EP: 0010 How to have success in year 1 of your Real Estate career with Betsy Anorbe

Betsy Anorbe is a Realtor serving Skagit, Island & Whatcom County. She sold 37 homes in her first 12 months in Real Estate, and is currently on track to sell over 50 homes in her year 2. 
In this episode of Get In Real about Real Estate, Betsy and Paul Balzotti discuss her recipe for success. For those who are considering a career in Real Estate or need a jump start, Betsy shares many valuable insights. 

1:05 How Betsy started her career day one.

4:00 Joining the chamber of commerce. 

5:20 Reaching out to veteran brokers and previewing homes. 

7:00 Previewing homes and creating video for social media.

8:10 Faking it till you make it. 

10:30 Engaging on social media. 

15:30 Relationship building with no agenda. 

18:50 The failure rate of new licensees. 

19:44 Don't focus on the money.

23:40 Summarizing Betsy's secrets to success. 

Interested or buying or selling? Reach out to Betsy at betsyanorbe@johnlscott.com.
Interested in a career in Real Estate? Reach out to paulbalzotti@johnlscott.com

Transcript

Howard Chung (00:01.144)
Hello and welcome to the Get in Real podcast with Howard and Paul. But today you just have Paul Balzati and I am here with Betsy in Norway. Welcome Betsy. Thank you. And we are in our new newly renovated and new for us Cedar Willie location which is exciting. Yes. And today we're talking about how to have success in your first year in real estate. And there's no better example than Betsy. Betsy was

the realtor rookie of the year and her production was unbelievable really 37, 37 transactions in her first year. And usually when people say first year, they're talking their first calendar year, but this is her first 12 months in real estate, 37 transactions, nearly 11 million in sales volume, amazing, amazing. And so congrats on that. And then you've now in your second year, you've done

The momentum continues to grow. Yeah. So I actually just recently went to this conference and I heard top producers talking about like, you're not a top producer unless you're doing a hundred deals by your third year. Is that true? I would say no. I would say a top producer would be, um, well, I'm trying to make it to a hundred at the yeah. And I believe, and I believe you can do it and I believe you can do it. And I would say a top producer would be, you know, somebody in the top 3%, top

You definitely are in that percentage in in Skagit County, no doubt about it. And so to get into it. So you start your career in real estate. And I think that so many people when they're getting their real estate license, they understand it's going to be hard. They understand that, you know, you got to find clients and and they're told, you know, you got to save up and you got to prepare. You may not get paid for six months and all those kind of things. You obviously hit the ground running.

So talk about you, you're starting your career day one. What does that look like? What are the activities you're doing right away? Okay. So from like the get -go, I knew I was going to do good. I interviewed, I'm going to say like seven, seven different offices and I was really picky about who I was going to go with, but then that became really overwhelming because now I'm like, who do I even go with? Right. I just knew I was going to do good because I already had some deals pretty much waiting for me. They were just waiting for me to get my license

Howard Chung (02:24.578)
The first place I went to was the chamber, the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce. Yeah. And because I wanted to network with people and I thought that's the easiest way. I also used to work there. So it made it easy to just connect with them. Right. That's really just social media was a really great way to get me started. Well, you said something really important there, which is before you got started, you already prospecting for business. You had your antennas up about getting after it and meeting and thinking about

who would be potentially moving, who's looking to buy. how many months maybe before you got your license where you started to have those conversations? Like a month. A month, because I only got licensed because I was actually going to move out of state. Really? Yeah. So I took my course in January and February 1st of 2022. I got licensed March 26th, 2022. the moment I started getting my license,

I guess I just started talking to the people closest to me and telling them that I was going to get licensed. Yes. Okay. Because I was going to sell a property I had. But then I had an opportunity for one of my close friends come up and this duplex owner wanted to sell his property. So that's where my first deal came from. Right. And then I had to sell my friend's property too in order for him to purchase this second one. So that was two deals before I even like just waiting for me. I think having

You know, you mentioned you're a member of the chamber. Yeah. And you're really involved with the chamber. Yes. Right. So I think community involvement. Yes. Networking. You you tapped immediately into your community involvement and networking the network that you have and the sphere that you have at least a month ahead of time. Yeah. And started talking about I'm going to be in real estate. That's great. And then you. And in mind, this is like towards the end of COVID. Yeah. The first I actually joined the chamber that

first month they had came back to being open to the public once the mask mandate was going away and all of that. that was really cool because I thought I was the only new one there, but almost everyone there felt new. And I didn't know that until like months later. Yeah. Yeah. So I was really nervous, but we were all pretty nervous at the time. So well, and what's what's great about also the way you operated Roth about is we always talk about there's agents.

