New Agent Series #1: Launching Your Real Estate Journey

Get ready for a transformative episode as we kick off our exclusive New Agent Series! In Episode #1, we leave no stone unturned, guiding you through the foundational steps of a successful real estate career. Learn the ins and outs of obtaining your real estate license, crucial insights into picking the right broker for your goals, and the essential strategies to jumpstart your business.

Discover the proven techniques for effective business planning, ensuring you have a roadmap for success from day one. We delve into the nuances of client attraction, providing practical tips on building a robust client base that will set you apart in the competitive real estate landscape.

Join us for a power-packed session tailored for new agents, featuring expert advice and actionable steps from the industry's best. If you're serious about making a lasting impact in real estate, this is your launchpad! Don't miss New Agent Series #1 – your gateway to a thriving real estate journey. #NewAgentSeries #RealEstateSuccess #CareerLaunchpad

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Transcript

Landon: 0:12

All right. All right, guys. Hey, welcome to another episode of the always moving forward podcast. You know, we say a lot of times around here in the office, and I don't know that I've ever said it on the show. But the reason we call our show the always moving forward podcast is because that's, that's a mantra that we have in this office. No matter what you're going through, we always move forward. And whether that's failure, whether it's a deal that died, a business venture that didn't turn out the way that you wanted it to. Use it as a learning experience, a learning tool, and continue to move forward. So guys, hey, it's just you and me today. I'm usually the one that's asking the questions, and I get to hear all the wonderful responses from all of our guests. Well, today, it's gonna be a little bit different. Today, I'm gonna be asking the questions that you guys have sent me. And then I'm going to be the one that gets to answer it. So I'm actually really excited about today's episode. For those of you that listen to the show, you're already an experienced agent. And you listen for tips, tricks, and you know, just how to stay updated with the changing market. There may still be quite a bit in here that is useful for you. But we're going to use this episode as a training tool that agents can continue to come back to. So, I actually just wrapped up another new agent course that I teach here at the office. And I got a lot of questions that I felt like should be answered and could be answered pretty quickly. But a lot of agents a lot very similar to first time homebuyers, they, they're embarrassed to ask the question or they don't know what they don't know and they don't even know to ask the question. So today this episode is going to be for those guys. It's, we're going to go through, you know, starting of how to get your license, the, the qualifications and what you got to do to get your license. And, and I'm going to be talking about, I'm in Roanoke, Virginia, so I'm going to be talking about the The rules for Roanoke, for Virginia, the state of Virginia. But a lot of the national stuff is gonna apply to everybody. So, hope you get a lot out of this. Please stay tuned. This is gonna be an exciting episode. So hey, listen guys, if you haven't caught on by now, I just like our theme music. I just like the way that it sounds. So, alright guys, let's get started. So, right off the bat, I want to talk the very first question that I obviously get is like how in the world do I get into real estate? How does that how does that process work? Where do I even begin? Okay So the basics of getting your license the first thing that you need to do is you need to take a class So in Virginia, it's got to be a 60 hour course. You can do it in person, you can do it online. There's, there's flex options. For instance, the, the way that I teach the class here at my office is I actually do about 32 hours in class. And then that's supplemented by about the, the. other 28 hours outside of class. You, you get the book, you get the slides, the practice quiz you can do all of that. And a lot of times we can knock that out in a week, two weeks. I usually say about two weeks to take the class and then study. But even if you finish the class in a week, I would take that second week to go ahead and study the material that you just learned. A lot of the state, state and national. Is is memorization guys. I say this when I when I teach the class and so I'll say it here the class Is to teach you how not to get sued. It's to teach you what you can and can't say the basics of fair housing laws. It's to teach you the terms and the vocabulary that you might come across in real estate. The class does not teach you how to be a salesperson. We talk about sales. 0 percent of the class. So the first step in getting your license is to take the class. The second step is to pass the state and national exams, and then you get to learn how to be a real estate agent. So there's a couple tests that you've got to pass before you even get. To the, to learning how to be a sales agent. So know that know that when you take this class, you're not going to pop out of it in a couple of weeks and know how to go sell real estate. So students come and sit in my class for the first time and they think I'm going to teach them how to be an agent. And I'm disappointed every time that I have to tell them, I'm sorry, I'm here to teach you what escrow is. I'm here to teach you what the civil rights access. I'm, I'm not here to teach you how to negotiate a contract that comes later, okay? So step one is find out what your specific state's licensing requiring, requirements are. Usually it's taking a class, passing a test, and then going to take the official