What’s it really like to be a real estate agent?
Despite writing this blog monthly for the last thirteen years it always takes me by surprise to receive a reminder in CAPS urging me to get my draft through ASAP.
While pondering this month’s topic I passed Wellington City station and watched as CBD based workers headed home for the day. It was in that moment I had a brief flirtation with the thought of being an employee once again. It’s been such a long time, and maybe things have changed, but the idea of having a (genuine) sick day and not dragging myself to the office is somewhat appealing. So too is the thought of putting in a solid week’s work knowing at the end I will receive a pay cheque in turn for my efforts. And would it be too much to think that maybe once I could leave work at the office door and relax when I got home?
While it’s nice to daydream, the reality is that this roller coaster ride I have chosen for a career keeps me motivated to work harder and be better for the sake of our clients. So, for this month barometer let’s see drop the cheesy smile and chat about what’s it really like to be a real estate agent?
Not everyone likes you!
Humans have an innate need to be liked. Being liked makes us feel like we belong. The problem with choosing to work as an agent is that your career choice sets you up to be instantly disliked. This is a hard pill to swallow for the types of people the industry attracts. We are generally extroverted people, people with solid networks of friends and acquaintances. We join the industry with good intentions and quote our friendships as the place we will source business. But this is an industry full of rejection. Even agents at the top of their game get more no’s than yes’s. An ever more bitter pill to swallow when it is a friend or family member (believe me it happens). The longer you do the job, the better you get at handling rejection. But some people never do get accustomed to it and simply leave the industry.
So, a word to the new and enthusiastic; use each no as a chance to improve and remember, a simple ‘next’ will keep you on shrugging off the pain of rejection!
Talk is Cheap
A common misconception is that good talkers make good real estate agents. The ole’ gift of the gab types turn dreams to reality. While excellent communication is a key skill for any agent, the ability to listen is even more important. And active listening will set you apart from the pack.
When you actively listen you will uncover what is truly important to your clients. Understanding people’s underlying motivation for a sale can help you deliver what they really need. Without the ability to actively listen assumptions are made, motivations go unsaid, and agents miss the mark. Peter Fuda is a consultant who has worked with some of the world’s largest and most successful businesses. In a truly inspiring keynote, he delivered the notion of ‘playing a game you can win’. Since introducing this into our business it is amazing what we have uncovered. Each sale has its own set of circumstances, often very stressful and some that are heartbreaking. The ability to solve those problems and minimise stress for our clients, sets us up for success from the outset.
Lesson number two. Without the ability to actively listen, you will never win the real estate game.
Houses don’t matter
Since 2011 my team have sold over 860 houses. But I don’t tell you this to brag. I tell you this because despite all those transactions, this job has taught me nothing about property I didn’t already know. But it’s taught me a hell of a lot about people.
While it is important to understand what you are representing, all the construction knowledge in the world won’t save you unless you can understand the behaviours of the people you are dealing with. We’re complicated creatures with emotions and feelings and when both sides of the transaction involve parties often in a heightened state, it’s a careful game of psychology at play.
Pro tip – don’t enter the industry because you love houses, but it’s worth considering if you have a genuine love for people.
Less of a salesperson, more of a broker
Most agents call themselves salespeople when really, we are brokers.
The average house price in Wellington is around the one-million-dollar mark and while a good salesperson is someone who can sell you something you don’t want, I’m yet to see a smooth-talking agent convince a buyer to drop a casual million on a house they didn’t like. Gift of the gab aside.
Broken down to its most basic terms, real estate sales involve a willing buyer and willing seller and an agent who plays the role of broker to ensure the two parties can come to an agreement. This is where actively listening and great communication skills come in to play because just one wrong word can send the buyers running, But a considered approach will keep both parties involved and confident in their decision making with the end result, a sale.
A word to all the sellers when choosing your agent, “ice to eskimos” does not come in handy when the stakes are high. Instead look for a well-defined strategy with considered thoughts and excellent EQ. This is the skill set of high performing agents in 2024.
It isn’t Selling Sunset, darling.
When I set out in 2000, the industry was predominantly staffed by forty and fifty-year-olds who had had a career change in line with their mid-life crisis. At that time real estate had long been considered a good option because of its low barrier to entry. But the industry has come a long way and these days the aspirational life of a real estate agent who may grace our screens or social media feeds in six-inch heels, or a designer suit has attracted a new and much younger breed of agent.
Our model is to recruit dynamic, hardworking new team members with excellent communication skills and a background in customer service. We train them to be agents the Stevens Team way. More than once ‘Selling Sunset’ has been quoted as the motivation for career choice. Lured by high fashion, spectacular homes, brokers opens and the promise of mind-boggling commissions they quickly realise the reality of their chosen career is anything but! Instead, our hard-working agents work six days a week and are on call on the seventh. They work a minimum of eight and a half hours a day and as many late nights as it takes, answer calls long after normal people have gone to bed and are used to dropping personal plans on a dime. As for big bucks, they are decades in the making and forget the high fashion, it simply won’t cut it on a Wellington walk up! Unfortunately the brokers’ opens don’t exist either although we do love a post auction lunch!
