This is a sponsored post. All opinions expressed are our own.
My husband and I (probably more so me, than him) were super excited to get our real estate license last year. We took our classes at the worst possible time (right after we started the kids back up with their homeschool year), but we were determined to get through everything, pass the test and start selling houses. It went a little more like this…
We both passed our test on the first try—Yay! We were super excited about that and ready to start taking phone calls. We sort of thought that we would hang our license with a broker and then once we were in the system we would start getting leads and our phone would be ringing.
HALT. That DOES NOT happen.
It’s much more complicated than that. We didn’t really have any training once we got our license, so I purchased any and every book I could find. I spent the first several months just filling my brain and reading whatever I could about the business. I was determined to figure out how the whole thing worked. I joined every group I could find and silently lurked in the background reading as many posts as I could.
It didn’t help that we joined real estate in November, right before the holidays, and during a time when it is freezing cold, snow on the ground, and not a lot of houses are on the market to begin with.
After a few months of filling myself full of knowledge, I realized that I had to do something to get my phone to start ringing. I couldn’t just sit back and wait for people to call me. As a matter of fact, how were people even going to know about us? We needed to be proactive and we needed to start searching for leads.
First, we reached out to those that we know. We figured it was worth a shot letting everyone know that we were now licensed real estate agents and that we were excited to help them find or sell a home.
That didn’t quite go as well as I had planned. Some of them stated they would remember that in the future when they were ready to sell, some listed with other agents shortly after we talked with them (sigh) and others let us know that they already had an agent that they loved and trusted (and we respect that).
So, what did we do? We started to look for leads outside of our immediate sphere of influence. We started to venture to outside sources for leads so that we could have people calling us. While I don’t love that we had to pay for leads, it did help us get started, and I don’t regret it one bit.
Once you have it all figured out, you can start to free up some time by using a company like ProNexis, who provide small business owners with a fully integrated solution for their lead generation, lead management, and lead handling.
What they don’t tell you when you first start real estate is that it’s not going to be easy, you are going to have to do a lot of research and training, and you really do need to work hard to find people that are looking to buy and sell a house. With that being said, I wouldn’t trade this profession for the world. I love that we are able to help people find shelter for themselves and/or their family. I love being the one to show someone a home that they are going to make many happy memories in for years to come. Even if it takes 20 homes before we find the right one, I love being a part of the journey.
Check out these other posts:
My Dad is a real estate agent. I shared this list with him and he agreed wholeheartedly!
Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m sure this will help others in moving forward.
Thank you for sharing this information, I honestly thought it was a bit easier for realtors. We are in the process of buying a home and we went with a family friend and she is still sort of new but she’s been so helpful
Very interesting. I wish I had this before we bought our land. It seems things would be smoother for both parties.
Interesting, I know many real estate agents, this is a good insight as the housing market has been on the rise.