Simple Does Not Mean Easy – And The 3 Pillars You Need In Real Estate Sales

For years I’ve seen it happen.

A new wave of agents gets into the business filled with enthusiasm and ready to sell, sell, sell.  A couple years later, many are looking for a new line of work.  Based on my observations the dropout rate for agents within two years is about 90%.  

To be honest, I struggled for years to find the right direction and maximize my efforts. Now, I realize what the issue was for me and, I believe, for many that get into this business.

It comes down to this:  Simple does not mean easy

I want you to let that sink in for a minute because understanding this concept is key to winning in this business.

Let me explain.  

At its essence, real estate is a simple business.  You have clients that want to sell their home, and clients that want to buy a home.  

Add to this the fact that you don’t need to go to school to start selling.  The barrier to entry is low.  You need to commit some time, put down a little bit of money and within a couple of months, you can sell multi-million-dollar homes.

Simple right?

Sure, on the surface.  But dive below and you will soon discover there’s much more that goes into becoming a successful a real estate agent.  Unfortunately, most don’t see it. Instead, they get into the game with the perception that selling is going to be easy.  Many misjudge the time and planning required to make this occupation successful and rewarding.  They see agents selling home after home but can’t (or don’t want) to see the thousands of hours those same agents put in to be able to sell all the homes.  They don’t realize how fast things can go sideways and the pressures that can arise.

Many new agents come into the business overconfident as to what it’s going to take and ill-equipped to deal with the roadblocks and challenges that all of us encounter.  And, as a result, the majority of agents crash and burn.  90% are gone within two years…

So, what do you need to do to increase your odds of survival?

If you’re a new agent that’s serious about this career choice or someone that has been in for a few years but you haven’t hit your stride, I’m going to spend the rest of this post sharing some insights that have helped me throughout my career.  

But before I get into this, let me give you a bit of my background.  I’ve been in the real estate game my entire life.  Both of my parents sold real estate and my mom never wanted me to get into the business.  It wasn’t a “reputable” career.  She had me pegged for an attorney, a doctor, or at least an engineer.  But that wasn’t for me.  

Throughout my years I’ve built teams, won awards and last year alone did over $130 million in sales.  I’ve made a good life for myself… and what I’m going to share are some of the pillars, I have fallen back on time and again that have helped me.  Maybe they can help you.

The three things are: Understand the value you bring.  Build your relationships, build your pipeline.  Play the long game.  

Now, let’s go deeper into each one.  

1. Understand The Value You Bring

Without a doubt, this is one of the most important things you can do to help your career.  Period.  End of story.  And yet…it’s one of the hardest things to do.

When I sit down with a new agent looking for some advice, this is always one of the first questions I ask.  And honestly most struggle to articulate the value they deliver.   I get it – hell, it took me nearly 10 years and a lot of trial and error before I figured it out.  

Now, ten years is a long time.  It might only take you a year.  For someone reading this right now, they might already have it nailed.  So, whether it’s 10 years, 2 months or somewhere in between you owe it to yourself to find it.  

Why?

I’m convinced that without it you are just another agent with little to distinguish you from any other agent.  In other words, you are just a percentage point.  No different than anyone else.  Now, an agent that understands the value that he or she is bringing...well, that’s someone that stands out.  

Can you succeed without it? Sure.  But you’re going to be selling yourself short and, leaving money on the table, and, most importantly, not living up to your full potential.

Ok, so how do you do you go about finding your value?  

It requires a healthy dose of self-awareness.  You need to be able to assess where your strengths are, and the kind of agent you want to be.  Are you an agent that is comfortable working in a high-volume type of space, or do you want to focus on the upper end of the market? Both work, both require a different skill set.  Are you better in a team setting or working solo?  

Additionally, you may find that what was working for you a few years ago isn’t right for you going forward.  And so, things need to change.  

Understanding your value comes from doing a lot of different work, selling in different environments and ultimately finding the fit right for you.  And once you have it, your value will separate you from the pack and keep you focused on the kind of work you enjoy and excel in.  It becomes the roadmap for where you want to go in your career and will help you make better decisions about the type of clients you want and the ones you are willing to walk away from (more on that point later).  

