5 Things Every Beginning Real Estate Agent Must Know

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The decision to become a real estate agent may be one of the best decisions you can make. As a real estate agent, you have unlimited earning potential, the ability to set your own hours, the freedom to get out of the office regularly and more. This can dramatically improve your quality of life if you are successful with your endeavor. However, many new real estate agents throw in the towel within the first few months or years. If you want to last in this career, you need to find an excellent way to turn regular profits. By focusing on these tips, you can position yourself for success as a real estate agent.

You Need to Have Access to Quality Technology

Technology is critical for real estate agents. You absolutely need to have a smartphone, and you may need to research some of the top real estate apps available. You may ask your broker to suggest a few helpful apps to you. You also need to have a reliable, powerful laptop, a printer, a scanner and a fax machine available to you. In many cases, real estate agents work just as much from home as they do from the broker’s office, so consider investing in new equipment if needed. In addition, always ensure that your devices are fully charged for client meetings away from the office.

You Need to Have an Excellent Strategy for Producing Leads

Generating leads is essential for real estate agents. Without them, you simply cannot have sales. Create a solid strategy for generating leads from multiple sources. Consider answering the phones at your broker’s office, hosting open houses for other agents in your office, developing your own website, using social media, passing flyers around a neighborhood that you want to focus your efforts on and more.

You Should Have a Marketing Budget

As you can see, some aspects of lead generation for real estate agents are free, such as answering the phones at your broker’s office. You definitely want to maximize your use of free lead generation whenever possible. However, you also realistically need to have a sound marketing budget to get started as well as a healthy marketing budget going forward. Everything from website design and maintenance to hosting open houses and more have expenses related to them.

You Should Focus on Your Appearance

Your appearance matters as a real estate agent. Your clients may simply not want to spend much time with you or may view your professional skills poorly if you have a negative appearance. Consider everything from your hair and clothing to your house, nails and more. You also need to ensure that you have fresh breath and brushed teeth. Your appearance extends to your vehicle. Never arrive at a client meeting with a dirty car interior or exterior.

You Need to Have Excellent Accounting Skills

Finances and accounting are essential as a new real estate agent and throughout your career. You must have strong financial skills to develop a solid budget, to track expenses and to plan for the future. You also are responsible for paying your own taxes and estimating your personal tax withholdings. Small business bookkeeping software is available to help you with this effort. If you struggle with number crunching and financial planning, you may consider using an accounting service when your business grows and you begin turning a steady profit.

Many new real estate agents unfortunately find it difficult or impossible to get their feet wet in this business. They may close a few deals, but these deals unfortunately are not sufficient to pay the bills. It is wise to have a healthy amount of money in savings before you get started because it can take a few months to a few years to learn the ropes and to fully get up to speed. You can also follow these helpful tips so that you are better prepared to launch your real estate career on the right foot.