Howard Chung (04:46.584)
who are putting themselves out there and then there's what we call secret agents. Yeah. Where they aren't really putting themselves out there. They're just kind of hoping people find them and they're not really, they're not getting out of their comfort zone. Yes. And you're part of the chamber, you're networking with people in the community and you're putting your hand up and saying, I'm getting in this business and you're asking for the business right off the bat, which is super important. Now we could jump right into social media. So you...

You definitely had a plan that social. Sure. No, please go ahead. Yeah. I actually, you know, I just closed on this 2 .8. Yes. Amazing. Yeah. So I looked back at my text messages when I first started doing real estate. I was texting almost every agent who had some like big listings or just any new listings, right? I want to host open houses. I want to record a video in the house. And it's funny because I looked back at my text.

And I texted him, I'm like, Hey, can I do a walkthrough video at your listing for your listing? And he said, no, thank you. And now I just hold his, I sold his previous listing. Yeah. And he wasn't, he wasn't even allowing you to. Yeah. And he wasn't even part of this cause new listing agent. So yeah, they, they, they fired him or let him go, got a new listing agent. And then this house that he wouldn't let you preview. Now you end up selling. So, but you just brought up another thing. So we talked about reaching out to the community, networking.

reaching out to your sphere. And then you also were going out previewing homes. Yes. And trying to learn the inventory and learn the business. yes. I wanted to be the pro. So it's like even I came into real estate knowing a lot about real estate, right? Just because I had already previously purchased houses. But I still didn't know how to sell real estate. So for me, it's like the social media part doing videos.

And just being a pro, fake it till you make it. No, fake it till you make it. Yeah. Yeah. And I just like doing it, it allowed me to gain my confidence. And just when I would meet with clients, even though like half of the stuff I was posting was just really tours. Yeah. Like even if I didn't have a client there, I was still going to go tour this house and post it. Yes. Right. I just needed some content. Well, and here's the thing. That's accomplishing two things because number

Howard Chung (07:14.806)
you are putting content out, like you said, about real estate. People want to see the videos of the homes. Of course, people love looking at homes. Everybody loves to look at homes. But you're also literally getting better at your job because every home that you go into, now you learn, okay, what kind of siding is this? What kind of, I mean, you obviously, have your husband's in construction. guys, so you already know construction, but then you're learning, okay, what are the materials they're using? What's the price of a home in this area right now today?

Yes. And so absolutely brilliant to be doing that right off the bat, going out touring homes. And then also, you know, for when we say fake it till you make it, it's not even like most clients, most, I shouldn't say clients, but most people in general, when they're hiring a realtor, it's not that they necessarily need to have somebody who has sold a million houses, but they do want somebody who's out there doing it and getting after it. I've always said people want to work with people who are busy. Yeah.

It's like going on Google. I'm not going to go with the business who hasn't done any business or who doesn't have any reviews. I'm probably going to go with that person who's been like doing more work, right? Absolutely. if you're not like busy and you're not staying busy, even if you're not closing deals, they're not going to know about you. You don't have to have the exact percentage, but and we could talk about strategy too, but what would you say is the percentage of business that has come from social media for you? That includes, you

people that you maybe you knew them a little bit and then you started connecting more on social media or so it's somebody you're friends with but you think it probably came from social media from you guys really engaging on social media or random people on social media. I was thinking about this like last week. I'd say at least 90 % of my wow at least wow that's crazy. Yes, that's amazing and even if it's not like someone on social media reaching out to me.

It's really someone who saw me on social media, who referred me to to their aunt, uncle, whatever it is, right? A family member, but it all comes from social media. That's that's that's I don't have a big family who lives here. Most of my sphere is just social media. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So and then strategy wise, you know, there's a few things that you do really well. One, and then I want you to expand on this, but just my things I pick up on, obviously you're creating a lot of content regularly.

