Welcome Aboard: Your First Year in Real Estate
Welcome to an exciting, challenging, and rewarding first year in the world of real estate. The journey ahead will be a blend of exhilarating moments, daunting challenges, and rich learning experiences.
Picture your real estate career’s onset like an airplane preparing for takeoff. It demands a substantial amount of energy, endures turbulence, and requires constant throttle to avoid a crash.
Understanding Your Role: The Multifaceted Job of a Real Estate Agent
While it’s tricky to offer one-size-fits-all advice, every real estate agent must navigate a variety of roles. From meeting clients, drafting contracts, learning market trends, and advertising, to bookkeeping, design work, scheduling, and more, the responsibilities are diverse.
Focus on these five crucial areas in your role as an agent: identifying potential clients, following up with contacts, showing homes, writing contracts, and rehearsing these tasks with friends or other agents.
Mastering the Essentials: Administrative Duties and Balance
As a new agent, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with various systems like your local association, your local MLS, and your brokerage. And yes, you’ll have to manage a lot of passwords. Though it might feel overwhelming initially, rest assured, it becomes easier with time.
Avoid concentrating on a single task. A balanced approach towards the five main areas of your job will facilitate a smoother first year. Maintain equilibrium between finding new clients, understanding contracts, and enhancing your knowledge without waiting to know it all before making your first move.
Managing Deals: Systems and Steady Progress
Your first deal might feel like a precious newborn that occupies your thoughts constantly. Don’t let the exhilaration disrupt your productivity or limit your client reach. Adopt the tortoise’s pace instead of the hare’s rush.
As you gradually manage multiple deals simultaneously, you’ll realize the power of systems. Properly structured systems can solve most challenges.
Cultivating Cooperation: The Real Estate Community
Contrary to what many new agents believe, your real estate journey isn’t about competing against fellow agents. Strive to build a reputation of trust and collaboration. Remember, your goal is to close deals, not to feed your ego.
Embrace Continuous Learning: Stay Humble and Seek Guidance
At some point, you may feel you’ve mastered it all. However, remember the wise words of Michelangelo, “I’m still learning.” Each deal is unique, so don’t hesitate to ask for help or have an experienced agent review your offers or responses.
No advice can fully prepare you for your first year. It’s a unique journey filled with personal learning and growth experiences. Soak it all in, earn along the way, and most importantly, enjoy the ride.
Good luck!
You might want to check out Having a Consistent Real Estate Career