How not to Succeed in Real Estate
Christina Loeffler walked into the photographer’s studio, confident that one of the four blouses draped over her arm was the perfect outfit to wear for her business card photo.
She selected her black button-up with just a shimmer of red because it made her look the part of a successful real estate agent, she told the photographer. But her friendly face and even that blouse weren’t convincing enough to overcome a financial crisis years in the making and her own bad habits.
“I look back at that day and I remember how excited I was to start,” she said recently. “Now I don’t know if I want to stick with it. It’s a lot harder than I thought.”
Loeffler was among hundreds of aspiring agents who reportedly jumped into the real estate business this year, a time when veteran agents were leaving the business because the higher-end, profit-making properties, weren’t selling. The National Association of Realtors reports a decline in the number of licensed Realtors in the country in the past year.
It’s not difficult to understand why people leave the business. You can’t pay expenses, like association and continuing education fees or even insurance and marketing costs, when you’re not making any money. Settlements are few and far between if you don’t take the steps necessary to entice clients to sign on with you.
Loeffler has had one settlement since she got her real estate license in January. She earned $2,200, about one-third of what she has spent this year on association and MLS fees, travel expenses and marketing costs for her only listing.
“It seems like I get a bill every other week,” she said. “I can’t afford this. It’s kind of depressing.”
Not all new agents are discouraged. More than half of the new agents in Loeffler’s training class have had multiple closings and, they say, it’s because they do things that Loeffler refuses to do.
Derrick Green aggressively markets to a specific neighborhood and hosts open houses every Sunday. He has closed three transactions this year for buyers whom he met at several open houses.
“I don’t wait for leads to come to me. I go after them,” Green said, rattling off the first tip most often shared to agents just starting out. Green listed more advice for agents, like Loeffler, who are frustrated with their lack of success. He said new agent should routinely practice scripts and dialogues, and put everyone you know in your contact management system and actually contact them.
Persistence, though, is the key to professional success, Green said, adding that real estate is a numbers game. “The more people you talk to, the better off you’ll be. You can’t let a couple of ‘no’s’ get you down.”
Loeffler’s tired of hearing the “no’s” but she said she’s going to find a better way to cope with them.
“I don’t want to give up my license because I do like it, but I have to develop a thicker skin. And I know I have to be a little more assertive to be successful," she said. “A nice-looking picture on a business card isn’t the magic answer to real estate success. I know that now.”
