Young, Professional, and Network are three powerful, meaningful words that can give us direction and clarity. Let’s break each down:
Young. With the average age of a REALTOR® 51 years old, young real estate professionals face a set of challenges and opportunities in this field. When dealing with the risks and importance of real estate matters, many customers may automatically choose an older agent. That’s fine. There may be little or nothing that you can do about that.
However, being a young real estate practitioner can offer you certain advantages and benefits that you may not otherwise get. After all, young people, in general, tend to be technologically superior. Therefore, you may have the know-how to offer podcasts through your Web site regarding your listings. You may understand the importance of offering MP3s or digital photo CDs in your marketing materials. Digital cameras, iMovie videos, text message marketing, and other media may offer you a distinct advantage over older agents. Additionally, your overhead may be lower since other non-technologically savvy agents must hire others to do this for them.
Youth can be energy and opportunity. And, growth, humility, and work can produce expertise.
Professional. We participate in a very important service industry, from the constitutionally relevant issue of private property rights to the financial importance of real estate transactions. To be professional is more than dressing well, practicing good grammar, or showing up on time. Professionalism is about appropriateness, attentiveness, acceptance, perception, expertise, willingness, and decisiveness.
Becoming a professional is a process. We can fake it ‘til we make it only so long. If we lack
game, eventually we’ll be found out.
My contention is that the flash and sizzle of sales is not the gist of real estate. The issues with which we deal are far too important. The current mortgage loan crisis was worsened by a few unethical agents that assisted bad decisions. Professionalism must make the client’s best interests a centerpiece of every choice.
Network. We are hard-wired biologically for connection with others. We feel better when we have trustworthy others to lean on, to confide in, to learn from.
My great hope is that we learn from each other, that we reach out in honesty and transparency to be a support for one another. Networking is a significant concept in life, not just real estate.
Do you have a soul network, a mind network, an emotion network, an exercise network, etc.? Networking is about connecting with others that can provide positive, consistent support.
Richard Barbee works with Realty Executive Associates in Knoxville, Tenn., specializing in new construction marketing. Prior to working in real estate, Barbee worked as a marriage and family therapist for seven years.
With national real estate markets becoming more competitive for buyers and sellers, many real estate agents are beginning to think about expanding the services they offer and diversifying their areas of expertise. Is this a good or bad decision?
Based on personal experience I can answer this question without doubt. Diversification is not the answer for real estate practitioners in any market, especially not a slow or declining one. Unfortunately the opportunities to branch out of our area of expertise only seem to be expanding.
Today I can choose to be a home stager, retailer of electricity service providers, limited service brokerage, home inspector, appraiser, Web page developer, or, heaven forbid, combine real estate with mortgage services. (YES, in some states this is actually legal!)
What happens in any of these equations is that you become distracted with your primary purpose of selling real estate. Having a home staging designation is terrific but it doesn’t mean you get out there and start staging homes that are not your listings.
Selling secondary or complementary real estate goods will never help you hit the closed transaction numbers you are seeking.
So what is the answer to hitting your numbers, delivering unparallel customer satisfaction, and
getting clients the services they need? Be a master of your craft and refer secondary services to those that are a master of theirs. Create referral directories within your communities for services related to your business. Need a mortgage? Call a loan officer. Need a home staged? Call an accredited staging professional.
If practitioners will focus on one task (lead generation) they will see an endless supply of business. Author Gary Keller calls this the “power of one.” There are reasons bowling pins are not set up side by side. Instead, they are set up so if you focus on the head pin, you can hit a strike. That’s focusing on the power of one and using your skills where they are needed.
Whatever career path and journey you decide to take for your life, do so with conviction, passion, and do not let distractions take you off the path for success!
Dru Lee, ABR®, GRI, transferred with the U.S. Navy to Corpus Christi, Texas, nearly seven years ago, and later went on to receive his real estate license in 2004. In November 2006, Lee assisted with the launch of Keller Williams Realty in the Corpus Christi area.