That’s part one.  There’s another part to all of this.  

Once you understand the value you bring, you need to find the ways to let clients and potential clients know.  There’s an art to this.  Talk too much about your value and you are going to turn people off.  Don’t talk enough about it and clients will never understand what makes you different.

In my work, I have a face-to-face meeting with each potential new client.  We sit down across from one another and I explain to them the value I’m going to deliver in the relationship.  I use this meeting to make an impression to give them a sense there is a lot more happening with me versus an agent that is getting a key and opening a door.  

And at the end of the meeting, one of two things is going to happen.  They will like what they hear, understand what separates me from others and decide to work with me, or they don’t see the value and decide to go somewhere else.  

For me, either way, is a win.  If they walk this probably wasn’t going to be a good match down the road.  Better to pull the chord earlier in the process versus dragging things out and end up spending too much time and energy chasing something that is never going to work out.  

But let me be totally upfront with you.  The first few times I went through this process and the client decided to bounce, I freaked out.  In my head, I began to second guess myself and I started wondering if my commission was too high.  Maybe my approach was all wrong?  Maybe what I thought was my value…wasn’t. All of these things started flooding over me.  Sometimes I did end up making compromises just to close the deal…and the reason I did it was out of fear.  Fear that I needed the sale. Fear that I wouldn’t be able to close another deal because I didn’t have a pipeline of clients. And that leads me to my second pillar.  

2. Cultivate Your Relationships… Fill Your Pipeline

The name of the game in sales is keeping your pipeline full.  When you do, it provides options and leverage. It allows you to focus on the right type of clients – the ones that will help build your business down the road. And conversely, having a full pipeline provides you with the option of walking away if and when a client is not working out.  

Without a constant stream of prospects, every sale and interaction become critical.  I know – I have been in that situation.  You begin to get desperate and start to make compromises you know are bad for your brand and your business, but you do it anyway because you feel you need the sale. When too much is riding on one deal…you are not in a good place.  You have lost your leverage.

A strong and healthy network can keep business flowing. Simple, right?  But there are a few things you need to keep in mind as you go about building your network.  The first is this.  It’s going to be hard work and it never ends.  Building a reliable network that can sustain you requires constant management and attention.  But if you want to get to the point where you are not only surviving day-to-day but growing you have to be constantly working on building your network.

But please keep this in mind: A relationship isn’t just about what someone else can do for you

If you want to build, maintain and eventually utilize this network, then you need to give more than you ask.  Simple concept…but hard for people to execute.  

Because we are too focused on ourselves. We think everyone in the world is into our story, our business, our sales quota.  They’re not!  They don’t give a shit.  They care about themselves and their needs.  Especially when you are just starting out.  New agents think friends and family will decide to work with them based solely on the relationship.  Rarely does that happen.  People are going to be making one of the largest investments of their lives...they look for a person who has experience.

To build a long-term relationship, think about it this way: Give, give, give, give before you make an ask.  Gary Vaynerchuck calls it a "jab-jab-jab-right hook".

And start by going the extra mile with your current clients.  Do the unexpected, extend yourself.  Be memorable and stand-out.  You want to build a network…start by over delivering with every client you touch.

Next, there’s Dunbar’s Law of 150.  This law states we have a limit as to how many stable social relationships we can maintain.  I’m bringing this up because agents need to know there’s a ceiling as to how big they can build their network.  Developing the kind of relationships that are strong enough where someone will take the time to write a review for you or recommend you to others or meet you for a cup of coffee, requires work.  And you won’t be able to do it for everyone.  But if you focus, and actually care about your group -- 150 is more than enough to build and grow your business.  

In a follow-up post, I’ll share with you some of the tactics I use to stay connected to my network.  

3. Play The Long Game

Those that come into real estate with the idea this is an easy business many times fall into the trap that there are quick wins to be made.  Rarely is that the case.  I’ve seen plenty come in get a few sales under their belt and think how easy the real estate game is.  And then the game turns.  Leads dry up. Clients change their mind.  Shit happens and suddenly it’s a different situation.  

