3 Tips to Kickstart Your Real Estate Career

6 Minute Read

Real estate can be challenging, stressful, irritating, agitating…. you name it! However, looking back on a career that spanned over two decades, I am forever indebted for the experience. I would certainly encourage young and old alike to genuinely consider the profession as a fruitful career path. If you are personally considering a real estate career, I hope the following provides you with an insightful foundation.

As mentioned in another blog post (see here), my family and I immigrated to Western Australia back in February, 2000. I lacked social connections, let alone a strong professional base. Despite these initial barriers, I still had the opportunity to get 9-5 sales jobs based on my prior qualifications and work experience. However, I soon realised that my entrepreneurial spirit made it nearly impossible to work for someone else.

How I Got My Start in real Estate

Shortly after arriving, we started building a home of our own. Through this process (and from conducting some of my own research), a career in real estate presented a viable opportunity for me. It allowed me to run my own business, without having to outlay any capital or assume significant financial risk; two challenges I experienced first-hand prior to moving to Australia.

Primed with the initial excitement of pursuing a new venture, I quickly sought out to 1) learn everything I could about the profession and 2) find an in-road into an established operation.

Back in 2000, Western Australia was in the initial stages of a housing boom. The downside was that the real estate market was incredibly saturated with salesperson talent.

A Little Luck Came My Way...

After 8 months of being in Australia, I secured a sales consultant position at Collier Homes, a residential building company. However I turned it down, at least initially – more on that in a subsequent post.

At the time, we were also building our home with Impressions, part of the Buckeridge Group of Companies (BGC). Upon mentioning to our sale consultant that I would be competing against him very soon (as I had been offered the Collier position that day), he promptly alerted his General Manager, who then courted me for the better part of the afternoon.

That meeting landed me with a sales consultant position at Impressions. This company would be my home for 16 years, and ended in me being their Sales/Brand Manager. As life is not short of ironic moments, I ended up also being General Manager of Collier Homes thereafter. But more on that later…

Is Real Estate Worth The Risk?

It’s important to remember that a real estate career promises no fixed income. This is a sufficient deterrent for many when considering a new career. However, the attraction for me was there was no cap on earning potential. Put another way, my compensation would driven by my resiliency and work ethic. Also, courtesy of my age and experience (I came to Australia when I was 39 years old), I understood the upside of taking the road less travelled, albeit knowing that “not all trees on the route are laden with fruit”.

I used my young family as motivation to succeed. While I could not admit it then, I desperately wanted to return my family to a life of luxury. As an immigrant (which I trust some of you reading this are), you’re burdened with the task of starting over. This is only made harder by being thrown into a completely foreign culture and among a foreign work discipline.

Having my wife secure a job was pivotal in me moving forward with a real estate career. Her employment not only provided for our basic needs, but gave me the confidence to pursue this new career.

Ask Yourself if You Prefer Flexibility over Structure

Once I got my feet wet, I quickly realised that the decision I made was the right one for me. This was mainly due to the latitude I was offered to shape my working habits. A real estate career did not force me to adhere to a 9-5 discipline, but it offered me the opportunity to create an 8-11 work ethic. A 40-hour week was not mandatory, but I was afforded the privilege to work a 90-hour week if I so choose.

This flexibility, coupled with my hunger to succeed, yielded strong results for my early career. In my first three years, I accelerated my professional experience and knowledge by seven years.

Another benefit I found was that I was not confined to a prescribed method of work. It dawned on me that the results were the only thing that mattered, not the process. This permitted me to make my own time, my own management schedule, and how I sourced my income stream.

There are those in the profession that view this lack of structure as an inhibitor. To those people, I encourage you to reassess the tremendous upside you possess from having this level of flexibility.

3 Tips for Success for Your Real Estate Career

This is not to say that everything was easy. In fact, from reading the above, I would expect you to take a contrary view. The sacrifices you make early on in this profession are significant, but I fear are a necessary evil to put you on a sustainable path to success.

During my early years, I saw many competent sales consultants quit well before they could recognise their potential. I sometimes wonder if proper guidance or perspective could have been offered to them prior to their decision. As a way of atoning for past sins, I have summarised below three tips that got me over those first few hurdles:

Create small yet achievable targets:

In real estate, you can quickly become overwhelmed and unduly pressured by the ultimate goal of selling a home. Take it from a seasoned salesperson – selling a home is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I focused on compartmentalising the overall process of home selling into digestible pieces, which left me composed and in control. Trying to set a target of selling 4 homes in one month is very challenging. Contrast that to setting a target of meeting 10 people in one week, which is certainly more achievable. Further, by pursuing the latter approach, you will often lead to the 4 sales you set out to obtain.

Use idle time to better learn your business:

When I first started, I ‘artificially’ inflated my work hours. When I was not required in the office or display home, I was spending time researching market trends, home publications and speaking to others in the industry to gain knowledge and insight. Real estate does not have as steep a learning curve compared to other professions. However, those first few years are pivotal in establishing yourself as someone who is knowledgeable of the profession and that possesses credibility and empathy in your sales process.

Don’t be afraid to let the job consume you:

This is one of the hardest and perhaps more counter-intuitive pieces of advice. When I spoke to my son about this, he complained that this may not be well received by readers who value a work-life balance. I am not suggesting you work yourself to exhaustion. However, you should adopt a higher level of work ethic, at least in the short-term. Equate your real estate career to an investment, whereby you put in upfront time and sweat equity, in anticipation of future gains.

* * * *

For those that have just started or contemplating a real estate career, I would love to hear from you below. I would be happy to provide any advice or assistance beyond what is described above, if you so desire.

Also, if you would like me to write about a specific real estate topic, please let me know in the comments section below.

I wish you the best on your career path and future success.

The content outlined above was written, edited and published by the Lost Realtor. The author has over 20 years or real estate sales and investing experience in the Australian property market. He has held senior positions in Australian building companies, including being the General Manager of the residential sales division of Collier Homes. His qualifications include a Bachelor of Commerce degree and a Graduate Diploma in Building and Construction Law.