Howard Chung (09:38.402)
Definitely, you know showing your success and making sure that the that everybody sees that you're also showing how you contribute and how you're part of the community because it's not just you're not just You're not just sewing houses. You're also trying to give back, you know I know, you know, we could talk about the Latino community and what you're doing there and and obviously the work you do with the chamber and so you're showcasing all these elements of your life and

Is there a portion of it also like are you doing a percentage of your day where you'll go on and actually engage and go out of your way to follow, like, comment? What do you do? Yeah, so my mornings I try to like go on Facebook and just like, comment. And it's really exhausting because I love watching, you know, everyone's pictures and just following them. But I hate being on Facebook and Instagram. You don't even know how much I hate scrolling.

just because it takes so much of my time away, right? But I, yeah, it's kind of weird. This is so good because I do, because you know, our company, we have these social channels and I care, I know how the algorithms work like you're talking about where you need to like and engage for your stuff to show up. And so I do the same thing for our, know, our staff, we all do it where we're going on and liking things and you you get people who...

will be like, oh my, I just got a new puppy. And then you'll say, oh, like I didn't, that's amazing. And they will, you liked, you liked that. And then you'll like, yeah, that's right. And so I know what you mean where you just go on and like and call. And it's like, it's really is kind of a business thing. do try to interact, you know, but at this point I think like, I try to stay off of social media as much as possible. People probably see me on their 24 seven. Yeah. But at this point I want to be able to hire someone to just take over that.

Yeah, and I mean, I think what will probably happen is, is you'll probably need to, you'll have to strike a balance there because they'll be able to help you curate the content and you'll able to get the help with editing the videos, doing all that kind of stuff. But you, there's still an element of you that needs to be in all of it. And so the other, the mistakes somebody can make, which I know you're not insinuating doing this, but what you know, what I'm talking about where you see realtors who just have these campaigns that like of clip art and stuff of

Howard Chung (12:01.706)
spring selling tips and which are great but like, like for me not yeah and then you're like and then you see that and you go okay they clearly are just hiring somebody they're clearly not on here yes you're so good at having it be you that you know but you could certainly hire help like i feel like it's almost like what they see on videos is really what they get in person yeah so as in like me as a person it's all i've noticed that a lot of my clients who come to

They can talk to me as if we were as if we've been friends for like 10 years You know because they've been following me and they know who I am So video really helps it helps you connect with that person somehow, right? Yeah, the thing is is is that People don't like to see themselves on video. Yeah, we love that at this point. I'm like, I don't even care Yeah, and I know in the beginning I was kind of nervous. Yeah, oh and but here's the thing is the the thing that people got to know is is

If they don't like you on video, they're not gonna like you in person. So it's like, you'll attract the people who wouldn't be attracted to you anyway. And so it's this double thing where you're getting, so you're attracting, I was not expecting you to say 90%. I was expecting you to say like 40%, which would still be a lot. 90 % is incredibly impressive. I I could probably say 100 % at this point. I'm not gonna lie. Almost every deal I've done, other than my friends who I'm helping.

Yeah, which is maybe one. Yeah, but most people contact me from social media and and your budget on social media is very low, right? mean, yeah, I mean am I even spending money on sponsorship or sponsored ads? No, no, you have some you pay for maybe video equipment. Yeah, pay for I do in like expensive equipment. Yeah, because you want to yeah, you still want it to be high quality. Yeah. Yeah. So

But no, once in a while I do if I see that a listing is sitting or, know, just to bring in some more attention to that listing, but not like in order for me to get more business. 98 % of my stuff on social media is organic or my following and... Yeah, exactly. So, but there's something really important to, because we're talking about success in your first year and your secrets of success, a lot of it you're saying stems from, you know, the work you've done on social media.

Howard Chung (14:20.854)
I think it's so important to point out though that if you were just staying at home and just posting things and then going out, even if you were going out and touring homes too, you also got to give yourself that credit for, you you do network, you do show up, you do show up at events. my gosh. So then, and then you connect with them on social media.

And so this is important to layer on that connection. It really is. So like I said, I joined the Malvern Chamber. I joined Cedar Woolly Chamber. So I'm out there making relationships, like building relationships, not so much to like gain business or anything like that, but really just to have a new friend. Right. So and that they end up following me on social media. They end up liking my stuff and they just connect with me so well.

