Reasons for success or failure in the real estate industry

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Reasons for success or failure in the real estate industry

Unless you are fully committed to real estate as a profession and have a solid business plan, you will have trouble finding success anywhere. Here I have outlined five situations that can bring down your career — and how to avoid them.

Over the past twenty-five years, I have had the opportunity to train and work with some of the world’s greatest real estate professionals. This experience has allowed me to witness first-hand not only the success stories but also seen more unfulfilled potential than I care to talk about.

Through it all, I always look for the common denominators of success and failure. Today, I want to cover five reasons people do not make it selling real estate. We have all seen them, heard of them and felt bad for them. And some of you reading this may be on the verge of becoming one of them if you don’t make a change.

So here are five reasons you won’t make it selling real estate:

1. You are “trying out” real estate until you get a real job.

The notion of trying something out speaks volumes of a lack of commitment. All too often, someone will decide to sell real estate because they see the success of another real estate professional — but what they don’t see are the years spent doing the groundwork. Here is but a few of the skills needed to succeed:

Writing relevant blog articles around what you are selling.

Working with social media tools, ie LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc.

Project managing the sale process on a property until it’s sold.

Joining clubs and organisations appropriate to your selling discipline.

The ability to show empathy with your clients.

The ability to recognise the buying signals and act accordingly.

The ability to block out the “noise” in the sales process and concentrate on moving each party from A to B.

Work nonstop, seven days a week with passion.

It is my belief that many people focus too much on the results and not enough on what it takes to get there. I like to say that everyone wants to have a best-seller but nobody wants to write the novel.

Making it selling real estate takes more than just an interest; it takes full commitment which only a few people have. Whilst a real estate career does not require your life, some would argue that it does require a piece of it. If you can’t fully commit to real estate, don’t waste your time.

2. You are not coming from a position of financial strength.

I see many agents get started in real estate with the best intentions and even the strong work ethic needed to succeed long term. However, if you are lacking the financial stability to get started, you may find it very tough going.

When I was selling directly, I was one of the top agents in the country, and even I didn’t earn a real commission in the first six months of my career. It takes time to build relationships, create and implement marketing plans, show properties, and then go through the process of a transaction. Real estate is not like most careers where you will receive a paycheck two weeks after starting.

Worse yet, it is not uncommon to have a property under contract only to see it fall apart. This can be crippling when you are depending on it to pay your bills.

Do yourself a favor and do not sell properties full-time until you either have six months of living expenses saved in your account or you are in a situation, such as living with your parents or somewhere you can keep your overheads low.

3. You do not believe that you need help.

This type of thinking runs rampant among the A-type personality who get into real estate. They’re generally the type of person who doesn’t want to have a boss and believe they can do anything they put their mind to. There is some truth in that statement, but everyone needs help from somebody. The quicker you realize that the better off you’ll be.

Think about it this way: Most people’s issue is not that they don’t know what to do; it’s that they just do not do it. If you don’t believe me, ask yourself how many diets you’ve ever been on. You know what you should eat and that you should exercise, you just do not do it consistently enough to get a result.

For a person who effectively mentors other people for a living, I like to call this job security.

Needing other people goes beyond coaching though; it’s also in the organizations that you join and your level of activity within your local, state, or national real estate associations. I have heard many times that newbie trainees don’t gain business by going to these events, and in many cases, they could be right. But it’s not just about that. It’s about the level of community that you create within them.

They say you can judge the level of success someone will have on this earth by the number of awkward conversations they are willing to have with strangers. You are more willing to do the things you don’t want to do (like cold call prospecting) when you identify yourself as a person who does those things. For example, most people don’t wake up in the morning and say, “I want to cut down trees today,” but when you identify yourself as a lumberjack, it’s just what you do no matter how you feel. Identity matters and community helps gets you there.

4. You do not have a plan.

Can you imagine stepping into the kitchen for the first time and trying to make a cake without knowing any of the ingredients? I know it sounds ridiculous, but that’s exactly what you do when you try to start a business (and that’s what selling properties is) and you don’t have a plan to follow.

Your e-mail doesn’t dictate what you do every day — your plan does. If you are in this business and you don’t have a plan to follow you will fail. Whether you use GTSA or someone else’s or develop your own, following a business plan is key.

I am a big believer that you need to reassess where you are now so you don’t regret where you end up later. Know where you stand and follow a map that gets you to where you want to go.

5. You get bored too easily.

I am well aware that we are living through what will one day probably be called the most “shiny object syndrome” society that we have ever had, but you have to resist. I love technology and gadgets as much as the next person, but if you are not careful, these tech tools and trends will work against your level of success rather than help you be more productive.

Real estate has and always will be a business where personal relationships matter, yet we have become so addicted to our phones and laptops that we have actually learned how to be completely alone and isolated in a crowded room. When we aren’t checking for e-mails, updating our status, or talking on the phone, we are playing games and scrolling for an app we haven’t opened in a while. Stop it!

Learn to batch your e-mails and only check your phone at certain times of the day. Refocus your energy on what actually matters, which is following your plan, making contacts, setting up your automated systems, educating yourself, staying motivated, and sustaining real relationships with real people. If you aren’t deliberate in what you’re doing, you’ll find yourself wasting valuable time.

On the bright side, brokers who use good planning, take advantage of education and take note of the rules, will enjoy a place amongst the top 5% professional earners in their respective country.

If you would like to explore working in real estate with us please contact us.

Geoffrey McRae

Awarded Real Estate Specialist Firm of the Year in Argentina by the Corporate INTL 2018 Global Awards

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