This is a marathon, people. And business is going to ebb and flow.  So, if you are sincere about making real estate sales your profession and not just a side hustle – you have to be thinking long-term. This isn’t a hobby business.  

Now, when I talk about this sometimes there is confusion as to what I mean.  Some take it the long-term means a more…casual approach to business.  Let me make sure you understand that IS NOT WHAT I’M SAYING.

Playing the long game means you have to realize things have a natural rhythm and progression. Things can’t be rushed but that doesn’t mean go slow.  Quite the opposite. You have to hustle like hell day in and day out to make those things happen and stir up opportunities.  But you just can’t stir things up.  There needs to be follow-up and more follow-up.  Then developing connections, and on and on…

The long game does not mean slow… it means moving as fast as you can for as long as you can.  And when you come across challenges, as we all do, understanding the value you bring, having a network to draw from and understanding you are running a marathon will help you, not only get through it but come out even stronger.  

A final thought.  At the Sereno Group, we have a saying: Crawl, Walk, Run.  It means you can’t walk before you crawl and you can’t run before you walk.  It’s another simple concept but one that’s not always easy to follow.  We live in an instant gratification, get it done yesterday world – crawl before you walk is hard to do.  Our inclination is to assume we can start running.  Here’s my advice – patience.  Some things can’t be rushed.  Some things need to simmer on the back burner until they’re ready.  Simple, right?

Sure, but not always easy…

Want to dive a little deeper into the long game?  Check on this video on the topic.

I hope some of this has helped or at a minimum stopped you long enough to think about things in a different way.  Share with me your thoughts, comments, and questions.  I’ll take them all. Thanks, you for your time.

Worst Real Estate Agent Reviews

We told these actors they'd be reading some of the worst online reviews.

Here's what happened when they read real estate agent Alex Wang's online reviews.

1. oh, thank you

2. remember the adage, you get what you pay for?

3. after our experience with Alex Wang I would have to say that this holds true

4. I expected Realtors in the Bay Area to be working at an especially high level of professionalism

5. but Alex Wang, he stood apart.

6. after meeting Alex and interviewing him

7. I thought I've found just the broker I was looking for

8. Alex seemed to know what he was doing

9. in my case

10. Alex is marketing and staging teams presented our house beautifully

11. great photos and marketing materials guys

12. they were always upbeat

13. positive and fun to deal with unlike some Realtors who focused on high-end clients or

14. volume clients Alex is all about the one-on-one

15. relationship and is devoted to all of his clients

16. working with Alex was a unique pleasure

17. In short Alex is a bad... ass

18. agent very intelligent

19. experienced and balanced and harmonious person to deal with you have a home you want to sell a top-dollar

20. call this man

21. we are very happy to have worked with him to sell our house and to now think of him as a friend

22. not how I thought that would go

Hope you enjoyed this video! Your comments and reviews are the lifeblood of my business. See what other clients are saying about their experience working with me below:

► Yelp ► Facebook ► Google ► Zillow

Gloom to Bloom in 12 Days

This is one of the most exciting aspects of my profession — working on a tight 12-day renovation deadline to transform a worn-out home into a beautifully staged and photographed home just in time to go on market. This Mountain View listing located in the heart Silicon Valley brought together a lot of the expertise I’ve gained over the years, so we documented the entire process to show how I took the home from “gloom to bloom.”

Phase One

With a flea infestation and near dilapidated conditions, we hit the ground running on day one. First things first, we had to rid the home of the mountains of trash that had accumulated over time. The hauling helped us remove everything from the home so that we could get to work on renovations.

Multiple truckloads of junk were removed from the home with the help of our hauling crew.

The only way to tackle this much trash is with a shovel, and that's exactly what we did.

Phase Two

The second phase was undoubtedly the busiest, starting with flea bombing the entire property. From there, the landscapers and painters got to work while my assistant, Kris, and I went over the property with the handyman to ensure all repairs would be completed on time.

