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New Real Estate Agent Selling Your First Home

Tips for a New Real Estate Agent Selling Your First Home

So you’ve just gotten your real estate license, and now you’re looking forward to getting your business set up and selling your first house. There are a lot of steps you need to take, however, before that happens, and your educational courses may not cover everything you need. There are a lot of common pitfalls to avoid, and best practices change so frequently that they’re nearly impossible to teach in formal classes.

Real estate is a game of experience and knowledge, and it requires constant reading and research to stay on top of the best way to pick up clients, get houses on the market and get them sold for top dollar before they sit on the market for too long. Having the right advice and tools in your pocket can take your career to the next level. Check out these tips for a new real estate agent selling your first home and learn what mistakes and pitfalls to avoid so that you can start off with the success you crave.

Tips for a New Real Estate Agent

When you’re just starting out in real estate, it’s important to look for advice from those who have experience and success in the industry. You need to be up on the latest technology, have an outstanding website and social media presence, be approachable and communicative, and you will absolutely need a solid grasp on marketing skills.

By the same token, there are important pitfalls you need to avoid. These include not spending enough time or resources on staging the home, turning down potential customers, being too present and using transparent marketing tactics. Let’s break down these and other tips for a new real estate agent.

Engage in Effective Marketing

Marketing is everything to a real estate agent. You can’t sell your first home until you have a client looking to sell, and marketing is how you make that happen. Make sure that you are using the very latest technology, which is evolving and changing daily. Stay on top of developments and adopt them as you can. Build a website and keep it current. Have a strong social media presence — be engaging and light, and keep controversial issues like politics out of your posts. Stay on topic and on target, but try to keep your posts interesting to draw people to your website and foster communications.

Be communicative — promptly answer every email and personal message that comes in. Be concise, but thorough, and take care to always be friendly. Try to get to know your leads and personalize your discussions. Avoid chain letters and standard formatting. Know where to spend your ad dollars; you will certainly hit stumbling blocks on this, but learn from your mistakes. Pay attention to the strategies that are the most and least effective and adjust your marketing to compensate.

Work to build your database — try to add at least five leads every day. Do your research and explore listings. Set up a mailing list and use it. Talk to friends and family to get the word out and seek recommendations. Go to open houses and talk to buyers and sellers who may not yet have an agent to represent them. It’s really all about networking effectively.

Selling Your First Home

Selling your first home is a major milestone in your real estate career. It’s the first hurdle you’ll experience, and after that, you’ll start to get a feel for how it’s all handled. The first key is to treat your sales like a business. People looking to buy homes are making a major investment and commitment, so don’t take it personally if they seem hesitant. You’ll need to properly market yourself, and you’ll need to know when your advertising efforts might be too much and when they’re not enough. It’s a delicate balancing act.

Remember that there’s no such thing as a weak lead. If you judge a potential buyer based on their mode of dress, how they look or how they talk, you could be robbing yourself of a big sale. Every lead counts, and every potential buyer needs to be treated as a potential buyer. Be kind and genuine, and you’ll be remembered; and by the same token, don’t be overbearing or intrusive.

Let the Home Sell Itself

Stage the home properly, and it will sell itself. You don’t have to be pushy. The key to being a successful real estate agent is that you are there to help people find the home they’re looking for; you’re not a car salesperson. Certainly you are looking to make a commission, but the hard sell almost never works in real estate. Consider yourself a consultant more than a salesperson, and act as a guide for your leads.

Avoid Critical Errors in Staging

There are critical errors that many new real estate agents make right out of the gate. Two of these involve staging the house. For instance, many sellers don’t realize how their home smells, because they’ve become used to it. You need to make sure that the smell in the house is not overwhelming and that it’s very neutral.

On the same topic, your clients may insist on retaining the work they’ve put into making their home look great. Unfortunately, all that personality is their personality, and potential buyers want a home that they can make their own. It’s vital that you encourage your clients to remove personal touches and leave the home as blank a canvas as possible.

Never Turn Down a Showing

If a seller is being too difficult in showing their home, they may not really want to sell after all. Try to make sure that they never turn down a showing. Yes, it’s an inconvenience having to leave the house so that potential buyers can walk through, but it’s also an important part of the selling process. If you turn down a showing for any reason, the buyer will simply go somewhere else.

Don’t Spy, and Don’t Be Pushy or Suspicious

These are some of the biggest mistakes you can make. It’s amazing how many home sellers put up hidden cameras to spy on potential buyers. It’s a violation of trust, and it’s a great way to lose a sale. It also puts you, the agent, in a position where you can’t honestly respond to negative comments the buyers make — maybe you agree that the kitchen cabinets are outdated, but if the buyers are watching you, you certainly can’t address the issue.

Furthermore, don’t let the sellers hang out during showings, even during open houses. When someone is following a buyer around the home, it’s suspicious, and it makes them distinctly uncomfortable. This in turn leaves them with the impression that the home itself doesn’t feel right. It’s vital that the potential buyers feel welcome and secure when viewing the home.

Get Educated and Stay Educated

Entering the real estate field requires having formal education and licensure. Completing your real estate program can take just three weeks, followed by a couple of exams. After that, you’ll also want to explore opportunities for continuing education, and a good school will be able to point you towards these critical resources. If you’re looking for the very best education for real estate agents, look no further than Century 21 Americana Real Estate School. Get in touch with us for more information today!

Juan Martinez
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