Real Estate Investment 101: Getting Started

Spend Your Downtime On These Real Estate Activities

Every veteran agent knows that work in real estate services has its share of ebbs and flows. Sometimes, you may find yourself working 70-hour weeks and hardly having a minute to grab a meal, and other times you may find yourself sitting in the office waiting for the phone to ring. For new agents, the latter scenario will often be more common than the former, at least during the early stages of your foray into this world. It's important that you make the most of your downtime, though, because you may eventually reach a point at which there's not much of it. Here are three ways to spend your downtime.

View Other Agents' Listings

While you might often be reviewing listings to find houses for your clients, you should take advantage of a slow day in the office to spend time perusing listings for another reason: doing so can give you a clear idea of what works and what doesn't. Ask yourself if you felt informed and excited when you're done reading a listing, and then try to make notes on what contributed to that feeling. Perhaps the photos were highly professional, or maybe the wording was clear and concise. An effective online listing can be a difference maker in getting a house sold, so you want to apply what you learn when you write listings for your clients.

Evaluate Marketing Opportunities

Even if your earnings are a little slim early on, it's always a good idea to consider marketing yourself. Take advantage of your downtime to think about effective marketing opportunities. Look online to see what different agents are doing, or ask around the office to find what works and doesn't work for your peers. You may find that a bench billboard in a certain neighborhood yields good returns for an agent, while sponsoring a youth soccer team gets another agent in lots of parents' minds.

Drive Through The City

The best agents know their city with their eyes closed, so it's a smart idea to spend some of your quiet time driving around the city and getting a feel for it. When a future client asks you a question, you want to be able to offer an informed and helpful answer. In many cases, agents can steer their clients toward buying in certain neighborhoods based on value, amenities, and more, but you won't gain this insider knowledge without spending time cruising through the city in which you work.


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