Now that you’ve gotten your real estate license, it’s time to start working in your new career. One of the first challenges you’ll face as a new agent is getting hired. There are two components to this process, and both are equally important to your success as a real estate agent:
Before applying for your real estate license, you’ll need to join a brokerage. This is one of the most important decisions you’ll make as a new real estate agent, as it will set the tone of your new business for years to come. For this reason, it’s critical to choose your brokerage wisely.
Don’t simply choose the first brokerage you reach out to. Instead, do your research and narrow down your options to a handful of brokerages that align with your goals and priorities. Then, take the time to interview each brokerage to determine which one will provide the framework and support to best set you up for success.
The following discussion will help you understand the nuances of choosing a brokerage.
There are several types of brokerages you can join. Each has its pros and cons. Make sure you understand the difference between each type of brokerage to determine which option is best for your specific needs.
National brokerages are large companies that sell the rights to use their name, branding and business model to individual brokers. These national companies also charge the individual brokers a set percentage for every deal closed by their office. While these individual franchise offices are independently owned, they follow the rules and regulations established by the national company.
You’ll most likely recognize the names of most national franchise brokerages, as they have branches in most major markets around the country. Some common examples include Keller Williams and Coldwell Banker.
Advantages of a national franchise brokerage include:
Drawbacks of these brokerages include:
This option may be right for you if you:
Local brokerages, often called boutique brokerages, are smaller offices that are typically owned by a single broker. While these local brokerages are smaller in size, they still provide the ability for significant sales (and therefore earning) potential.
Advantages of local brokerages include:
Drawbacks of these brokerages include:
This option may be right for you if you:
The third option is to join a real estate team. These are led by an experienced, successful agent and are generally supported by several younger agents. While these teams are generally associated with either a national or local brokerage, they provide a different type of experience than simply working for one of these brokerages without being part of a real estate team.
Advantages of real estate teams include:
The primary drawbacks of real estate teams relate to the fact that you’re building someone else’s business. Many teams are created by super agents to expand their reach. It’s a good place to learn the business from someone successful, but it comes with the following caveats.
Drawbacks of these teams include:
This option may be right for you if you:
Regardless of the type of brokerage you work for, it’s also important to evaluate the commission split plans each individual brokerage offers, as this will play a significant role in your earning ability. As a new agent, choosing the right commission split plan is critical to your success.
There are several different options:
Brokerages that offer traditional commission splits enter into an agreement with you where they take a fixed percentage of your commission on every transaction. For example, the split may be something like 50/50, 60/40 or 70/30. These splits vary greatly from brokerage to brokerage, and there are no standard plans. In general, the splits offered vary according to your level of production.
With a traditional commission split model, you typically won’t be charged many additional fees or overhead expenses and, in some instances, you may not have to pay any fees at all. This is the most predictable and risk-free commission split structure, making it an ideal option for a new real estate agent.
With a high split or no split commission plan, you’ll receive a larger percentage of the overall commission. These plans typically allow you to earn 80-100% of the commission on each transaction. While this offers you the ability to earn more money on each transaction, this model is often associated with additional fees that allow the brokerage to recoup their expenses. In addition, you’re less likely to receive assistance from your brokerage under these plans.
High and no split commission plans are less predictable and require you to shoulder more risk. For this reason, it is a better option for an experienced real estate agent who closes a lot of deals than a new agent trying to get established.
Gradual or tiered commission split plans provide a middle ground between the other two models. These plans typically start with a traditional split such as 50/50, 60/40 or 70/30 at the beginning of the year. Once you reach the sales goals established by the brokerage, your split begins to increase. This model offers moderate risk and may be an attractive option for new agents who are highly motivated to close a lot of deals.
The fees charged by a brokerage will impact the amount of money you’re able to earn. In general, the higher the fees, the more risk you shoulder as a new agent since you’re responsible for paying these fees regardless of whether you’re able to close any deals and generate commissions for yourself.
Common fees charged by brokerages include:
When talking to potential brokerages, it’s critical to ask them about the fees they charge. This will help as you plan your monthly budget, and it will help you understand which brokerages are offering you a more favorable situation.
One of the most critical success factors impacting new agents involves the mentoring and training provided by their brokerage. While we discussed these items in general terms in association to the different types of brokerages, the important role they play in your success also makes it necessary to discuss these items on their own as well.