test to get your salesperson's license. So what comes after that? Well, you got to pick a brokerage. So you have to work under a broker. A broker is the person who is in charge of supervising. Compliance, making sure that you are doing the right thing as a sales agent. So all the liability falls back on them when it comes to your training and your knowledge. So you need to be able to pick, you need to pick somewhere where you're going to get a lot of good support. You know, a lot of agents, they join companies because of their brand name, the recognition that comes with that. And I'll tell you guys, 87 percent of new agents do not make it to year two. I'll repeat that. 87%. The percentages are even, even worse when it comes to agents that make it past five years. We actually, we call it the 13 club. So the 13 percent of new agents that make it past two years, 13 out of a hundred. Why is that? Well, it's a lot of different factors, but I would say the biggest one that I see as a coach, as a broker is that they don't have support, they don't have training, and they don't treat their business like a business. So that gets into a lot of the other terms that you would learn if you take the class, but you are self employed. You are not an employee. The only person responsible for your success in this business is you. So don't view real estate as a hobby. Don't watch HGTV and think, Oh, okay. I could be a good real estate agent. None of that is reality. Okay. And I know there's even more shows on Netflix now selling, you know, these million dollar mansion properties on the beach, buddy, that, that ain't going to happen right out of the gate. Okay. You need to find yourself a broker or a brokerage where you're going to get one on one training from someone that has had success in the business. And you need to learn how to do the business. Now you can always change brokerages after that if you're not getting what you need. But you need to, to connect yourself with somebody at the beginning that's going to teach you how to do this. So don't just go into one of these big brokerages and think, Oh, I'm going to apply for a job. They're interviewing me. No, it's the other way around. You should be interviewing them. What can you provide to me as a new agent? Because they make money every time you sell a house. All right, so let's move on. That's kind of the basics. You take the class, you pass the test, you apply for your salesperson's license, and then you join a brokerage. Okay, so then what? Then it's like, all right, how do I get business? There's a lot of different ways to get business in real estate. I will say this, guys. Identify your niche. And do it early identify who you want to work with Pick pick out write down your ideal client who you feel like you would get along with what market you want to work in Maybe it's foreclosures. Maybe it's first time home buyers Maybe it's veterans. Maybe it's luxury. I say that cautiously because unless you are already in a luxury market, you're probably not gonna get started selling million dollar homes, okay? So, find, and maybe you already have a niche. For me, when I got in it, you know, my background, I come from a lot of property management. I come from, my dad did rental properties growing up. Both of my grandparents did a lot of rental property. So, immediately, I was like, you know what, I really want to work with foreclosures. I really want to work with fixer uppers, rehabs. And, and I focused a lot of my marketing attention on that. It actually worked out that that's not what my niche was. My niche ended up being first time homebuyers. I was fortunate enough to get on a team where I was able to get leads from my team and I just, I, and to this day, man, I still, I love working with first time home buyers. I love teaching. I love coaching. And I think that's a lot of what I get to do with the first time home buyer. So that's still a lead source that I really enjoy. Alright, so up to now, we've talked about how to get your license, talked about picking a brokerage, talked about defining a niche of who you want to work with. Now, now getting the business, let's, let's pretend that we're not talking about real estate for a second. You're starting a restaurant, okay? You found your spot, you found your location, okay? You know the name of your restaurant. What are you going to serve? What's your plan? You know, how many cooks are you going to have? How many people in the front are you going to have? Are you the manager? Who's doing your books? You know, too many times in real estate, people get their license and they treat it like a hobby. They treat this like I'm going to get my license. Somebody's going to call me and I'm going to show them a house and they're going to buy the house. And I'm just going to do that over and over again until I'm rich. Okay. And I'm going to be real with you, there are some, some agents that that's all that they do is that they ride the real estate roller coaster. They've got one month where a couple of their buddies buy a house, and then they've got two months where nobody buys anything. And then another one comes around and they'll do business. And, and if you look at their P& L statement, profit and loss statement. One month looks really good, and the next month they have no revenue. The next month looks really good, and the next three months there's no revenue. Why? Because they didn't have a plan. Okay, so what's important about a plan? I'm going to start with four points here. Time management is number one. You are a business owner. What does that mean? That means that you are in control of your schedule. That's why a lot of agents get into real estate, right? I want the flexibility. I don't want to have a boss. You know, I want to be able to take care of my kids. I want to be able to work from home. And that, those are all true because you get to choose what