A realtor’s job involves much more than just listing and selling houses, which means there’s plenty of room to make mistakes if you’re not careful. While these five real estate mistakes are easily avoided, they can quickly become costly—and even end up doing serious damage to your reputation as an agent. With that in mind, don’t underestimate the importance of avoiding these common blunders as you continue to build your career in real estate!
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1). Not Listening
The best real estate agents are good listeners. Too many agents spend too much time talking and not enough time listening to their client’s needs. Listening is a key part of what makes someone a great realtor, but it’s easy for even experienced brokers to fall into bad habits in an attempt to seem knowledgeable or qualified. Instead of bragging about your experience, listen to your clients and ask them questions about what they need.
Remember, your customers are spending a lot of time and money with you—it’s important to listen to them and understand what they need. After all, you don’t want to be just another realtor who doesn’t have their client’s best interests in mind.
You can’t succeed in real estate if you don’t listen to your clients and understand what they need. Being a great realtor is all about helping clients find what they need, so listen carefully. Not only will listening help you better understand your client, it will also make them feel more comfortable working with you.
Remember, you’re more than just a realtor—you’re a consultant and advisor. Listen to your clients, ask questions, and help them find a home that meets their needs.
Real estate agents, listen to your clients. If you don’t, you may as well stop trying to sell real estate. Listening is one of the most important parts of being a good realtor—it helps you better understand your client and figure out what they need. After all, if you can’t understand what they need, how can you help them? Real estate is all about helping people find homes that meet their needs; if you can’t do that because you aren’t listening to them, then why should anyone hire a realtor at all?
2). Not Having an Objective
Realtors who start by only thinking about their own bottom line are doomed to fail. They need a clear idea of where they want to be and how they plan on getting there. If you’re planning on buying real estate for investment purposes, for example, you need to have a plan for selling it—ideally, one that doesn’t rely on falling prices to cash in your chips.
I’ve talked to far too many real estate agents who jump into real estate investing without thinking through their goals and plans. The market may be booming right now, but that could change at any moment. When you buy an investment property without a clear plan for how to make money off of it in a slow market, you run out of cash—and buyers—fast.
Real estate investing requires a plan. Once you have that, all that’s left is execution. You can do it!
Getting your hands dirty is important, but understanding what to do before you get started is even more important. Let’s get started! We have a lot to cover. As with most careers, real estate agents start by getting their feet wet with an internship or entry-level position at an established firm. However, becoming a real estate agent isn’t as simple as walking into any office and asking for an application.
Aspiring real estate agents need to earn their licenses first—and that process isn’t easy. Before we talk about how to become a real estate agent, let’s look at why it’s worth it. A career in real estate can be incredibly rewarding financially and emotionally.
You could make great money while helping people find homes they love—what could be better than that? To become a licensed realtor, you have two options: earning your license through an accredited school or program (either online or in person) or taking classes through an existing state-approved program.
3). Not Keeping up with Technology
When you’re working with a buyer or seller, you’re in a customer service role. And like any other customer service job, customer expectations are much higher than they used to be. Today, many customers expect businesses to communicate with them digitally and on demand. If you don’t keep up with technology in your industry, it will hurt your business and your personal success as a real estate agent.
For example, your clients may expect you to respond to texts immediately, even on nights and weekends. You may have some clients who expect to do business through email, and others who want direct phone calls or in-person meetings. They’re all customers, so it’s vital that you find ways to meet their needs—even if that means learning new communication technologies or working odd hours from time to time.
It will be worth it in terms of customer loyalty and referrals. Don’t Have a Good Sense of Your Own Value: One reason real estate agents lose deals is that they undervalue themselves when negotiating with sellers. The majority of real estate agents are contracted employees, meaning they are hired by a real estate brokerage firm for a set amount of money (called a commission split) for every deal they close.
If you don’t negotiate well, you’re likely to earn a smaller commission split. But if you do negotiate effectively and demonstrate your value, you may be able to get a larger commission share—meaning more money in your pocket at closing.
4). Over-Promising
A good realtor can help you find your dream home, but a great realtor will help you find your dream home without promising anything they can’t deliver. This means recognizing when it’s in your client’s best interest to hold off on purchasing a piece of property. Sometimes, it’s better to walk away from a deal than getting locked into one you won’t be able to successfully complete for any number of reasons.
Remember that it’s always better to do a little research before you start putting yourself and your client in a position where you can’t deliver. If a realtor overpromises and underdelivers, their client could lose faith in their professional services—which would be bad for business. On top of that, it will make it more difficult for them to get future clients.
When it comes to successful real estate, over-promising is never a good idea. If you can’t deliver on your promises, it will be best for your client and for your business to simply walk away.
If a good deal falls into your lap and you know for sure you can successfully complete it, that’s one thing. But if you have any doubt or aren’t certain of your ability to get a deal done, it might be best to walk away before you over-promise and lose credibility with your client. That way, they can move on to another realtor who can truly deliver.
5). Being Inexperienced
The industry changes rapidly, and as a new realtor, you may be unsure about how to handle some of these issues. Remember that your clients want you to guide them through every step of their purchase or sale process. You’re their trusted advisor!