As a new real estate agent, it’s important to have a more experienced agent who has a vested interest in your growth and success, and who will be with you every step of the way as you complete your first few transactions. In general, this mentoring will come with a cost – either a per-transaction charge or a percentage of the commission for the transaction. However, this cost is well worth it, as proper mentoring will ensure you learn how to complete transactions properly and set you on a path to building a successful real estate business.
In addition to asking a brokerage whether they provide you with a mentor, you will also want to meet your mentor prior to joining the brokerage. This is important since not all mentors will provide comparable levels of guidance and support. When you meet with your mentor, make sure to ask the following questions:
You should also evaluate a few other important factors that will determine whether they will be an effective mentor to you:
There are certain basic skills you’ll need to learn as a new real estate agent, such as:
Make sure the brokerage you work with has a process for training their new agents how to perform these tasks. In addition, you’ll want to know what kind of ongoing training is provided to ensure you’re always able to remain current on how to use the latest technology being adopted throughout the industry.
When researching potential brokerages, ask if you can sit in on a training class to get a sense for how the process works. Keep in mind that training doesn’t have to be done in-house to be effective. There are many ways a brokerage can provide this training. The important thing is to make sure their method is a good fit for your learning style.
The other component to getting hired as a real estate agent is finding clients to work with. Once you become more established, you’ll most likely generate a larger percentage of your business from referrals and repeat clients. But as you’re starting out, you’ll need to put in a considerable amount of time marketing your business in order to generate leads and find new clients.
The inherent nature of the real estate business requires you to be a marketing professional in addition to an agent. There are several reasons for this.
While some brokerages may provide some assistance with leads, you will be responsible for handling the vast majority of your lead generation efforts. You can’t rely on your brokerage to supply you with a steady stream of clients that will help you build up your fledgling business from scratch.
In addition, your income is generally dependent on commissions as a real estate agent. The more deals you close, the more money you make. If you’re unable to generate leads that provide you with a steady supply of clients, it will be extremely difficult to earn a good living as a real estate agent. Your marketing efforts will be critical to your ability to close enough deals to reach your income goals.
A study by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found that 73% of home buyers only interviewed one agent when searching for a new home. So not only is it important for you to build awareness of your business, but it’s critical that you’re able to reach potential leads quickly. Otherwise, you’ll lose out on these clients to other real estate agents who have a more effective marketing strategy.
The following tactics will help you successfully market your real estate business so that you can build a thriving career.
Real estate marketing has evolved over the past decade, and now the primary way to reach your target audience is online. Approximately 97% of home buyers now use the internet to find their new home. With virtually all prospective buyers starting their home search online, it’s critical to have a strong online marketing strategy if you want to be a successful real estate agent.
The challenge to developing an online marketing strategy is that it requires a specific skillset and an understanding of an industry you may not be familiar with as a real estate licensee. You’ll need to understand how to leverage a variety of different methods and platforms to generate leads, build trust with them, and nurture them until they become clients.
For example, you will need to understand how to get your website to show up on search engines, and you will also need to understand how to set up effective paid search campaigns. In addition, you’ll need to understand how to navigate a variety of social media platforms to maximize your ROI on these efforts. If you utilize email marketing strategies, these will require an entirely different skill set.
Many of the tips below will focus on specific online marketing strategies. Regardless of which online methods you choose, you’ll need to take the time to learn how to implement them properly.
The foundation of your online marketing efforts should always be a website and a blog. While social media is an effective complement to your website, it should not serve as a substitute.
Your website is where your leads will go to learn more about you, your experience, and your business. It is where you have the best opportunity to build your brand and convey your messaging about what makes you different from other agents. It also provides you with a place to post:
While there are tools that will help you build a website on your own, it’s worth it to invest in a professional website that optimizes both the aesthetics and functionality of your site. This will provide the best experience for your audience, make you look more professional, and help you stand out from your competitors.
It’s also important to include a blog on your website that you update regularly. Your blog is where you can provide educational content that will build trust with potential leads. It will also help your SEO (search engine optimization) results, which is necessary to ensure your website is found on Google. Make sure your blog topics focus on the common questions and keywords your target clients are searching for to drive the most traffic to your website.
Blogging is one of the easiest ways to provide valuable information to your target audience. Over time, you’ll be able to attract a larger number of readers, which will pay huge dividends in your lead generation efforts. If your information is relatable and informative, people will be more likely to share it with others, which will provide an additional boost to your lead generation efforts. As part of your blog, you should provide visually engaging and interactive content such as:
A strong social media presence will provide an effective complement to your website marketing efforts. While most people don’t specifically look on social media to find a home, it provides an effective platform that helps you build your brand and expand your audience.