you want your schedule to be. And if you want to have that flexibility, you want to sleep in until 10 a. m., you can certainly do that. But at what cost? At what cost are you willing to do those things? So I would say this, and I started all my new agent calls like this. Where do you want to go? What's your vision for your business? Why are you doing this? Okay, why do you need to make this amount of money? Why is this better for you than when you had a nine to five job when you did have a boss? Okay Another news flash you still have a boss guys. It's just It's, it's your clients. It's your customers. It's the people that you, that you have to report to. They're your boss. They're just not going to give you the same report and feedback that your, that your employer would. Okay? If you do a bad job, they're gonna leave and find somebody to do a better job. Or they're not gonna give you referrals to give you more business down the road. Okay? So when you're starting your plan, you need to start with what your schedule is gonna be. Time blocking, I'm going to set this hour aside in the morning to do this, and I would encourage you to start your morning off with some type of mental exercise, reading, writing, prayer, meditation, something to get your day going and do it consistently. Good buddy of mine, Rob Daniel, he said when, when he taught this to me, he said, it's just like tying your shoes. Every morning, you do it the same way. Okay? Left sock, right sock. Left shoe, right shoe. Tie your laces, out the door. Okay? It should be the same with your business. You get up, drink your coffee, read, write. Take a shower, get dressed, go to the office. Routine. Routine is, is, is so valuable to the small business owner. Okay? So once you've, once you've gotten a schedule, once you've decided, Hey, this is how I want my day to be structured, then let's talk about lead sources. A lot of agents, they get started and they think, Okay, I gotta spend a bunch of money. I gotta buy leads. I'm gonna buy a billboard. I'm gonna do postcards. And, and can I just tell you, until you start making money, please don't spend money. And especially don't spend money on something that's going to put you in a 12 month contract. I say this because I did it. There's multiple horrible examples that I could give you of things that I signed up for thinking that it was going to be an easy fix to my business that's going to give me business. Give me leads, give me marketing, and I would sign up for these things, and I would do a 12 month contract. Well, guess what? About two or three months in, I realized you just sold me a bunch of nothing, and I went out. Well, then I had to pay nine extra months of something that I was dissatisfied with, so I didn't want to try to make it work. Or two, I had to fight tooth and nail to get out of that contract. Okay. So if they're making you sign a 12 month contract, be suspicious, make sure that you know that that's what you want to do. And more than likely you've, you've heard or have worked with somebody that is currently using it and has had success from it. So that's my, that's my tidbit on paying for things. You're also going to get distracted by the shiny object. And there, there are plenty of ways to get business in real estate that cost you no money expireds for sale by others. Geographical farm, open houses, sphere, all of those are things that you can do that cost you nothing. You can spend some money on some of those things, but you can get started with no money. It's just going out and talking to people. Okay? So no matter which one you want to pick pick one. And I would encourage you to build three points underneath it. Three points. Let's say it's a geographical farm. What are three things that I'm going to do in geographical farm just means that a neighborhood or an area that I'm going to market to specifically. So maybe I'm going to doorknock, I'm going to do open houses, and I'm going to do some type of event or advertise for some type of community event in that area. Okay. Once you decide that you're going to start spending money, that's when you start looking at billboards, postcards flyers, things like that. Okay. Don't don't spend the money until you've got the plan, but have the plan. Here's my advice start with your sphere real estate You know what real estate is? It's having conversations with people getting them to like you so that way they'll use you to buy or sell a house So you have to have conversations people want to work with people that are like them So if you can get your name out there and have enough conversations with another people enough people that are like you You will do well in real estate. Okay, so they've got to know you like you trust you So if you if you do already have a sphere Chances are you you know 10 to 15 people that know you and like you the third part of that is that they got to trust you and i'm going to talk about that for a second because You're not selling a product in real estate, and I know everybody's shocked like, oh, I thought I sell houses. The house sells itself. The circumstance that this client finds you will sell the house, okay? They're gonna, they're gonna move because of an emotional reason that they think this purchase is going to improve their life, okay? Maybe they're upsizing. They need more room because their family's growing. Maybe they're downsizing because other kids moved out. Maybe they're buying an investment property because they have money and they think this is gonna build wealth. Okay, that, that is going to sell itself. It is your job To get them to trust you, to like you, okay? And then, and then you're a guide. You are essentially an advisor. That you're gonna tell them, Hey, this is a good idea, this is a bad idea. Hey, have you thought about this? This is how the process works. So you need to be educated and you need to be knowledgeable, but