I'm starting this thread, so we can have one thread with organized information for all new agents. I feel that there is valuable information on this forum but it is hard to find sometimes. Please, share your knowledge and links for new agents.

Good schools for Real Estate license.

California

http://www.californialicense.com/
http://www.realestatelicense.com/
http://www.retrainers.com/
http://www.dearborn.com/anthonynew/Category.asp?Category=24&Subjectid=7

Virginia
Moseley


Trainings available after getting RE license

ABR Accredited Buyer Representative
ABRM Accredited Buyer Representative Manager
ALC Accredited Land Consultant
RLI REALTORS® Land Institute
CCIM Certified Commercial Investment Member®
CRB Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager
CRS Certified Residential Specialist®
GRI Graduate REALTOR® Institute
SIOR Society of Industrial and Office REALTORS®
SRES Senior Real Estate Specialist
http://www.realtor.org/rocms.nsf/pages/educationctr

Marketing tools, websites and courses available

http://www.realmarketingpros.com/
http://www.busyagentpro.com/
http://www.adtrakker.net
http://www.realestategrowth.com/index.asp
http://www.millionairesystems.com/pages/events_millionaire_mondays.jsp
http://www.millionairesystems.com/pages/products_free.jsp

Good books for new agents

1. The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller

2. 21 Things I Wish My Broker Had Told Me : Practical Advice for New Real Estate Professionals. by Frank Cook

3. Your First Year in Real Estate: Making the Transition from Total Novice to Successful Professional by DIRK ZELLER

4. How to Develop a Six Figure Income in Real Estate: Superstar Selling the Mike Ferry Way by Mike Ferry

5. Real Estate Agent's Business Planning Guide by Carla Cross

6. Power Real Estate Letters, 3E (+disk) by William Pivar

7. How To Become a Power Agent in Real Estate : A Top Industry Trainer Explains How to Double Your Income in 12 Months by Darryl Davis "

8. Terri Murphy's E-Listing and E-Selling Secrets : For the Technologically "Clueless"
by Terri Murphy

9. The Original New Agent's Guide to Starting & Succeeding in Real Estate by Mark W. Nash

Real Estate personal trainer

http://www.isucceed.com/
http://www.realestatechampions.com/
http://www.realmarketingpros.com/

Please, add your links and information as well.

I'm not sure who posted it here and I will provide the reference thread once I find it.

Door knocking tutorial for Agents.

Door knocking is what's helped my real estate career take off and stay way above my competition. It is my bread and butter (I have to preface that I am in a densely populated area. which helps a whole bunch). It's funny that this door knocking topic popped up at this time. I just started my door knocking season...I start every Feb 1st (tough to bare here in New England but I've found is the best time because people start thinking about selling in Feb when they plan on listing in the Spring).

Fact is that the average agent either never really realizes the real potential of door knocking or is worried about "bothering" people. Frankly, I'm grateful for their views as it leaves the door open for me to swoop in and grab the business.

The key to door knocking (from my experience) is to always bring something of value to the resident. This is crucial. Their neighborhood's recently sold prices are the most well received piece of information that residents enjoy receiving. I have *never* knocked on a door and had one person's face not light up with delight when I begin by telling them that I am in the area just handing out information on recent home sale prices.

What I do when I go door knocking is to first target a specific neighborhood. Logically, starting by going into MLS and checking which area/streets that the highest priced home prices are within your territory/specialty is the best choice. Then, print up that area's comps. I then put those comps *without folding them* (papers without crinkles/seams look 10 times more professional than ones that keep wanting to curl up when you are trying to read it) into a 9" x 12" envelope along with a few other papers:

***A copy of my profile/background/services offered.

***3 of my business cards.

***A copy of a couple of articles that I've written (i.e. "10 things to do to help improve your home before you start selling it", etc.).

***The profile or screenshot of the homepage of my website with URL prominently displayed.

***A directory of tradesmen (plumbers, electricians, gutter cleaners, etc...Except other Realtors, of course, :-)) that services the local area.

I buy one of those messenger bags (a plain, black one) that you can buy at Staples/Office Max for $20.00 and fill it with the packets and throw it over my shoulder when I do door knocking.

Next, I have a tablet PC with a Verizon wireless internet card along with me opened up to the town's assessor's office website (visionapprasial.com) that will allow me to pull up each house's last sale date, owners name and address, and general info about the particular house while approaching the doorstep. This allows you to ask for the owner of the house by name instead of generically asking "can I speak with the owner of the house?” I find that the novel technology of the tablet PC seems to really impress people and a great conversation starter (that the resident usually initiates!).

Door knocking is very hard work. Lots of walking (which is an overlooked benefit. You’re exercising your heart while prospecting for business. A win-win situation). It works.

I'll never forget what pushed me to door knock...I saw a man, (with a limp, mind you) constantly walking along the streets of my home town with a business bag. For years before I was even in the business, I would see him walking, walking, walking...same darn bag. I was always perplexed at where this 50 something, business-looking' guy was going since I constantly only see him in strictly residential areas. I used to fathom "Maybe he can't afford a car and has to walk to and from work?” Then, one day I was driving to lunch with a fellow Realtor friend of mine and my friend happened to point to this man when we past him and informed me that "that's Ray from ReMax...he's the top listing agent our county". I was shocked, and later absolutely leveled when I found out that he not only was the top lister, but also had a prosthetic leg.

