Life, as they say, is an adventure. Sometimes you end up with the right decisions and often times, you make mistakes. But that is what makes that adventure so exciting, right?
However, when it comes with work, mistakes can be painful. Specially if there is a high accumulation of faults which can be quite heavy. That is when things become really difficult. The same steering principle can also be applied to real estate agents.
When starting out, you will eventually make mistakes. And as time passes by, you’ll be able to recognize the situation where you’ll most likely commit another one! That is called experience. The good news is you can already identify the situation because as time pass by, you’ll gain the confidence and the expertise that is needed to evade these simple, but costly mistakes:
1. Taking your Business Card for Granted: In order to leave a lasting impression when meeting someone on a professional manner, you should always present or give your business card. This is a part of Real Estate Agent Etiquette 101. If you don’t have a business card, then how is a potential client going to reach out to you? Worst case scenario, he or she will probably forget about you, since you didn’t leave him or her something to remember you by!
Your business card doesn’t have to be too fancy; as long as your name and your personal and contact information is printed legibly on the card, then it should suffice. Also, if a client you handled liked your work, he or she will definitely pass your business card around his/her friends too!
2. Not Expanding your Client Base: Not looking for new prospect clients at a daily basis is probably the greatest offense for any real estate agent. If you’re only going to rely on your current list of clients, then there’s no way that you’ll grow as a top-notch real estate agent. You need to keep on searching out there for potential clients because you’ll never know that an even bigger client may appear right in front of you and he/she will be the one responsible for your first million!
3. Not Keeping an Organizer: Being a professional real estate agent is hard work, so if you’re not that much of an organized person, then you need an organizer to keep your activities for the day in line and checked. Without an organizer, you will probably end up doing tasks that are not important for that day and you’ll just waste time, money, and effort in the long run. An organizer can be a simple notebook or even an application on your smartphone or tablet. The important part here is to make sure that you have a daily “To-Do” list so that you can direct your focus on the things that are very important for the day.
4. Failing to Learn about the Property Being Sold: Another rookie mistake that most starting brokers commit is failing to learn and understand the details of the property being sold. If you are handling with a very particular client and he/she will start bombarding you with questions about the details of the property, then you’ll most likely just embarrass yourself. Take the time to read, memorize, and take to heart the important details of the property being sold. If the house or condo has really good value, then you can use it as a bargaining chip for any prospect real estate client!
5. Failing to invest in Proper Marketing: This is one of the most common, yet deadly mistake for all real-estate agents. Sure, you might have the best tools of the trade and you are organized, but if you’re not marketing yourself as a real-estate agent, then you’ll have a hard time looking for potential clients out there.
Remember that you’re not the only real estate agent out there. There must be hundreds of real estate agents who are always marketing themselves, hoping that someone might notice and get their services. You should always invest your time and money in marketing your services both online and offline, because having a good presence is the first step to being noticed by everyone who is looking for real estate investment. One of the best ways to announce yourself is advertising your properties in Persquare!
6. Failing to have the Buyer Investigated: In the world of real estate investing, almost everyone has the desire or wish to purchase a property. And it is your job, as the real estate agent, to not just accommodate their requests, but to do a background check whether the interested buyer does have the capacity to pay for the house. And apart from that, you must know the priorities and and the kind of property that the client is looking for. If you pay attention to what your client wishes, you will know where to start searching.
7. Being too impatient with the customer: Last, but definitely not the least in this list! This is, again, a common mistake that most rookie real estate agents do. Some of these agents are too excited over the prospect of getting their first (or biggest) client that they end up bombarding the poor customer with inquiries daily. You will most likely frustrate the customer and will decide to cancel or go to another agent! Thus, just take it easy. In fact, a successful sale takes on an average of 3-6 months. Be patient.
Always remember not to get trapped in these five common mistakes. If you have experienced any of these, then take that failure as a lesson and always keep it to heart, so that you’ll remember not to make the same mistake ever again!
