New agent in Southeast Florida, teach me how to succeed

[addaboy]

I'm not really a new agent, I got my license in 2004, just renewed it last week for another two years. However, I have not worked in the real estate business much, and I haven't sold or listed anything. The problem is always money and I had to work full time jobs to support my family. Now my wife is making a very nice salary and I really want to make this work. I had a couple opportunities to help buyers, but the market down here is so hot that I couldn't find anything in their price range. I'm tired of having a RE license and doing nothing with it. I'm tired of being terminally broke. I'm reading a book called Closing the Deal right now and it is helpful, but I know real life experience from other RE agents is more valuable. I guess the most basic question I want an answer to is how does a new agent with no money succeed? What do I do? I'm patient, I'd be happy if I earned $30,000 my first year, I know it takes time to build up a list of clients, but what should I do to get the ball rolling?

Thanks

[webmaster]

I website is a great start, it is your opportunity to get yourself situated with others in the field on a level playing field with very low investment (Money wise) but a lot of time on your part, building links, writing content etc.

Most of the big players in any market (In fact almost all agents) neglect the web when it comes to generating revenue, you will find that the top websites in a market (If the agent is skilled enough to close deals) will do amazingly well.

It takes time to build a site (And rank it) for google for instance you are looking at a good year, but in the meantime it is a great advertising platform for your other media, and you can generate leads from the smaller engines (MSN / Yahoo) much more quickly.

You are in the right place if you want to succeed online, as long as you are willing to put in the time
Welcome to REW

[SEO Nick]

Well if you're looking for information, you definately came to the right place. Welcome to REW!

[HMiller]

Welcome to REW!!! Besides great info about creating and seoing real estate websites, there are some very experienced and successful real estate people here who can answer questions and offer advice. First, I suggest taking some time to read through past posts here as there have been many new agents that have already asked many of the questions you will have. ANy other questions you may have, feel free to post them (the Real Estate Chat or Ask an Agent section is probably the best place to post those questions).

As far as the first thing you should do, I guess is to find the best brokerage to work for in your area. Remember that for a new agent, training and mentoring are just as important than commission splits and are some of the priorities you should have when choosing a company. As far as getting started in the business without any money, thats a tough one. If your wife's salary is enough to pay the bills while you get started then thats great. Just keep in mind that you're going to need to pay to join your local Board of Realtors, your MLS, probably pay your E&O insurance and other assorted start-up fees. Once you get started in your new company, spend as much time in the office as possible and pay attention to what the successful agents do. Work as much floor time as you can (if your office is in a good location, you can get some good leads this way) and offering to host open houses for other agents can get you some buyer leads. Also, networking is a great way to find contacts and potential customers without spending much money. Good Luck

[bentong]

welcome to the forum! well, if you are in seo then you've just landed on the right place.

[pcdoc]

Welcome. As you can see, there are already a few willing to offer 'sage' advice.

[addaboy]

Thanks for the warm welcome everybody. Now, enough with the pleasantries and tell me how I take over the market down here! No seriously, thanks for the welcome, I'll be asking a lot of questions and for a lot of advice so I hope you guys are patient

I did start another thread in the Ask an Agent forum, curious about if working with builders would be a good thing for a noobie or not, so please head on over there and tell me what you think (or what you know as the case may be).

Again, thanks!

[MarcinSarasota]

Welcome to the forums from southwest Florida.

[addaboy]

By the way, seo is search engine optimization right? My brother runs a few "bible mucic" type websites and he's very knowledgeable about how to get placed high up there. I never gave much thought about using a web site to draw in leads, does it really help? What's the turn around on web generated leads usually? I had a guy from housevalues call me and try to sell me a zip code down here, but I read up on them on this site and now there's no way I'm paying HV.com. Are the leads I'd generate on my own web site going to be better than the seemingly crap ones that I'd get from HV or am I looking at 6 months to 2 years like the HV leads?

[ResaleBroker]

Hello and Welcome to REW!