What do you know about the real estate industry?

 

Do you know what it takes to succeed as a real estate agent?  Many new licensees enter this profession without a clear plan for success.  Often people start out by taking the exam and then going to work with a broker.  Many end up leaving the profession because they just couldn't make it work.  They had no blueprint for success, no roadmap to leave them to their goals.  Our industry has a history of high turnover with new agents.  But, you can prevent and avoid this from happening to you.

 

Taking the time now to understand the nature of the real estate business can help you succeed short-term and lay the foundation for your long-term success.  The real estate industry is uniquely different today than it was just a few years ago.  Too many people still envision our industry as though it were still 1960! 

 

Some of the changes that we face in the 21st century are the increased competition for the real estate customer. Agents are becoming more and more professional in their sales skills and staying in the business longer. 

 

Consequently, there is increased competition within the traditional structures used to find clients with an associated increase in the costs to get started in this business.  Additionally, there is an increase in the technology used by the modern real estate agent.  You must be prepared to invest in that technology.  This means that you will need a certain measure of basic business equipment to facilitate working in this profession.  Today's agent must rely on their own personal laptop computer, portable printer, cell phone, time-planner and/or PDA.  These are just the basics!  There are numerous other tools, computer programs, etc. that you will stumble across.

 

An excellent tool to assist you in deciding whether the real estate profession is right for you should be the reading of the newly revised book written by Carla Cross entitled Become Tomorrow's Mega-Agent Today.  This is an excellent primer for anyone thinking of the real estate career.  It is an outstanding guide and will assist you in determining if the real estate profession is right for you.  Visit her web site at http://www.carlacross.com/ or order directly by phone at 425-392-6914.

 

An additional reading resource for you would be the Complete Idiot's Guide to Success As a Real Estate Agent by Marilyn Sullivan.  This book is available at most locations where business books are sold such as Barnes & Noble, Borders, or may be ordered online at http://www.amazon.com/.