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Does it matter what kind of car you drive as a real estate agent?
Hey guys! This might be an obvious question but I'm 20 years old and im obtaining my real estate liscense in about 2 months. I'll be working with 2 top producers in my area(Southern California)as my mentors and I'm looking forward to starting a succesful business. Right now I drive a somewhat older 2 door truck that I feel won't put off the best look. So I'm currently looking at 2 totally different cars. One being a small 2 door sports coupe and the other being a nice used Mercedes 4 door. I have to finance either but I really want the sports car because I love fast cars and I'm young but im not sure if it will hurt my business. Everyone I know in the industry tells me it's very rare to drive clients around as they prefer to drive themselves so how much will it matter if I drive a small sports car? Or if I kept my trucks and waited untill I made enough to buy something that has sports and luxury? Thanks guys!
#2 Contractors Contributor
- Severna Park, MD
Pick up a mini van , keep it clean , and have a childs car seat in it . First if you have to show a house to a family , you are prepared . And when you go out on a weekend and the cops look at you , they will feel sorry for you having to drive moms mini van and they wont pull you over .
don't drive a beater but something middle of the road is just fine until you start generating some income
Originally posted by @Account Closed:
I feel like thats a good idea, however my payment will be similar to how much I'm saving in gas as my truck gets terrible mpg. I belive I'll be driving quite a bit as a realtor so I forgot to factor that in. I'm mainly curious as to whether or not driving a 2 seater sporty car will affect business?
If I was going to be a realtor rather than an investor, and I had to pick between a 2 door sports car and a 4 door mercedes, the choice is easy - the 4 door. I would keep it meticulously clean and when I show properties, I would offer (close them on it) to drive them around.
This keeps the conversation going, allows you to spend more time with the clients, build rapport, discover what they do and don't like in a home, etc. I would ask questions that get them talking amongst themselves, while you are there to listen as you escort them to the next property.
You don't have that luxury if you are in separate vehicles.
And there is value in having a nicer vehicle - flash for cash, as they say. You will get more trust from your prospects if you're in something that says "I'm successful and you can trust me" than if you are in a beat up old Ford that says "I don't have a pot to piss in, but please buy a house so I can get a commission." ;)
Just don't spend more than you can afford. Cheers and good luck :)
@Account Closed I just went through this internal debate myself. I ended up buying a used 2010 Infinity G37, four door for 16k cash. I could have financed something much more expensive and easily have made the monthly payments, but I want to save my cash for smarter things (like buying more investment property).
The car is plenty nice enough to say "I'm a successful RE agent, and I know what I'm doing" but not so nice as to say "I make too much money, and RE agents are overpaid" :)
This is a good question but for me personally you don't need to buy expensive car to show off or to prove something. Just having a clean car such as Honda cars I think they look good and decent.
I had a pick up truck for the first few years selling real estate. Probably sold 40+ houses with it. People are usually following you to the houses. In hindsight you would in fact build better rapport driving the people around. I then traded up to an old Mercedes SUV with 200,000 miles and ran it up to 320,000 before selling it. I don't think the car matters at all provided it's not a total beater, but if you can get something nice with 4 doors and offer to drive people around when it makes sense.
Originally posted by @James W.:
...And there is value in having a nicer vehicle - flash for cash, as they say. You will get more trust from your prospects if you're in something that says "I'm successful and you can trust me" than if you are in a beat up old Ford that says "I don't have a pot to piss in, but please buy a house so I can get a commission." ;)
James:
I disagree. If I meet a young, 22-23yr old realtor, still damp behind the ears, and s/he is driving a flashy, expensive vehicle, I would be thinking either Mom or Dad were the broker or this person has a poor grasp of fiscal prudence and is living beyond their means. {Perhaps it's an age thing}.
I agree, and stated above, that you should avoid driving a marginally road worthy jalopy, but something common / middle of the road that is clean and in good repair is a smarter purchase for someone newly starting out.
im a landscaper alongside realtor so on days/times i have both clientelle, a pickup would be perfect but unfortunately since i'm still unburying myself out of crosscountry relocation expenses im just borrowing my buddy's truck sometimes but can hardly wait to be able to afford a pickup and would use it for re meets without any hesistation; appearance is overrated its the real property in question that ought to be in the spotlight not the accessories (although someones thats supposed to be a pro/expert in buying/selling but is leasing everything longterm, ie, their car AND their home, would send me mixed signals for sure! but i'll get into that in maybe a separate thread as dont want to derail urs)
nevertheless, think gas, and think green.
Originally posted by @Roy N.:
Originally posted by @James W.:...And there is value in having a nicer vehicle - flash for cash, as they say. You will get more trust from your prospects if you're in something that says "I'm successful and you can trust me" than if you are in a beat up old Ford that says "I don't have a pot to piss in, but please buy a house so I can get a commission." ;)
James:
I disagree. If I meet a young, 22-23yr old realtor, still damp behind the ears, and s/he is driving a flashy, expensive vehicle, I would be thinking either Mom or Dad were the broker or this person has a poor grasp of fiscal prudence and is living beyond their means. {Perhaps it's an age thing}.
I agree, and stated above, that you should avoid driving a marginally road worthy jalopy, but something common / middle of the road that is clean and in good repair is a smarter purchase for someone newly starting out.
I hear your logic there, but here's another angle.
You are obviously wise enough to know that a young(ish) person shouldn't be driving a brand new Maserati or something like that, but let's talk about the average home-buyer that OP might be catering to.
People like you already own a home, and you're not going to be hopping in the car with a 22 year old kid.
