When looking for property investment, people mention about location, property agent or call as real estate agents. With so many people thinking about getting into real estate, and getting into real estate why aren’t there more successful Realtor, or helping property investor make money through buying investment property? Well, there are so much business to go around, so there can only be so many Real Estate Agents. However, that the inherent nature of the business, and how different it is from traditional careers, makes it difficult for the average person to successfully make the transition into the Real Estate Business.
New Real Estate Agents bring a lot of great qualities to the table lots of energy and ambition but they also make a lot of common mistakes. Here are the 7 top mistakes Real Estate Agents Make.

1) No Business Plan or Business Strategy
So many new real estate agents put all their emphasis on which real estate Brokerage they will join when their shiny new license comes in the mail. Why? Because most new real estate agents have never been in business for themselves, they are only worked as employees. They believe that getting into the real estate business is getting a new job. What they are missing is that they are about to go into business for themselves. If you are ever opened the doors to any business, you know that one of the key ingredients is your business plan. Your business plan helps you define where you are going, how you are getting there, and what it’s going to take for you to make your real estate business a success. Here are the essentials of any good business plan:

A) Goals – What do you want? Make them clear, concise, measurable, and achievable.

B) Services You Provide – choose residential or commercial, buyers/sellers/renters, and what area(s) you want to specialize in. New residential real estate agents tend to have the most success with buyers/renters and then move on to listing homes after they’ve completed a few transactions.

C) Market – who are you marketing yourself to?

D) Budget – consider yourself “new real estate agent”, and write down every expense that you have (gas, groceries, cell phone, etc…). Then write down the new expenses you’re taking on (board dues, increased gas, increased cell usage, marketing.. etc)

E) Funding – how are you going to pay for your budget with no income for the first (at least) 60 days? With the goals you’ve set for yourself, when will you break even?

F) Marketing Plan – The most effective way to market yourself is to your own sphere of influence (people you know). Make sure you do so effectively and systematically.

2) Not Using the Best Possible Closing Team

The greatest business people surround themselves with people that are smarter than themselves. It takes a pretty big team to close a transaction buyers agent, listing agents, lender, insurance agents, inspector, appraiser, and sometimes more! As a real estate agents, you are in the position to refer your client to whoever you choose, and you should make sure that anyone you refer in will be an asset to the transaction. And the closing team you refer in, or put your name to, are there to make you shine! When they perform well, you get to take part of the credit because you referred them into the transaction.

The deadliest duo out there is the new real estate agents & new mortgage broker. They get together and decide that, through their combined marketing efforts, they can take over the world! They are both focusing on the right part of their business marketing but they are doing each other no favors by choosing to give each other business. If you refer in a bad insurance agent, it might cause a minor hiccup in the transaction you make a simple phone call and a new agent can bind the property in less than an hour. However, because it typically takes at least two weeks to close a loan, if you use an inexperienced lender, the result can be disastrous! You may find yourself in a position of begging for a contract extension, or worse, being denied a contract extension.

A good closing team will typically know more than their role in the transaction. Due to this, you can turn to them with questions, and they will step in (quietly) when they see a potential mistake because they want to help you, and in return receive more of your business. Experienced players for your closing team will help you infinitely in conducting business worthy of more business and best of all, its free!

3) Not Get Necessary Tools
You need money to getting started as a real estate agent, it’s expensive. The license alone is an investment, and your time and effort in long-term contribution. However, you’ll run into even more expenses when you go to arm yourself with the necessary tools of the trade. And don’t fool yourself they are necessary because your competitors are definitely using every tool to help them.

A) Mobile Phone w/ a Beefy Plan These days, everyone has a cell phone. But not everyone has a plan that will facilitate the level of use that real estate agents need. Plan on getting at least 2000 minutes per month. You want, and need, to be available to your clients 24/7 not just nights and weekends.

B) Laptop is needed. You have a laptop & be savvy enough to use email. You would be wise to invest in some business management software, as well. New real estate agents are often surprised by just how much time they spend away from the office, and a laptop helps you stay on top of your work while on the go.

C) Real estate friendly car. You don’t have to have a Lexus, but make sure that you have a 4 doors car or SUV that is comfortable and presentable. Keep it clean, and for gods sake, don’t smoke in it! You are going to spend a lot of time in your car, and put a lot of miles on it, so if its fuel efficient, its a big plus.

4) Lack of Proper Funding
If you’ve taken the time to create your business plan, than you should definitely have your budget. However, the budget alone doesn’t address the important aspect of funding. 90% of all small businesses fail due to lack of funding. Typically, new real estate agents will want to have 3~6 months of reserves in savings before taking the leap into full time agency. Maybe your partner can support you for a certain period of time. You can keep a part-time job that won’t interfere with your business as a real estate agent.

5) Refusing to Spend Money on Marketing
Rookie real estate agents don’t realize that the hardest part of the business is finding the home buyers. Furthermore, they’ve just shelled out around $2000 for their license and board dues, so the last thing they want to do is to spend more money! Again, the problem lies in the lack of understanding that you’ve just jumped into the Real Estate Business, you haven’t taken a new job. And any good businessperson will tell you that how much business you get is directly correlative to how much you spend on marketing. If you choose the right brokerage, then you will get some good inbound leads. However, don’t neglect a good, personal marketing campaign from the beginning to get your own name out as the real estate agent.

6) Not Focusing Their Marketing Efforts in the Most Effective Areas
No respond or bad respond make many new real estate agents stop spending money on personal marketing.  Real estate agents spend it in the wrong place. The easiest place, and where conventional real estate tells you to spend your money, is in conventional print marketing the newspaper, real estate magazines, etc This is the most visible place to see real estate advertising, its where large offices spend a good part of their money, and so many new real estate agents mistakenly spend their money here. This becomes very frustrating to new agents because of its low return. Large brokerages can afford to spend their money here because they are filling two needs. They are marketing their own properties for sale while creating new buyer traffic for their buyers agents. New Real Estate Agents should look to their own sphere of influence and referral marketing to see the most effective return on their investment. An agent can spend as little as $100/month marketing to their family, friends, and colleagues and see an incredible return.

7) Choosing the Wrong Brokerage for the Wrong Reasons
New Real Estate Agents choose their new broker for a variety of reasons they have a good reputation, they offer the most competitive split, the office is close to their house, etc. Reason to choose a broker, and the question to ask is, “what do you offer your new agents”. If the answer is, the most competitive split in town you should definitely keep looking. If you are leaning towards the largest broker in town, who has a great reputation, remember this: You are starting a business not a job. It’s no accomplishment to hang your license on the same wall in the same office as other successful agents.

Concern when interviewing new Brokers is what they offer you as a new agent. Do they have incoming leads? What does their training program consist of? What’s their retention level? What’s their average sales price? Do they encourage their agents to promote themselves? A brokers purpose is to help new agents start successful careers and to help established agents progress their careers to the next level. As a new agent, concern yourself less with commission split or agency name and more with specific programs and agency standards.

Career in real estate is very exciting and it can build your network, explorer yourself to market as well. Starting a real estate business provides the new real estate agents with opportunities for limitless potential and freedom. New real estate agents have a notoriously high failure rate. However, a new real estate career can also be a very scary prospect. If you can learn for here and avoid the 7 Top Mistakes Real Estate Agents Make, then you’ll be far ahead of the competition in property market.

Technorati Tag : Property Investment, Property Investment Guide, Buying Investment Property, Real Estate Agent, Real Estate

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