What’s the plan for 2018?
Happy New Year! The big news these days in my neck of the woods (So Cal) is the tax bill and how it will impact the real estate market.
The truth is that there are always going to be homebuyers and home sellers. Even though the economy changes, people still need to move. And, agents can still make a living representing buyers and sellers. Just look at what happened in 2007 – 2012 with the Recession. Agents were forced to adapt. Some represented a lot of investors. Others worked short sales, and a third group got tied in with asset management companies in order to get REO accounts. Nevertheless, if you are in this for the long haul, you still need to make a living.
While I’m not so old that I remember the Great Depression, I have picked up a few life lessons along my walk down the yellow brick road of real estate, and my plan is to share those throughout 2018.
Show Up = Success
Recently, I began to reflect on the most important real estate lessons. While there are many (hopefully 365 of them), the most important one for me is this one: show up.
So, on the first day of the year, my agent tip is “show up.” What does “show up” mean?
Show up means that you have got to make an appearance.
Go to office meetings, broker caravans, local and even state conferences, and other agent events. If you are always working from home in your pajamas, people may begin to call you a secret agent, not a real estate agent.
Just last week, we had two walk-ins at our brick and mortar facility. And, while it is true that most people conduct real estate business initially online, two agents in our office got buyer leads just because they happened to be working at the office that day.
Success tip #1: Get out of bed, take a shower (or not), put something on, and haul yourself over to the office. If you’re not sure what to do, maybe your broker can advise you (if he or she even recognizes you) or… just call a bunch of people listed as contacts in your phone and wish them a Happy New Year!
To quote “The Sound of Music”, “Let’s start the very beginning. A very good place to start.”
Good advice Melissa. I’ve seen far too many agents fail because even if they showed up at the office, all they did was gossip, discuss the previous night’s TV shows, or play computer games.
Get up, get dressed, get out of the house and do something!