Do You Have What It Takes?

If you have ever wondered if you have what it takes for a career in real estate, then this week's article is for you.

We are not going to lie; how you start your real estate career is really important to your success. We’ve heard the common misconception from people outside of real estate who say real estate agents work too little and make too much.

From our own experience, nothing could be further from the truth. Real estate agents are some of the hardest working people and yes, they can make a great income, but they’ve definitely earned it.

So what holds back a lot of would-be-successful agents from jumping in?

Fear

Fear that they don’t have what it takes to be successful in real estate, fear that they’re going to fail.

Do you ever feel like this?

Trust us, most agents feel like this in the beginning, but here’s what all the successful ones have in common:

They make a commitment to go after it even with fear. That's when fear becomes courage!

Success in any endeavor requires commitment and work, real estate is no different. Being your own boss is awesome, but it also requires discipline to take the actions you need to even if you don’t feel like it.

Remember the definition of commitment? It’s doing what you said you’d do long after the feeling fades. You will need the commitment to do the work and stay committed long enough for the fear to fade and the success to follow.

Here’s the truth, would you rather work hard building someone else’s business or building your own? So, let’s take a look at three important habits you need to make it in this business, and then you can answer the question for yourself, “Do I have what it takes?”

Habit #1: Consistency

This one is closely related to doing the work because success in this business also requires a sustained effort over a long period of time. The best agents are the ones who stay in it long after the other ones have quit.

No, I’m not talking about working all night and getting no sleep so you burn yourself out. I’m talking about staying consistent with your lead generation activities and client appointments month after month to ensure a steady flow of business – all capable while working normal hours.

Here’s where a lot of agents go wrong and how you can avoid this pitfall:

In the beginning, they are all about lead generation, which is great! New agents usually have no clients to service so they have a lot of time to spend on generating business.

Pretty soon they’ve got a bunch of new clients and now all their time is spent showing properties, listing homes, and negotiating contracts. A month later they have all these closings, yeah baby! Money is flowing in.

But then once all their clients close on their homes, the agent realizes something: there are no more clients… That’s because while they were busy working with clients, they forgot to do the vital activity of lead generation that got them those clients in the first place.

And this is why some people say real estate is a “feast or famine” kind of business. It can be – if you do it the way we just described.

The way to avoid the up-and-down roller coaster that some agents experience is to have the discipline to stay consistent with ALL of your activities. If you spend time consistently leading generate on the same day you show homes and negotiate contracts, you are much more likely to have a steady stream of business all year long.

That’s why consistency is one of the keys to being successful as a real estate agent.

Habit #2: A Willingness To Follow The Proven Models

This one is key. Think about the most skilled and successful athletes of all time. Are they great because they know a bunch of fancy moves or because they’ve mastered the fundamentals better than anyone else?

The great athletes are the ones who you KNOW will make the basket every time they step up to the free-throw line or who can make the put every time they get on the green.

Just like the best athletes are the ones who master the fundamentals of their game, the best agents are the ones who master the proven models for success.

You might be asking, “Well, I’m willing to follow the models but where do I find them?”

The great thing about Keller Williams is we provide all of this for you. At KW, we’ve studied the anatomy of the successful top agents and have broken down what they do so it can be taught to others. Gary Keller, Co-Founder of Keller Williams literally wrote the book on the successful agent called The Millionaire Real Estate Agent (highly recommend you buy it and read immediately!)

This isn’t just a bunch of theory, this is real-life practical application that other people are actually DOING.

Between the books, training, coaching, and consulting that is available to you through Keller Williams, you will be taught:

Business models

Lead generation models

Team building and hiring models

Buyer and seller conversations

Personal productivity tools

…And more!

It’s tempting for all of us to reinvent the wheel, but the best way is to follow the trail the wheel has already traveled.

This does not mean everyone is the same, but it will give you proven models to follow a proven path.

Habit #3: A Strong Desire To Succeed

This is probably the most important one because, in all honesty, if you don’t have this one then none of the other things matter. Every successful agent we know has a strong desire to win, a strong desire to be better every day, and a strong desire to succeed.

And that’s what this business takes. People who are complacent or who don’t care very much about doing well tend to struggle in real estate.

All of the great agents we know have such a strong desire that it manifests itself not as a WANT, but as a NEED. They need to win. Plain and simple. We like to say, when your WHY is big enough, the how will show up. Your personal motivation matters.

This is not a negative need as in a greedy kind of way but a positive kind of need as in these people NEED to reach their potential, they NEED to stretch their limit and see how far they can go. And yes, they NEED to make as much money as they are capable of making. Not so they can buy big houses and nice cars (although there’s nothing inherently wrong with those things).

But they know that with an abundance of resources they can help others, help their community, and help the world on a scale that they never would have been able to if they had resigned themselves to not need much and therefore not become much either.

All of the skills and all of the knowledge you currently lack can be learned. But no one can give you a desire to succeed. If you have the desire, everything else can be overcome, but if you have no desire you will be overcome by anything.

So do you have a desire – a NEED to succeed?

Only you can answer that question, although my guess is you do or else you wouldn’t be here…