Real Estate Agents Retire Rich - Or - Variables Need New Names
Real Estate Agents retire rich
Real Estate Agents retire rich
Or
Variables need new names
I have started working as a Real Estate Salesperson in 2011. Most people decide for this particular study because it is short, affordable and you can get onto the Job very quickly and it also has a social touch to it. The best part is, you will be a professional! You will be on a similar level like a Lawyer or Doctor! I merely decided for it because they all looked so positive and I always wanted to be surrounded by positive individuals. They seemed to enjoy the Job and are popular and happy.
So I enrolled and once I finished the course to become a Real Estate Salesperson, which didnt take long at all, I was very excited to dig my head into it. Business cards, flyers and phone calls! Talking to people was a passion all my life; so knocking on doors seemed like the right thing for me. Once I got the go-ahead from the office, meaning I completed all the requirements to get going, I organised my door-knock into days, areas and immediate neighbourhood to start off with. I couldnt wait to get started!
I would wake up in the morning and if the weather was even half way good enough I couldnt wait to get out there.
I quickly discovered that not everyone is friendly. However, having a positive attitude there is no way I would get myself being knocked-down by such a small disappointment. Having a mathematical brain I worked out quickly that if you knock on 15 doors you always had one or two positive results. I even started to follow my guts! If it didnt feel right in my guts I wouldnt knock.
Amazingly, I had good success right from day one. When I was young I was told I am full of myself and lucky enough that seemed to help in this job. Overly confident I found it so easy to talk and listen to the people behind the secretive doors. I got so excited and couldnt wait to see who lived in this house or the other. Almost like a mace where you look for the exit, I looked for the door in excitement to see who would open it.
Then, once you have that immediate rapport with the owners behind those doors you will be asked to do an Appraisal! The magic word all Real Estate People want to hear. Can you do me an Appraisal is like music to our ears. We feel like we just found the sorcerers stone! God is shining the brightest light on us this very moment. AN APPRAISAL!
We usually get onto it as quick as we can. We know about the competition out there and feel determined that we can do better and quicker. After all this is about speed and the other doorknockers dont sleep! This whole Appraisal thing is supposed to be a comparison. So we compare this property to many others that are on the market or have recently sold.
When, after a lot of work we come to a comparable conclusion of what it would be worth in the current market we can all of a sudden see the competition popping up in front of our inner, or third eye like the devil!
You suddenly realise there is someone else who might win. This is our only chance to get it right. You can sweat over it because you are really keen on this listing or just be plain straight forward. I prefer the straight forward honesty and always put the numbers in based on my research because this is what the appraisal is all about. An honest advice from educated professionals.
However, a substantial number of Agents look at these honest statistically proven numbers and then manipulate them slightly just to win! How to you win a Vendor to list with you, I ask? Well, tell them what they want to hear, which is a high price. This is how overpriced properties run stale. But this is a whole different subject.
This was the first part I did not like. Why are we asked for an honest and professional opinion and then we need to compete to win? The answer is simple. Otherwise we miss out on business. We all should come up with very similar numbers based on actual facts. I cant count the numbers of listings I lost just because I was giving the best possible advice. Never mind, I prefer not to dwell over it but move on and stay honest and professional. Che sera sera, what will be will be! After all these listings dont sell.
If you do the numbers right, you get enough good listings and you will have a good chance of selling. Thats where another trap comes in!
When you start you are totally aware that it is a numbers game right? However, the variables in this game are the most confusing I have ever experienced. I was a computer programmer and variables became an every day task. These Real Estate variables seem to grow to the point where they develop a life on their own. There is sub and top variables, which can have any number of subs under the subs and tops over the tops! Like a mushroom! I even started to think of new names to keep them in order, like Mega, Giga, Minor, Majors, Google and Octopus (thats the ones that have tentacles spreading into any area of the others.
Back to the point where you actually succeed to get a signed listing agreement. It is a sole agency! You have been the chosen one. Wow! What a moment. You have made it.a listing with your photo on the sign! Its like you own it and none can get in the way of you selling it. All you need to do now is take a few buyers through, close the deal and cash in the cheque! Its really that easy!
Right?
Well, there are many different options (or variables with tentacles):
Fixed price with unrealistic Vendors and realistic buyers
Fixed price with realistic Vendors and unrealistic buyers
Fixed price with realistic Vendors, but a dead market
Fixed price with realistic Vendors and Buyers but the finance falls through
Due Diligence
LIM
Building Inspections
Approval by a third party.etc..
By negotiation where there is no realistic price or it isnt really for sale right now or it is hard to price or the Vendor thinks this is a way to attract buyers
Auctions where the strategy can be tricky
or the Vendors are very realistic
and the buyers are not
or they both are realistic but the buyers have conditions and cant bid
Tenders where none knows what will happen make any offer you think is right and win or loosethe pressure is on the buyer and the Vendor and the outcome can go either way or be really satisfying to both
Countless, I just named a few. So, you list it and the Vendor doesnt want to spend any money on advertising. You surely told the Vendor(s) that it is very important to promote the listing.
