10 Common Mistakes New Real Estate Agents Should Avoid
Nov 09, 2021In most industries, your first day comes with a handbook, a list of tasks, and likely a supervisor looking over your shoulder. For new real estate agents, however, you’re stuck with the good and bad of running your own business with little oversight or direction
The good? It’s your business and you can run it how you want to.
The bad? A lot of Googling and learning from your mistakes.
Of course, if you’d like to circumvent a few of those “new Realtor mistakes” before they happen, we’re sharing 10 of the most common below.
You didn’t save enough money to get through the first six months.
When you launch a new business, there are overhead costs of getting started and costs of operation. Real estate is no different.
But still, many new Realtors enter the industry with no budget [link to budget], and no funds to operate their business let alone pay their rent, mortgage, credit card bill, etc.
A good rule of thumb is that you should have enough savings to account for the fact that you likely won’t make any income within the first six months. You should also budget for any marketing spend or communications efforts you plan on pursuing for at least 90 days if not more.
The key here is that you want to give your business a full chance to ramp up. Don’t fall into the bucket of Realtors who try for the first few months and then give up because they haven’t sold anything. Give it time.
You have no plan for how to get started.
As we mentioned, there is no handbook for becoming a real estate agent, but you should create your own. This is where a beginner online training program can be extremely helpful in giving you a path for getting started. Make sure it’s truly for beginners and will help you lay a foundation for your business.
If that’s not an option for you, find a Realtor you know or someone at your brokerage who can show you the ropes. We’ll talk more about how to choose the right person later on in this article.
You join the [wrong] brokerage completely based on the commission split.
When you are just starting out, joining the right brokerage is of the utmost importance. Many new Realtors rush into the decision, assuming they are basically all the same and it’s not worth interviewing and doing research. Or, they join a brokerage based on commission split alone.
Take the time to interview brokerages (at least 2-3) and consider what might be important to you. Are there overhead costs or monthly fees? Can you hold other agents’ open houses? Is there mentoring? Everyone’s situation is different, but you want to make sure to join a team that fits with your personality and needs.
You don’t ask for help (from the right people).
It can be scary to ask for help when you’re just getting started, but it’s absolutely essential. Whether you want to shadow another agent’s open house or ask another agent (or 3) to review your first offer letter, it’s important to put yourself out there.
Unfortunately, any mentor or colleague you lean on will always put their business first. That’s the benefit of working with a coach or finding an online training you like. But if you do find someone you like to help guide you, it is certainly a huge help in giving you multiple perspectives as you enter the market.
You model yourself after the wrong people.
As we just mentioned, shadowing another agent from your office or asking for their advice can be extremely helpful in the beginning of your career in real estate. However, you also want to be sure you aren’t asking the wrong person.
Vet your confidants and mentors like you vetted your brokerage. Make sure they match up with your values and run their businesses the way you want to run yours. Be just as aware of their strengths as you are of their weaknesses.
You think real estate is easy, but don’t put in the work.
You’re right — real estate doesn’t need to be difficult or complicated. But when you’re first getting started, you’ll need to put in the work. Be willing to get uncomfortable and venture out of your comfort zone at the start. If you don’t put in the work to start your business the right way, it will take much longer to get on track.
You’re not motivated to do the hard things first.
It’s those first calls to people in your sphere that are the hardest. It’s the first cold door you knock on that is the most uncomfortable. It’s the first open house that feels the most awkward. None of this is as easy as buying leads or putting yourself on a website to get leads, but these are the things that will make the biggest impact.
You spend the first few months guessing what to do.
This is a classic path that a lot of new Realtors take, and it’s easy to see why. Without anyone guiding you through setting up the foundations of your business, you take some guesses along the way. But it’s not worth it.
Take the time to find the help you need so that you aren’t stuck course-correcting down the line.
You have no accountability.
Without a boss to hold you accountable, you need to look elsewhere to make sure you’re following through with your commitments. Think about what that looks like for you. Do you turn to social media to hold yourself accountable? To a friend or colleague?
Maybe you set events on your calendar and review what was completed at the end of the week. Whatever you need to do to hold yourself accountable to your goals, be sure to put the work in.
You invest all your money in leads.
This is an easy trap to fall into. You start off by buying leads — lots of them. Not only is this a huge investment (that may not be the right one), but you don’t know what to do with the leads once you’ve got them. Investing in leads can be a smart decision, but only once you’ve got a clear plan as to how you will make the most of the investment and have communication basics in place.
The bottom line
Yes, you will make mistakes when you first become a Realtor. But you can also avoid most of them with the right support and preparation. Be willing to get out of your comfort zone and get the help you need to set your business up the right way. Whether that’s going through a training program [link] or finding a mentor, you’ll be better off in the long run.
