The Real Estate Industry

Posted by Jeff Ignacio on January 9, 2007 under Business | Be the First to Comment

Are you interested in working in commercial real estate? Always wanted to sell a skyscraper? Your shopping mall? The amusement park you always visited as a kid?

Well there are a few things I thought I would lay out for you. The real estate industry, despite what everybody tells you, is a SLOW industry. Properties sell, and then held in escrow for several weeks or months, and then you get paid. Don’t expect to get paid quickly or right away unless you’re the Michael Jordan of your office. If you’re young and you’ve always wanted to pull in $250,000 – $400,000 a year and you didn’t get your medical or law degree, then I will say that this industry has the potential to provide that type of income. But it comes at a price, and a hefty price at that.

Your first day you come in and you’re given training. They give you a sheet of things to say whenever a certain objection arises from a phone call. Now that you’ve learned the basics of what to say during a phone conversation, it’s time to start making some phone calls. Now the sales manager doesn’t just hand you a list of warm leads as you might expect in the insurance, travel, or financial industries. You get a giant book called the Directory that has some phone numbers in it (a la Yellow Pages). However, you’re only ONE of the new hires and have to share this resource with everyone else.

One thing about the Directory is that the numbers in there are the most called. Why? Because the number is published! Duh! What do you think the typical reaction to an agent giving them a phone call is going to be?

- Stop calling me
- I get calls from guys like you ALL day and ALL night
- Please put me on your DO NOT CALL list
- I’m ALLERGIC TO YOU. So DIE!!!!!

The part we love talking about most is the income you’ll be generating. If you choose to work at a large, established real estate firm you’ll probably receive an offer of $0 if you’re willing to start out as your own broker. But more likely you’ll start out as a Senior Agent’s Junior making minimum wage and a share of the commission of any leads you bring into the office. Expect to make anywhere between $30,000 – $50,000 if you close a relatively good sized deal. Luckily, the company I’ve worked for this past year gives you a much bigger cut right away.

Also, if you’re going to break into the industry: FIND AN HONEST BROKER. Working for someone that is dishonest can really set you back IMMEDIATELY and you’ll probably ruin your credibility before your reputation has even been built. What traits does an honest broker have?

That’s easy:
- An honest broker does what he/she says they are going to do. If they say they are going to show your property to everyone, then they’ll do it. If they say they are going to cooperate with another firm if that firm brings an offer, then they are going to do it (even if it means cutting your commission in half). Nothing faciliates better more easily than honesty.

In the future I’ll put up more information about the industry if you are all interested.