Investor · Bentonville, AR · Member since 2020 · 54 posts · 21 votes
Hey guys! For any of the agents out there, I want to hear how you got your first sale as an agent! I've been an agent for 3 years now and I've closed two deals, but want to start using my license more, so I'd love to hear how other agents got their business rolling!
Property Manager · Chicago · Member since 2024 · 45 posts · 16 votes
2y
Hello Aden, I was a leasing agent in Chicago for over 3 years, I now currently work in the property management. However many of my agent friends started off similar to me in leasing and slowly transitioned to sales. Many of them found great success after their 1-2 years because many of those clients who were leasing ended up converting to homeowners a few years down the line. Just from experience if you want to use your license a bit more, look into leasing. Pay can be great and it builds your referral network as well.
Property Manager · Chicago · Member since 2024 · 45 posts · 16 votes
2y
Hello Aden, I was a leasing agent in Chicago for over 3 years, I now currently work in the property management. However many of my agent friends started off similar to me in leasing and slowly transitioned to sales. Many of them found great success after their 1-2 years because many of those clients who were leasing ended up converting to homeowners a few years down the line. Just from experience if you want to use your license a bit more, look into leasing. Pay can be great and it builds your referral network as well.
So, if the average American knows 600 people and they each move about every 7 years, that means that the average American knows around 85 people that move in any given year.
How many of those moves do you want to be involved in?
To maximize the number of transactions you’re involved in you will need to:
Be Top of Mind when they think about moving - which requires consistent reminders.
Be seen as an Expert – which requires a consistent message and Evidence of Success stories
Gain their Trust – which requires communicating integrity
So, start out by listing everyone you know in an Excel spreadsheet.
Why Excel? Because later, you can easily use it as your mailing list! Create columns for Name, Street Address, City, State, Zip and then contact info: Last Contact, Relationship, Status, Email & Phone.
IMPORTANT: do NOT ask people for THEIR business, ask for referrals! Why? Because they will get defensive if they feel you are pressuring them. Remember, they can always refer themselves😊
Now, make it a goal to call at least 5-10 of these people EVERY day and ask a MAX OF THREE off the list below of who they know that:
Just inherited a home
Had a loved one pass away
Is behind on their mortgage or tax payments
Has a relative that can’t take care of their house anymore
Has a house they’re having trouble selling
Is facing bankruptcy
Knows a probate attorney
Knows a bankruptcy attorney
etc
Why only three off the list per contact? Because on average, we can only remember three things at a time. If you try to go over the whole list, you’ll lose the attention of an average person and they won’t remember anything!
It should only take you about a month or two to contact everyone on your list and then the tough part – you start all over again.
Why the repetition? Because it takes repetition for people to remember things and you have to be top-of-mind when they encounter a potential client for you!
Have you ever been to McDonalds? Of course you have! So, why is McDonalds still spending billions on advertising?
One more tip – people remember stories that trigger their emotions. So, tell a story of how you (or a fellow wholesaler) helped a seller out with their challenge(s). Change your story each month as different stories will resonate with different people AND use each story to emphasize one of your “who do you know…” questions.
As you start closing deals, you will need to reinvest your profits into mailing lists and other scalable activities to grow your business.
One last thing – we recommended you create a Status column on your spreadsheet, now we’ll explain why. If you find someone that seems to know a lot of people needing your services, wouldn’t it make sense to focus more resources on them? Conversely, you will run into people on your list that just seem to be a waste of time, so you’ll want to avoid them. So, create status codes for both of these and a few in-between codes to help you work smarter, not harder.
Investor · Bentonville, AR · Member since 2020 · 54 posts · 21 votes
2y
@Vicente Hernandez thanks for the comment! I totally agree starting out with leasing is a great strategy to build connections while also getting paid for the leasing commissions, when I first got my license I did leasing and just didn’t stick with it, so maybe I should do it again. Thanks!
Real Estate Broker · 3412 S. Harlem Avenue Riverside, IL 60546 · Member since 2015 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
2y
@Aden Brust I got my license almost 10 years ago, and I was an investor first who did the agent business on the side. Like many agents, my first deals were from long time family friends, specifically on the buy side (which is changing quickly now). Eventually, I got my footing and figured out my niche. What books are you reading? What podcasts are you listening too? There are some great resources out there for agents these days.
Realtor · Athens, GA · Member since 2023 · 201 posts · 104 votes
2y
Become a BP recommended agent. That will direct any investors in the area to you. I picked up 5 clients last year in just a few months. Been a great success for me, way better conversion rate that Zillow leads.
Real Estate Agent · Knoxville, TN · Member since 2021 · 167 posts · 78 votes
2y
What kind of business do you want to have? meaning, do you want to be a traditional real estate business representing retail buyers/sellers? only work on your own investments? a hybrid?
Chicago, IL · Member since 2024 · 17 posts · 9 votes
2y
Pick up the phone, get out, and talk to people. Find a focus, whether short sales, first-time buyers, or investors, and get to where they are and start chatting. If you talk to 500 people who are in a position to buy or sell real estate each month, it is unreasonable not to have a sale. Create content about your niche and talk to everyone who watches it. decide to go pro if that is what you want and make sure you are doing daily tasks that a pro agent does, this is a sales position and talking to people is how you get the sale.
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