Believe it or not, there’s never a bad time to buy, sell or get into real estate. There’s just bad deals to be made and unproductive prospecting to be done. In fact, with all the hustle and bustle taking place in today’s market, this is a prime time to jump in and be a part of the action.
Most new agents are prepared with the understanding that it could be a few months before they get their first sale. While that may be true for some, there are others that are crushing it right out the gate.
If you want to hit the ground running, you’ve got to have your game plan down. Here are four simple ways for new agents to get listings in today’s market.
1. Ask for help from your sphere
It’s a beautiful thing when referrals start rolling in from family, friends and soon, past clients. But to get to that point in your career, you’ve got to ask for help. Why? Because people want to see you succeed and are willing to help you along the way.
Your sphere is the perfect place to do so, and starting early (even before you’re officially licensed) is a great way to get your career off to the right start. Tell those you know that you’re getting into real estate and that you need their help in getting started. As the saying goes, “Everybody knows somebody that knows somebody,” and in this industry that couldn’t be more true.
Most people move for various life events — a growing family, downsizing, work changes and so forth. If you can stay top-of-mind as the go-to expert when it’s time to make a move, you’ll be setting yourself up for potential and consistent referral business all year long.
2. Hold those opens
These are the few places where prospective buyers and potential sellers willingly come to you. Open houses are tried and true, and produce amazing results in all kinds of neighborhoods.
While there are many ways in which you can differentiate your opens from others (food trucks, music, giveaways, etc.), they are certainly not something you need to reinvent the wheel in. Solid pre-marketing (flyers and website updates with open days and times), good weather and minimal conflicts with major public events usually yield good results.
You’ll most likely get neighbors, active buyers and potential sellers (who want to see the property’s offerings for its price point). If even just one of the parties who stops by turns into a client, it was well worth it. Reach out to the top agents at your brokerage who consistently have listings, and make yourself available to help them in holding those opens.
3. Join a team
Teamwork makes the dreamwork. One of my biggest hurdles years ago as a new agent competing for listings with other brokers, was that it always came down to my years of experience (or lack thereof).
The owners would generally be impressed with my presentation for them, but they usually had reservations as to how new I was to real estate and the lack of transactions I had within that neighborhood or price point at that time. All valid concerns and things that I had to work through early on as a newbie by myself.
That said, if I had joined a team when I first started, there’s a good chance that I would have converted many of those lost customers to actual clients with the combined years of experience between all the agents within the team.
In addition, if the group was well-established, it’s safe to assume that opportunities for new business would be more consistent based on the clientele they had already nurtured.
4. Network on your turf
Every person you interact with is a potential client. Your barber or hair stylist, your trainer at the gym, your physician and so forth. And there’s always an opportunity at some point to help each other out — whether that’s through exchanging packs of business cards, promoting each other on your prospective websites or holding fun community events.
Combining your network with others can yield new connections and opportunities that otherwise may not have existed. In addition, you’ll have made a new ally who can vouch for you as a person and a professional.
In short, real estate is one of the few industries in which you can go full speed out the gate. With no cap on the amount of business you can have in a year, your success really comes down to discipline and execution.
People move for various life events when the time comes. As long as you can position yourself to be top-of-mind (whether as an individual agent or as part of a team), landing new listings will be much easier and consistent.
Anthony West is a real estate agent, the founder of The Luxury Life KC at Moffitt Realty, and an entrepreneur in Kansas City.
