Here is my situation, after working 20 years in Information Technology, I have been downsized and/or outsourced 3 times in the last 5 years. Needless to say IT isn't what it used to be.

The idea of becoming a real estate agent has sat in the back of my head for several years. A few family friends have been quite successful at it. However I am not what you would call a "People Person". I do enjoy helping others, solving problems and doing research but I don't feel the need to surround myself with friends or make idle small talk. In fact the typical "sales person" personality turns me off.

In the few conversions I've had with others not in the RE field, everyone says that being a people person is absolutely essential. Is this true?

Check this out - Jennifer's SOI approach may be your cup of tea:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/34529/I-m-a-Reluctant

The typical sales person personality turns everyone else off as well. Especially the clients and the customers. It is really not necessary to be a people person to sell real estate. The biggest real estate market right now is foreclosures and short sales. Problem solving, research and the ability to deal with the corporate asset managers might make it the ideal direction for your personality.

I think not being a people person but instead being yourself might make you more succeful. I mean, as long as you are polite and professional, buyers/sellers can see right thru the fakes. And your background in IT may give you a leg up in the technological advances that keep happening in RE, such as this new fangled internet thing the kids keep going on about! LOL

Thank you everyone for your input.

I think it takes all types, and there is a spot for everyone. As someone who has bought and sold a whole lot of houses in my life, I can tell you that most agents simply don't get it (and this is me talking as a consumer, not as an agent). Sure, some agents have dynamic personalites and are likeable enough. That said, most are also horrible at following up and actually understanding that the transaction isn't about them...it's about their client! If you visit most agents' websites, it's endless bragging, family history, family pictures, and stuff that most people really don't care about! There is a local agent in my area, who actually has a story on his website about when he first started dating his wife, and a blow by blow description of their first date...all pretty ridiculous, in my opinion!

In my opinion, if you can be different (and by "different", I mean absolutely nothing like other agents), you'll do quite well. Most people simply don't like real estate agents, so you already have a leg up, if you can approach your business from a completely different angle! Best of luck to you.

John from Boston

I am also not a people person. Small talk is for kids.
I love to help folks.I too am a problem solver and detective.
I take care of people in there housing needs.

I love all of it and am good at it without being a glad handing sales person.

So, I'm guessing that you don't like salespeople and that you are somewhat fearful that entering the profession might be a compromize of sorts for you?

At the risk of rowing against the tide of this thread, let me caution you that real estate is a sales job. Like it or not, you do have to cultivate sales skills as well as market intelligence. Your particular sales personality does not have to be, actually SHOULD NOT be, typical. BUT you are selling, so get used to that idea.

Rarely will a client seek you out either for listing or buying if you haven't somehow marketed yourself. Lest you misunderstand, let me add that "small talk" is not marketing, and sales schtick is not selling. The tough market of today quickly weeds out those types. Some old-timers may still be exhibiting those methods, but their success is usually due to their own sphere of influence, not those old-time techniques that you find distasteful.

No matter how good you are at helping people, solving problems and doing research or how sincere you are in wanting to do those things, it all adds up to nothing if people don't know you and trust you AS WELL AS think of your name first when they have a real estate need. Prospects and deals don't just drop into our laps. Every real estate agent has to cultivate a method for finding prospects. If you do not have a skill set and a plan for dong that, look for a salaried position.

I know this may seem like tough talk, but I have been in sales jobs for nearly 15 years now. Before going into commission sales, I was a teacher. I am really good at helping people problem solve and understand and work through complexities. I still have that skill set and a genuine desire to be a helping teacher type, but succeeding in sales requires much more than that.

Eventually, people will be attracted to you and seek you out because you are successful, but it can be a long journey to that point. In the meantime, you have to earn a living. Most of the time in real estate, that requires you to learn to be a salesperson. What type of a salesperson you will become depends on you; but if you cannot accept the fact that you are going to be a salesperson, don't delude yourself into thinking that your desire to help people, problem solve, and research is enough to succeed in the world of sales.

By the way, I do help people, problem solve and research all the time! That's why sales is an honorable profession for me.

I guess I have always view "sales" as trying to persuade someone to buy something that they really don't need.

Nope! Success in any type of commission sales means generating your own leads and business base, as well as selling yourself and the services you provide. Of course, there are people out there in FSBO-land who would argue that using a real estate agent is equal to buying something that they really don't need!