The landscaping crew rids the front yard of unsightly junipers to enhance its curb appeal.

Kris and I go over kitchen repairs with the handyman.

You'd be surprised how far a fresh coat of paint goes when it comes to making a property pop.

This phase was a blur of activity, and we made significant strides as a team in preparing the home for sale. See all of the action in the video clip below.

Phase Three

By phase three, the home had come to life. All that was left was to stage it so that prospective buyers could envision what it would be like to live there. Once the furnishings were in place, it was time to go over every last detail to ensure the home was ready for showing, and ultimately, move in. We also brought in a team of inspectors to prepare pre-sale inspections. After three days of hard work, this home was ready to hit the market.

The professional stagers put the finishing touches on the home.

To ensure the renovation was successful, I personally go over every aspect of the home.

A pre-sale property inspection helps to make sure there aren't any surprises during the sales process.

While the home’s initial conditions didn’t shock me, the final reveal did. The home turned out even better than I could have imaged. I went into the open houses with confidence, knowing that the work would pay off for my sellers. Check out the clip below to get a full look at phase three and see the finished product.

Securing the Sale

Preparing a home for market means nothing if an agent can’t deliver on the sale. Within a week of concluding the renovation process, I had received three offers. Ultimately, the sale was finalized in just nine days with an all-cash offer above asking price. All in all, it was a great experience for everyone involved, myself included.

When a client entrusts me with the sale of his home, he can be sure that I will take care of every aspect of the sale from start to finish.

If you have questions about selling your Silicon Valley home, let’s talk.

To see the full process from start to finish, check out the video below!

Thinking About Becoming a Real Estate Agent? Read This First...

A great post from Greg Nino, Houston real estate agent, titled, "An Open Letter to Anyone Wanting to Get Their Real Estate License". Don't get me wrong, I love my job. But like any industry, it has it's challenges. If I had a dollar for every time I heard, "I like people and love looking a homes. I would like to be a real estate agent." Nino's well-written 42-point letter below plus my commentary:

1. Passing the exam is easy. Creating a business with real income is a different story.

So true, the barrier to entry is low. Creating a business with real income is a different story.

2. Now that you have your license, be prepared to lose friends and get your feelings hurt. Most, if not all, of your friends and family will avoid using you the first year or two that you’re licensed. Simply put, you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. Earn your battle scars. Even after you’ve gained experience, you’ll have friends and family who will not work with you because you’re a friend or because you are family. It happens every day to Realtors across the country.

Credibility. It’s not bought or you are born with it. It’s earned.

3. If you don’t spend money, you won’t make money. You need to spend THOUSANDS of dollars to create a business. Most of what you are thinking is a cute and new idea has already been tried a thousand times. You will do what every new agent does: Spend money (A LOT OF IT) on the wrong things. Over and over again. There’s a famous saying in this business: “If you want to get rich in real estate, sell stuff to Realtors.”

Truth: There’s no silver bullet. Takes hard work to build a real estate business. In the meantime, spend money wisely on long term impact and not on gimmicks. Vet technology opportunities too. If the technology doesn’t have an established track record or presence, then don’t waste your time.

4. You and your smartphone will become inseparable. You will have to get up from eating, watching a movie and sleeping to take calls, return emails and respond to text messages. Of course, you don’t have to do this, but you also don’t have to make any real money in this business. You’ll get out of it what you put into it. Ignoring a call could be a $20,000 mistake. Or more.

I’m OK with not picking up the phone when I’m busy. That said, I have lost business because I wasn’t quick enough on picking up the phone, but I’m OK with that.

5. Be prepared to be second-guessed, doubted, questioned, accused and lied to repeatedly. Buyers and sellers have the propensity to lie just like you and the guy next to you at the grocery store. People have perceptions about lawyers, mechanics and police officers. They have them about us, too. Even after years of experience there will be clients who will second-guess your every move. This will never go away.

Buying or selling a home is a big step. And with that there are a lot of emotions involved. Earning clients’ trust is not always easy.

