All Forum Posts by: Ariel Smith

Welcome @Shaunak Deo!

@Ben Kunzel Welcome from the Bay Area! Yes prices are crazy in our area and the barrier to entry is high. I'm interested to hear where you end up investing out of state! 

@Alexander Monnin Yes, they do all of the work and you get paid. It's much better for both you and your client to refer it out to a great agent who can give them the best service. Additionally, a local agent will have expertise that you simply cannot have if you're not present in the community.

Here in California, it would be impossible to do a transaction without traveling to the property because there is a document required with every transaction called the Agent Visual Inspection Disclosure. It's essentially an inspection of the property by the agent on each side of the transaction, noting the condition. I'm not sure how it is in other states, but that is the process here.

@Leigh Ann Smith I've never heard of a 30 day hold before, even on new bookings. We started using VRBO in November and never had any such hold. They do work similar to Airbnb though in that they don't process payment until 1 day after the check in (then it still takes the 5-7 days to receive payment.) 

Is 7/3 the check in date? Also, since the booking is over 30 days, they typically disburse payment in 2 parts, so not sure if that might have something to do with it as well

Hi @Anne Whalen I'm happy to chat more about it! I'll PM you

@Matt Carpenter Welcome from the Bay Area! There is a lot of useful information on BP and our community is very active and helpful here in the bay. Best of luck with all of your ventures!

I love this topic as I am fairly new to real estate myself. I think it really depends on your location and goals in deciding on a brokerage. For myself, I chose a small family brokerage in my area. The reason for that was because I knew that I wanted a runway to quickly ramp up as an agent. My area is extremely competitive and inventory-strapped, so I knew that I needed a competitive advantage in order to get in the game.

My broker has been in business since 1963 and has a golden reputation in our community. We have 8 agents in our office and we all work as a team. I love this because it allows me to hit the ground running in helping with listings, appointments, and open houses. We are also a very structured office which I thrive off of. We have a morning meeting every day from 8:30 - 9:30am and I work 40+ hours a week. I choose to do this because I wanted to jump head first into the business. I love having the accountability that being in a team environment gives me. 

I have been working as a realtor since March 6th and I have already written an offer for a buyer, will write another on Monday, and have my first listing appointment tomorrow! My goal is to do 6 transactions this year. I credit my quick start to working hard, fully committing, and staying consistent.

@Sanjay Gupta I have one I can refer you to. PM me for info

Mine are much different because I am in an area that hosts many festivals and we just had Coachella so views are very high:

1) # of views in the past 30 days: 1,092

2) Average # of daily views in the past 30 days: 40

3) Average Booking Rate since 1/1/2017: 0.625%

My booking rate is so low because my property is usually booked up 3-4 months in advance. I also had a long-term guest stay for a month and a half Jan - March. She booked in 2016.

@Kevin Lefeuvre would you mind posting your listing for us to take a look at? I'm happy to give feedback on photos, amenities and details.

I totally agree and love what @Patrick Britton said! When you are new, you don't really have any sort of advantage when competing for business against an agent who has done more deals. However, there are certain things that you can control! Things like your market knowledge, having a niche or something special that makes you different, and tenacity and spunk! 

The best thing you can arm yourself with quickly is knowledge. Learn your market like the back of your hand. Go visit open houses and observe the property (and other agents!) Find out what planning projects the city has coming up. Study the schools and which ones are more desirable. 

Learn the contracts. Read them over and over and over. Practice filling them out with made up scenarios. You should be able to explain them in layman's terms easily. 

If you focus on these things when you're new, you will ramp up very quickly. Then you'll find that when you get in front of prospects, you will feel much more confident in your ability to do an amazing job as their agent. 

Best of luck!