Whether you are new to real estate or a seasoned veteran, you know that one of the keys to a successful business is networking with your peers. This means more than meeting other agents in your office around the water cooler or attending the annual meeting of your local board. This means really getting out there and making contacts — both in your local area and around the country.
As you finalize your business plan and budget each year, you should include money in your budget for education and designations, as well as for travel to at least one conference. Not only does this make you accountable to yourself for achieving designations you desire, but it also makes you step outside of your local area and comfort zone and meet other agents around the country — agents who may become valuable sources of referral income for you and who could also become great friends and accountability partners!
Making contacts outside of your local area can give you a great opportunity to share ideas, successes, and hardships in a non-competitive environment.
Here are a few tips on making the most of your travels:
1. Plan to attend conferences and classes away from home. Pick a CRS class in another state, or choose to attend your company’s annual conference when it’s across the country. It will cost you a little more, but there will be a higher concentration of people you don’t know who may be looking for a contact in your area to send referrals to.
If a conference you really want to attend happens to be in your city — in 2007 the RE/MAX International Convention was in my home city of Atlanta — then choose to stay in the hotel for the duration of the conference, so you can maximize your time at the conference events, instead of spending your time commuting.
2. Bring plenty of business cards. How will you network without your business cards? How will your new contacts know how to reach you when they have a referral for you?
Bring more cards than you think you will need and try to give them all away. Or take it even a step further and have special business cards printed for conferences and events that really
focus on agent-to-agent networking — feature phrases like “I’ll pay you a 30 percent referral fee!” or “Your North Atlanta-area relocation expert!”
Perhaps even personalize it further and put something about the specific event you are attending, for example: “It was great to meet you at the 2008 NAR Convention!”
3. Spend your time with strangers. If you travel to a convention with another agent from your office or area, don’t spend all your time with that person. Don’t sit together during general assemblies and try not to attend the same breakout sessions. And definitely don’t sit together at lunch.
In short, don’t be joined at the hip just because it’s comfortable. Instead, make a date to see each other for dinner and a wrap-up session each night — here you can share your ideas and what you’ve learned throughout the day, while still spending the majority of the day meeting new people and handing out your business card.
So now that you’re pumped to earn that next designation and energized to sign up for a conference and make new contacts, take the next step. Do your research and pick your next designation goal, if you haven’t already.
Get online and look up your company’s national conference. If it’s overwhelming for you, start small — pick your state’s annual conference or your company’s regional one. Whatever you do, make a plan now, while you’re thinking about it.
To help you jump-start the process, here is just a sampling of upcoming conferences that I’ll be picking from for 2008:
REALTOR® magazine is seeking nominations for its ninth annual Good Neighbor Awards. The program recognizes REALTORS® whose extraordinary commitment to volunteer work has helped make their communities a better place to live. Is that you?
Five winners will be announced in the November issue of REALTOR® magazine and will be recognized at the 2008 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Orlando in November. Winners will also receive travel expenses to the convention, national media exposure for their community cause, and a $10,000 grant. Five honorable mentions will each receive a $2,500 grant.
Good Neighbor Awards entries must be received by Friday, May 23.
When I began researching real estate schools for my pre-licensing classes, I was looking for an outstanding school that prepared me for both the state exam and a career in the real estate industry. I am happy to report that I found one that not only met but also exceeded my expectations. For me, the perfect match was Career Growth Real Estate Academy.
How did I locate such a gem? Below are the five steps that I followed.
1. Understand licensing requirements in your state. Pre-licensing requirements vary by state, but all include an educational component. All regulatory agency Web sites can be found on the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials Web site by clicking on the “Regulatory Agencies” link. Visit your state’s Web site for detailed information.
2. Find approved schools in your local area. State Real Estate Commissions approve education providers, and most include a list of approved providers on their Web site. Real estate educators may include community colleges, colleges and universities, or private real estate schools.