Oh! Top Variable number three! The Google Variable!
The Vendor doesnt want to spend any money on advertising. That is why they have us and pay us thousands of dollars on commission. We are supposed to find many buyers although its not even in the papers and none knows about this place for sale. They dont even want the neighbours to know, so no Sign with your picture. We all get it more often than we admit to each other. That is when we desperately scan through our databases and ask all colleagues if they have anyone who might be remotely looking to buy a home. After all we do not want our Vendors to think that there might be a problem. We show the property to anyone, even if we know its not really what he or she is looking for. We even excuse it by saying we never really know what a buyer wants, can afford or even if it is in the area they have chosen for their future. We sweat and wait for the emails and phone calls but it might just be a dead duck. No calls, no interest. That of course is always our fault. That is the most disappointment to the Vendor. Why arent we doing our job right.
So many ask what do I get for free? Ads in papers? A free sign? Brochures, flyers, videos?
We do not even charge anything until it is sold and are asked to spend money before we are even sure we make any often knowing that at this price it wont sell! We could be working 6 months hard out to try and sell a place even when it is overpriced and then when the agency runs out we get the boot and not even get a thank you. No money, just a waste of time and bad reputation.
I know for a fact, just because I like numbers and variables, that every single Agent out there has at least 30% of listings that wont sell. These Vendors go from one Agent or Agency to the next and the longer that happens the less money they will ever get. The worst however are the countless hours of hard working Agents that will never make a buck on it.
But back to the basics
Now you have been a great Salesperson and sold the Vendor to list with you. Marketing the place is the next thing you have to sell. One rule is, never get too much into the marketing discussion before you have the listing. I actually totally walked away from that. No advertising, no commitment to sell. Thats the next variable!
How committed is the Vendor? We could be marketing a place perfectly and get good offers in but the Vendor doesnt want to accept any of them just because they havent felt the pain of getting there like we do. You would even get Vendors that, once they get an offer for asking price would think they should be able to get more now that there is interest! They would then refuse to accept the price they wanted in the first place.
Top variable (the Super Nova):
An offer has come in! It looks promising. Very close to asking price. Your heart is pumping so loud you think anyone can hear it. You present it with all the pride you have. The Vendor counters, they are $5000 apart and both run dry. You cant convince either of them to move towards the other. Not a quarter of a cent. Its like an old stuck diesel engine. You keep pouring oil into it, but it just wont move. There you are, you thought man thats a good offer but the baby died before it was born.
You tell yourself to move on. Someone else will come and buy.more open homes, more viewings and the anxiety in the back of your head where you just hope the next offer is better. Better than the one you thought was good in the first place.
However, this business IS a numbers game. The more buyers you show through the higher your chances of selling it. It is amazing me!
Just numbers!
1 property
roughly 15 buyers
= 1 sale
Once you get to understand the numbers, you start looking for buyers wherever you go. Your mother, uncle, best friend, children. You even start sponsoring the kinder garten or local school as these could be your future buyers. While you make new friends you wonder if they would be looking to buy a home. They could know someone who might know someone who knows someone. If a person along the road paints windows or mows the lawns you cant get out of the car quick enough before another agent pops the question: Are you planning to sell? .After all, you need the numbers to succeed.
When I started, I couldnt believe how onto it these people where. I thought, wow they work harder than anyone in any profession or job I have ever seen. Now I know for sure that you have to get the numbers right and never let loose on that part.
Another variable (I am still looking for something bigger than a Super Nova to give it a name):
Buyers! You would think they are loyal! I mean after all they have you looking after them trying to please their every dream. Far fetched! Most buyers have an army of Salespeople look after them. One wouldnt know that because why would they tell you? You might just stop looking after them and thats not what they want. These buyers could be buying from you at the end of the day.
In relation to buyers I also worked on my statistics! 12 buyers = 1 buyer. The rest might just be bored, enjoy special attention or love looking at other peoples interior design to re-decorate their own home. It could be they have no money, bad debts or generally never intend to buy. So much special attention and it is free, not a cent to spend. Some go to the movies, some look at houses.
It is really all up to us to qualify them properly. But then again, they might not tell the truth. How would we know? Are we also psychic? Apart from being marketing specialists, graphic designers, knowledgeable about council rules, boundaries, knowing all the different legislations and special laws, being writers, poets, administrators, volunteers, councillors, motivational speakers, taxi drivers (no meter counting here, its all our shout) and Sales Specialists?
We provide pre-sales service, post-sales service, need no weekends, never bother about having an evening, enjoy no social life or ask ourselves what a holiday is. We get people tell us their opinions about Real Estate Agents and end up so the only circle of friends we have are Real Estate Agents because we never talk about anything else and seem boring for normal People.
So what drives us?
The challenge!
If you ever need a job that challenges you, this one is it! It comes with all the challenges you can imagine and even the ones you havent even remotely thought of. You can proof to yourself on a daily level that you are so totally up to it and that you can definitely manage it all on your own. That is why we look so happy and successful. What other job gets you out of your comfort zone every single minute of your day and makes you feel like:
YOU DID IT!
by: Conny
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