Crist shared with me some of the secrets to his success. His advice could be of use to many prospective realtors, especially those with a military background.
- You cannot expect loyalty in the business world the way you can expect it in the military, especially in real estate. Crist says, “Your mother or best friend might be asking you for advice while they are working with another real estate agent because they deliberately chose not to ask you to represent them.”
- You will have to deal with large amounts of stress among your clients. After all, it’s likely the largest financial transaction they have made in their entire lives. Despite their often unwarranted outbursts or shortsighted decisions, you must always be the calm voice of reason. If the clients don’t feel like you can keep the peace, they will find someone else.
- Save money. You’re going to need six months of living expenses in the bank before you start, if not a an entire year.
- Be frugal with advertising expenses. Although it may not sound as exciting as a billboard or commercial on TV, networking is always the best tool at first. The market is saturated with advertising scams that offer “just the cost of one commission,” and they almost never pay off. If you spend your money on finding leads, you will most likely find little business, and soon come to realize that you just burned through the money meant to pay your electricity and water bills.
- Do something every single day to find clients. In the military, you have someone telling you what to do and when to do it. It was absolutely demanding, but that’s not the case anymore. Here, it’s all up to you. That discipline will be the only thing that gets you a consistent flow of money, since the pipeline from getting a new client to holding a check in your hands can take months, or even a year.
- Crist tells fellow veterans who are breaking into real estate, “No one cares that you’re a veteran. It sucks, but that’s the way it is. They really don’t care.”
- There are many financial ups and downs. When you’re in a slump, it will seem tempting to just work part time and find another job. But it’s important to realize that things aren’t going to get easier. If it’s not working now, how is working less going to help you find success? If you stop giving it your all, then you’ve already given up.
- As said earlier, real estate agents who advertise themselves as wild successes are probably lying. So take heart: They might be struggling just as much or more than you. There are many successful real estate agents who don’t have their faces on billboards.
- Build relationships with people and nurture them. Everyone is a potential client or may know a potential client. Who would you want representing you in the sale or purchase of your home? A complete stranger, or someone you consider a friend? These networks need to be built, and you need to build them.
Crist found success, but he had to learn these things the hard way. Still, as many of us know, nothing worth having is easy to get.
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