10 Things You Can Do Before You Get Your Real Estate License

Did you know that there are a lot of things you could do to help you succeed as a real estate agent–even before you get your license?

That’s right. Ten things, in fact.

But what it all really boils down to is this: Make the market deal with you. That’s pretty much the essence of the following post.

So, if you are a pragmatist, you can go now.

But if you need a little depth…expansion…stick around. The following advice will help you get the upper hand on your competition before you even enter the ring. Enjoy the list and let me know what you think when you’re through!

1. Drive the Streets

Whether your market is familiar territory or not, it helps to explore with eyes wide open. Memorize street names. Subdivision names. Get out of your car and talk to homeowners. Ask them about their street, their home and their neighborhood. Get a pulse on your market and how people are thinking.

2. Read Books

The late Jim Rohn once said, “Skip a meal, but never skip a book.” Books are one of the cheapest and easiest ways to learn how to sell, persuade, generate leads. Heck, with a local library or university close by, you have the opportunity to learn about any subject you wanted–architecture, termites, economics–you name it, you can read about it. And the cool thing: It doesn’t take a license.

3. Go to Seminars

Granted, you could spend a chunk of change flying to San Francisco, sleeping in a hotel and eating out three times a day–but how much is it worth to you to learn first-hand the secrets, strategies and tips to succeeding in the business? Not to mention the contacts you’ll make. Fortunately, not all seminars require flying and over night stays.

4. Take Extra Classes

Nowadays you can’t get away from the adult learning opportunity–it’s everywhere. There’s a Sanford-Brown on practically every corner. Satellite schools of major universities at nearly every high school. And then there’s the web. Online classes open a wide door for you to expand your knowledge–in the convenience of your own kitchen.

5. Preserve Your Reputation

Listen. It won’t be long before people start taking pop shots at you, trying to tar your image. So why help them with questionable behavior? Keep your nose clean. Offline AND online. The money you lose for being a jackass isn’t worth the fun you had during a flash-in-the-pan night.

6. Get Top Producer

Who’s says you can’t start accumulating leads just because you don’t have your license? Get client management software right away (before you start driving the streets) so you can populate that thing early and often with prospects.

7. Figure Out Your Plan

Waiting to take your exam is a great opportunity to map out a strategy that will help you get to the top. A good strategy is a great way to make the market deal with you and not the other way around. Here’s a post to help you: Your Personal Strategy to Building Some Serious Real Estate Wealth

8. Look at the Market Differently

Hint: When you’re looking for how you can dominate, pick the area everyone hates to do. Likely you’ll be the only one in that area. That way you can mop up. Think expireds. Or short sales.

9. Forget about the Media

The media loves tragedies. That’s why housing bubbles and bank meltdowns and cold-blooded murders top the headlines. The only problem is, they don’t know when to stop. Neither do they know what your particular market is like. There are two kinds of real estate agents in your market: the successful and the non-successful. Which brings me to my last point.

10. Talk to Established Agents

Like I mentioned in a previous post, the super-successful find a way to make the market deal with them. They understand what it takes to succeed and will not except failure. Or no. Winning is the only outcome they know. It’s these people you want to take to dinner, feed drinks and ask them to tell you everything they know. And you don’t need a license to do that.

Your Turn

What do you think? Did I hit the nail on the head? Did I miss anything? If so, please do me a favor and share your ideas. I look forward to your thoughts.

Did you find this article useful? If so, leave a comment. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.

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Click Here to Leave a Comment Below 2 comments

scott Schmitz

While Top Producer is a mighty fine CRM product for real estate agents, its a bit pricey. You may want to consider selecting something simple to start with – like Microsoft Outlook. Its likely that you already have Microsoft Office, and therefore will have Outlook already.

NAR statistics on commissions on rookie agents shows less than $10k in income in the first year, on average. So, keeping on a tight budget is a good idea to start with.

All CRM products out there will be able to import your contacts from Outlook. So, once you have some income comming in, you can always move up to a more complete system. One product that I think is noteworthy is RealtyJuggler. It synchronizes with Outlook, so when you outgrow Outlook all by itself, you can add RealtyJuggler into the mix for a nominal fee. The price is $99 / year, which is about 1/4 of a comparably equipped TP8i setup.

Eric

Excellent, insightful words of wisdom indeed! My mother’s an agent and my father’s a lawyer. I have worked for them both and am considering getting my license. I am also ready to sell my own house with an online MLS service. Your advice really connected with me in an inspirational kind of way!