How do I get a start in real estate?
It’s a question that often comes from new agents.
But I believe it’s a question we should ask ourselves every year.
The First Years
Once you have completed your real estate class and become a licensed agent, getting a start in real estate can be tricky. There’s an overwhelming amount to learn and no clear guide.
If you are just starting out in real estate, or have come to a point where you want to make significant changes, focus on these three things:
1. Make Training a Priority.
Just like football players train before game day, agents need to train before appointments. Join a team with a clear and consistent training program, hire a real estate coach, attend real estate conferences, and role play scripts with other agents. Block out time in your schedule everyday to practice the basics. Remember, just like in sports, training never ends.
2. Be coachable.
As you train, ask for feedback. Then LISTEN. Listen without interrupting, creating excuses, or thinking about what you will say next. If the feedback you receive is out of your comfort zone, your initial reaction to it might be a negative one. You may think, “That won’t work,” or “I can’t do that.” In any business, in order to grow, you must do things that are out of your comfort zone. So, no matter what your initial thoughts are, apply the feedback. Try it out multiple times before coming up with a concrete opinion. If you dismiss every piece of feedback before trying it out, you will never move forward.
3. Work ethic.
You need to be in the office every single day. And not on time – get there early and stay late. Every day as a new agent, I strongly suggest making a minimum of 100 calls per day and three days of door knocking per week. The more conversations you have, the more you apply your training, the faster you will see results. Another part of this is to document your journey on social media every day. Create a content schedule so that people will begin to learn who you are and what you are doing.
Act Like a Startup
After your first couple of years in the business, you will have built a pipeline and might be getting some business from referrals. But all of the above still applies. In fact, you should continue acting like a startup every year you are in the industry.
One of my biggest takeaways from the 2019 Tom Ferry Success Summit came from watching the top producers who were also attending the conference. For example, Gino Blefari, the CEO of HomeServices of America, was sitting in the audience, taking notes like it was his very first conference. Instead of acting like he already knew everything, he was there to learn.
As we grow and obtain some success, we need to consistently come back to training, being coachable, and doing the work. Top CEOs in every business continue to push themselves to learn new things and apply new strategies in their own businesses.
Of course, over the years you will build relationships, learn new strategies, and have experience to fall back on. But that doesn’t mean you can stop implementing new strategies.
Because if you don’t continuously think like a startup, if you don’t continue to innovate, if you don’t continue to put in the hours, someone else will.