Hello,

I am looking into becoming a real estate agent in Texas. I currently live in the Houston area. I have researched this field, read many posts on this site, and believe this is what I want to do. I am 32 and have been in medical sales for the last 7 years. My question is what would you do if you were starting from square one based on what you know now.

I would not start out at a small, independent company. I would go with one of the big franchises - like Coldwell Banker (and surely there will be others who recommend other companies). A franchise name usually offers more/better training, some mentoring, etc.

The independent broker I originally went with was an old friend of the family -- but his heyday was long past. No training, no mentoring, no help, no nothing. Just get out there and find some buyers & sellers - other people in other companies do it, and you're smarter than they are! That was all the guidance I got. I worked there with 1 other Realtor. We struggled, a lot, to make any money at all.

I completely disagree. I joined a small brokerage only 6 months in, but the broker of record makes so much time for me when I have questions, and calms we down when I get nervous. I think you have to mesh with the broker of record, it is the most important thing.

I started with a small company, and was in competition with my broker. If I could do it differently I would have gone with a lrger company with a good training program. The key when you start out is learn all you can.

If I had it to do over I wouldnt have started at c21 where I though I would get a great start. I would have found a successfull broker at any company that had the time and effort to put into training me.
I also wish I had established an online presence faster. It took me a good year to year and a half to even start that, and that was the key to my success. If only...

If I were to start over again I would have joined a top producer and his team to learn from someone actually doing it. I joined KW in my 2nd year and the training was fantastic but joining a team would have been even better.

Eventually I left KW because I couldn't afford them, they kept a good chunk of my commission, but other than that a good company overall just like there are others out there.

Medical sales is a great paying field.I wouldn't leave it until you have 6 months of reserves to live on.

You will own your business and need capital to grow it in real estate.

I would have started my mailers sooner.

Don't focus on what you can't control or get down on it just focus on things you can control working your daily action plan.Consistency is key.Don't be great some of the time be great all of the time.Your normal will then be what everyone aspires to and you will WOW your clients.A WOWED client will refer you and so on.

Find out what KIND of real estate you want to do property management,investment sales,commercial,residential,land development etc. Then I would find a brokerage that specialized in it.

It's better to stand in a circle at 4 paths and take 20 minutes to decide which path to take then to just start going down a path for 2 hours before you realize it's the wrong direction.Then you have to go back and start over again.

So when doing residential RE and you find you don't like it ask yourself is it RE itself or the type I am doing??

Great question--

I would have not worked floor in my early years.

I would have not wasted money sending out newsletters and marketing type mailers like junk mail in my early years.

I would have focused on developing a more personalized website sooner.

I would have started doing personalized YouTube videos sooner.

I would have embraced Facebook sooner as a tool to keep in touch with my Sphere in a personalized way.

Just a few of my thoughts---I have been with RE/MAX Alliance since 2003.

Good luck!

Thanks--Mario

I wish I had come across this forum 11 years ago, rather than 2 years ago.

It's an encyclpaedia.

The best thing I did from day one is value each new client I was lucky to work with. If you do it right, your client base will become a tiny snowball rolling down a snowy hill growing all of the time and paying you back with return business and referals.