Newbie, Starter, Rookie. We have all been there at one point in our career. I remember when I first started working as a new Real estate agent and wanted to become a listing agent. Many of my mentors advised me to stick to working with buyers. But I always knew I wanted to get more listings. As the old saying in this industry goes, you must list to last.
Becoming a listing agent comes with many challenges. To be successful you must learn what those challenges are and work on overcoming them. The most successful and profitable listing agents in the country, and in your local market. Are the ones who invested their time into mastering the craft of becoming a world class listing agent.
Mistake No.1: Refusing to say NO!
Listing business comes with a price. The average listing can cost hundreds, sometimes even thousands of dollars to advertise depending on the property type and your local market needs. Because of this you must choose your seller clients wisely.
As a listing you will run into everything from unrealistic sellers, unreasonable sellers, and even unethical sellers. Learn how to say NO to these sellers. Your reputation in this business is everything and working with the wrong clients can ruin it quickly.
Unrealistic sellers will waste your time and money. These sellers often times think their home is worth far more than fair market value and can not offer any real legitimate explanation as to why. Once you master the art of pricing homes correctly you will be able to spot these sellers from a mile away.
As a listing agent your job is to look at the data and educate the seller on the market so you can make the best possible plan to ensure they net the most money possible on their home sale. But, as a listing you do not make the market and if the seller is going to be unrealistic on price and will not take your professional advice it is likely best to cut them loose and let another agent eat the costly marketing expenses on a listing that is likely to never sell.
If not you could put yourself in a position where you end up spending time and money on listings that simply will not sell. You must focus and spend your time as listing agent with realistic and motivated seller clients.
Number 2: Not Mastering the Presentation
Becoming a listing agent is competitive work. All of the top Real Estate brokers in your state are all marketing and prospecting for listing business. Because of this you will find yourself competing with some of the biggest power brokers in your state for the same client and listing at times.
Sellers will do home work on you and ask you the hard questions that buyers often won’t. If you want to win more listing business you will need to practice objection handling skills and also learn how to present Home Value reports, Net Sheets, and the marketing you offer in a relatable easy to understand way. You must make your potential seller clients feel comfortable.
The best way to make home sellers feel comfortable with you as a Real Estate Agent is to showcase your confidence. To be confident you must be competent. To build your confidence as a Realtor spend time practicing your listing presentation by doing role play with another agent partner. This will help you master your sales presentation so local sellers start viewing you as the local real estate expert.
Number 3: Become The Teacher
Imagine walking through a haunted house with all the lights on. Not that scary anymore right? This is how sellers feel when you educate them on the home selling process. The first meeting should be all about learning about the clients individual needs and educating them on what to expect during the selling process.
Selling your home can be a stressful time for many reasons. For most sellers their home is their largest and most important asset. They want to be confident they are doing the right thing and that you are the right Realtor to guide them though this stressful time. Sellers want to know that no big surprises are going to happen during their real estate transaction and if they do that you have the knowledge and experience to handle them.
Because of this they are looking for a Realtor with the heart of a teacher. Spend the time to educate the client. Outline what their expectations should be based on the data and research you did for them.
During this sit down you should spend time reviewing sales comps. Then jump into important things like average days on market in their area and most importantly the seller net sheet. The seller must know how much they will net after they pay all expenses.
Number 4: Not Prospecting Enough
If you are going to focus on becoming a listing agent you must focus on prospecting. Think baseball, the more chances you have at bat the likely you are to hit a home run.
In Real Estate sales we are all searching for the next home run listing. The best way to hit that home run is to spend more time on the phone prospecting. Every single day new listings come on the real estate market. Why are you not the listing agent listing those properties? Chances are the seller did not even know about your great services because you are not spending enough time in lead generation mode.
The competition in real estate sales is heavy, especially on the listing side. There are many hard truths about this business agents must know. In most states their are thousands of part time agents taking their cut of the pie. How many people have a family member or friend who is a Realtor? The answer is a lot. Because of this it is more important then ever to spend time prospecting each day for new business.
The best and most effective way I have been able to find new listing opportunity’s is to simply prospect each day. Consistency is the key to success in real estate sales.
Here are a couple lead sources you can focus on when prospecting for real estate listings.
- For Sale By Owner
- For Rent by Owner
- Expired Listing’s
- Circle Prospecting
- Old Expired Listing’s
- Sphere of Influence
Number 5: Overpricing Listings
Buying listings is not the fast track to success, I promise. What is buying a listing? This is when a listing agent knowingly takes a overpriced listing. They then pay out of pocket for all the marketing all while knowing it is unlikely to sell at the sellers unrealistic price. Next the listing agent hopes the seller will eventually realize it is overpriced and agree to a price reduction at which point is may sell if it is reduced to fair market value.
Why do new agents do this? I honestly feel this is due to a scarcity mindset. Most agents do not prospect enough. Because of this they do not get enough swings at bat to sit down at listing consultations. So when the opportunity comes the pure excitement takes over and they do not want to be turned down by the seller and lose the opportunity.
Avoid these mistakes at all cost. Taking over price listings comes with many drawbacks.
- The first drawback is simply the financial losses you will take. Investing money into listings that simply will not sell is not a smart business move.
- The second drawback is the negative talk the sellers will start having with family and friends. You know, the one about the agent they hired that over promised and underdelivered. You do not want this reputation for yourself around town.
- MLS stats can easily be pulled by other local agents. These stats can be used against you when other agents are competing with you for new listing clients. When sellers find out your listing inventory sells far under asking price. Or sometimes does not sell at all they will be much less likely to hire you as their agent.
- The for sale sign goes up and come down with no sale. Other home owners in the neighborhood will see this and take notice. Over time you will start gaining a reputation as a Realtor who can not get the job done.
Conclusion
Becoming a listing agent has so many positives but it also comes with many challenges. You will have to face these challenges head on and overcome them as a rookie agent. This can be done but it will take hard work and consistent effort. Spend the time to master your craft, nothing great happens overnight. Become a world class listing agent who is not afraid to say NO!