Being a Newbie to Real Estate!!!!!!

Now playing..."Being New in a Real Estate office!!!!!!"

I was not sure what I was planning on writing about this time, but after meeting with my mentor this morning (yes! I have a mentor), I realized that that would be the subject.

A mentor has always played a big part of my life. I guess you could say that it began with my mother. Someone that I could look up to and ask questions of no matter how silly they were. You know the ones that always come from children...Why? And, if not my mother, then I also had 3 brothers and a sister older than I. I can recall many times asking my brother questions about math. I was good at math, but not as good as he was. I usually had that recall problem and just needed to have a good prompting to get me to say, OH YEA!!!, now I remember. Services no longer needed till next time.

As a new REALTOR (I put that in bold, because I did not feel that I had earned that title yet), I was in desperate need of a mentor. Sure, we had our lead agent, but they were not readily available as their schedule was tightly covered with Market Center meetings, new probable agent meetings and just plain ole meeting with other folks behind closed doors.

But that's okay...there was the Pier mentoring that happened every week! You would come into the meeting with a list of questions you were hopefully going to get answers to. It was a great way to connect with other agents and even find out just how small you could get as you talked about what you had done the week prior and also what you had NOT done. I always feared that never ending question! "So, how many in your database have you contacted this week?" This question always made me feel a little inadequate. Not that I couldn't contact my database, but my database was not your typical.

Then, there is the, "Did you get your 8X8's out?", "how about your touches"?

After finally deciding on a neighborhood to farm, that did not appear to be locked up by another agent, I finally got my 8X8's going out every other week. By the time I got the 7Th one out, I received a call from a homeowner. They wanted me to stop sending out my junk mail. I decided that this would be a GREAT time to say, "I apologize for offending you with my mail outs, nothing personal meant by it". What I really wanted to say was, "You can't be serious! Of all the JUNK MAIL that we get in the mail, you picked mine to call and ask to stop just ONE piece of mail!!!!". But, thank goodness, I didn't.

Now, back to getting a mentor. I recall asking about getting a seasoned agent to be my mentor. It was suggested that I contact the one I would like and ask them. I'm still waiting on a few of them to call me back!

Finally, I got hold of an agent that I respected VERY much and YES!, she was willing to give me a hand getting through the muddy waters of the New Agent Realtor muck. I can't tell you what a pleasure it was to finally meet an agent that I can rely on for my "dumb questions", even though there is no such thing. She made me feel like I was making strides. That all the hard work I was putting into this business was not going the wrong way. That I was progressing!!!

Now...back to my current mentor!!! She is not the same one that I had. Not long after getting frustrated at being just another database provider, I moved to a Market Center that was more capable of responding to my many needs. All things were going good, but I still had that need to have ONE person I could rely on when I needed.

One day during a sales meeting, it was mentioned that a new Mentor program was being established. We were introduced to this LUCKY person and were instructed to contact her if we would like to join the mentor program.

The sales meeting didn't get over fast enough before I had my hands on my e-mail and e-mailing her. I wanting to be her first "Agent in Need"! Well, guess what? I was her first agent and I am glad to say that I benefit from her every day. Not just during our meetings, but between them also. I enjoy that "Hi" that she sends each time we pass. I enjoy the cards that she sends when we are doing good. Getting cards makes me want to keep up my card mailing also. I see what an impact they are making on me. I enjoy each time we meet, because she supports me, my goals, my path. but she keeps me POSITIVE.

A mentor can make or break your career, so before you leap onto just anyone, look at whether they are going in the same positive forward motion that you want to go. Make sure that they are there to be a shoulder to sniffle on when you need it, but also there with a boot if you need that too.

Be willing to give and take...don't expect to have your mentor there 24/7, for every little need, but do expect them or someone in the MC to be able to take that call when you forget how to do a counter offer and all you need to know is if you just line through the changes on the counter/counter and have your client initial the changes.

Oh...one more note, if you work with the other agent, you can sometimes minimize the changes on an offer and keep it cleaner. This makes it easier for Title to make out what was REALLY agreed upon.

Having a mentor can be a rewarding experience that makes your career the career of choice. It makes others look at your glow and long to know how you got it and what they can do to get it also. So...as you go about your daily REALTOR tasks, don't forget to glow...you never know who might be needing that at the time you show it.

Next: How do I choose a Title Company, Mortgage Lender or other part of the process!!!!

Until then...keep your chin up and your goals in front of you......................