Technology TransactionsImportant Choices for New Agents
You have chosen real estate as your career and you are very excited about all the possibilities. You are ready to get going. You just know that you will be successful because you are not afraid of work. Why do so many get off track? Make good choices and you will realize your goals.
Plan
One of the problems with being an independent contractor is that you have to be self-motivated. You have to plan what you are going to do in a day. You have to make sure that the time you spend is productive and not just “going through the motions.”
Remembering what is most important for a real estate agent to concentrate on is the key to planning your days to be productive. A real estate agent needs to focus on: 1) getting a lead or appointment, 2)making a sale, or 3)taking a listing. Everything else is secondary. That means that if you plan your day to be focused on prospecting and spend most of your day on this, you cannot fail. Yes, it’s important to know how to write a sales contract and how to fill out the proper forms for a listing as well as learning the property that is on the market. But, none of that is important if you don’t have a prospect to show a home to.
Your day should be filled with talking to people. You can spend 2 hours cold calling. You can spend 1 hour working For-Sale-By-Owners. You can spend 1 hour working on Expired Listings. You can spend 1 hour door knocking in a farm. That’s five to six hours in your day. You have made a lot of contacts. This is what will get you going in real estate.
Take Peers in Stride
Spending time with other members of your office is important, but keep the time to a minimum. Why? You will be given lots of advice about what works and what doesn’t. Please remember that everyone comes to the table with different talents and what may not work for one person, will for another. It is easy to get discouraged when you hear someone you respect tell you not to do something.
Ask questions, get help, but keep what fellow agents say in perspective. You are competition for them. They are busy and don’t want to be bothered and sometimes will dismiss you because they forgot what it was like to be new in this business. Don’t take this too personally. They really don’t mean to discourage or delay you from being successful.
Learning
Use motivational tapes to keep you going. They work so well. You will hear how others got started and how their perseverance helped them succeed. These tapes can be checked out at a local library, rented from your local Association of Realtors, or purchased.
When you have the opportunity, go to as many training seminars as possible. You will always pick up something. Takes lots of notes. Here’s the trick, that evening, read over your notes and choose one or two things that you want to put in place in your real estate practice. The very next day, do it!
Remember above all else, keeping meeting people and talking real estate. The choices you make in the beginning of your career will foretell your success. If you are busy doing what needs to be done to meet people, learn from others, and plan your days you will be focused success.