I decided to emulate his success by adopting door knocking as the main component of my marketing mix. Thanks for providing me with a model, Ray. :-)

These are discussion theads I found very helpful for new Agents.

http://www.agentsonline.net/forum/ultimatebb.php/topic/1/2233.html#000001

http://www.agentsonline.net/forum/ultimatebb.php/topic/5/1926.html#000003

http://www.agentsonline.net/forum/ultimatebb.php/topic/1/2177.html#000007

http://www.agentsonline.net/forum/ultimatebb.php/topic/1/2069.html#000002

http://www.agentsonline.net/forum/ultimatebb.php/topic/1/2067.html#000002

Here is good site to download listing presentation and other email marketing letters.

http://remax-cahi.com/esource/training/recordedtraining.asp

Ongoing Training/Success Tools
http://isucceed.com/
http://www.recyber.com/
http://realtor.org/rmodaily.nsf?OpenDatabase
http://www.davidknox.com/store/
http://byreferralonly.com/
http://www.millionairesystems.com/pages/
http://patzaby.com/

Where to buy real estate "stuff"
http://crsstore.com/
http://reals.com/
http://www.4realestateagent.com/products.php
http://www.agenttools.net/

Real Estate News
http://realtytimes.com/
http://www.inman.com/
http://www.ired.com/
http://recenter.tamu.edu/
http://www.realtor.org/rocms.nsf


Transaction/Client Management
http://srv11.efrogg.com/
http://www.settlementroom.com/index.html
http://topproducer.com/
http://homefeedback.com/

Prospecting/Lead Tools
http://www.constantcontact.com/
http://www.quantummail.com/
http://www.customhousepublishers.com/
http://www.tpmco.com/
http://homefollowup.com/

Good Template Websites
http://www.advancedaccess.com/
http://z57.com/exec/z57.z57com.wwd.main
http://www.realmarketingpros.com/

These links are full of information, so use them for your benefit. These links were posted by one of our members on this forum but I do not remember in which post.

-------------------------------------------

LEADING THE WAY IN ONLINE LEAD GENERATION
The neighborhood Web site and newsletter allow residents to do everything from posting free classified ads to learning of events to finding out new recipes.
http://www.rismedia.com/index.php/article/articleview/9019/1/1/

Jumpstart your Engine -- The Success Series: Improving Personal Productivity
Commentary by Stefan Swanepoel.
http://www.rismedia.com/index.php/article/articleview/9015/1/1/

The Right Steps to a Great Listing Presentation
Six top-producing real estate agents, all iSucceed mentors, give tips.
http://www.rismedia.com/index.php/article/articleview/9014/1/1/

RealtyU Roll Outs CourseDates.com
A single resource for finding scheduled real estate courses.
http://www.rismedia.com/index.php/article/articleview/9013/1/1/

As well as:

http://www.inman.com/

http://realtytimes.com/

http://www.epowernews.com/

Great sources of information for old and new Realtors alike and best of all, they're favorite price, FREE!

For books I found "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent" by Gary Keller, one of the founders of Keller-Williams to be excellent.

I also enjoyed and found helpful:

Terri Murphy's "e-listing and e-selling secrets"

"How to Become a Power Agent in Real Estate by Darryl Davis

"Power Real Estate Listing" by William Pivar

"Negotiate This" by Herb Cohen

"Real Estate Technology Guide" by Saul Klein & Co.

"The Art of War" by Sun Tzu

"The E Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber

and "Evolution The Eight Truths of Marketing to Women" by Faith Popcorn

Prospecting, Farming Your Market by Joyce Caughman

I also used www.licensetutor.com I loved it. I did not have any pressure taking my state exam, PA. I knew that if I failed, the best thing was I was going to get money back. I do not think I could of been as prepared for my state exam if it wasn't for www.licensetutor.com I highly recommend this site.

i do not recommend www.licensetutor.com none of the questions were remotely similar to the real test. i took the NV exam.

Hello All,
Anybody has any one of these books/guides? Non of the libraries here carry them...Any idea where I could get them? Are they worth buying-the titles are too tempting..

-New Agent QuickStart Guide
-Your Guide to the California Residential Purchase Agreement
-Residential Real Estate Transaction Guide
-Minimizing Legal Problems While Completing a Successful Real Estate Transaction
-CONSUMERS GUIDE TO DISCLOSURES FOR BUYERS

Tx!

Most REALTOR Associations have frequent training sessions on various topics. Most are free. They are really good for the new agents because of the interaction with other agents. Let's not forget that spending some time in any convention or trade show is MONEY IN THE BANK!

Here's a "DO" for you: DO something different to advertise yourself. I have the newest real estate marketing technology to help you generate new clients and better serve your existing ones.
We can build you your own 30 second online commercial that is guaranteed to be seen!! We have a number of other business solutions to help build your client pipeline and we guarantee to, at minimum, double your advertising dollar!
Here's a "DON'T": DON'T hesitate, this is brand new and can only work for six realtors in a given area. Contact us at: 1 800 882 7226 extension 250 for Jared Rodgers, or 260 for David Mazurkiewicz.

Great information for rookies:

http://www.realtor.org/rmotoolkits.nsf/pages/rookiesmain_new

Lots of marketing articles:
http://realtytimes.com/rtapages/MarketingAdvice.htm

Some more marketing articles:
www.armingyourfarming.com/articles

"How to" articles about direct mail:
http://quantummail.com/html/wc.wc?QM~GoTo~qm_resources

"The Modern Guide to Real Estate Marketing"
www.armingyourfarming.com/book

I have some more good ones. I have to find the URLs first, then I'll post them.

http://www.realtywords.com/forums/

http://www.realestatetalks.com/index.php

James...this one's not a forum, but full of news & info:

http://www.realestateheadlines.net