I decided for 2023 that I would go back to something I love, writing. I abandoned writing in favor of making videos because “they” said video is Queen. That’s true, but I refuse to believe that people don’t read anymore. AND now that AI(artificial intelligence) is all the rage, more and more people will be cranking out endless streams of dribble written by bots.

I’m a purist, a snob, if you will…I still think writing and blogging without a machine telling me what to say is extremely satisfying. Am I saying that I’ll never use AI? Nope, I’ve already used it several times to test writing generic informational stuff. What I’m saying is that occasionally I’m going to write using my own voice and brain to get my point across.

I’m not going to stop doing videos. But I’m also going to blog more often in between those times when I just don’t feel like getting on camera.

So without further ado, I’m going to wax poetic about Why Most Real Estate Agents Fail. What does that even mean? It means that most people get their real estate license and will not renew or continue their licensing when it comes time to do so.

Why?

Because being a real estate agent is a scam. No seriously, being a real estate agent is a money and time consuming enterprise. Being a licensed real estate agent can bleed you of money very quickly. Check out this quick video I made on TikTok about this scam.

At the end of the day many people will look at the time and money spent and quit. If you’re not getting buyers in cars or selling listings, then you’re feeding an endless money pit. So why is it so hard to get going in real estate, or even recoup the initial investment?

The Endless Search for a Brokerage

The only thing you know when you leave real estate school is basically how to fill in the blanks on a contract and how to be deathly afraid of being sued. The stuff you learned in school is only to prepare you for taking the real estate exam.

But what happens after that?

First, you have to decide on a brokerage to “supervise” you and your licensing activities. The crazy part about this is that picking a broker is mostly asking other licensed agents who they recommend while simultaneously comparing the fees they charge.

This isn’t very much help.

OR brokers come to visit the newly licensed agents like predators at real estate school. If you physically go to a school to take classes, you’ll see what I mean. You know why brokers give presentations and visit agents at real estate schools?  It’s because they’re always on the hunt for the ‘next rockstar’ to join their brokerage.

Why?

Obviously they make more money if they find that needle in the haystack agent who does a bunch of business right out the gate. But many times finding that perfect brokerage doesn’t happen right away because it’s like closing your eyes and throwing a dart at the wall to pick a brokerage.

So guess what happens next? You bounce from one broker to another. Each time you move from broker to broker you pay more fees.

Speaking of fees, how much money do you have saved?

There’s No More Money Left to Dump Into Your Business

Over the last 18 months I’ve talked to a ton of new real estate agents who are at the brink of quitting, inactivating their license, or going to get a 9 to 5 job. (Or all of the above)

If you have a 9 to 5 job, no matter how much you hate it; don’t quit. 

Many new agents have one goal to quit their job and go into real estate full time. Even if that’s your goal, don’t quit your job unless you have at least a year of income saved. Or if you have someone willing to support you long term as you grow your business; make sure you’re not too proud to have someone else pay your bills while you work on your business.

Remember the bills don’t care that a closing is being pushed to next month or that your buyer decided they no longer want to buy a home anymore.

Lead Generation

I have a ton of lead generation videos on Youtube because this is literally my jam or my specialty. I love to teach free online lead generation to real estate agents. Gone are the days of door knocking and cold calling for leads. It’s the age of social media and it’s evolved so quickly that it seems criminal that “old heads” in the business are still telling agents to do dangerous things like knock on doors.

I’m a member of a very large Facebook group of approximately 80,000 women. One of the posts that I read in the group pulled at my heartstrings. A lady in the group posted about door knocking to get listings and having a gun pulled on her!

That’s not okay.

It doesn’t show your commitment or hunger for the business to put yourself in danger to get business. Generating leads online is relatively easy once you have the foundations in place. I have a course that I created that goes over online lead generation and how to grab hundreds of leads per month FOR FREE from the internet. Check it out HERE!

Poor Social Media Marketing

This one goes hand in hand with lead generation. But it’s especially important to note that social media marketing is a wonderful tool if you know how to do it right. Technically there’s no “wrong way” to do it unless you aren’t doing it at all.

However, if you have a job the time you spend on social media has to count. What I find is that most agents aren’t using social media to their advantage because they don’t know what they should be doing on social media to generate leads.

Posting into the void with no plan isn’t the solution. It doesn’t matter how many glamorous headshots you take standing in front of a building, posting a photoshoot every few weeks on social media doesn’t move the needle either. Check out this FREE Training I gave on YouTube about this very subject.

Being a Generalist

When you leave real estate school, you most likely have no idea what specialty you’ll land on or what feels right for you. But popping up online and telling people you’re a real estate agent will get you lost in the shuffle. Thousands upon thousands of real estate agents get licensed every single day.

People don’t care that you’re a real estate agent. As a matter of fact most people know at least one real estate agent. The biggest thing people want is someone who they think is knowledgeable and can help them make the right decision. The world of real estate involves very large sums of money and people want someone they can trust with the process.

I spoke to a newly licensed real estate agent the other day who has her first listing and she absolutely hates it! She said she doesn’t like the pressure involved with getting a listing sold and the constant reaching out from the seller. The good news is that now that she has that experience she wants to work with buyers exclusively.

So now is the perfect time to declare her specialty in working with buyers and learning the ins and outs of the buying process. She should take the time to become an expert in a specific area of buying. They have residential buyers, commercial real estate buyers, land buyers etc.

I have a real estate agent friend who is a listing guru and has his listing process down. One day I asked him why he doesn’t declare himself a listing specialist online and he told me that he’s afraid of being too specific in that area. He went on to give me a host of other types of clients he thinks he can work with including bilingual buyers.

Why bilingual buyers when he isn’t bilingual? He told me it’s because he doesn’t want to close himself off to any type of business. That’s the wrong type of thinking.

He basically functions as a listing agent, sells multiple listings a month, but doesn’t want to declare himself a listing specialist for fear of potential business he may miss out on. How crazy is that? You will never be able to serve everyone.

Never be afraid to become a subject matter expert or specialist. This helps your business. I declared myself a subject matter expert in apartment locating and that decision was instrumental in exploding my business in less than 60 days using social media.

You cannot serve everyone. The longer you stay a real estate generalist, the longer you will struggle in real estate. You can be a new construction specialist, a resale specialist, a commercial specialist and so on. 

Summing it up: Why Most Real Estate Agents Fail?

Being a real estate agent is definitely not as easy as it seems. In this age of social media everything looks super simple. And knowing that 87% of real estate agents fail could make you feel like throwing in the towel right now.

But being armed with the information listed above can help you prepare. Whether you’re interested in social media branding or a long term coaching program, I can help! Book a call with me HERE!