I have had my RE license for a year now and still have not had any sales. So what do I do? Quit my job to do RE full time. Am I crazy? Probably, but I had read many opinions saying that you can't do RE part-time. For me, that ended up being true, I have two kids (three if you count the husband), a stationery business, and Real Estate. Unfortinately, Real Estate (what I really want to do) always ended up being put last. How is anyone going to get business if they have no time to work their business?

So, much to my husbands dismay, I quit my job. I have now been a full-time agent for two weeks. You know what happened...I started to work my business and after a year I have prospects. Promising prospects! No deals yet but I'm working on it.

Now, my question is...how do I get my prospects to committ?

I have two pre-approved. One with a house to sell and one first time home buyer. I can't get either of them to committ, one is deciding on house or condo. The other can't find the time to get their house in order to list it. Not having many other clients right now I am happy to be working with two clients even if they are taking up time that I know one day (hopefully sooner than later) will be really precious. So for future refernce when clients are knocking my doors down and my time is even more precious...how do you get clients to committ?

if you dont ask you wont get a commitment!

no problem on the client not wanting to get the house in order to list it. reduce the price to make it look more appealing. if they want to get more money they will have to have it in the best shape possible.

set up the appointment for your seller. sit down, go over thier goals, show them how you market and get em to sign

Either sell off the stationary business and use those funds to grow your re business or crossmarket your stationary business to agents and brokers while selling real estate.

One word you need to eat,breath,and sleep with in this business is MOTIVATION!

You will find as the leads pile up to sift the tire kickers and non-motivated listers from the serious people that will end up with a closing.

They want you to be serious dealing with them so make them serious and respectful of your time as well when dealing with them or refer them off and collect a refferal fee whenever they close.

The first person listing doesn't sound very motivated to me.If they were they would find time to get there home ready to list period-obviously it's not that pressing to them.

So determine if they are TRULY MOTIVATED and OVERCOME any objections to bring them closer to a buyer buying or a seller listing.

You also have to have a UNIQUE reason for you to be there agent otherwise you look the same to them among all the other agents.

Ask yourself what do I bring to the table that seperates me from everyone else. If you can't answer this question keep thinking as if you don't know yourself you certainly can't convey it to potential buyers or sellers.

To do listings is very difficult, it needs time. Competition is huge. Super Realtor is right, you have to show that you are different, sellers think that we are all one and the same. In the beginning a taught that I am like everybody and I was blaming my accent and not good English, while I understood that I have to offer something different to attract them. Sometimes thing don’t depend on you . You prospecting the, trying to set and appointment and the figure out that they are already with somebody else. With buyers is easier.

I think you are focusing too hard!

study study study study and when you are done study some more! do that to become competent, so that when on a listing presentation you have the professionalism to know how to sell the seller on using your service over the other agents taht they can pick from.

pick a niche and work it hard.

This is the best advice i can give to you,.

"have faith in yourself"

or buy the book or DVD "The Secret"

keep remind yourself that "it'll come"

You'll be too busy to post any comments here in the future.

Get GRI,SRES,CRS if you're in residential sales.

Exactly - you need to show that you are different from all the rest. funny thing - I got a new listing in a community virtually owned by another agent - and he was the agent that talked to the seller after me. she chose me.

then yesterday a man called the office telling the secretary he wanted me to list his house. I do not know him, do not know anyone in his community - but I'm sending him the contracts later today!

Take this time to preview, learn about different neighborhoods, different price points in your target areas so that when consumers call, you can speak intelligently and know you are talking about.

Take time to build a Buyer's packet and a Seller's packet. They will come in handy to show your preparedness to serve them.

Build a solid, information packed website. When people google, they dont search for "you" as the realtor. They google for information and once your website is heavily focused on the areas you want to work or your specialties, you will see them calling.

I remain successful in my business because I know had invested the initial efforts for a time such as this. I had started part-time too. I used that "no sales" times to learn, educate myself on how to serve my clients and their needs. It took me 4 years before I felt comfortable. Could I have done it sooner? Absolutely. It might take me 6-12 months had I started full time. But I wouldnt have a clue to know what to focus on.

I also had saved up enough money to fund my business on a cash basis. It took a while to get here but I have no pressure on paying my bills because I only spend money on things I can pay for. If I had to use my credit card, I cant afford it. I continue to build my cash reserves until I become absolutely comfortable. I do not share my business profits with the family budget. My husband takes care of the house and my income is to pay off our mortgage early - very early!

I took the liberty of explaining myself more a little Blog About Rookie Agents .

Some very good advice here. This is one reason I love this forum (long term lurker, only recent poster).

Hang in there and it will happen. Make sure you are studying, studying, and doing some more studying.

One of the key skills is learning who not to work with. You would frequently be better working by prospecting expired listings, FSBOs or cold calling apartment complexes than running around with an unmotivated buyer. It's really not true that they are better than no buyers. You would be better off studying the solds in an area to learn the market value so you could talk intelligently to the sellers, rather than wasting the day showing property to someone who can't make a decision.

two prospects after ONE YEAR does not sound very promising. even if you get a sale out of these two prospects, can you survive, financially and psychologically, on two sales per year? I don't mean to be negative here, but there's a fine line between persistence and foolishness. now is a very bad time for new agents entering the market. typically, buyers want to work with experienced agents with good market knowledge and a track record. if you list a home, can you deliver what the seller expects? can you afford to advertise the home on a regular basis. does your broker's office have name recognition in the local market? If not, you have huge obstacles to making any money in this market.

Watching HGTV is not what it takes to make it as an agent.

I have been doing RE for two years w/several sales. I do it part time & know how hard it is on a part time basis. Sometimes I get off from my job at 7pm & have to rush to meet w/clients (which don't know I have another job). This past Saturday I met w/two, got home at midnight to wake up & be at my job @ 7am, but made it! If my husband would have a steady job that would cover our expenses I sure would give RE a try full time but until now I can't. I work for the police dept w/all the benefits & a great 401 can't leave until next year that I am able to take the full 401 but unless the money is coming in steady I will not be able to leave. I had been self employed for 10yrs & loved it! It's hard to take the leap.

Mike Ferry... look him up. Follow his system 100% and you will be on top. You have to be smart and hungry in this business. It took me 7 months to sell my first home, after that it became like a domino effect. It takes time, just stay focused, stay motivated, and be hungry. With those 3 things in mind, the sky is the limit in this business.