Sunday Special for REALTORS®

It will be unjust if I won’t talk about the profession which gave me so much love and affection in my life. There are almost 53,000 licensed REALTORS® in GTA as per TREB data, out of which approximately 20,000 (37% ) don’t even do a single deal, approximately 24,218 ( 45.69%) do 5 or fewer deals.

There is an 80/20 rule in many professions, which means 20% of people do 80% business. Unfortunately, in Real Estate industry it’s actually 90/10, that 10% of people do 90% business. Did we ever think that those almost 82% REALTORS® who fall under less than 5 deals category, why they are not able to do the business? Are they not capable of doing it? Actually, if you dig deep, you will find there is a lot of talent among them but they don’t have the right platform and direction to perform. Let’s talk about the challenges in Real Estate career.

Education:
In the Real Estate course, it’s all about basics and there is not much emphasis on “ How to effectively start the business “. Real estate can be learned in the field, not in the books. To learn real estate, you actually have to practice it but you will practice only when you have business support and have a mentor.

Wrong Protocol:
I come across this situation every day. REALTORS® come and say I am here to take Broker of Record’s interview to see which brokerage I have to join. Just think twice, who takes the interview and who gives the interview. It’s always an employer who takes the interview and employee who gives the interview. It’s an employer who teaches the employee about the business. Now you have become employer and brokerage has become employee so you have to teach how to do business, not the brokerage. What a wrong protocol! I have to see as a Broker of Record who is the right fit for my business, who has the right skill set so that we can train them and make them successful and also make ourselves successful.

Over Expectations:
A new REALTOR® enters into the industry with over expectations and with a mindset that the moment he/she gets the license, the business will automatically start flowing. The first shock they get when their best friend or relative buy/sell with otherREALTOR® and gives them the lame excuse of not doing business in a relationship. Most of the time, the real reason is they don’t trust your experience or professionalism. They don’t feel their personal information will be well protected while doing business with you. A very high percentage of new REALTORS® leave the profession in the first 6 months as they don’t get the break as expected.

Training:
The biggest challenge in the Real Estate industry is training in the field. Just think about it, as a new REALTOR® you need to work at least 6 months under an able mentor and shadow him/her for day to day activities to learn the tricks of the trade. Every single client is a new situation and learning. Majority of brokerages don’t have that training model and they fulfill their responsibilities by doing a weekly classroom training session which is like you are preparing a soldier by showing him a war movie and no actual field training.

Classroom Mentorship:
Try to look at the career of the majority of mentors and if you dig deep, you will find the majority of them took their real estate license and failed in the business but they understood the real problem of the industry and made that problem their business. The reason they failed was the absence of a right mentor. Few of the smart ones understood that problem and made it their profession. Their training model is also based on bookish knowledge. Did you ever see any of these mentors taking you for Door knocking, cold calling or lead generation? They will give you a script without understanding that in a field one script doesn’t fit all. Every client has their own thinking, has their own mindset, and own situation. It’s like you have made a big fat pill for all diseases and keep giving it to everyone. Just think about a sportsman who is planning to get a medal in Olympics and the coach is training him in the class and never takes him to the field. I am sure you can well imagine his chances of winning a medal.

Classroom Size Example:
In the Canadian education system, there are approximately 20 students in the class as they believe it’s not possible for a teacher and an assistant to have one-to-one attention and students won’t be able to learn. Good parents even look for smaller class sizes so that their kids can get a better education, but when it comes to choosing the class for your livelihood ( brokerage), the same person will choose where there is one teacher ( Trainer / Manager / Broker of Record ) for 100’s ofREALTORS®. How can you get the right mentorship? Is it even humanly possible for one or two people to give effective training?

Which school will you prefer for your kid? One where the success rate is 10%, but the fee is less or the success rate is 90% but the fee is a little more and you receive better education and facilities. Whereas when it comes to choosing the brokerage, we chose the one which has a success rate of 10% REALTORS® and rest 90% are below average or not doing business. If you are a part of the system where 10% of people are doing 90% business, it’s not the effectivity of the system, it’s their individual capabilities. Work in a system where 90% of people are successful and you will be more effective.

Ineffective Team Models:
These days you will see everywhere there is a team. I have seen at many places, there’s a single REALTOR® and they are promoting them as a team. Just think twice before building a team that does we have the capabilities, right set of traits and qualities to become a team leader? If someone is a successful REALTOR®, it doesn’t mean he/she is a good leader. A Good leader has different skill sets altogether. In today’s market it has become a fashion that if someone completes 10 or 15 transactions, it’s time to build a team. Did you ever think of taking any formal training or was it just “let’s just get together and build a team”. Mostly all the members of the team behave like a leader or captain. That’s the reason most of them fail within one year. Many of the team leaders have a limited vision and risk-taking appetite. They can just reach at one level and have no further growth for their people. Limited vision can make you successful but can’t make you reach heights.

Flat Model:
Real Estate Industry runs on a flat model and there are only 2 levels, REALTOR®, and Brokerage. When someone becomes good on the first level as a REALTOR®, there is no one to guide them to the second level because of the obvious reason that if your Brokerage guides you to the 2nd level, you become competent and who wants over the competition as there is enough already. Bigger Real Estate brands won’t encourage you for the franchise as they have to satisfy their existing clients who opened their brokerage. Many times you will find they keep giving the franchise to the existing franchise owner and many own 5-10 locations. It’s like big brands, they keep giving multiple franchisees to existing clients rather than giving to those who are actually working there. Big brands have created a fear that brokerage business is very tedious and cumbersome to avoid the competition.

We are in a beautiful country and I believe Real Estate is one of the best professions but it needs new thinking and needs some reforms so that this wonderful profession can get its right respect in the society. If you have any difference of opinion, please express politely with respect as I have the right to express my viewpoint just like you. The same way I want my viewpoint to be respected, I will respect yours.

This post has nothing to do with any individual or brand and a general opinion of the writer. Any resemblance to any Individual or brand could be a mere coincidence. All the data is from TREB website or RE stat and is used for information purpose only.

You May also Read: Life of Successful Realtor