Sound Off: How to start your career as a Realtor.

A: The most challenging part of establishing yourself as a Realtor is getting clients. It’s an incredibly competitive industry and when you are a new agent, you are immediately competing for the same clients that experienced agents are aiming for as well. Ultimately, real estate is a relationshipbased business, which means you need to be top of mind with your sphere of influence and also make sure your sphere knows and is aware that you are there to assist with any real estaterelated needs.

Being a knowledgable source for your sphere and others is paramount. People want to work with an expert. As an agent you want to make sure you know everything about the inventory, the nuances of the neighborhoods, specific buildings and statistics regarding price per square foot for any given property or area.

At Avenue 8, the techenabled brokerage platform that I recently cofounded, we provide market reports to our agents to then distribute to their client base that are both informative but also tell a story about what is happening in a specific market. We provide tools to our agents that enable them to provide additional value to their clients. The key to getting clients and to being a successful agent is ultimately to provide value to the consumer. Once value is provided things will fall into place and success will come.

Justin Fichelson, Fichelson Real Estate Group, 4152646829, justin.fichelson@gmail.com

A: The hardest part about establishing yourself as a Realtor is getting your name out there and promoting your services consistently. It’s the same as any small business marketing system where you need a business plan with a goal, tactics and things to do. Half of a Realtor’s job is self promotion on an ongoing basis. The other half is serving the people we meet.

When an agent is looking to work with home sellers they need to get to know their homeowners, community, schools, restaurants, events and activities. They have to become that neighborhood resource and Realtor. People do business with people they know, like and trust.

If you are helping people buy homes, you need to know your clientele, city dynamics, schools, crime rate and transportation options. Once you know these things, you promote yourself as the agent who knows. Promoting on social media by doing Facebook Live home buyer seminars, showing pictures of homes and cities that you’ve been working in and different loan options really pique people’s interest.

Karin Cunningham, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Realty, 6504383504,

karinc@bhhscalreal.com

A: There are many excellent Realtors and brokers in our area, so establishing yourself in this business can be challenging.

But just like any worthy endeavor, one must put in the time and be willing to work seven days a week for a number of years to get a foothold. The real estate business is all about relationships and how you relate to people.

However, you also must understand the legal complexities of a real estate transactions in order to be credible with the public. It is also important to be consistent and focused with your outreach programs and have a disciplined work ethic.

Write personal letters, develop a sphere of people that you regularly send information to and develop your social media presence. In the end, nothing succeeds like success and once you have a few sales under your belt, the community you work in will start to pay attention.

Anian Pettit Tunney, the Grubb Co., 5109287447,

tunney@gruubco.com