrification of Iranian oil fields (American Electrical Engineer), would get his weekly call with his family who would tell him to call me. As he could not talk business on the phones, he would catch the company shuttle to London on his days off, and call me from there. If he agreed we should buy a certain property he would give me the go ahead, and his daughter in my town would use a power of attorney to sign. When we closed, he would leave the country to do it. Example: I took the papers on a big purchase to his daughter, who drove 50 miles in a snow storm to the airport to meet another sister who was flying to Turkey to meet her parents for Thanksgiving. The papers were witnessed by the Ambassador To Turkey instead of a notary. She brought them back to the states, where her sister picked them up and brought them to me. It was about 9 months later when he came home for his annual month long vacation, that he saw the property. The people in the oil fields made very big money and needed a place to invest it, and he sent me clients.
I am telling you this, to show you have to find a niche in real estate and understand what you are doing, if you want to make big money. I want to warn you, most people will not. Some of the best Realtors I have known around the country, do not have degrees from any college, but they have educated themselves in the real estate business. They find a niche, and work that niche as I did. There are a few that do very well selling single family homes, but the ones that make big money look for a specialized niche market as I did. They build contacts of similar people around the country that t hey can contact when they want some help or information. The level of real estate I worked, was not just local. I have handled property in exchanges as far away as Costa Rica and Belize.
What I am really trying to say, there are a lot of aspects of Real Estate from selling single family homes, to heavy duty commercial. The thing is too look around in your area, find a niche that needs filled, get yourself educated to handle that type of business, make a business plan and work the plan. Don't expect business to seek you out, as you just sit there waiting for something that does not happen. If it was that easy, 80% plus of the people that get their real estate license would not fail as they do now.
Thanks for the rich comment.
I realized I must get myself educated first before entering the field other than the license requirements. It just doesn't make sense to become successful by only acquiring the license.
Realtors probably have this info, but I remember charts showing that only the top few percent made a really decent living. Of course that can change based on where you are located - in NYC or in the Hamptons it's common to make $5+ million dollar sales - if the realtor gets even 1%, that's $50K on one transaction.
A top realtor needs to have a vast array of skills - it may be that said skills would pay off better in other vocations. Again, I think it depends on where you live.
Many areas tend to be boom or bust. As a Realtor you can't help but think the gravy train is going to keep running...after its run for year! Realtors are often the most (wrongly) optimistic people I know. Of course they want the market to be good - and of course they want you to sell your house.
Some of the advice given above is very good. Just being "another realtor" is going to put you in the meat market where you have to fight for pecking order with hundreds (or more) of other realtors for each lead and sale. But if you - on your own - become good a a niche or two, you have a much better chance.
People skills are very important. Our Realtor in New England is so good that her clients tend to use her for all the houses whey buy over the year (when they trade up, move to another local town, etc.). We bought from here and then sent my brother to her - and we would call her if we decided to sell.
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