It does convert into business and that's just an accident of what you're doing, which is great, which is you're networking, you're connecting, and you're not an idea that you know that when you're going to those events, you're not going, okay, well, I better get a deal out of this. I never expect one of them, but I just build that relationship. And even if they're not buying a house yet, like the person I meet at the chamber or at a networking event.

or if they're not interested in real estate, at the end of the day, they think of me because they like me as a person and they refer me out to someone else who might be thinking of real estate. Absolutely. I guess you can say maybe 10 % of my business has come from that. But it's still that you're still using, it's that combination. It's that combination of obviously, you must be doing a good job for your clients to where then they're going to refer you. Yeah. Obviously, you know,

the quality of the business you do matters too. But when you were getting started, that combination of getting out there and networking more along with then combining it with all of the connecting on social media and then all the content you're creating, all blends into where that business is coming from, which is social media, but again, some of it from these other sources too. And then the Latino community obviously is playing, I mean,

Howard Chung (16:44.354)
doing business obviously with everybody, but you have got a fair amount of business from that community. And I would imagine that that is incredibly an amazing feeling. I know when you work with somebody who maybe hasn't owned a home, not to say that I'm sure you're people selling buy in the community too, but I know you've talked to me before about how much you love working with first time homebuyers. my gosh, I love it. And so talk about that a little bit.

Can I have a roots? Yeah, okay. Okay. it's just like, it's so rewarding to see them like so excited, right? Cause it's their first home. I don't know. It's just different from like helping a first time home buyer compared to someone who has previously owned multiple houses. Cause they, they seem to allow you to guide them better. Yeah. Well, and also then when you, when they get into the home, the gratitude that they, my gosh. Yes. Yeah. So, yeah.

I know you're changing their life. Yeah, you know, you know, it's it's it's when you when you have somebody where you, you know, and the longer you're in it, I mean, you know, I can share from 20 years of doing this, right? Yeah. It's like I've watched people who buy their first house and they took all these tradeoffs on what they were getting. Yes. And then watch them seven years later. They have their kids and they upgraded the next house. And it's and then

you're watching like wealth accumulate and watching them. You know, I always think about this family that came here from Iran. Yeah. Bought this super beater house and then bought a bigger house and then bought a bigger house. And then now 21 years later, they just, their kids are not out of their house. And then they're selling that cash. Yeah. Because they paid it off. Yes. And then are like,

You so you just watch the whole process and how it builds wealth and changes lives. Yeah, and I'm excited for that. Yeah. I mean, I'm only I'm going into what my third year. Something like 80 percent of people that get their license don't renew in two years. So quit. Don't make it in two years. OK. John Scott, the because we're we're a little bit particular about who we hire and try to put a lot into them. Yes. You know, we have more of like an 80 to 90 percent that succeed within the first two years.

Howard Chung (19:07.726)
But in general, people who just get their real estate license, 80 % are not licensed in two years. And I mean, the other thing that it should be obvious that we haven't specifically said, but you had another business and then you, so you understood what it was like to be self -employed too. But then you really dove, you slowly dove like head first into this and you put a lot of hours into it. It's not like

It's not like you're like, you were like, you got your real estate license and said, I'm going to try this out. You know, I never really, I was, I've never been a number person until now that I just want to meet my a hundredth deal. Right. But like when I got into real estate, another tip I would give is don't focus on the money because you're going to get disappointed. Yeah. Right. Because it's not, people think that it's just coming into real estate and you're to have so many deals. And I mean, it's, I guess it was a bit different for me.

So, but I came in with a pretty big sphere. Yeah. Right. Because previous to real estate, I was a makeup artist and I had done makeup on over 500 clients. Yeah. So that really helps. And it all came from social media as well. Yeah. So, but I'd say don't focus on the money because I feel like that makes you a different person too. That's just my personal opinion. Oh, no, it's true. We call it in real estate, we call it commission breath.