3. Online vs. traditional classroom? Some approved providers offer distance learning courses. Of course, this is a personal decision. However, I believe an instructor-led classroom
discussion is invaluable. Questions are answered, difficult concepts are clarified, and “real world” experiences are shared. Additionally, attending traditional classes offers students the opportunity to develop relationships with others who are also new to the industry.
4. Ask for recommendations. Talk with your broker and other real estate practitioners. Often, brokerage firms have a business relationship with a specific educational provider. Ask for a second or third recommendation in addition to the preferred provider.
5. Research and ask lots of questions! Consider visiting the Real Estate Educators Association Web site to view a list of affiliated schools, which may help to narrow your list of potential real estate providers. Then, visit each school Web site.
Ask yourself:
Is the Web site professional?
Does it contain more than static content?
Is the content current and relevant?
Can questions be directed to the school via e-mail?
Call each educational provider. Ask about the experience of their instructors, and if they offer both pre-licensing and post-licensing classes for continuing education requirements and qualifying courses for a broker’s license. Ask about the school’s mission statement and also what percentage of students pass the exam on their first try.
Your pre-licensing education establishes the foundation for your real estate career — so choose carefully!
Julie Cain Cwynar recently passed her real estate licensing exam in February and is starting a career in real estate in Pennsylvania. Previously, she had spent nine years working as a management consultant within the health care and public sector industries.
REALTOR® magazine online is looking for practitioners to comment on what new challenges and anxieties are facing them and their clients in this changing market, and how these issues are affecting you? Emotional stress? Anger? Unreasonable expectations? Tell us what you’re seeing and the best strategies you’re using to diffuse the tension, comfort your clients, and take care of yourself. To be considered for the upcoming article, please send an e-mail to writer Elyse Umlauf at elyse@elysewrites.com.
We’re roughly two months into the New Year and as young professionals I am sure we all have set goals or resolutions for our businesses and ourselves. But have you been sticking to them? Yes, no? If no, why not?
While speaking with a close business contact the other day, we got on the topic of giving ourselves permission to take time for us. Too many of us focus so much on our business that we forget one key element. As practitioners we are our business and if we don’t function at the top of our game our business falters. It can be easy to get wrapped up in the meetings, showings, calls, and all that comes along in our world.
We need to give ourselves permission to take time for us. Here are some top priorities for 2008 to put in your planner:
Exercise regularly. Exercise is proven to relieve stress, and our bodies need to feel great so we can fight in the trenches.
Eat properly. By giving our bodies the right fuel we can keep our minds sharp and energize the machine.
Sleep. As real estate practitioners, we probably don’t get enough of this, but it’s an important part of the process for healing our bodies.
Leisure time. This is one of the most important elements, without it we become
stressed and unfocused, which will ultimately lead to the collapse of the machine.
As the baby boomer generation begins to retire, we’ll need to step up and start to fill those gaps. So we need to be in top form or we won’t be able to do so.
Remember, our bodies are like machines and without proper care and maintenance we can’t function and journey the road to success!
Courtland McPherson works with The McPherson Group, Prudential Gammons Realty, in Exeter, R.I. Prior to joining real estate in 2004, he had worked as a former energy auditor, home inspector, and small business owner.
I wouldn’t have believed it, but it became truth as golden as a ticket around the world: My decision to quit my fruitful job as an English teacher to work as a writer/real estate practitioner just one year ago resulted in a newfound freedom with full-time benefits.
In the six months I have been working as a part-time real estate agent in Honolulu, I discovered the key to happiness and Timothy Ferriss’s “4-Hour Workweek (Crown Publishers, 2007).
Initially, changing professions to pursue a part-time career in real estate didn’t appear to be the best alternative for me, but my life as a teacher had reached an all-time low, and I was in desperate need of a lift — and a drastic one at that.
As I bid farewell to my teacherly lifestyle, and embarked on constructing the real estate practitioner part of me, the following three important and necessary benchmarks planted me firmly onto a path of success.
1. Get a grip.
Undergoing a professional transformation takes time and my success as a real estate practitioner did not happen overnight. After quitting my job as a teacher, I took two months to get a grip on life and to prepare myself for the changes that would certainly come.