6. You will show thousands of houses. Showing a house isn’t just about unlocking a door. Sometimes you get rained on while showing. Sometimes the house says active on the market when it’s already under contract with another buyer. Sometimes you are late to the appointment because of traffic. Maybe your buyer will be late. The number of things that can go wrong are practically endless.

Just when I think I’ve seen it all, there’s more… I couldn’t make some of the stuff up that I experience even if I wanted to.

7. Almost nobody will respect your time. Almost everyone thinks you are overpaid.

Sadly, this is quite true.

8. Expect people to ask for kickbacks both legally and illegally. Buyers and sellers will often want to haggle with your commission.

It’s unfortunate, but with the Redfins and Zip Realty agents out there, many buyers and sellers try to commoditize real estate agents. Not all agents are the same.

9. You will pay taxes. A lot of taxes. Expect to pay for the gizmo you use to unlock doors. You will pay for this yearly along with dues to three different associations. You’ll pay for signs, lockboxes, tools, equipment, cameras, advertising for both you and your listings, leads, websites, and on and on and on.

Endless fees. And not to mention that there’s only one Multiple Listing Services (MLS) that monopolizes... I mean... covers our area. With no competition, no incentive to innovate = real estate tools that suck.

10. You will pay for your own health and life insurance. There is no 401(k) matching in real estate. You are an independent contractor. In fact, YOU will pay to be at your local real estate office! The broker will take money from you. You will also pay for an office if you want one. Your phone is your cost. Your Internet is also your cost. So are your paper, pens and everything else imaginable. You’re running a small business. It’s ALL your costs. You’ll also pay for errors and omissions insurance. The list is really long. Yay!

A ton of insurance policies to choose from but none or close to what we had when my wife was working a nine-to-five job. 

11. You will get screwed in this business. It’s not for the naive, lighthearted, ignorant or thin-skinned. You will work your rear end off and sometimes not make a dime.

But you will earn a valuable experience and hopefully not get screwed again. How does the saying go? "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me"
   
12. You will deal with a certain number of psychopaths each year.

Psycho-meter definitely improves over time...

13. You will meet criminals, convicts and felons, especially if you work in the leasing industry.

I remember representing a seller and the buyer’s agent when I looked up the buyer’s agent real estate license number, he had a slew of felonies on his record including ‘assault with a deadly weapon’. Needless to say, I never met the agent in person, but since he was the only buyer, I had to work with him to help my seller sell their house.

14. Strange men and women will ask you to meet them at houses RIGHT NOW.

Some people think that I’m just waiting at home for them to call me.

15. You might get a gun pointed at you while showing a house or two. Sometimes rabid pit bulls will chase you down.

There have been times in which I’ve been concerned with having some of my agents show properties in certain areas. You can never be too careful.

16. Expect to get towed at least once.

Haven’t been towed but have had dozens of parking tickets.

17. Eventually you’ll get in a wreck while showing. You better hope your clients aren’t with you. Is your auto insurance updated correctly?

While on broker tour viewing new listings, got in an accident… with another Realtor on tour viewing homes. What are the chances?

18. There is no disability insurance. So, if you break a leg while playing softball, you’re screwed. It’s going to hurt your business.

Disability insurance is a must.

19. You might get sued even when you aren’t at fault.

Having good legal support is extremely important especially in these cases.

20. When you become successful, your competitors might file complaints on you because they are jealous. You won’t like this.

File complaints, talk badly about you to prospective clients, or write fake negative reviews on Yelp.

21. As you show houses you’ll be in questionable neighborhoods from time to time. You need to learn self-defense, and carry a gun or a can of mace. Everyone should be concerned about their safety.

Letting a co-worker or significant other know where you are is a good rule of thumb.

22. Be prepared to leave a social event early to run and show a house or to get yelled at by one of your clients for something you did not do. It doesn’t matter, you are the chew toy sometimes.

Thick skin. I’ve grown thicker skin.

23. It’s likely you’ll get audited by the IRS. You have too many write-offs and, once again, you make too much money.

Happens all the time.

24. Lawyers are annoyed by Realtors.

And vice versa?

