Ok, tomorrow I will start my training since it's not a full day I want to go into the office & see what they do & get familiar w/everyone & the work. I really want to hook up to a top agent, but I don't know how easy that would be. Not too many agents are in the office, specially not the top producers, or I might be wrong. The days I have gone by there I don't see too many agents there. What should I do? I looked in there website & saw a few agents w/good listings. How should I approach it? The agents I met seemed very nice so I just really wanted to sit & look at the computer & ask some questions. Any suggestions? Thank you so much.

Don't expect to get much info and/or help from top agents in your company. You're considered Competition, they don't like that.

That's so interesting Dan.

I sat at a holiday dinner last week and chatted for quite a while with a very successful Venice, CA agent. She had tons of advice and gave me her card and all of her info if I ever had any more questions.

She currently has a mentee, who made a TON of money in her first year. And, she intends on referring all of her business to her mentee when she retires.

As I understand, the agent I spoke with works on a purely referral basis. Therefore, she probably doesn't feel threatened by the energy or marketing of the newer agent. Plus, a newbie just can't compete with the skill and knowledge of a veteran.

Aimee, I think you'll find that most successful realtors will be willing to offer advice. A top producing agent is too busy to worry about 'competition'. Good agents know how they got there - with the help of other good agents.

Let's hope Perry!

Some will, most won't. Aimme, the Ca agent you talked with doesn't work for your company, or do they? Even top producing agent look over their shoulder and yes they are worried, busy or not.
How they do what they do is their little secret and they very realy tell anyone. Some will tell you this or that, but they won't let the big cat all the way out of the bag.

I am not currently an agent. I am an attorney researching real estate as a career. Frankly, every real estate agent I have spoken with has been incredibly nice and helpful!

Maybe it's different when you are in their office. Maybe not.

They might not be interested in chasing after the business that a newbie would be willing to go after. It all depends.

I can see some agents playing it very close to the vest. I have worked with attorneys like that and some that weren't. There's all kinds.

A little of this and a little of that from various sources can go a long way.

I would make it a point to talk to as many top producers who have been in the business a while as possible & not just the ones in your office. Ask them what they did as a newbie, mistakes they made etc. Top producers are typically working referral business now so you are not competing for the same business. On the other hand, a rookie who is a top producer may be more secretive.

In what way would you hook up with a top agent? What would you do for the agent that would justify their investment of time in you? I know one agent who offered to pay a top producer a mentoring fee of 30% of her first two sales (she got that idea from my office, where we are required to do that with our assigned mentor).

I don't know any top producers who officially mentor, but that's just me.

What you can do for top producers is hold their listings open!

You get leads, they make the seller happy. Be sure to call them afterwards to give them a report on the open house.

The mentors I've had throughout my life flowed naturally. I've found that it's typically a person you like, feel comfortable asking questions, and they like you and enjoy (or at least don't mind) answering questions.

I may be wrong, but it has been my experience that real estate is so intense, so stressful, and so competitive that most people just do not have the time or energy for anything other than their own deals (but I am looking at it from a newbie perspective, so maybe there is something I am not seeing).

Many top producers won't even look at you, so I doubt they would mentor you!

It's not like a company where you are on salary and you can kill time schmoosing.

I would think it would be similar to law firms, but maybe not.

changeagent, I have to agree with you. Most top producers will not do mentoring, they just don't have the time for it, a new agent's best bet is finding an experienced agent for the mentoring and picking up tips from top producers at company and industry social events when they are a bit more relaxed. It's not quite as bad as in law firms, as real estate agents tend to be extroverts and like to talk about what makes them successful. It really and truly comes down to an issue of time. This is an intense field and you always have to evaluate whether you are spending your time in the most productive way as there just aren't enough hours in the day.

Good a.m. to everyone! Yesterday was my starting day & I will comment on it. I went to the training, the training classes actually started a few weeks ago but since I just signed up I will make up the ones missed next month. Yesterdays training was on finance & I got some good info from it. I then went to the office, not to many agents were there, just the same ones I had seen previously. I spoke to a couple of them, one more than the other but she did not like for me to look at what she was doing, she said it distracts her. Anyway, she did give me some pointers & did say not to ask the agents too many questions because they do not like that to ask the manager or secretary. She was nice not rude or anything & since I work for the city's police dept. we spoke a little about the area. So after that conversation, I went to my desk sat there & read a few articles when one of the other realtors came over to my end of the room & started to chat w/another agent discussing the manager & a newby. I heard them talk about the newby not even knowing how to draw up a contract & that the manager is never there that all she does is bring people in & then leave them on their own while she travels the world. Oh boy, I just kept my ears tuned but I will not go by that because from my experience there are people like that in every firm. I will just have to find out for myself & I know I will have to learn on my own. I had a business before (fashion design)& I remember helping another designer, showing her around etc. & she ended copying my designs (a client brought it up to my attention) her copies where actually in other stores & boy was I upset, so I know how agents feels. So, many of you are right no mentoring or help from agents! The other company I interviewed did have a mentoring program but I felt the company I chose was a better match.
Thanks for all the info. & I look forward to learning from you guys as I have gotten great info from here. You will see a lot of questions from me soon....
Thanks again.