It’s really important to be in the right mindset when you change professions. I realized that I needed to take some time to gain perspective on life and what was important to me. I did it by traveling abroad, but whatever you do during this time off should involve some form of clearing your head.
2. Balance work and play.
I sought part-time work in real estate because I wanted “me-time” back. As a teacher who frequently burnt out from overworking, I wasn’t able to read and write for fun.
Now I’m able to balance work and play much more effectively. Working in real estate can entail
long hours, but the inevitable lulls allow for quality time to do what you love without sacrificing income.
Your clients will be happy if you are responsible both as their agent and as a person. Taking the time to keep your life balanced will benefit you and the people you work with and for.
3. Seek a solid mentorship.
I am lucky enough to have one very nurturing mother and mentor. Her 10-plus years of real estate experience helped me get on track right away. She showed me the different approaches as a buyer’s versus seller’s agent very quickly, as well as taught me how to organize and prioritize tasks and paperwork.
With a knowledgeable real estate mentor you will be able to cut out time and increase productivity and income.
Brenda Yun spent five years as a middle- and high- school English teacher, prior to becoming a real estate sales associate for her mother’s brokerage, Hawaii Rainbow Realty in 2007.
Just imagine a closing gift that can help your clients save money on their utility bills and make them more comfortable in their new home. This latest video from REALTOR® Magazine Online shows how Virginia real estate practitioner Candace Lightner used an energy audit as a memorable closing gift to her clients. Watch an energy audit in action and see how you can add more green to your business.
Some — many, actually — will tell you that real estate is about three basic principles: location, location, and location.
Of course it would be silly to dispute it. Right?
Question: What if the three sacred laws of real estate also pertained to a nonphysical or virtual space?
Instead of thinking of real estate as just a place on a map, or an intersection you may know, imagine that “location” also refers to real estate or Internet placement on a proven high-volume Web site. The place where the vast majority of all people looking for a home go to find their information.
Get it? It’s about placement, placement, placement!
In fact, research shows that 82 percent of people who are going to buy a home this year will do most of their search online, and 86 percent of those online searchers will go to Realtor.com.
So, here is my bold, young, arrogant statement: Physical location is important, but unless you have superior online placement, it doesn’t matter.
I’ll go even further: Internet placement of a home on the market is the single most important
factor that makes a home sell.
Bham! I said it!
We live in a different world than we did 5 years ago.
Today’s real estate market is vastly different than the one from the beginning of this millennium, let alone from the mid-90s or mid-80s.
Initial market position and location are important — but an agent, office, and company that truly understands Internet placement and marketing is more so.
Is the real estate industry still about people? Absolutely, but it is also about the sophisticated marketing of a commodity and creating a perception of value. Have you ever heard of a little Internet site called eBay?
So, on your next listing appointment, ask yourself: “Do I get it?”
The average REALTOR® is involved in 10 sides per year, according to the 2007 National Association of REALTORS® Profile. And for “young” agents it would be expected that the numbers would be well below that.
It is easy to see why the “big lights” of the national brokerages would draw many young agents into their mix. But for many, those bright lights don’t equal happiness and success. Therefore, an independent brokerage may be the answer.
However, not all brokerages are created equal, so when you consider an independent brokerage do some research.
Experience doesn’t equal knowledge. Lots of brokerages will claim we have “x” years of experience average per agent. In an industry where 70 percent don’t last three years, it is impressive. But make sure that the brokerage’s agents are willing and able to share information — and that this brokerage is not a “retirement brokerage.”
Marketing your market. As a new agent, you are coming into this industry from a broad-background of experiences. Make sure that your brokerage has the same ideas
about things important to you. But don’t take a lack of knowledge as always a negative. Entering into an “older” brokerage without agents that are Web savvy can lead to more opportunities for you to market and work with them.
