A Beginner’s Guide to Being a Real Estate Agent
Beginning your real estate business is an invigorating and challenging time. There are many strategies to employ in building a consistently successful practice. However, it is possible to quickly replace your income and even exceed what you were making before. Use this beginner’s guide to being a real estate agent as a way to propel your business forward.
Be Prepared to Invest Your Time
One of the biggest myths about real estate is that you can work part time hours and earn a full time salary. As time goes on, the number of hours you put in marketing will decreases as you build word of mouth referrals. However, in the beginning you will need to invest a lot of time into your real estate business. You can expect to put in over 40 hours in the beginning while you are establishing yourself. Be prepared to be relentless in your marketing efforts during the infancy of your business.
Build Business Relationships
Belonging to a strong team of real estate professionals will help propel your business further.Some examples of real estate professionals to network with are other real estate agents, mortgage brokers, financial advisors and attorneys. Having strong business contacts will direct clients to you.
Some examples of real estate professionals to network with are other real estate agents, mortgage brokers, financial advisors and attorneys. Having strong business contacts will direct clients to you. Additionally, you can meet all of your clients’ needs by being able to refer them to valuable contacts.
Use Technology to Your Advantage
The Internet is one of the biggest marketing platforms for real estate agents. Setting up your personal website and keeping it active and search engine friendly is critical to your business. Consider hiring marketing assistants to help you make your website search engine optimized. Set up a blog on your website to keep it updating consistently. Set up social media profiles and link back to your website with your updates on the various platforms. Being active on the Internet will give you credibility and a far reach of prospective clients to connect with.
Understand Your Market
Understanding the real estate market you are working in is critical to your success. You need to stay on top of mortgage regulations, the fluctuation of inventory in your area and what type of market you are selling in. Your clients trust you to be the expert on real estate and will ask many questions. You’ll want to be confident and educated in your responses to them.
Stay on Top of Continuing Education
As a new provisional real estate agent you are required to complete 90 hours of post-licensure education. Many new agents pour all of their efforts into marketing their new business and put off the required education. We recommend that you pace yourself or even get ahead on the post-licensing education requirements. Our classes allow you to take 3 separate 30-hour courses that you can complete all at once or over three years.
Growing your real estate business takes a great investment of your time and efforts. With strategic planning and perseverance you will find yourself enjoying success in no time. Find a Classroom Near You to see how Sea Coast Real Estate Academy can help you reach your desired real estate career.