Starting out as a rental agent

[Johny Michaud]

I had my real estate license for a while now but, I have not really put to use as of yet. I have been doing CMAs and analyzing BPO reporting for a while now (over a year). I finally made the decision to jump to real estate as a rental agent since the turn around time to get paid is much faster. Plus I work in the heart of the city of Boston which is big. Rentals around the area are fairly high. Since this is my first time starting, does anyone have any tips on how to market themselves? I have just establish a page profile on Facebook to help get the word out. I know just enough on how to use Facebook as a marketing tool. So, I have been using that for now. I tend to read a lot of blogs online in regards to real estate but, the main thing that I keep seeing is that it is always best to get a mentor. Someone that can provide some advice on the ins and out of the industry. I wanted to get some advice on ways to market myself and bringing in some leads? Any help would be appreciated.

[Ryan Keaney]

Hi Johny,

Excuse my lack of info/profile picture, I have "lurked" on the site for about a year now and this will be my first post.

I work primarily as a rental agent in the Boston area and think it's a great idea to get your foot into a very lucrative market.

The best part about doing rentals in Boston is that so long as you have a computer and work for a "rental focused" agency, there isn't much self-promotion required other than utilizing free services such as Zillow/Craigslist and your agency's already established database. Most agencies in Boston are connected to independent landlords and large management company's through a network that isn't the MLS and most deals are done on this network. The reason I mention this is because there is no co-broking involved in these deals, letting you collect a full fee.

The long-term benefit to working rentals is you can develop relationships with landlords and assist them in purchasing new investment properties and selling their existing investments as well, which tend to have high price tags = higher commissions than condos/SFR.

Also, it's a great way to be someone's first interaction with a realtor (college students/young working professionals) and so long as you can nurture that relationship and maintain contact, guess who they're calling to buy their first condo? You guessed it! Renters turn into buyers, buyers turn into sellers!

Hope this was helpful, and welcome to the game! Student season is coming up in a few months with big-money 4-7 beds that will net you $4000-$10,000 in fee per deal, now's a good time to learn the basic so that you can hit the ground running.

Good luck!