Real Estate is an industry filled with personal sacrifice. Yes, there can be some incredible rewards, but they don’t come without risk, and they certainly do not come easy. Successful agents are motivated by the satisfaction of helping others. They play a long, client focus game and understand this is the only way to true long-lasting success in this industry. And there is no promise of when, if ever.
Word to anyone looking for a quick win, you won’t find it here.
All flash, no cash
My grandfather used to say: ‘many a fancy car you turn upside down where not much change falls out.’
This industry is full of egos, but from where I’m standing, the perception is worse than the reality.
As humans we tend to judge books by their covers, and possibly even approach agents with an unconscious bias because of the role they play. The problem is as agents we are judged every day by the way we look, the car we drive and our social media presence. We are never not on show, even in a rare minute off the clock, and so at a minimum we need to take pride in our appearance. But like with most commission-based roles, the Pareto Principle of 80/20 very much applies. For every hundred agents working in your community, 20 percent will be doing well and the other 80 will be struggling to meet the car lease payments.
When I started out back in the early 2000’s I borrowed my sister’s car, lived with my grandmother, and had a budget of $2 a day for lunch, my first pay was five months later. The lower the handicap you have in gold, the less real estate you have to sell.
No sympathy required
Twenty-four years on I have accepted that we will always be disliked by the public, and that’s ok. But over the years we have had the privilege of becoming the trusted team members in some of our clients most pivotal moments, even if only for a short time. We have built lifelong relationships and in some cases our clients have become friends. So, while this career will never generate the public accolades, nor the knighthoods you might be after, the personal satisfaction gleaned from delivering an excellent service and generating a great result is reward enough.
The Wellington Market
For buyers a huge increase in homes for sales has seen stock levels souring to pre-2016 levels. Finally, the buyers have choice. A recommendation from our team, forward bookings are slowing significantly and so if you are serious about buying a home in the first half of this year, we think now is the time to start seriously considering the options which are in front of you now.
For anyone considering selling it is worthwhile understanding the factors currently at play. Just because there are more homes for sales it does not mean there are more buyers. In fact, it is the exact opposite. Your home is not being sold in isolation and will be in competition with other similar properties available at any given time. A simple case of supply and demand at play.
If you’re serious about selling, make sure when you’re choosing your agent that they have a well-defined no price marketing strategy with the ability to generate competition for Plan A. The biggest mistake you can make in this market is to let an agent’s opinion on price, such as an advertised BEO, cause you to lose momentum in the market. Should your property fail to sell on the given deadline date, a pre-approved Plan B with considered advertised pricing generated through pricing feedback from the market during plan A, will allow you to quick switch tact and reinvigorate interest in your property.
This year our team has successfully sold 21 houses to date. The ability to generate a competitive and transparent bidding environment in the auction room as been pivotal to our success. In the last two weeks our team has sold 6/6 and 4/4 under the hammer. Compare that with clearance rates of less than 50% for other methods and it is plain for all to see where the WIN’s are in this market.
Wellington Market Quick Stats
Meet the Ben Stevens & the Team
What’s on in Wellington?
Summer of Cricket in Wellington, Cello Basin Reserve, 27 March – 01 April 2024
The White Ferns will descend on Wellington as part of their home international summer of cricket and will play five T20Is and three ODIs against England at home. They’ll play two T20s at Cello Basin Reserve on 27 March and 29 March, followed by an ODI on 1 April at the same venue.
Tickets are on sale now.
Click here to book your tickets
BELLE, A Performance of Air, St James Theatre, 14 – 17 March 2024
Experience a world where light, music, and exhilarating aerial performance collide in an immersive experience that will surprise and delight audiences with music, light, and dance in a transformative world.
The aerialists and dancers of ‘BELLE’ perform in a unique purpose-built circus apparatus which is designed for choreography in the air. It transforms the St James Theatre into a space of dreams, desires, ancestry and otherworlds.
A magical experience created by Malia Johnston, who is known for her innovative projects and creative direction on World of WearableArt (WOW). She’s worked in collaboration with renowned aerial designer Jenny Ritchie and performance designer Rowan Pierce. Composer Eden Mulholland and musician Anita Clark add to the atmosphere with rich sounds.
Jim Beam Homegrown, Wellington Waterfront, 16 Mar 2024
New Zealand’s biggest festival of local music is back in 2024 to take over Wellington’s waterfront.
Bringing together over 40 local acts across a range of genres, Jim Beam Homegrown is a celebration of Aotearoa’s music scene. With five stages set along the waterfront, delicious food, carnival rides, and interactive experiences, it’s the ultimate send-off for the summer season.