So you don't want have commission. Yes, you don't. So you want to come in with savings or with a like how you can help someone else. Yeah, well, mean, there's that element. There's the your why. Like, what's your why? Like you have to be you have to be really excited about what you're doing to help people. because people can feel that, you know, they can tell if you're genuine about what you're doing. Yep. And and it's totally different. It's totally different. And and so, yeah. And then you have to walk in the in a space

when you're helping somebody like not focused on the result. Yeah. You know, like I'm to help this person and if they end up buying right now, they end up buying right now. But if it's not a good time, it doesn't work out for them. Then I'm not, that's not what this is about. Can I say something? Of course. This is about you. is in here. Yeah. So, when I first became a real estate agent, I was not a fan of real estate agents and lenders. You don't even know how much I didn't like him. Like, yeah, those two I wasn't a fan

Howard Chung (21:34.126)
Was it because of that? Was it because of that? You thought? because when I would buy a house or when I would try to buy properties, like they would leave, they would just ghost me. You know, like if I couldn't get a house because my credit wasn't at 700 or whatever it was, right? Where I didn't have enough income. I wouldn't get an answer as to like why I don't qualify for this house and said I would, I would just get ghosted. You know, so, so that's why, I mean, I still had multiple properties, but

But it's very common for a real estate agent. Well, I mean, that's, you know, what I noticed previously to being a real estate agent. Well, you know what though, you're a young, know, Yeah. And there's like probably also something in play there where you're getting essentially discriminated. Yes. Yeah. And so was it conscious that that drove you as far as like when I get my license, I'm not going to... like that. Yeah. Yes. Which is And I still think like that. I'm like, I don't want to be that real estate agent who...

I asked for help, right? So yeah, I don't want to be that real stage it. I love it. I love it. Yes. So, and that really motivates me to be like the complete opposite where sometimes I do stay busy and sometimes it's hard for me to respond to Instagram messages until like two days later. cause I don't have my notifications on, but, but, but it's like, I try to give them an answer as to like, maybe this is why we

buy a house right now, but we can do it in three months. You know, just work on this and we'll get there. Yeah. Yeah. So I've had clients who it's really cool to watch it too, to like, they have no credit today, but then three months later we're closing down a house because they followed the steps that I gave them. And those steps I was never given when I was the one shopping for a house. Yeah. Love it. Love it. So to summarize,

you know, our secrets to success in year one. Yes. I think we could start from where we just left, is having passion and a why behind what you're doing. Yes. And coming in in a financial position where you don't need a paycheck right now. Yes. That you could work the business the right way. Yep. And attract the right kind of people and work the business the right way. Yeah. Start early. Network.

Howard Chung (24:00.93)
You know, you were networking, you were looking at houses right away, you were previewing homes right away, you were learning the inventory, you were passionate about learning the business and understanding real estate, not just people. And meet people, like network, but meet people, because I feel like I was president of Rural Rec. I met you guys, you guys nominated me

rookie of the year. There was so much that happened in 2023 or like, I got another award through the Chamber of Commerce, but I forgot it's star, rising star award. Right. So, just like the people you really surround yourself with is really important. That's a very good point too. Finding mentors in the community that can mentor you or just like be support.

And it doesn't mean it has to be other real estate agents, but it can be someone in a complete different field. Yeah. Although I will say that I do think that coming from my position, I do think that because we do, have realtors that start somewhere else for six months, nine months a year. Yeah. You know, obviously you had a short stint somewhere else before you joined us. Yes. You know, I do find that

that there is great mentors all over the place, there's definitely, it's important what firm you're at and the leadership that's there, of course, when you're starting. You're always asking questions when you have them. You're not afraid to ask questions. you're still always trying to learn. And I think that's another thing is having that mentality of like, you're always trying to get better. And what's good too is just like, when I ask you guys questions,

I don't feel like I'm asking a stupid question, right? So that's really important. It is, it is. Sometimes with certain people, we do feel that way, that we're kind of wasting their time to even ask this question. So no, thank you for saying that. yeah, so, you know, and then, and I think you definitely, the combination of the networking you've done, the hustle, the hard work, the passion, and then really,

Howard Chung (26:14.924)
Being very, you've used social media as your medium. If somebody's like, don't love social media, there's other, there's farming, there's other, there's other ways to mechanisms to market yourself. But certainly social media, it's free in general to use and using it to, and as a new agent, I do think even if you're gonna do farming, you're gonna do something else, even if you're not gonna be the next Betsy and Orville on social media, it's still an absolute key component.

to at least be competent and be on there and be working it to some degree. And you're proof that you can use it as a mechanism to absolutely grow your business. Congratulations on your success. We're grateful to be partnering with you. And thank you for sharing as well for everybody listening and watching. All right. Well, thank you for listening and watching. Be sure to subscribe to John Oskott Anacortes on YouTube.

and give us a five -star review if you don't mind on iTunes and thanks guys, cheers.