FIn the wake of the global pandemic that reshaped the world starting in 2019, and its enduring impacts into 2024, the real estate landscape continues to evolve. With projections indicating a surge in home prices, navigating this dynamic market poses challenges, especially for newcomers. Amidst this uncertainty, we provide essential tips tailored for new real estate agents to navigate and thrive in this shifting terrain.
Self-Analysis
The key to being a great agent is not just knowing the neighborhood like the back of your hand, but also having a clear image of your own strengths and weaknesses. Go through critical analysis of your own strengths and weaknesses. Highlight what separates you from the crowd and define your own goals in business. What are you trying to achieve? When? How will you measure success or failure?
Know What You Are Good at
These criteria are critical. Stepping foot in the world of real estate without having insight into them is like walking into a dark room with a thousand doors. If you have no idea about your strengths, how would you know you are not investing in something you are not very good at?
Your Unique Value Proposition
The first step in marketing is finding that unique feature that separates you from the competition. That is your unique quality of solving your client’s problems in your own way that creates certain values. These represent promises you can make and deliver on. These unique qualities matter and should be focused on. Otherwise aren’t we all agents, doing the same thing? Why should a client trust you and not the other guy in line? Find your unique value proposition and focus on it.
Long- and Short-Term Goals
No doubt your ultimate goal is to bring home the bacon. However, success in business requires you to define a series of business-oriented goals, both short-term and long-term that define determine success or failure at a given time. They can be sales in a year, number of deals, etc.
Don’t Turn Down Any Leads
For your first few leads, you might be tempted to go for fat commissions but at the beginning that might not happen easily. Another tip for new real estate agents is to consider all deals you get when you are new in business as an agent even if they do not sound as promising or interesting as you would like. These deals might send more business your way in the future. In addition, they will make you feel more confident about yourself and your business.
Get Ready to Do Whatever it Takes!
If you are at the beginning of the road, you still have a lot to learn and a lot of trusts to build. You may have to go above and beyond and do things agents are not expected to. You may find yourself doing more of the office work at first. But there is simply a lot to learn. You may also have to reach a little higher to reach the expectations of clients. But this is to be expected.
Better Yourself
You might think that once you have your license you are done and ready to focus on closing deals and making money. However, the business is vast. We believe no agent can claim they know everything in business regardless of how experienced they are. You are at the start of your journey when you get your license. Now it is time to expand your horizons.
Don’t be the Pushy Salesperson.
Real estate is about selling but being obsessed with the idea is poison for your business. Sales are what fuel your business, but they should not be the driver. Instead of being sales-centric consider yourself to be a consultant who seeks to help others, especially for those first few leads. Don’t chase prospects around for business. A reputation as a pushy agent is the last thing you need to start out. Work on your soft skills including problem-solving and self-motivation. Keep your spirits high and trust yourself.
Work Where the Money is
Whether you like it or not, this is a fact. The money you make depends on the deals you close. Wealthy areas have higher prices and consequently higher commissions. Being an agent in not-so-wealthy areas has its benefits in that the competition is low. And some areas are transitioning upwards. But in real estate, you do have to move to where the money is in order to make money.
Use Your SOI to Find Leads
A new agent needs to do prospecting to find people who are willing to do business in real estate. Those who need your help buy or sell homes. However, finding leads for new agents can be quite tricky. The first and easiest place to start for new agents is their SOI including friends, relatives, local businesses, and whatnot.
Let all these people know that you are a licensed agent and offer your help not just by asking them for business but also by helping those in need of information with valuable tips. This will both introduce you as someone who knows their way around business and are also willing to help. Every agent has to start with client number one someday.
Find a Mentor
An experienced mentor in the field of real estate will help you a lot since they can teach you the basics of running a business including those points that you might not have heard of before. Mentors can make you more confident handling deals on your own. If you have a hard time finding a mentor, remember that some brokers offer training programs to the new agents that can help them gain experience.
Stand on Your Own
Considering yourself a small business can do your business good in many ways. First and foremost you will take on many of the tasks yourself which will, in turn, teach you a lot of things about running a business. Second, it will make you improve your personal and professional relationships in the area you cover. That includes getting local businesses to know you as an agent and staying on top of your prospects’ minds. Being in charge of your small business rather than working for a bigger company will not only develop your skills but also will enable you to make changes as needed.
Branding
The difference between a great real estate agent and a mediocre one does not lie solely within where they work or their brokerage. Their personal and professional branding is what makes them great, awesome, go-to, etc. in their community. Your brand is your professional image. In this day and age, it should be crafted using technology through means of digital marketing assets such as your website and social media.
“List to Last” is a Myth
To keep your head above water in real estate, they say, you need to list. That is not necessarily true. Seller leads are harder to get in real estate and you can manage your business simply by getting buyers leads. However, keep an eye out for those occasional seller leads. You never know and they are a great benefit.
Having said that, if you have a hard time getting seller leads at the start, don’t sweat. Seller leads are harder than buyer leads and you don’t necessarily have to get them
Go Hard on Social Media
This is probably our most important tip for new real estate agents. Digital marketing is a must for businesses in this era of modern technologies. As you learn about business in your community and area, keep a consistent presence on social media across different platforms. Social media itself won’t cost you money. It will take some of your time, but it is a sound investment. Feed your social media channels with decent, valuable content to build a solid fan base.
Communication is key
As a real estate agent, you need to work on your interpersonal skills and ace those skills that help you express yourself and present listings, clients, etc. In addition, make sure you attend to emails, messages, phone calls ASAP. You can’t afford to lose prospects and leads just because you are on a tight schedule. Make sure you have a system to answer all messages, emails, etc. Failing to do so will make you look like an agent who can’t keep up with the client’s expectations and needs. Take too long to respond to clients if you want to kill your business.
Niche Down
The market is full of agents who cast a wide net of “call me for all your real estate needs”. None can claim to be an expert in a specific field. Marketing your Real estate business to your niche group always works since you seem better equipped and more experienced for their needs than those agents who claim to Jack of all Trades.
Have Patience
Real estate seems like a profitable business and that can make people picture their future as an agent. When you start your career as an agent, however, it might take a long time till you close your first deal or find your first leads. Have a realistic attitude and prepare for those dry spells. Real estate is not going to make money from day one. You have to build your business and you will need to work hard towards it.
Automate Everything That Can Be Automated
Many of the things we do on the internet have an automated end on the other side. Your real estate business is so vast that you cannot spread yourself thin enough to handle everything yourself. Just the social media marketing and your presence on it could be a full-time job. Time is your most valuable asset. Therefore our next tip for new real estate agents is to see what you can automate, and do it. Social media automation for real estate is one of the first places to invest some effort.
Tips for New Real Estate Agents: Takeaways
As a new real estate agent you need to know that you have a long way ahead of you. We don’t want to sound discouraging, but having a realistic point of view towards the beginning of your career as an agent will do more good than harm. It might take a while for you to get your first deal and lead. And you need to work on many things including soft skills along with your relationships with your SIO, and your network. Make the most out of social media and other digital marketing avenues to better present yourself in the online space. Follow these tips for new real estate agents and you will be well on your way.