Once you pass your test you have completed the easy part of real estate. Now comes the hard part, making a career out of it.

• At school you learned how to pass the test as well as issues relating to real estate law, appraisal and finance. But you did not learn anything about how to get clients, show houses, negotiate, market yourself, write contracts, and how to survive in real estate.
• Look around at the other people in your real estate class. In two years 80% of them won?t even be in real estate.
• In a typical real estate office 20% if the agents are making 80% of the money.
• The average income for an agent with 0 to 5 years experience is around $25,000. The average income for agents with 5 to 10 years experience is around $67,000.
• There are around 7,000 licensed agents in the central Ohio area. There are approximately 24,000 transactions. The average per agent isn't high.

 The truth is, making a living in real estate is much harder then most people think. There are too many agents in the market, which makes it hard to stand out from the crowd. It is not a get rich quick kind of business. To really make it you need to build your business from the beginning and know that successful agents generate over 50% of their business by referral. You either have to have a large sphere of influence that you can tap into or grow your business one transaction at a time. That is why it takes the typical agent 5 years to become successful.

 At Revealty we have very little attrition of agents. We are not looking to only have our top 20% of the agents earning all the money. As a medium size company we can not afford to have any agents fail. The biggest risk to us is to hire the wrong agents and to have them not succeed.

 For you to succeed you to need to:

• Have a plan. A clear understanding about why you are in real estate, and how you intend to succeed.
• Have some kind of niche that separates you for all the other agents. Ask yourself this question? Why would anyone work with me and not another agent? At Revealty we can do things for buyers that no other company can. Our whole goal is to be something that the traditional agents can not be.
• Have the financial ability to survive. When you start it can take at least four months to even have your first closing. And unless you know a lot of people that you can tap into it can a long time to build your business. One benefit of working at Revealty is that we don?t require any additional investment on your part.
• Be part of the right organization. One that will play to your strengths. At Revealty we don't just hire anyone. You also need to be choosy about which company you are going to work with.
• Realize that you will not just be successful if you work with the largest, the best, the most known, etc. firms in town. If that was the case then everyone who worked with them would also be successful.

   

  WHAT IT REALLY MEANS TO BE SELF EMPLOYED

  Being self employed is really the big draw to real estate. With relatively low barriers to entry you have the chance to be your own boss and build your own business. You don't have an investment in bricks and mortar; there is no inventory to purchase and little overhead. But no matter which broker you choose and how much support and training you get you will be on your own. Are you really prepared? Do you truly understand what it means to be on your own, building a business and managing yourself?

  Most people understand the financial implications of being self employed. What they aren't prepared for is simply being on their own. They finally have their freedom but they don?t know what to do with it. You've taken all the classes, passed the test and finished all the busy work of getting your license. You are at an office with lots of activity, interacting with experienced agents, the training is keeping you active and you appear to be busy. But are you productive? Are you focused on your goals and are you motivating your self?