25. Expect to list homes and never sell them. No agent sells every home they list. You will waste time, money, energy and resources.

Nothing is guaranteed.

26. Your signs will be stolen, spray-painted and eventually played with by the local kids.

Graffiti. Or even better… disappearing signs. Now you see it, now you don’t.

27. Your flier box will always be empty because kids, passersby and neighbors will take too many. Sometimes they’ll take all of them in one day. Then you’ll be chastised for not having fliers in the flier box.

Need to have a system to keep the box full.

28. Did I mention you’ll deal with at least two crazy people each year?

Par for the course.

29. EACH real estate transaction you work means you are likely dealing with at least eight different people. You’re responsible for 15-20 things. Right now I am trying to close 11 contracts. I am a little stressed. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about my paperwork, my clients and my business.

Managing the stress is an art...

30. You will become an unlicensed therapist, divorced lawyer and counselor. You aren’t allowed to give legal advice, and you shouldn’t. You aren’t a doctor, but everyone will unload their personal lives with you. You will sometimes live their life.

Quite often we know when a couple is expecting a baby before their family does. Quite an honor I must say. There are definitely negative aspects as well of being so close to clients lives for such a short and intense period of time. And then when the deal is over, it feels like a divorce. 

31. Your spouse will at times hate what you do for a living.

Prioritizing priorities. :) Easy to say...

32. Your wife or husband will despise the fact that you are always on your phone.

Sometimes I just have to turn the phone off. Business will still be there in the morning.

33. When you’re sick, you still work. There’s no floating holidays.

No one cares if you’re sick. You still got to get the job done...

34. While on vacation, you still work. You can get an agent to cover your business, but NOBODY will care for your business the way you do.

True.

35. Sometimes when you make mistakes it costs people money. You can’t just apologize.

Taking ownership of your mistakes. And learning to not take ownership of mistakes that are not yours. Everyone wants to point the finger at someone.

36. You have to have a nice car. You must wear nice clothes.

Perception is everything? In Silicon Valley, I drive a Tesla Model-S and like to wear Converse All-Stars to view property. Is there a happy medium?

37. When you first get started everyone will know you don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s a fact. This sucks. But if you stick it out, you’ll be OK. Seventy-five percent of the new agents don’t make it.

I hear that it was only a 5% success rate after 2 years...

38. You get to work with agents! Not all of them are put together correctly. A lot of your problems in this business will be because of the other agent. You will get upset, angry, pissed and offended. Egos are here, too.

Ego vs. humility. My constant struggles. Sometimes agents get in the way of the clients too. Need to constantly check myself by asking… what is best for the client?

39. Wait for it:  Friends, neighbors and family will ask you for real estate advice while they are involved in a real estate transaction YOU aren’t.

Quite funny actually. Happens once every other week. Why are you asking me for advice? Why don’t you ask your real estate agent?

40. Other Realtors will give your client advice when they aren’t supposed to. Every buyer and every seller knows an agent somewhere.

Amazing… we have 25,000 real estate agents in our MLS. That’s a lot of licensee giving advice though only a select few are selling most of the real estate in the area.

41. Each market is different. Very different sometimes, but that won’t stop friends and family from influencing your client. Your client will become confused at times.

Confidence and trust. If that’s non-existent, then you’ll be climbing up a very big hill.

42. You have a better chance of meeting E.T. than you do working real estate part time and being successful. It takes time, effort and money to be a part-time Realtor. In fact, being a part-time agent can be even more difficult.

Part-time effort yields part-time results.

So why do agents do this?

You’ll have the amazing opportunity to reap what you sow. You can work when you want. No matter how bad your boss (client) is, you are working for them for only a certain period of time. You get new bosses all the time. You can make a real difference in a lot of people’s lives. You literally help shape dreams. YOU can be the difference in someone’s life as they look to sell and buy a home. And not all clients, buyers and sellers are bad. Most of them get it. It’s awesome when everything works out.

And that’s why I do what I do. Building long term relationships. Helping transforming lives on household at a time.