Boston Real Estate for Sale
So, you want to become a Boston real estate agent?
It’s the Spring of 2021 and you’re standing at the front desk of the licensing test center with an awkward forced smile on your face as you eagerly wait to see if you passed the Boston real estate exam.. The woman at the desk finally hands the form to you, and it’s official — you passed your real estate exam on your very first try.
You hate your present job and you always had an interest in Boston condos for sale for as long as I could remember, and you think you’ll love helping people find a new home
The important thing now was to just figure out what that next step was after getting you received your real estate license.
See, this is where everything starts to go from bad, to not so bad, to great, to horrible and good again — in that exact order. The exam teaches you the legal side of the job with a hint of vocabulary. As far as actual job training goes however, that’s where you’re on your own.
If you’re brand new to the industry (or even just interested in real estate), here’s some intel on what the first couple of years are like — from someone who has lived it first hand, including all the frustrating moments in between.
When you first get your license, you have to hang it at a real estate brokerage firm before you can even show a single Boston condo or Boston apartment rental. You’re now put into a situation where the brokerages are trying to win you over versus you trying to impress them like any other job interview.
Remember, they typically make money on you when you sell a downtown Boston condo or rent an apartment. In my personal opinion, large Boston real estate brokerages will sell you on things that are really no different than what any other small Boston real estate offices could offer you.
The important thing is to pick a brokerage where you have the opportunity to join teams, find a mentor, have opportunities for continuous training and good support from your managing broker.
Do your research thoroughly, and carefully choose the right brokerage for you.
This is a cutthroat business, and you’re going to deal with a lot of agents, brokers and personalities.
I wish I was making those examples up, but they’re true stories, and that’s 100 percent the reason I started my own brokerage firm 20 years ago.
Soak up as much as you can and learn from the best, so you’ll be better prepared when you do end up going out on your own.
Lesson 2: As a Boston real estate agent you need to be known
Now that you’ve found your Boston real estate brokerage firm, you can’t help but imagine how sweet your life will be in just a few short weeks.
Listen, do not quit your day job unless you have savings or a rich significant other. There are a lot of expenses in this business, and you’ll be spending a lot more than you’ll be making in the beginning.
I told everybody I came across that I worked in the Boston real estate industry and always had business cards in-hand. I even stuck them onto every bag of food I delivered.
Social media has also been my best friend. It’s a low-cost method of reaching out to the people who already know me, and best of all, the people they know who might not know me yet.
Be sure to find that balance between showing your personal life and business though. That’s the key to not losing any followers you do have.
Boston Real Estate Agents Need to Work on the Weekends
You should also be prepared to work a lot of nights and weekends whether it’s doing paid showings for other agents or hosting open houses to find new clients. It doesn’t sound very glamorous, I know, but hard work really does eventually pay off. You’ll be glad you skipped out on that brunch with your friends when you’re depositing that commission check.
Lesson 3: Being a Boston real estate agent isn’t easy
Starting out in the Boston real estate industry is tough in itself.
Lets face it, It’s very hard to sell people on the idea of trusting you with their life savings when you just started selling Boston condos for sale. That said, when you do find a client who’s willing to take a chance on you, you should never let your clients ever feel whatever personal struggle you’re going through.
The Boston condo buying experience is a life-long memory for them, and it should always be all about them. Another big mistake you can make is assuming that this job is easy money and experienced agents will line up to help you.
Whether you like it or not, the only way to succeed in Boston real estate market (other than marketing the hell out of yourself) is to work for other agents for free in the beginning. It can be shadowing them on tours, doing open houses for them over the weekend or even just delivering them coffee and picking their brains for advice.
The key is to show them you’re trustworthy, willing to learn and a hard worker. In exchange, you’ll gain their confidence, they’ll teach some fundamentals, and they might even bring you on to co-list one of their properties in the future.
Lesson 4: Make your real estate mistakes early on
This job is going to stress you out more often than not. There are those moments, however, that make the hard work worthwhile other than closing day.
I mean the times when you try to open the door for a Beacon Hill apartment, and the key won’t work.
You’ll spend so much time bonding with your clients, and the important thing is to make it as fun and stress-free for them as possible. Don’t hide your personality under the mask of pretending to be “professional” because lets face it your not one yet, it takes years.
They hired you for you and not the version of you that you think they want from you. Before the pandemic I would have said, after the showing them properties, take them out to your favorite restaurant or a popular bar in that neighborhood, but I would hold off on that for now.
Lesson 5: Save your real estate commission money
Nothing will test your self-control quite like getting your first commission check. Honestly though, who can blame you? You worked hard and you want to treat yourself. But don’t you never know how long it will be when you see your next Boston real estate commission check
It’s that uncle who never talks to you until he finds out you have some money. We’re all related to him and his name is Uncle Sam. Unlike your normal 9-to-5, you’re now a business owner, and that means figuring out your own taxes from every commission check.
As much as it hurts, the safest way to avoid any tax problems come April 15 is to stash away half your check in a savings account you can never touch.
Boston Real Estate and the Bottom Line
You’ll learn something new about this job and yourself every single day as this is truly an amazing people business. If you do right by the people and make it all about them and less about the money, I truly believe you will find success much easier than those who are only concerned and motivated by the material benefits.
You are not going to live like the people on Million Dollar Listing early in the business, but they do have very interesting life stories.
One last but certainly not least, always keep your phone charged.