ultimately it's a relationship because this person is trusting you. Okay. The term that we use for that in real estate is fiduciary duty. We have an obligation to represent our client and their best interest. The more that we can put ourselves in front of people that already know us, like us and trust us. The, the better off we're going to do. All right. So I've been talking for quite a bit now. Let me, let me wrap this up. This, this'll be part one of a, of a multi episode series on, on how to be a new agent. But take the test, take the class, I'm sorry, take the class, pass the test, apply for your license, find a broker, find a niche, build a plan, and then find your lead source. And then get into how am I going to have conversations with people? How am I going to be the first person that comes to mind when they think about buying or selling a house? So, okay. I'm going to wrap up. I got a couple letters from new agents and I've asked agents to write these down and send them to me so I'm going to read it. And then I'm going to answer that and then we'll wrap up for today. So question number one Hey Landon, thank you so much for this opportunity. As a new agent, I often find networking events a bit overwhelming. How can I overcome shyness and initiate meaningful conversations with fellow professionals? I appreciate agents wanting to meet other agents. And find out, hey, okay, this is how you do your business. We're going to work together. And there is value in that. As a new agent, you can be shy. Okay. In the class, I, my, my instructor said this and I totally agree. I can have a full class and I can't tell you who's going to be a good agent. Who's not. Okay, whether you're shy, whether you're outgoing, whether you're loud, whether you're quiet, it doesn't really seem to matter in real estate. What matters is your ability to put yourself in situations where people are going to get to know you, they're going to like you, and they're going to trust you. Okay, so if you're shy, then I would ask what is the point of going to some of these functions? What are you trying to get out of it? And then the way to get around the shyness is to be excited about the outcome. Okay, I had a big fear of public speaking, of talking to people that I didn't know. That was something that, coming from a background in law enforcement, that you know, there was A good bit of, well, I developed some issues from that. I'll just put it that way. I had a lot of social anxiety. And so when I would sit in a class, I would be the one in the back who's like, Don't call on me. I don't want to introduce myself. I don't want to raise my hand. I don't want any attention on me. And so I think that's very normal. The way I was able to overcome that was now, when I get an opportunity to be on a podcast or speak, I've got a lot of value that I want to give to someone else. So if I'm going into a setting where I know that I'm going to give somebody something that they don't already know or have a lot of that social anxiety goes away. Okay. So shyness is okay. And that doesn't mean that you can't be a great agent. There's a lot of agents that I have worked with that are very shy. But what you, you have to have a plan again to figure out how to overcome that if you want to be successful in this industry. Great question. Thank you very much. All right. Question number two. In the age of digital networking, how crucial is it to main, maintain a strong online presence and what are the best platforms for building professional connections? Okay. This is a good one because digital networking is just another word for social media, right? How important is social media in real estate? It really depends on a lot of the things that we've talked about today If you are very active in your community if you're involved in church you coach you know you have hobbies where you have a really great friend group Then I would say social media is something that I would still encourage you to become familiar with But if you can get business from people that already like you and you can get referrals that way Then I would focus a lot of my energy On on maintaining those relationships. Okay, if that's where most of your business is going to come from I view online presence and social media as another lead source. Okay, it can benefit You're a lead source of your sphere and the people that already know you like you and trust you and you can add that to That plan but in and of itself if you're just posting every once in a while I can't promise you that that's gonna get you business and we see it and if you get on my page You'll see it. You'll see us. You know, we boast about just doing our jobs. We'll say we just sold one We got a new listing the the only the only exception to that is where I say that it is absolutely necessary. Is, I said earlier that we don't sell a product. We sell ourselves. Okay, well we do sell ourselves. And we are marketers. Right? We get a listing. It is our job to market that property to the best of our ability. And I think not taking advantage of social media. Social media. You're, you're doing a disservice to your clients. That would be my answer to that. I would say, be familiar with it. Know how to use it. And for, for your sellers, you want to be able to connect. With as many buyers as possible, which, which means as many eyeballs on it as possible. So, all right guys, well, I'm going to wrap up with that. We will continue to dive into this as we go through more episodes for you guys in the new agent series. But if you have any questions, if I can help you in any way, please feel free to reach out to me. My name is Landon K. Johnson on Facebook, Instagram, and Tik TOK or you can find us on the podcast with the always moving forward. So as always guys, no matter what you're going through, remember to keep moving forward. Thank you so much for listening. Have a wonderful Friday.