Where New Real Estate Agents Waste Money
You already know that starting a career in real estate is going to cost you some money. Unless you sign on with a company that will pay for all your marketing needs, a lot of that expense will fall on you. You’ve already paid for real estate school, your state exam, your license, your MLS membership, and will have continuing education fees. That’s a lot of money before you even have sold your first home. There are some things you think you will need to pay for, that you don’t necessarily need. Here are some things to avoid spending your money on until you are more established.
Buying Leads
You may think that buying leads is the easy way to get your business going. You are forgetting that you have friends and family that will probably turn into your first customers. If you do a good job, you will also get referrals from these clients. Remember that Facebook, blogging, and creating short videos are all marketing strategies that are free. Compile an email distribution list and send out a monthly newsletter. The beginning of your career is not the time to put a lot of money into buying leads. Tap the resources you already have.
Fancy Marketing
Don’t pay a lot of money for fancy marketing. As mentioned above, there are so many online tools that you can utilize to help get your business off the ground. No need for a fancy logo and designer marketing materials to brand you at the beginning. Your brand is your name and reputation. As you begin working with clients, you will be referred other clients by how your transactions go. A lot of times new agents just want to pay the money instead of doing the legwork to get new clients and listings. Throwing money into something that may or may not work is not the answer. There are potential clients everywhere; you just need to look for them.
You will feel like in your first year of real estate that you are bleeding money. That’s why it is wise to have a year’s worth of income saved for rent and bills. When you are looking to spend money on something, ask yourself if you can do this yourself. The old adage is true: you have to spend money to make money. But it is also important to spend wisely.
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