I am in my first year as a real estate agent and it is getting overwhelming now!

I have been licensed since April and working at a broker since July, I have yet to get a sale and the bills are piling up!

I am spending money everywhere and sometimes just want to drop it, however, I love real estate and I really want to make it in this business.

Does anyone have any advice for me from there first year and how I can get through this?

The best advice in ANYTIHNG you really want to do is to keep trying. It will eventually come, trust me. Most people go through what you're experiencing. On top of that, you're starting out during tough times.

Actually...I just noticed you're in Canada, so I don't know if you all are experiencing tough times like the states are hahaha!!

Anyway, KEEP AT IT and good luck!!

Thank you...

"I have yet to get a sale"

Analyze and really think deep about that statement.

You need to investigate the WHY and find out WHERE you are failing in the sales process.

Are you focusing on buyers or sellers??

If buyers are you working with tire kickers or are you having a meeting up front to qualify them before you spend time and money on them??

If sellers are you taking a bunch of overpriced listings??

Do the sellers have a burning need to sell? Such as death,divorce,job relocation,baby on the way,loss of job or income,facing foreclosure,facing bankruptcy,etc,etc.

Weak motivation from sellers and over expectancy on price will kill a sale.

Just remember motivation,marketing,and price will lead to a sale.

You have to show a seller WHY it didn't sell or will not sell at the list price.

Sometimes the property is overpriced and had no marketing.Other times it had marketing but was overpriced and yet other times it was priced correctly but had no marketing.

The KEY is knowing the missing piece to the puzzle and explaining that to your sellers.



On the buying end you only have so much time in the day.Most buyers are tire kickers and out of the ones that are serious many will take all of your time and energy leaving no room for your business to grow or increase clients. You are looking for buyer who are well qualified,know what they want,and respect your time and are NOT trying to control you.


With sellers as one agent you can sell many listings but with buyers you can only work with one set at a time unless you do a buyers tour which you will most likely need help with.

The key with buyers or sellers is once a week to have a communication and action update plan. This keeps your clients on track and focused on the end goal.

Once you have figured out your stumbling blocks then you can look at taking daily actions and tracking your numbers.

I am surprised your broker has not done this with you yet.


good luck

Let's keep this in perspective. You've only really been actively involved for maybe 100 Days? What did you expect?

This is like a pre-game warm-up.

You're lucky to be entering in a slow market. There's more time in between mistakes . . . . time to reflect. Maybe fewer mistakes! You're not alone . . . . It's slow for others too . . . . so they have more time to provide guidance. When the market is busy, they won't give up the time of day.

Learn what you can now. When the market turns, you want to be there, and you want to be prepared. Don't "puff" ! 3 Months does not a year make! It's just a small fraction of a year. I can hold my breath that long.

If you don't stick it out, you'll never know. The battlefield is littered with the bodies of 90% who withered up and quit before they found out whether they really had what it takes. "Quitters never win . . . . and Winners never quit."

The simple lack of patience and an inability to wait for deferred gratification is all that keeps millions of other people from participating in "Our Business". Those are the hidden barriers to entry. If this was so easy, they would all be doing it ! We couldn't have that! Good luck.

Don't give up yet! I got licensed a little under two years ago and year one was sad...pathetic really...I had two transactions ALL YEAR ( at the end of the year, btw) - and one was a rental! Guess how many times my friends and family suggested I get a "real job". Looking back I think my problem was that I was trying the shotgun approach -I was targeting everyone and anyone with little actual plan and little results. My broker and trainer were useless to me as their only advice was to keep in touch with my SOI - well guess what after 2 transactions there still wasn't much of one.
It was year two that I decided exactly who I wanted to focus on, how to go after them, I dedicated all my energies into this one group (mine was short sale sellers). There were times that I was scared I was doing myself a disservice by basically excluding all other groups, but IT PAID OFF and continues to. After about 6 months of targeting my website to this group, blogging specifically about this one subject and direct mailing this specific group, I am closing sales regularly, my pipeline is full and just what I have pending now will pay me for the next 6 months or so and I am now picking up 2-3 listings/month.
You really need a marketing plan, and some would disagree but I think a niche is key. Most of your competitors are targeting everyone in a particular area - you can't stand out among them. Figure out who your core group is, educate yourself about what this group needs, how your going to market to them and design all your efforts around reaching this one group.

I've been licensed since mid-February, signed with my broker in March, completed my business plan in May and have really been working my business since June. Over the summer I took 3 listings, had no buyers except for a winter rental, and was really getting down on myself. A couple of weeks ago *boom* got an offer on one of my listings, got a serious buyer referred to me by a friend, got an up call for a buyer when I was in the office, and a referral from one of my listings for another listing. Now I'm pulling my hair out because I'm swamped with work (not that I'm complaining).

Keep hanging in there, and work everything that you have in front of you. Eventually something will happen, it'll boost your confidence, and everything else will start to fall into place.

Good luck!

