Being A Real Estate Professional: Not All Real Estate Professionals are REALTOR.
It’s important to note that not all real estate professionals are REALTORS.
The real estate industry encompasses many professionals, including brokers, team leaders, salespeople, trainers, property managers, appraisers, and more. The word realtor is often confused with real estate agent, it is important to note that All realtors are agents, but not all agents or brokers are Realtors. And for a real estate agent to become a realtor, he/she must agree to abide by the industry’s standards and uphold its code of ethics.
What Makes You a Professional Realtor:
Steely Determination: As a real estate agent, you must be determined to succeed. Defeat can never be an option. Every deal is important. Every client must get what they want. But that doesn’t happen by accident. As the client’s representative, you’ve got to adopt a dogged, relentless, stubborn resolve to make sure that the client wins.
If that’s not in your nature, a successful career in real estate may not be in your future. However, you’ll do well in real estate if you’re driven to win, no matter how many obstacles are thrown in your way (and some of those obstacles will come from your clients).
The Ability to Negotiate: Negotiation is important in real estate because you’ll need to haggle over at least three things:
- The listing prices
- The selling prices
- Your commission
Once you become a real estate agent, teach yourself the art of negotiation. Start with setting your goals, because that’s the hardest one. If you can secure a good commission for yourself, you have the innate ability to negotiate on all other real estate matters.
Tech Savviness: You need to know your way around a computer and the Internet. Being able to navigate websites isn’t just nice to know – it’s a must. Even if you don’t know much about the Internet or how to use a computer, you must be willing to learn. Otherwise, you’ll be eclipsed by tech-savvy competition.
A Winning Personality: Real Estate is a people-oriented career. You need a personality that can woo prospective clients and gain their confidence. While it will take time to become anexperienced real estate agent, a friendly personality can score a lot of points right away. People will want to work with you simply because you have an amiable demeanor. Not every agent is pleasant to be around – this can be your superpower.
Integrity: To maintain trust with your clients and score the all-important referral, you’ll need to hold yourself to a high ethical standard. You may be working with someone’s life savings. For this reason alone, it’s important that you’re principled and committed to doing what’s right.
The Ability to Network: Real estate is all about whom you know and who knows you. Without connections, you’ll never be a successful real estate professional.
The ability to network isn’t optional – it’s a required skill. But you don’t have to be an extrovert to succeed at networking. Sometimes introverts make the best networkers because they’re often better listeners and are more focused on quality conversations.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind:
Arrive early to networking events. Being fashionably late may grant you some passing attention, but the most viable connections are forged by the early birds.
Be pleasant. People like to be around others who are smiling and friendly.
Be passionate. Let your passion for real estate show through.
Follow up. After making a connection, be quick to follow up on the connection. Within the next couple of days, call them back and ask them out to lunch or offer to meet them in their office.
You’ll live and die by your ability to network and maintain relationships with your former clients and fellow real estate professionals.
Attention to Details: While a warm heart will help you with networking, you’ll also need a sharp eye. As a real estate agent, you’ll spend a huge amount of time on the details. Whether you’re comparing housing prices, reviewing the fine print in contracts, or considering your client’s wish list, you’ve got to be comfortable with “the little stuff.” The little stuff is what makes the big picture possible.
The Ability to Solve Problems: Every client comes to you with a problem: they need help buying or selling a house. Your job is to solve that problem.
While the problem may be the same, there are different variations that you’ll need to tackle, such as the client’s budget or the “must sell by” timeline. You’ll need to feel comfortable with constantly solving problems – sometimes in ways that aren’t the most obvious or conventional.
Self-Motivation: As a real estate agent, you’re your boss. Even if you work under a broker, you’re not an employee – you’re likely to be an independent contractor. This means that you operate your own small business. For this reason, you need to be self-motivated: no one is going to breathe down your neck and make your work. It’s entirely up to you.
Dedication to Professional Appearance: Coco Chanel once said, “Dress shabbily, they notice the dress. Dress impeccably, they notice the person.” As a real estate agent, not only are you selling real estate, but you’re also selling yourself – and I mean that in the nicest way possible. You must care about how you look because others will. They’ll buy your image before they buy your pitch, so dress accordingly.
Strong Communication Skills: As a real estate agent, you’ll spend a lot of your time speaking with people. Whether you’re fielding questions from clients, engaging with fellow agents, or building a network with other professionals, you’ll do a lot of talking. This is good news for those who like to talk, but even if you’re not a talker by nature, it doesn’t mean you can’t hone your communication skills.
Because these skills can be taught, here are a few tips to build or improve your communication:
Be a good listener Half of communication is listening to the other person. Give the other person a chance to talk and take your cues from them.
Ask questions You’re in a conversation, not a monologue. Ask the other person questions for clarity and as a way to draw them out of their shell.
Make eye contact While you don’t want to keep a steady gaze while you’re speaking to someone (that’s kind of creepy), you do want to look at that individual occasionally as you speak to them. Otherwise, it feels like you’re trying to hide something from them. Also, maintain eye contact when the other individual is speaking to you, or it will appear that you’re disinterested.
12. Boundless Enthusiasm
Real estate work often requires long hours – early mornings, late evenings, and hustle all the way through.
To be successful in real estate, you’ve got to be enthusiastic about it. That enthusiasm will empower you to work longer hours and deal with difficult personalities.
