How I Got Started in Real Estate

First things first, as I sit here and write this on a Saturday night at home with my wonderful, supporting wife and new 3 month old baby girl, I thank God for blessing us the way he has. I've had my real estate license in Oklahoma for about 3 and 1/2 years, and my wife was taking her state exam right around when we found out she was pregnant. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous when we found out right after she quit her good paying management job with even better benefits to help me grow our real estate business. Now she takes care of our little angle full time and I was forced to go out and find help. I got my real estate license because I wanted to invest in real estate. I had seen the potential for passive income, and realized that you didn't need to have anything special. All it would take is hard work and you could learn how to do it.

I started as a new agent in April of 2010 after replying to a craigslist ad from a local agent looking to grow a team and hire a buyers agent. The local brokerage I started at had low fees and even less support. The lead agent promised training and support, but there was a lot more I was expected to learn on my own than I expected. I butchered the first offer I wrote, and struggled the first few months (this whole time I was working another part time job, barely supporting my new wife and me). What the team and lead agent did supply were leads. I did get some leads, although now I realize how low quality they were, and closed about 10 deals that first year. Altogether I think I did about a million dollars in sales. 3% commission, then 50% back to the team, and broker fees amounted to less money than we needed. As I started networking and talking about what I did, I met a guy that used to have his license at a lunch with some guys from church. He was offered a great job, and handed his business off to his wife.

He had worked at REMAX, and his wife did as well. After introducing me to the local broker, I decided I could find better leads on my own. I joined REMAX in November/December of 2009. After all, I would be splitting my deals with no one, and REMAX had a whole different approach to splits. I started a website, and got some great buyers. I closed my first million dollar + deal a year into working at REMAX, and got a taste of the potential that being an agent had. A year and half into working at REMAX, and we had reached the same or better closed volume level as the top agents in the office. I was on track for a $10 million dollar year. Compared to many other REMAX offices, I understand this is a low number. In retrospect, I'm blessed that our office did not have the mega agents in our office so I was forced to look elsewhere as there was no one else to learn from in that office.

I had read Gary Keller's Millionaire Real Estate Agent book a while before, and my goal was to grow a team so I could have steady cashflow (lot of it), and focus on real estate investing full time (wealth building/retirement). Coincidentally, around the time my wife was looking to quit her job and come to work with me, I was asked to be on a panel of newer agents that were doing well. The person leading the panel was a Keller Williams Team Leader, and we hit it off. We knew that if we were going to make a change, it had to be now or never. While praying and thinking about making the change, we were invited to a 16 year olds birthday party. It just so happens that my youngest brother, (who was almost 16 at the time) was good friends with a the grandchild of the woman who had a great hand in making KW what it is. The birthday party was at her house, and we went. After and hour and a half guided tour of her house, we could tell she knew what she was talking about. My wife and I had to find out what she knew, and learn. So the move to KW became a no brainer.

After moving over to KW in September of 2012., we really looked at our business. Our average sales price was higher than the market average, but we were extremely buyer heavy and dependent upon too few lead generation sources. The more we learned about growing an "agent" real estate business, we learned that listings were the key. This was hard for me to realize. At first, in my mind, I could almost always get a buyer to eventually buy (if they were a real buyer). I didn't understand listings. Less than a year later, and we had 3 times more active listings than I had even closed the year before. The bonus was I even had more time with my new little family. A year after moving over to KW, (my anniversary month is September, and today it is August 17) and we now have a full time licensed assistant (second one, and we took time hiring after we learned our lesson), have a partial buyer's agent, and a full time buyer's agent starting in a couple of weeks. This next month is going to be a record month for us, and we couldn't be more blessed.

There are lots of things I've left out in here - many more details to my rambling story. As I see it, you have a couple options if you want to get your license and start on the brokerage side. You could try it alone first and try to find deals. You could join a team (make sure you join a good one). The biggest key though is to realize that if you want to be successful, you have to treat it like a business and not a cake job with flexible hours. If you are determined to make it work, anyone can do it. You just have to want to.