Boston Agent Networking

[Sabrina Morales]

Hi everyone,

I’m a new agent in Boston, MA and I’d love to hear some success stories and/or some tips for our market. My goal is to close out the year with at least five sales and so far I have none ... send help!

[Jonathan Bombaci]

@Sabrina Morales congratulations on getting your license and getting started. I think other brokers and agents give the wrong impression to new agents and it’s a disservice. Getting started in real estate is HARD. Really freaking hard. Expect no income at all for 6 months. Even if you get lucky right out of the gate and have a listing or a preapproved buyer ready to go, and you go under agreement at the first showing, it could take 45 days to close and a few days to get paid. Then of course not all of them actually close and that is still a 1 off transaction, not something that can be repeated every month. 

That being said once you get going, assuming you do it right, the momentum will carry you to far higher than you could have expected. The advice I give new agents on my team is don’t quit your day job right. Do real estate part-time on nights and weekends. Close some transaction, get the first 6-12 months out of the way, then make an informed decision on what you want to do. The other thing people don’t talk about is when you become a real estate agent you no longer qualify for a mortgage. You need 2 years of solid 1099 income for the bank to count it, and since you’re on BP I imagine you’re looking to invest in real estate. The W2 job will get you your mortgage, the real estate income can be your down payments. 

The other thing I recommend is picking a niche within a niche and becoming a master at it. 5 transactions in your first 12 months is a very achievable goal. If you’re on a team where they provide some leads, it should be even easier. I have 1st year part-time agents with 8 closed YTD and 1st year full time agents at 10-15 closed. But on my team I provide 1/2 of the leads to the agents so if they just have to focus on getting the other half. I tell them pick 1 strategy, 1 funnel, and focus on just that within 20 miles of where they live. Too many new, and experienced agents, spread them self too thin and are mediocre at a lot of different things. Pick 1 and be an expert at it, it’ll produce outsized results and take you much farther. If Instagram or social media Is your thing do that, if it’s door knocking, mailers, cold calling, driving for dollars, open houses, networking, or something else then do that. Then pick a niche clientele like investors, First time home buyers, veterans, upsizers, downsizers, distressed sellers, inherited property, or a specific language or ethicity. You should have a strong WHY as to why you’re getting into real estate. Align your niches to your why so when times get tough, and they will, you can push through. Most agents give up on their first year. To be successful sometimes all you need to do is not quit. Now you have a target location, target strategy, and target clientele, time to get to Work! 

If you’re focusing on a 20 mile radius, a specific funnel, and a specific clientele how long will it take for you to become an expert in that space? Not long at all. Go to open houses, get to know the top 10 agents in your geographic market and you’ll get the results you want. 

We had one of our agents rank in the top 50 NATIONALLY in her specific funnel in her first year with a license. It didn’t produce fantastic results right away, 1-2 leads, but now just one year later she’s getting quite a few of buyer leads and had got 3 listing out of it. If you do the listings right you can get 1-2 clients out of every listing. And if you’re buyers are happy and you follow up regularly that turns into referrals. It takes time to setup but once it gets going the momentum will quickly take you over. 

My primary advice is focus on something you can kill it at and then just don’t give up. It’ll be hard at times but if you give it enough time and stick with it you’ll get where you want to be.

I hope this helps,

Best,

Jon