I’ve always wanted to write something to let the new agents as well as those individuals getting their licenses, on what to expect getting into full time real estate. Now in my 4th year in real estate, I’ve been blessed to have learned a lot from my fellow mentors and eventually opening up my own brokerage due to great success. My sales track record is as follows, 2022 (2), 2023 (2), 2024 (15). Most of my success was from working my sphere of influence, referrals, and nurtures. All my sales were during a so called bad market (high interest rates and low inventory). According to NAR (National Association of Realtors), in 2024, 26% of realtors nationwide sold one or more homes and of that 26% only 2% sold more than 10 homes or more. That basically means 74% of realtors nationwide did zero business last year. I’m blessed to be in the 26% and also that I made the top 2% nationwide. So here it goes for you fellow new agents on what to expect. It’s the cold honest truth. Adapt to survive, follow the trends, and standout from the rest. It’s a 4 piece article, but I promise to keep it blunt. We’ll go year by year in this case to break it down and make it easy for everyone to understand.
Before the Storm
A little background. I had a cushy government job working for the state public health lab from 2018-2022. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I was accessioning, labeling, and testing covid samples. I was working 10-12 hr days while balancing the wifey with a newborn and a 5 year old at home. With my background in medicine I took a promotion with the Newborn Screening Department as the Program Assistant to help aid the department in testing and provide results to clients. At that time I decided to get my license and do real estate part time. Not only as a side hustle, but was also looking to buy another house. A year prior to getting my license, my wife and I were looking to upgrade to a bigger home. At the time, we used an acquaintance for our realtor. We located a beautiful house. It was a two story home with a walkout basement that had an awesome lake view from the backyard. Price tag $750,000. Already pre-approved up to $900,000 and we had more than 20% down. We asked her should we offer $730,000 since there were no offers at the moment. The house was already on the market for 14 days. She said, “It’s OK for an offer.” We asked her should we just offer the asking price. Once again she said, “It’s OK” Long story short, we put in an offer for $730,000. A person from California came in and offered $750,000 and they immediately took the offer. From that point, I decided I can do a better job than this agent who offered zero insight. I felt she was looking at the house from her perspective and not the buyers. She felt that the house was “OK”, but to us it was “amazing”. This is what drove me to get my license. To make sure my clients get what they want and offer solid advice doing so in order to obtain their dream home. There’s also that competitive edge in me that says I can do your job better and more efficiently. There are so many paper pushing agents (the yes men) that don’t do the extra work, or the due diligence, or care to ensure their client is getting the best deal. That’s why I left my cushy job. I wanted to hunt. I enjoyed the hunt. I was tired of just sitting at a desk. I wanted more. I was hungry not for just deals, but hungry to be better than those agents. What’s your drive? It shouldn’t be just about the money. Even if it is just about money, what’s the motivation behind it. So ask yourself that.
(Part I) – Finding the Right Brokerage
Alright newbies! You got your license what’s next? Finding the perfect brokerage is the next step to success. I did it the wrong way. Although I am truly grateful to my first managing broker for taking me into her small boutique family brokerage, I just didn’t learn much. She just told me to get out there and hustle. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a clue where to start. Finding the right brokerage is the key to your success. I’ve been fortunate to work with three brokerages that helped build my foundation and the keys to success. Three subjects you need to ask when interviewing with a brokerage.
- Getting Leads – Let’s be frank about this one up front. Unless you have a vast network of people you chat with on a daily basis, you’ll need to build a network. You’re an aspiring artist that needs a canvas to work with. Finding a brokerage that offers leads will create that canvas. There are brokerages that offer leads with a 50/50 compensation split that spend most of their share on buying leads from lead gen companies like Ylopo, Vulcan 7, RedX, etc.. and providing their brokers with them. Leads are leads. There are some that are good, but most are bad or dead end ones. It depends on how you work them. The goal here is that you have a canvas to work with. To be honest, you won’t know what to really do unless you get under contract. It’s a hands on type of business and you need to land clients first. First step is getting a list of clients that you can work and nurture over time. Don’t worry about the compensation split. Learn the craft first and build upon that. Once you’ve got more under your belt you can move on to bigger and better things.
- Building the Foundation – Find out how the brokerage works. Find out the day to day of what the real estate professionals do at that brokerage. Can they help you build your business by setting the perfect foundation? Will they show you what a successful daily operation looks like or will they just tell you and let you fly (baptism by fire)? Will they make you accountable for your actions every week? Will they offer you the support and the training you need to be successful? Do they have mentors or seasoned agents that have met and overachieved the company annual goals? I took pieces of the three brokerages I worked for. The first offered leads at 50/50. The second brokerage was a luxury outfit that offered 70/30 with no leads, but they had a pool of past leads to work with. The last company offered 80/20 with no leads, no pools, but offered a ton of marketing support. In my opinion all three were great and offered good business models to work with. I had three great mentors that had different styles to learn from before finally moving on and creating my own brokerage.
- Support – Will they offer the support needed to build your business. All three offered a personality assessment model (DISC – Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness) that shows insight on strength and weaknesses. By providing that, they can either help build you to be a more well rounded agent or help you focus in on your strengths. Can they help you unlock that hidden potential and become a superstar agent that you want to be? Will they help you with marketing, create a brand for yourself, and help create the vision you’re seeking? Do they have the system and tools needed for you to succeed. In your day to day you will be using a CRM (customer relationship management) system as your database for your clients. Is it user friendly? Will it do the heavy lifting of sending mass emails out, making calls from it, make auto drip campaigns, etc…. Last but not least, what extra fees will they take care of. As a new agent, you’ll be responsible for your licensing fees and any classes you need to take to complete your CE (continuing education) credits to maintain your license. Some brokerages will pay for your CRM, MLS, and Contract management fees and some won’t. Be aware that its going to cost you around $300/month in addition to a desk space fee if they require that as well. Find a brokerage that will eat up some of the costs and offer leads for you to work with.
These are the main points I want every new agent to focus on when selecting the correct brokerage. In my opinion, select a brokerage that’s well established and you know they have agents that are closing deals. Do not pick a brokerage where the managing broker is only doing it part-time. Their focus is not on the company and will not be on the future of your business if that is your plan. If I would have known I probably would have been closing more deals having a stronger base or foundation of the real estate game. That being said on to the next chapter 2! Coming soon!