Call to action. What does the brokerage expect of you? “Quota” is a bad word in the real estate industry, but get to know if and when you are expected to become a money maker for the company. Independent brokerages can provide a more nurturing environment or they can be a living nightmare if you don’t get this information down at the beginning.
Get it in writing. Using the old-fashioned CYA principle, make sure that everything is in writing. Small independent brokerages typically hire fewer agents and don’t have the practices in place. It comes down to you to protect yourself.
So, don’t jump right on the bandwagon of the national chains, but you might consider giving a local independent brokerage a chance — it could open a very unique opportunity to you.
Toby Boyce, MBA, is a real estate practitioner with Disbennett Real Estate Co. in Delaware, Ohio, and was the 2007 Delaware Board of REALTORS® Rookie of the Year.
Thank you to all who participated in the YPN online survey. We received more than 430 responses. We’ll be using your confidential responses from the survey to guide YPN going forward and for planning YPN programming and events. And congratulations to Renee Atherton, who’s name was drawn to win the free iPod Nano!
“The nightmare, coughing, achy, sniffling, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest medicine.”
Sound familiar? That is the unique selling proposition of Nyquil, the popular nighttime cold medicine. A unique selling proposition (or USP) is a short and concise statement that identifies a specific benefit to consumers that differentiates you from your competition.
Just like most markets, the real estate market is saturated. Competition is fierce and the only way to grab a piece of the pie is to differentiate your services, thereby creating a competitive buffer.
To effectively develop your USP, you must first perform an indepth analysis of your service’s unique benefits, not features, and compare those benefits to those of your competitor’s.
Why It Pays to Be Unique
When identifying your USP, consider the following qualifiers:
A unique selling proposition states a specific benefit, not a feature, of your services. For example, a feature such as a 20-point marketing plan may translate to the
benefit: “Your home will get the exposure it needs to sell faster for more money.”
A unique selling proposition distinguishes your services from those of your competitor.
A unique selling proposition proposes a solution to or addresses a consumer need. For example, “I want my home to sell in 30 days or less for above asking price.”
A unique selling proposition is laser-focused toward your target audience. Understand the needs, desires, and decision-making criteria of your target market and then develop a marketing message that addresses them.
Once you have identified your USP, get the word out. Your wonderfully unique benefits don’t mean anything if your market doesn’t know they exist. Reference your USP in all of your marketing materials, along with your tagline and other branding items.
Mia Orantes is a licensed residential salesperson and principal of Real Estate Geeks, a consulting firm offering Real Estate 2.0 marketing and virtual assistance to agents and brokers.
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Young, Professional, and Network are three powerful, meaningful words that can give us direction and clarity. Let’s break each down:
With national real estate markets becoming more competitive for buyers and sellers, many real estate agents are beginning to think about expanding the services they offer and diversifying their areas of expertise. Is this a good or bad decision? 
Whether you are new to real estate or a seasoned veteran, you know that one of the keys to a successful business is networking with your peers. This means more than meeting other agents in your office around the water cooler or attending the annual meeting of your local board. This means really getting out there and making contacts — both in your local area and around the country.
When I began researching real estate schools for my pre-licensing classes, I was looking for an outstanding school that prepared me for both the state exam and a career in the real estate industry. I am happy to report that I found one that not only met but also exceeded my expectations. For me, the perfect match was Career Growth Real Estate Academy. 
We’re roughly two months into the New Year and as young professionals I am sure we all have set goals or resolutions for our businesses and ourselves. But have you been sticking to them? Yes, no? If no, why not? 
I wouldn’t have believed it, but it became truth as golden as a ticket around the world: My decision to quit my fruitful job as an English teacher to work as a writer/real estate practitioner just one year ago resulted in a newfound freedom with full-time benefits. 
Some — many, actually — will tell you that real estate is about three basic principles: location, location, and location. 
The average REALTOR® is involved in 10 sides per year, according to the 2007 National Association of REALTORS® Profile. And for “young” agents it would be expected that the numbers would be well below that.
“The nightmare, coughing, achy, sniffling, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest medicine.”
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