People that are using Realtors, rather than hunting on their own, are influenceable and I will stand by my opinion that a nicer car (but not too nice!) can have a positive impact.
I voted your post because I appreciate your respectful discourse. Best wishes to you :)
I will say this: as an investor, it doesn't matter what kind of car I drive. In fact, the cheaper the better. Cars are the worst kind of investment imaginable (especially if debt is involved!).
My car is a 2000 MBW station wagon. Lots of rust. Looks like it's been in a few "Mad Max" movies. I love it.
I actually just witnessed this similar situation last week. A friend of mine owns a well drilling business and got a call while we were at lunch. The site was on our way back so I went with him. We were in his 2 or so year old Land Rover. When we got out, the customer said, "oh, I cant afford you if you're driving that". You'd have to know my friend to appreciate his response but it was pretty blunt. Without hesitation he tells the guy, "I'm the largest driller in the area. I make my money from volume, not one customer. Furthermore, if I drove up in a piece of s**t truck, then you would think I was a crook. Now that that's settled, where were you hoping to drill on the lot?" It was all I could do to keep from laughing but he was right. There's pros and cons to the truck you have and the cars you're considering. I grew up in the car business and feel like you should consider a point no one else has mentioned. An older luxury car may be what you want and in an affordable purchase price range, but you seriously need to consider the age, mileage, and service history. Also, Autocheck is far more accurate than CarFax if you look at those as well. That $10K E Class with 120K miles on it might in your budget but can you afford the repairs when it breaks down, which I promise you, it will. Maybe not major, but something will break and won't be cheap to fix on a Mercedes, BMW, etc. My suggestion would be as most others, get a few deals done and save some money first. Then try your best to not look at your purchase through a 20 year old mindset. Fast cars are fun, but not practical. You can buy one of those later (and maybe live longer). Luxury cars are nice, but not economical to maintain. I'd go with something middle of the road, dependable, and relatively common maintenance wise. Unless you do it yourself, you could be looking at $100 or more difference in price for an oil change between, say a Honda Accord and an E Class or 5 Series. Good luck!
Originally posted by @Derek Hutchison:
I actually just witnessed this similar situation last week. A friend of mine owns a well drilling business and got a call while we were at lunch. The site was on our way back so I went with him. We were in his 2 or so year old Land Rover. When we got out, the customer said, "oh, I cant afford you if you're driving that". You'd have to know my friend to appreciate his response but it was pretty blunt. Without hesitation he tells the guy, "I'm the largest driller in the area. I make my money from volume, not one customer. Furthermore, if I drove up in a piece of s**t truck, then you would think I was a crook. Now that that's settled, where were you hoping to drill on the lot?" It was all I could do to keep from laughing but he was right. There's pros and cons to the truck you have and the cars you're considering. I grew up in the car business and feel like you should consider a point no one else has mentioned. An older luxury car may be what you want and in an affordable purchase price range, but you seriously need to consider the age, mileage, and service history. Also, Autocheck is far more accurate than CarFax if you look at those as well. That $10K E Class with 120K miles on it might in your budget but can you afford the repairs when it breaks down, which I promise you, it will. Maybe not major, but something will break and won't be cheap to fix on a Mercedes, BMW, etc. My suggestion would be as most others, get a few deals done and save some money first. Then try your best to not look at your purchase through a 20 year old mindset. Fast cars are fun, but not practical. You can buy one of those later (and maybe live longer). Luxury cars are nice, but not economical to maintain. I'd go with something middle of the road, dependable, and relatively common maintenance wise. Unless you do it yourself, you could be looking at $100 or more difference in price for an oil change between, say a Honda Accord and an E Class or 5 Series. Good luck!
I think I'm going with a fuel efficient used 4 door c class(2013) for about 20k with a warranty. I can get a long loan and my payments are cheap enough to afford.(280 a month).
Originally posted by @James W.:I hear your logic there, but here's another angle.You are obviously wise enough to know that a young(ish) person shouldn't be driving a brand new Maserati or something like that, but let's talk about the average home-buyer that OP might be catering to.
People like you already own a home, and you're not going to be hopping in the car with a 22 year old kid.
People that are using Realtors, rather than hunting on their own, are influenceable and I will stand by my opinion that a nicer car (but not too nice!) can have a positive impact.
I voted your post because I appreciate your respectful discourse. Best wishes to you :)
James,
That was more-or-less the aim of my original post - no junkers, but not too fancy ... the exception being if your are selling pretty houses to Dick & Jane who may be influenced by a nicer ride.
BTW: I'll often use a young realtor (22yr old kid) as they can often be trained to step out of the way for negotiations.
Originally posted by @Roy N.:
Originally posted by @James W.:
I hear your logic there, but here's another angle.You are obviously wise enough to know that a young(ish) person shouldn't be driving a brand new Maserati or something like that, but let's talk about the average home-buyer that OP might be catering to.
People like you already own a home, and you're not going to be hopping in the car with a 22 year old kid.
People that are using Realtors, rather than hunting on their own, are influenceable and I will stand by my opinion that a nicer car (but not too nice!) can have a positive impact.
I voted your post because I appreciate your respectful discourse. Best wishes to you :)
James,
That was more-or-less the aim of my original post - no junkers, but not too fancy ... the exception being if your are selling pretty houses to Dick & Jane who may be influenced by a nicer ride.
BTW: I'll often use a young realtor (22yr old kid) as they can often be trained to step out of the way for negotiations.
Negotiations? I think you mean closings. :)
Hold off and keep what you have. Save a pile of cash. Don't finance. Buy used. Something reasonable, great fuel economy. You can find a good used car for $5-8 thousand, less than 5 years old, probably less than 100k miles.