Mistakes You Should Avoid in Real Estate
In this chapter, you will learn. . .
- Why you need to have a business plan
- Why it’s important to have a clear mission, vision, and set of goals
- Why some agents aren’t reaching their target market
- What’s the ultimate tool for success is in the real estate industry
As with any other endeavor, learning how to handle real estate transactions and deal with real customers means making mistakes as well. Lots of it. You and I know very well that those mistakes are all part of the process. After all, you could never have learned how to run without learning how to walk (and falling flat on your face countless times). And falling flat on your face a few times is just a ‘stepping stone’ towards success, right?
Well, of course that’s true. But let’s be honest. Nobody actually enjoys having to learn things the hard way.
In fact, I’m pretty sure you’d rather listen to someone who’s already learned from his mistakes rather than make the same mistakes yourself. That’s the smartest choice. Why settle for the trial-and-error method when there’s a better way of learning things?
So in this chapter, I am going to tell you some of the most common mistakes that new agents make at the start of their career. Avoiding these mistakes is key to unleashing your maximum potential and increasing your productivity as an agent.
Alright! Let’s take a look at what these mistakes are.
Mistake # 1: You don’t have a business plan
If there’s one cliche that you need to keep in mind as you start your career in real estate, it would be this: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Unfortunately, most agents get too excited with the prospect of getting to write their own paycheck that they forget to think about how exactly they can make that happen. They fail to put systems in place. As a result, they end up going out of business in under a year.
You definitely don’t want that to happen to you. So before rushing off to close a deal with your first prospect, make sure that you’ve already set S.M.A.R.T. goals for your real estate business. What we mean by the S.M.A.R.T. acronym is that your goals should be. . .
Specific, Measurable, Acceptable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
So instead of setting a vague goal such as “I want to close deals in my first month as an agent,” I would say my goal is to close 5 deals within the next 2 months. How I will do that is by making 10-15 contacts per day. The contacts will be lenders, open house guests, insurance agents, etc. Now if I can get 100 quality contacts over the next 2 months, I should be able to convert 5% into paying clients. That’s 5 deals.Again, you need to make your goal SPECIFIC, that way you can come up with a specific business plan as well.
Mistake # 2: You don’t have enough funds
Every business needs capital funding to support its transactions, and real estate is no exception. So before you decide to make real estate your full-time career, you might consider doing this business part-time first.
However, here’s a little disclaimer: I do think that if you’re doing something part-time you risk getting part-time results. In fact, most people dilute their results when they dilute their efforts into two careers. But it’s still wise to test the waters first before diving into the real estate industry. Otherwise you would be risking financial suicide.
A good way to determine whether you’re ready to shift to real estate full-time or not is by keeping track of your monthly earnings. If you’re making good money from real estate and even earning more from it than from your main job, then you can start considering a career shift. But if your current state of finances tells you otherwise, it would be best to continue doing real estate on a part-time basis until your income from it is stable enough.
But don’t worry! You don’t need a huge startup capital to begin your career as an agent.
Mistake # 3: You’re too excited
Now don’t get me wrong on this; there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being excited about real estate. In fact, that’s a good thing to feel and most people love to do business with those who have positive, exciting energy! But too much of everything is rarely a good thing.
What I’m trying to say is that since you want to portray yourself as a professional it’s important to make sure your emotions don’t overshadow the deal. In the craziest times, the way you get through it unscathed is by staying triple C as I like to call it. “Cool, Calm, and Collected.” Too much excitement can lead to impatience, and impatience can drastically reduce your chances of success. And you’ll do well if you keep that in mind.
I’ve seen a lot of real estate agents who started out all fired up for their career. They were so enthusiastic about everything—so eager to go get clients and close deals—that they forgot about the challenges that lay ahead of them. So when the first wave of challenges and disappointments came, they got hit hard.
You see the problem, don’t you? They set themselves up for disappointment. They did not set their minds for the long haul. So here’s a good reminder for you: Don’t expect too much.
No, it’s not wrong to set goals. It’s not wrong to dream big. But never forget to keep your goals and dreams realistic. Keep your feet on the ground.
Mistake # 4: You’re not making enough contacts
It’s either you’re not reaching out to enough people, or you’re reaching out to the WRONG ones.
You see, a good business is largely about implementing good marketing strategies. So while it is important that you get your property listings out in the market as soon as possible, it is far more important that you promote those listings on the right marketing channels.
Don’t just randomly pick out platforms or blindly post where everyone else is posting. You need to be strategic with your choice of marketing channels so you could actually reach your target clients.
Not sure where to post your listings? Well one way is by utilizing your social media channels or blogs to build a referral network.
Mistake # 5: You don’t have enough knowledge about real estate
No matter how great you are at marketing or how good you are with building your brand, if you don’t know exactly what you are doing then you’re not going to get anything done. Simple as that. Trying to do real estate without even a basic knowledge of its principles is kinda like playing with fire. It’s not a good idea.
Of course you don’t have to wait until you’re a real estate guru before you start doing real estate as a business. However, you do at least need to have a grasp of what the industry is and how it works before you attempt to engage in it.
So what can you do to learn? Look for a mentor. Listen to podcasts. Sign up for real estate courses. Read e-books and blogs. Anything that can help you get started on real estate. Once you have some knowledge, start putting them into action. And of course, never stop learning.
There are no shortcuts to success
I hope you remember that. Just reading this guide is not enough for you to start earning six figures or more every month as an agent.
You need to develop the grit and determination that would help you get past all the disappointments and challenges that are bound to come your way. You need to get your goals and priorities straight. You need to have a clear plan in mind. And you need to keep learning. You need to keep growing and improving as an agent.
Only then will you actually be setting yourself up for success.
So in the next chapter, let’s dive deeper into one of the most crucial aspects of the real estate industry that you need to master—setting appointments.
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