What to Know If You’re Just Starting Your Real Estate Career

By Josh Stephens

The time has come. You just finished another episode of Million Dollar Listing and decided that you are ready for a career change. You want to become a real estate agent. Why not? It looks to be easy, lucrative and a lot of fun.

However, the top 1% of real estate agents you see on television are not great examples of what it’s like for everyone in the industry, especially those in their first year as agents. In fact, the amount of people that fail within their first year in real estate far exceeds the amount of agents who succeed. The reasons for this vary but ultimately, it is because of the individual’s understanding about what it takes to be a successful real estate agent.

Five years ago I made the hard decision to switch careers and become a real estate agent. The idea of being in a 100% commission-based career scared the ones that loved me but I was excited to take the risk. Growing up, some of my fondest memories were visiting people’s homes, going for rides through the nicest neighborhoods and watching This Old House. I loved real estate but also knew I was headed for an adventure.

It was not easy to excel in my new position. It look long hours, patience and perseverance to get to where I am now. Looking back, I think about the resources I had that helped me but also reflect on the things that I wish I knew or had from the start.

This video describes the top five things you should do in your first year to put you on a path to be part of that 1%:

JOSH STEPHENS is vice president at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Warren Residential and member of the national REthink Council. Contact him at jstephens@warrenre.com.