The best way I can equate real estate is to a roller coaster ride.

Some moments are scary,some moments are fun,and others moments the rush is awesome.

Many ask why did I get on this crazy ride? Then at the end (a closed transaction) they want to do it all over again!

Even though I guess people would consider me successful I still get nervous everyday. Especially on my commercial projects looking at hundreds of thousands in commissions for myself.

In commercial we might have to work a deal for a year or longer so it takes special patience and vision but the payoff is like no other.

The feeling that you stick it out and are doing what 90 percent of others fail at and you do it well is a rush and very rewarding.

Everyday in real estate is a chance for new problems and opportunities. When it comes down to it we are problem solvers and that's why we make so much because not everyone can do it.

Three months is just getting started. I did not make enough in my first two years to have to pay income tax! Now the tax man cometh every three months in the form of quarterly taxes. Every agent has to serve time in poverty prison, unless they are independently wealthy or have a wage-earning "other."

While you are serving that time, though, you must act as if you are working fulltime. Get dressed, go to the office, work on the business. EVERY DAY. Eat, drink, and sleep real estate. Wear your namebadge. Talk about real estate so everybody will know you are an agent. Read about real estate so you'll have something to talk about. Market yourself.

I love my wife for MANY reasons. One of which is the steady check she brings home once a month!

I have some of those "Agents" around here . . . . we call them "Coupon Clippers"; but you know what . . . . THEY ARE NOT HUNGRY ENOUGH! None of those who have an escape door has ever worked hard enough. I would be among that elite group if it weren't for the Stock Market Crash of October, 1987. It took away my cushion, and made me value a nickel. It caused me to think clearly and to "straighten up and fly right!"

Everyone needs a cushion and some working capital . . . . but too much working capital can be a hindrance. You gotta be a lean mean selling machine.

I have an Acquaintance (I didn't say Friend) in this business . . . . he's a millionaire many times over, because of an inheritance. He's always jealous of transactions that produce money where it can be said "We earned this". He has been using Real Estate as a means of being able to define himself as to what he does. Without Real Estate . . . . "He's a Nothin!"

I don't think he has ever thought about working Real Estate on a weekend, or staying in the Office past 5:00 PM. Sure, you want to look successful (even if you're not) but you want to look like you're also a go-getter, and hungry enough to ALWAYS want to do the extra tasks that make things happen. I think being independently wealthy could make you a cripple (mentally). (No offense to those who are physically impaired).

How many sellers did you talk to? How many buyers did you talk to?

If you only talked to one or two sellers and one or two buyers, then continuing on the path will lead to the same results down the line.

Increase the number of people you contact and your sales will increase proportionately.

overwhelmingfirst it very had at first the real estate god makes it that way to weed out the weak im give u a few tip on how i did 1000000 in sale in three months in Detroit Mi in 2005 give or take a few months.

1. open houses (bring u buyer wanting to buy)find a nice 3br 2bth listing in your office ask to hold it open make to invite give to the neibors asking them to tell the friend and family to come out.
2. send out thank you card and phone call to everyone that comes by
3.put house on cridgelist.org
4. post card they work just sold just listed leased etc.
5 work the expireds the want to sell be on there door step the morning they expire with yor cma
6.if you can afford it purchase leads from like homegain etc
7.treat your real estate like it a business
8. dont go home at night until 10 new people have your card and you have a least 3 back.

This is my first year in Real Estate as well, I started in March with a company, and hit the pavement running. I joined a group of guys that branched off from a large firm, and knowing the splits I would be paying were high, I received training and a mentor program. After my 3rd deal, I started getting the feel for the business. I am now at 12 closed and 3 in escrow. I attribute this to the following:

1. Open house 3-4 times a week..Include a weekend day or both.
2. I take a day off once a week, and if I have QUALIFIED buyers I continue to work until I find their dream home.
3. I schedule 2 nights a week as a call night, from 5-7pm where I contact most of my clients. I call a database full of contacts that I collected from my open house.
4. Accountability- have someone, a mentor or someone that has more experience then you hold you accountable. I right down top 6 things I want to achieve for the week, and try to go 6/6 every week.
5. I spend less time watching TV and more time reading- the top producers that I know have developed this habit. There is alot of good material out there to help you. One of my favorite is "Eat that frog" or "Question Based Selling"
6. As my skills are getting better, I am able to determine if the lead/contact is Hot, Warm or Cold. I spend most of my time with those clients that are willing and able.
7. Be a consultant, not a salesman. Earn the trust of your client, tell stories about past clients or experiences to educate them on whatever you are trying to get across.
8. My Biggest thing..Don't Ever Give Up. Keep the faith and dream alive, tell yourself that you will succeed. What your thoughts are become actions and leads to results...Stay Positive!

First year is difficult, it takes time to build you network and pipeline. It is not important how much money you spend, it is more important where you spend them. Find out what works best for you and focus there. Open Houses are the cheapest way to get leads and work the best for me, it could work for you as well. Good luck!