How to Fail at Real Estate in 5 Easy Steps

How to fail at real estate in 5 easy steps

Much as we might not like to talk about it, it seems a lot of agents fail at real estate. Tom Ferry once said that 87 percent of real estate agents leave the business within five years of getting their licenses. Others say that number is closer to 95 percent. It’s safe to say that the churn rate in real estate is high, and for a number of reasons.

If you’re struggling to not be among them, read on to see what you might be doing wrong.

1. Hold on tenaciously to those rookie expectations

Ah, the allure of a career in real estate to those who don’t work in the industry. You get to drive a fancy car, work whenever you want and make gobs of money.

If you’ve ever read the comments section in an article on becoming a real estate agent you know that the expectations don’t end there. Many wannabe agents think that their broker will be their boss, walking them through training, handing out peachy leads and supplying them with everything they need to become a success.

And, real estate school does nothing to dispel these expectations. So, that first week on the job is a real eye-opener for many a rookie. Some will continue to cling to those expectations, fighting the reality that the only person holding them accountable for their success is themselves. Many folks keep their mindset for years after, confident their fail at real estate was someone else’s fault.

2. Fail to plan

Every agent needs a solid business plan to keep them focused on their objectives and goals.

Without one, you’ll be guessing at what it will take to meet them. And, in case you missed it, guessing doesn’t cut it (does the word “Zestimate” ring a bell?). With a new year ahead of us, now is the perfect time to either tweak last year’s plan or create your first one. NAR offers the Field Guide to Writing a Business Plan and Quickbooks offers tips as well.

Pay close attention to the marketing plan for your business. If you need tips, check out realtor.org’s marketing plan or the one from Florida marketing agency owner Jordan Scheltgen at inman.com. Turns out, it doesn’t take planning to fail at real estate – don’t become a statistic.

3. Spend all your time chasing buyers – a key step to fail at real estate

“To be truly financially successful in real estate sales without having to work all hours of the day and night and on weekends, becoming a strong listing agent is imperative,” claims Dirk Zellar in his book “Your First Year in Real Estate: Making the Transition from Total Novice to Successful Professional.”

It’s the old “When you list, you last” axiom at work.

Need proof? Matt Williams on Realtor.org has a tip on how to find it:

“Go into nearly any real estate office in North America during any kind of market, ask to meet the top producer, and the odds are you’ll soon be shaking the hand of someone whose income comes mostly from listing.”

So, if you’re intent on failing in real estate, spend all of your time chasing buyers exclusively.

4. Be content to be average (remember, the average is that most fail at real estate)

The NAR member survey reveals that less than a quarter of its members earn less than $10,000 a year. About the same number earn in excess of $100,000. The rest make an amount somewhere between the two.

A few years ago, Active Rain released Rich Real Estate Agent, Poor Real Estate Agent, a survey of agents. The goal was to determine what habits the rich agents cultivated that the poor agents didn’t.

The results were rather astounding.

Successful agents invest more money in technology and spend 10 times more of their income on marketing.
Tech dollars were spent primarily on their websites and CRM. They also spend a lot on email marketing – especially newsletters.

To stand out from the average agent requires you to be imaginative – and extraordinary.

Bryan Casella – who we’ve featured before – takes it further:

5. Ignore everyone you’ve done business with in the past – don’t pass go, don’t collect $200 – just fail at real estate now 🙁

The statistics are telling: 85 percent of real estate consumers swear they’d use their agent again but less than a quarter of them actually do.

Why?

Most likely it’s because they forgot about you. And, no, that closing gift you gave them five years ago didn’t make you all that memorable.

If you aren’t consistently following up with past clients and your sphere, you’re throwing away a huge chunk of business that’s not only a lot easier to get than chasing after new clients, but less expensive as well. How fast do you want to fail at real estate?

Two Harvard Business School researchers learned that bumping your client retention rate by a mere 5 percent will increase your income by anywhere from 25 to 95 percent.

The fortune is most definitely in the follow-up.

And, since 65 percent of your business may come from your sphere (according to the NAR), put them on your list to follow up with as well.

Whether it’s a drip email campaign, newsletters, postcards or client appreciation events, keep in touch if you want to succeed.

However you stack up on this list, now is always a great time to stop doing a few things, and start taking the right actions. If you see yourself in any of these descriptions, take a quick inventory and plot a new course. Future-you will appreciate it – building a sustainable, freedom-giving real estate business doesn’t have to be a dream. If success and failure are just choices, why fail at real estate when you could succeed? Get after it and make 2018 your best year yet!!