Question #1:
What are the 5 most important things that a broker is looking for in a new
agent?
1) Motivation/Entrepreneurial Spirit
Being a real estate agent is essentially running your own business and new
agents have to build their business from the ground up. It is not a job where
someone will necessarily be told what to do or where exactly to be. As much as
management can offer guidance and support the drive, determination, and
self-discipline, must ultimately come from the agents themselves.
2) Communication Skills
Being a real estate agent one needs to be able to effectively communicate both
verbally and in writing. Whether it be explaining the tax implications of a
pied-a-terre apartment purchase or why in a rental application a landlord
requests a W-2 form in addition to a federal tax return. Real estate agents have
to explain complicated, nuanced material to their clients in a coherent and
easy-to-understand way. Additionally, much of the correspondence in this day and
age is via email. So real estate agents also have to be able to communicate the
same material through written word. This skill has become so important that we
include a writing skills and spelling/grammar section on our interview form.
3) Personality/”Likeability”
Real estate agents will be spending long periods of time with their clients
showing properties. So their clients have to like to be around them! If an agent
has a good personality and the “likability” factor it lays the groundwork for
the client. This will make the client be comfortable and trust that agent with
handling their transaction. The real estate agents that are successful always
have a fantastic rapport with their clients and many become life-long friends.
Real Estate Agents
4) Professional Appearance
An agent should look and dress the part of a successful businessperson. The
clients who meet the real estate agents for the first time will quickly form
first impressions about the competence and professionalism of that agent based
on their appearance. Rightfully or not so agents have to have the ability to be
well groomed and look the part.
5) Organizational Skills/Time Management
Much like a juggler in a circus a busy real estate agent will be “spinning many
plates”. He/she has to have the ability to be organized and highly efficient
with his/her time. As a real estate agent is a commission based position the
effort and work that is put in should always be focused and very deliberate. A
successful agent will always be on top of their schedule and give the proper
focus needed for each one of their “spinning plates”.
Question #2:
What are the biggest challenges that new agents typically face when starting out
and how should they overcome them? Will the brokerage offer their support and
how?
1) Effort required
We tend to see that many real estate agents are not prepared for the effort and
work that it takes to be successful. Many perceive the real estate business to
be a “get rich quick” scheme. Or, they think that putting in 20-30 hours per
week will suffice. We specifically tell agents in the initial training period
the effort that it will take. And give the trainees examples of how a typical
day and week of a successful agent plays itself out.
2) Coping with failure
There is a lot of trial and error when a real estate agent first begins. So it’s
imperative to have the ability to NOT to get discouraged by short term failure.
We counsel agents to be more focused on the bigger picture. They need to
recognize that with each passing month and year they will become more and more
knowledgeable. And success will follow.
Real estate agent NY - do not get discouraged
3) Inconsistent income
There is definitely a steep learning curve for new real estate agents so they
have to be prepared for fluctuations in their income. This is especially
difficult for agents who have previously worked in salaried positions as there
is not guaranteed paycheck each week. We counsel for this as well in our initial
training program.
Question #3:
What’s the quickest way for new agents to earn their first commission? What are
the 5 things a new agent should do that will help him/her perform well from the
get go?
The quickest way to earn a commission is to complete a rental transaction.
Rental transactions can happen very quickly and we’ve seen many new agents close
a deal within their first week.
Real Estate Agent Starting Out - Rental real estate
Here are 5 things to help a new real estate agent perform:
Become an expert in the area you choose to work and preview as many properties
as possible.
Advertise the properties you have previewed through all the various channels in
order to generate multiple leads.
Reach out to your sphere of influence and let everyone know you now work in real
estate.
Be prepared for a lot of hard work and understand it will take a lot of sheer
physical effort to be successful.
Be confident in your abilities!
Question #4:
What type of deals should new agents start with and why?
Typically agents will begin in rentals because transactions happen quickly. And
they can start making money shortly after beginning. The first level of business
development involves previewing rental properties, photographing them, and
creating ads for distribution on multiple internet sites. This produces
inquiries directly to the agents from interested prospects.
Lead generation is always job #1 for a real estate agent.
There are a variety of ways to begin on the sales side. A real estate agent can
represent either buyers or sellers.
Ways to capture buyers would be:
To have one’s own listing advertised on websites such as Trulia or Zillow. Also
there are plenty of CRM and Social media real estate apps that can help new real
estate agents better organize their time.
Work as part of a team led by an experienced broker, converting renters into
buyers, or
Farming your sphere of influence (SOI) for referrals.
Question #5:
Many students are looking to use their license part-time. Perhaps they are
teachers who want to rent and/or sell during the summer months, or they want to
have additional streams of income. How can part-time real estate agent use their
license to make extra income on the side? Do you currently have agents who are
using their license part time? If so, how do they use their license?
We have found over the years that a real estate agent who can only work
part-time is just not able to carry out the job effectively. However, there is a
distinction between agents who can only work part time during the day or week
vs. agents who can work full time, but only for a portion of the year. We hire
many students and teachers who would like to work for the summer months.
Question #6:
Where should new agents network to find new business quickly? What are some
creative things your agents have done to get new listings/clients?
Agents who are active in religious, community, or charity groups can typically
meet and know a good number of people who could refer them business. There are
also business networking groups, where groups of associated professionals meet
for breakfast once per month and give each other referrals.
Group Meeting - Real Estate Agents
Each group would have one real estate agent, one banker, one contractor, one
designer etc.
A specific creative technique we have seen has been to search public records of
particular apartment buildings with a focus of studio apartment purchases that
occurred 4 to 6 years in the past. The owners of these units are then contacted
to see if they are ready to upgrade to a larger apartment. The real estate agent
is offering to meet with them to provide a free valuation analysis of their
property.
Question #7:
What training should new agents get in order to increase their chances of
success? What can new agents do ahead of time (before starting with a brokerage
firm) to educate themselves to have a better chance at starting strong?
The best thing to do before starting would be to read the various real estate
publications. This way a real estate agent will get a sense of the market and
read about the important events or projects that are making the headlines. The
New York Times and Wall Street Journal real estate sections, the New York
Observer, The Real Deal, Real Estate Weekly, and curbed.com are all helpful
sources of information.
New York Times, Real Deal, Observer logos
A new real estate agent can also start to pursue the various listing websites
such as Streeteasy.com to get a sense of the pricing and the types of properties
that are currently on the market. Each neighborhood in NYC has its own pricing
scale (based on supply and demand). So it’s important to begin to understand the
price points of each neighborhood.
Question #8:
How does a broker help new agents? Is the broker available to offer advice on
contracts? Available weekends? If not, does the broker assign other experienced
agents to assist you with contract questions? Does the broker offer a mentor
program for new agents?
We provide a full week of classroom style instruction where we cover every topic
ranging from business development, professional writing, advertising
effectively, and tutorials on our technology. After the classroom period we then
have all new agents work under one of our training managers who serves as a
direct mentor and guide for at least their first two transactions.
We try to make the transition from the classroom to the field as smooth as
possible. Even after the period of working under a training manager our managers
are always available for support and guidance 7 days a week. We always have a
manager on duty when our office is open.
Question #9:
What should new agents look for when selecting a broker/mentor to work for?
A new real estate agent should look for someone who will provide the proper
training and support and who represents the way that agent would like to conduct
business. We also feel the following traits are very important for an agent’s
success:
The ability to receive training and work in both rentals and sales
Exclusive rental listings
Ability to earn high splits based on performance
High agent-to-manager ratio
Full time Listings Director
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