by Bob Boog
Special to Realty/Builder Connection
A famous sales trainer once said: “People don’t get into real estate. Real estate either gets into them, or they get out of the business completely.”
Is this statement really true? Possibly.
Nationwide, it is estimated that for every 100 agents who enter the real estate industry, 50 of them will be out of the business within their first year. Let me repeat that. For every 100 people who study hard, pay good money and expend long hours to obtain their state real estate license, 50 of them will be out of the business in less than one year.
And in three years, only 20 out of the original 100 will still be around! Why is this so?
Here are four reasons:
Reason No. 1:
Mistaken idea of how the business works.
Many new people have the mistaken impression that buyers and sellers will flock to them in droves simply because they’ve arrived on the scene. Isn’t that true? Many new people don’t realize that all successful real estate agents have to go out and make things happen — every day!
Reason No. 2:
Difficulty.
The real estate business is not as easy as it used to be, is it? No. It’s actually harder to start out in real estate nowadays than before, don’t you agree? There are more forms, disclosures and things to watch out for. A new agent doesn’t have room to make a single mistake! In addition, there is a gap of knowledge for new and part-time salespeople that many fellow sales agents aren’t willing to share. Most agents have had to learn these little techniques over a period of years, and don’t wish to share them with any new agents.
Oftentimes, new people will hear variations of these responses:
I’ve got my own problems and bills to pay. I don’t have time to help. I had to learn things the hard way, why shouldn’t he or she have to? Yet many times, one little key can mean the difference between turning the ignition and starting a sale or stalling, stalling, stalling.
Reason No. 3:
Increased Competition.
Some agents fail because they don’t understand that real estate agreements must be in writing in order to be enforceable. They expect that sellers will live up to “their word” and often have to learn things the hard way.
By the time their purchaser has signed their counter offer, for example, another offer has already been accepted by the seller. By the time the new agent has lined up all the properties for the hot prospect to see, he discovers that the people are already working with another agent.
Sometimes it’s increased competition from a lender who is also wearing a real estate hat and selling homes on the side. This happens sometimes, doesn’t it?
Reason No. 4:
Changing Markets
Finally, sometimes new agents fail because of changing markets. For years, many real estate brokers would simply tell a new agent, “Go out and prospect for listings. Don’t even bother working with buyers.” Yet the real estate market may be such that it might easier for that new person to make a sale at that time than to get a listing!
Why didn’t the broker want to help the new agent start out by working with buyers?
Sadly, because many brokers don’t know how to explain how they like to work with buyers. They may know how to make sales all right, but they just aren’t good at explaining how they like to do it!
– Bob Boog is the author of “Selling Homes 1-2-3,” which is available at Amazon.com.