6 Reason Real Estate Agents Fail
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The real estate profession is considered one of the most rewarding professions. Despite that, many real estate agents fail to stay within the industry. Even top real estate brokers admit that the average success rate is often low. A large portion of new realtors end up leaving the industry within their first 5 years.
Many realtors don’t make much money. And without benefits or a retirement plan, many agents leave for other professions. However, there are lots of top-tier agents who are able to make a lot of money and are able to create their own retirement plan. If you aspire to make a career in this profession be sure to avoid some common mistakes.
Why Be a Realtor?
Being a real estate agent has some great advantages and the largest downside to this career path is the difficulty to become an above-average agent.
Here are some of the benefits:
- You don’t need a college degree
- You can make your own schedule and work on your own time.
- You control your income by the amount of time and effort you invest
- You’ll be able to build strong relationships with people.
Now the disadvantages of choosing a career in real estate:
- Steep learning curve
- Abundance of Competition
- Plenty of room for error
- Income may flucturate
The real estate industry doesn’t have many barriers to entry. The largest problem for new agents is staying within the career. Most real estate agents leave the industry between the first and fifth years of their careers. These are the main mistakes that you want to avoid.
Mistakes To Avoid
1. Trying to Be a Part-time Agent
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is starting a real estate career as a part-time job.
Real estate is an ongoing job and demands a significant amount of time. You needed to neatly and timely complete plentiful legal and financial tasks. It matters how frequently you answer customer queries, how much time you devote to attend open houses and to market yourself.
And all these responsibilities can be accomplished successfully if you accept this profession as full-time. It’s extremely tough to continue in this profession as a part-time job.
2. Not Budgeting Correctly to Cover Down Months
Each and every business demands an ample amount of time in order to get established and flourishing. Make sure you have reserved enough savings to afford unproductive months. If you are new to the industry, it can be hard to have consistent clients and more productive months.
Don’t expect to start selling houses and have earnings immediately in the first few months. It involves plenty of risks and uncertainties to become a top real estate agent.
3. Avoiding Client Contact
Real estate is a business of people and it is based on creating a relationship with other professionals. Once you create a connection, next you need to make it flourish by regularly talking with them. Your connection building and effectively dealing with existing clients can attract more potential clients.
Be aware that one bad deal can send many possible connections to your competitor’s business. The real estate industry is heavily focused on word-of-mouth. Your reputation can make or break your career success. If you consistently do a good job, people will recommend you to their friends and family.
The top realtors are the ones who do the best for their clients. If you can’t do the best for your clients instead of focusing on your potential commission, people will keep your effort in mind and help drive you more business.
Never sacrifice your client’s needs just for a commission. This can give the perception that you are greedy or scummy and that can travel fast through word-of-mouth.
4. Ignoring Ongoing Training
With this profession, having a great start is the best way to set yourself up for lasting success. You want to invest the time and effort in learning the industry. Always be looking for ways to improve. Focus on learning how to be better a agent.
How to Become A Realtor
There are a few steps you need to take before becoming a real estate agent. The first step is to learn how licenses in your state work and what licenses you will need. Then you will need to complete a course to receive your license. After that, you need to find a to take you on as their agent.
What are Real Estate Brokers?
Think of brokers as the agency you work for. They are the company that hires you as an agent and they will most likely assist in the training process to make sure you are fully up to speed. Choosing a broker can be a tough decision, so you should research the benefits and disadvantages of working with a particular broker.
If you are a new agent without any house selling experience, pick the broker with the best training program. Experience and education is what sets greak brokers apart from good brokers.
5. Making Decisions on Short-term Thinking
Being a realtor is like owning a business. You are a salesman for real estate and no matter what broker you are working for, the job is the same. Your job to get clients and build your reputation.
You’re completely responsible for your income and need to pay for certain things that will be beneficial to you. Be sure to plan for taxes. You should also plan for health insurance and retirement. Unlike in other professions, real estate agents don’t have company offered retirement plans, health insurance or other benefits. You are your own boss so you’ll have to plan for those things yourself.
6. Lacking an Online Presence
Today’s customers are very smart; they are well aware of the home selling and buying process. According to top real estate brokers, 80 percent of home buyers begin their search online.
Investing in an online presence will be a huge benefit to you. It will allow you to build a stronger connection with more clients and help mold a positive reputation. If you are very active on social platforms, more potential clients will see you and contact you.
Having an online presence can be a double edged sword. On one hand, an online presence can help you find clients, but if your online presence isn’t as good as your competitors then you risk the chances of losing some potential clients. Also, if people are not satisfied with the work you do for them, they have a way of publicly sharing those negative feelings.
Another recommendation we have is to create a fully-fledged website in order to show examples of listings you’ve completed, personal certifications and licenses, other professional accomplishments. This gives a direct path for people to follow to what you can provide and to contact you for services.
Conclusion
Becoming a real estate professional can give you options and financial stability when you have worked for a few years and are able to build your portfolio. But the entry years can be extremely difficult to find clients, build a reputation, learn the industry, have consistency, and build relationships.
When choosing a career in real estate you should think about how to stand above your competition and what you should use to drive more clients.
