They stay educated, they study the market, they network, and are on top of their game in all respects.I can give you real-world numbers from my own market.

I've been studying real estate for awhile now and am getting close to being ready for my first deal.

Once you have that chose your market and study it thoroughly.

As mentioned above you want to work within your field of study or you are going to find it tough to get a mortgage without 2 years of work history.

I need to get my real estate license in Illinois, New York, and California, with my first priority being IllinoisIllinois has reciprocity with CO, CT, GA, IN, IO, KT, NE, SD and WINew York has reciprocity with CO, CT, GA, AR, MA, MS, OK, PA, and WVCalifornia has no reciprocityWould it be in my interest to study for either Colorado, Connecticut, or Georgia in order to get both Illinois and New York?

Then I did the $1K home study course because I was so impressed with the book.  

Austin vs Dayton...if they were classic cars that might be Porsche vs Pinto on average.

The more I study real estate, the more I feel that my architecture degree isn't helping me much, I'm not being taught to sell, negotiate, read/understand contracts, understand clients or anything much beyond the actual design of architecture. 

@Wayne Brooks  this is text book or Classic what can go wrong in sub too and with folks that really don't know what they are doing.. if the underlying mortgage is in

Since I was still studying and did not have a fixed income at the time I had to negotiate a 17 year long loan & 2.85% fixed rate interest.