I once had a less experienced agent ask me, "So, how do you pitch a house, anyway?" My answer to her was that I don't "pitch" houses, either literally or figuratively; and I would no more try to pitch one figuratively than I would try to pitch one literally. First off, it is pompous and presumptive to believe that I should try to convince anyone to make such a decision--not to mention that it is dangerous legally and ethically.

What I do is provide information, research, market knowledge, facilitation and access. How much of that I do and how depends on what kind of agency relationship I have with the customer/client. I won't try to fully explain agency relationships, because that's a topic on which even licensed REALTORS can spend days; but suffice it to say that there are varying levels of service required of an agent, depending on whether s/he is working with a customer or a client.

[quote=lizl]
What I do is provide information, research, market knowledge, facilitation and access. How much of that I do and how depends on what kind of agency relationship I have with the customer/client. I won't try to fully explain agency relationships, because that's a topic on which even licensed REALTORS can spend days; but suffice it to say that there are varying levels of service required of an agent, depending on whether s/he is working with a customer or a client. [/quote]

Well then I think this might just be for me... I'm attending a career night at a nearby Coldwell Banker office. I hope it will be informative.

Should all go well I'll probably start OREA phase 1 next week.

I love this conversation - I'm in the process of writing my next book called "The Reluctant Prospector" where I discuss, in depth, the idea that just because someone is responsible for bringing in their own business and even if they are paid on commission doesn't necessarily make them "salespeople."

There are many paths to success in a real estate career. Some agents are Super Salespeople with a real estate license; others are Super Real Estate Transaction Managers who have enough confidence and enthusiasm about their career to attract business to them - even without a salesy bone in their body.

My audience is the latter - those who want to be an excellent resource and facilitator for their client, but don't really relish the thought of prospecting.

By the way, I SUCK at small talk and am even worse at overtly marketing myself.

I'll toss my two cents in here.

To be successful in real estate we don't need to be the center of attention, the life of the party, or the chatty Kathy.

But we do need to be able to approach new people one-on-one and engage them comfortably, whether in person or over the phone.

Here's an example. Suppose you're in line at a grocery store and you hear the person in line in front of you chatting with the cashier about the possibility of selling their home. Would you feel too uncomfortable to pop in with a quick "Hi, the market in this neighborhood is GREAT right now! We just sold a home down the street and the seller was quite happy with our services!"??? Or something along those lines.

I don't know any successful agent who is too shy to jump in at such an opportune moment.

Texas Agent is right...you can't be afraid to talk to strangers about real estate. To do well in real estate you need to be able to communicate well and ask good questions to find out clients' motivations. Beyond a few friends and family members, making sales means prospecting to make contacts with potential buyers and/or sellers--it means door knocking, making phone calls and talking to people at open houses that you don't know and trying to engage them in a conversation so you can gain their business.

If you are really good at technology, maybe you can team up with a people-person and share you talents to generate business together. You can set up the website and internet lead generation system and the people person can work the leads.

You could always try out being an assistant for another agent to see how you like it.

Depending on the scope of the job, it may give you less interaction with clients/people if you are handling all of the paperwork/loading listings, etc.

this is a business. it's not about lunch dates, brokers opens and social hour at the local pub.

have a system and method of making business happen and repeat that until you retire.

i dont get personal with my clients.

you dont see a psycologist telling the patient thier life story. that is not what it is about and wont help to get the job done.

you are in sales. you must make business contacs and find out if you can help them in their transaction. plain and simple. you encounter people in every business. either on hte phone, internet or in person.

All of the advice in this thread works for some people. The thing that is important to understand is that there are different approaches that work for different people. Some people are really good at marketing. The run ads or mail out postcards or have a really great website and the prospects beat a path to their door.
They don't have to work their friends and social events at all. For them the job is returning calls or emails from prospects.

Others are relentless at converting FSBOs or Expired listings or getting listings from Foreclosure Asset Managers. They don't work the supermarket checkout lines, because they have developed a system that works. They always have 30-300 listings and the customers beat a path to their door.

There are a million different ways to succeed and you just need to find yours.

there are many ways to make money in real estate so if you keep searching for ways to make money without having to deal with people too much, you will find your way. It seems many agents I talk to aren't "people persons" or they jsut hate other sales people.

It's true that there are many ways to make money in real estate... but we are talking about REAL ESTATE SALES. I simply don't know of any successful real estate salespeople who are uncomfortable meeting new people. I just can't think of any.

Sure, you can set up a great blog or print marketing campaign to generate leads... but what do you do with all those great leads if you don't TALK to them at some point??