When creating social media content, it’s important to provide material that is both useful and engaging. This can involve sharing educational guides and other informative content that will help convince people to visit your website. You should also post content that is entertaining and showcases your personality since most people are more likely to work with a real estate agent who they find to be likeable. The more engaging your content, the more likely it is to be shared by others, which will further expand your audience and build your brand.
While social media marketing is an important strategy to include in your efforts, it’s also important to understand that each social media platform functions in its own unique way and has its own demographic audience. Therefore, you’ll need to tailor your social media marketing efforts to the platforms you use.
Facebook is still the best social media resource for real estate agents, as it has the largest subset of users that will be receptive to your efforts. For this reason, you should prioritize creating a Facebook Business page to help grow your brand. Make sure you’re actively posting on your page and that you provide value in every post. Avoid overly salesy posts that will make your audience feel like they’re always being pitched to. Instead, provide useful information or fun content that helps showcase your personality and brand.
You can also create paid ads on Facebook to target a specific audience. Often, Facebook ads can be an effective way to expand your reach on the platform.
Instagram is another extremely popular social media platform that allows you to reach a large number of people and build your brand. Your Instagram profile is a great place to post your most engaging photos and videos that promote your listings. You can also post relevant lifestyle imagery that will help you spread the word about your business.
As with Facebook, you can pay for targeted ads on Instagram. These ads give you the ability to select your target audience, specify your budget, choose between a variety of post types, and control the length of your promotion.
LinkedIn is a platform that caters to a more professional audience. If this is the target demographic for one or more of your properties, then LinkedIn may be an effective place to promote your business.
Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to stay top of mind for prospective buyers and sellers. Not every prospect that contacts you is going to be ready to make a purchase or sell their home right away. Therefore, it’s important to have a tool to maintain contact with your audience so that they keep you in mind once they’re ready to act. Email marketing is the ideal solution to achieve this goal.
The key to a successful email marketing campaign is to provide value in every newsletter you send. To accomplish this, emphasize educational information over promotional information. Some good items to include in your newsletter are:
You’ll also need to establish an effective schedule for your newsletters to ensure your audience remains interested. Sending emails too frequently will bombard your audience with information and increase the likelihood that they’ll unsubscribe. A schedule that is too infrequent will have the opposite effect – it won’t allow you to remain top of mind, and you may lose out on some prospects when they decide they’re ready to act. For many real estate agents, a monthly or bimonthly newsletter provides the right frequency to achieve your goals.
When representing sellers, it’s important to showcase the property in the most engaging way possible. This will help you more effectively appeal to potential buyers. Two effective tools to improve the way properties are presented are virtual tours and drone photography.
Virtual tours provide a video walkthrough for a property. This will provide buyers with a more engaging and realistic insight into how the space would look in person. Virtual tours also give you an opportunity to showcase your personality in the videos you shoot.
You can make your virtual tours even more engaging by pairing them with drone photography that creates a 3D map of the property. When people see overhead drone footage that shows them how the property lays out and the surrounding landscape, they are more likely to schedule an in-person showing.
Zillow has grown into one of the primary online real estate resources used by buyers and sellers. With 198 million average monthly users, it is important to maintain a strong presence on this platform. You can create a profile on Zillow, allowing you to share your listings with a large audience and connect with new potential clients. You can follow these steps to set up your Zillow profile.
Once you’ve created your profile, invest time on a regular basis to build it up and make it look impressive. Make sure you ask for reviews on Zillow from your clients after each successful transaction, as this will help you use your profile to send powerful trust signals to potential new clients. Once you’ve built a solid profile, Zillow has the potential to drive a tremendous number of new contacts, allowing you to rapidly expand your leads. Just keep in mind that you must pay for Zillow leads, so it’s important to create a budget for this aspect of your marketing.
Are you asking your clients for referrals? If not, you’re missing out on an important way to generate new business. In fact, 41% of sellers find their real estate agent through a referral from family and friends. As you become more established, referrals can potentially become one of your primary lead generation tools. Since it takes time for this marketing strategy to pay dividends, make sure to start building a system for referrals as soon as you launch your real estate business.
It should come as no surprise that referrals are such valuable sources of new leads. Most people feel more comfortable reaching out to a real estate agent referred by a friend or family member than contacting someone with whom they have no prior knowledge.
Some ways to build a system for generating referrals include:
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