I was watching TV the other night and saw a clip showing quarterback Mark Sanchez completing his very first pass as a starter for the USC Trojans. With that first completion, Mark took one of the most critical steps in building up his confidence and perfecting his game. As I watched this pass replay, I thought back to how challenging my first completed real estate transaction was. With the ink still wet on my new real estate license, I remember quickly realizing I had A LOT to learn. I knew real estate principles back and forth, but sales training was another story.
Tell me if this sounds familiar: You decide you want to become a real estate agent. You take the real estate principles course and study your butt off thinking that the information that you’re learning will not only be vital in passing the state exam, but also in insuring that you are a successful real estate agent. You pass the exam and can easily regurgitate the definition of an equitable estoppel and fee simple estate, only to figure out that the utility company doesn’t accept real estate definitions as a form of payment!!! Becoming a real estate agent is easy, maybe too easy. Becoming a successful real estate agent that is actually closing a good number of deals, that’s a completely different cup of tea.
For me, my breakthrough came by way of several sales training cassette tapes (yes it was that long ago) and the help of a coach. In all, I’m embarrassed to say, my first closed real estate deal took me 10 months from when I received my real estate license. Once that first sale came though, my confidence grew and I slowly began to build a business that has continually grown over the last 15+ years.
How was your road to the first closed sale? How long did it take you to break the seal and close your first transaction??
Keep the faith, my Internet friend. You are a first-class writer and deserve to be heard.
For me , it was about 4 months, but it felt like 4 years. I’d left a steady paycheck to take a shot at real estate and it felt like everyday I wasn’t getting a paycheck was another day of a failure. Luckily I stuck it out……and am surviving with short sales and REOs now.
I got sick and tired of waiting for sales and quit real estate altogether
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I actually put 3 properties into escrow in first month and a half, BUT…then I made the mistake of playing babysitter and once those were closed, I had nothing for almost 5 months. =(
Almost 8 months before I finally closed escrow on one. I had put 2 under contract and they fell out which was heart-wrenching.
6months from me – BUYERS FROM HELL!!!!! …but I made my way through it
Thank you for sharing. I got my license and worked as an assistant which was great. Didn’t sell my first home completely on my own for almost 2 years!!!
I’m located in Covington, just outside Memphis, Tennessee. Even when the market was hot, ours wasn’t that hot. I pushed hard, and did as much as I could, but after 8 months of not even one sale, I called it quits and took a job as an assistant.
I’m in Salt Lake City, UT. Took me about 4months to close my first deal, but by the end of my first full year of real estate I had actually close 19 transactions and was ecstatic!
5months here.
My first time closing a transaction wasn’t all that different from my first time kissing a boy. It was awkward, I completely over-thought it, I did the best I could but in retrospect it wasn’t very good. I was so nervous that my stomach hurt and I thought I might throw up. Finally it was over and the next time was so much easier and smoother.
4 months or so for. I didn’t quit my day job until I had been at it for about 12months though which I think is what helped sustain me through the slower beginning months.
I’m a broker out of Georgia and the truth is a lot of these agents that are all gung-ho to get their license and sell haven’t a damn clue about what it really takes to sell. I’m sad to report that at least 30% of the new recruits our brokerage pull in, just end up quitting having never sold even one house!
Paul
Howdy very nice site!! Getting some good laughs out of the comments posted on here.
haha – lost my real estate virginity at the ripe age of 52. It took me 5months. Thanks for the fantastic article.
2 years !!!! Kudos to everyone else who did it so fast!
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Love the article. I’ve been at this real estate game for over 30 years now so it has been a LONG time since my first sale, but I remember it still. Seller was my uncle who agreed to let me list his home. I did open houses every Sat/Sun for 8 weeks and finally found a buyer and double ended that puppy.
Great article. I hadn’t given much thought to my first sale until I read this. For me….it was an uncle on my husbands side of the family that gave me a shot 2 months after I got my RE license.
It was 1994. A warm day in Denver, CO and after a drawn out 90day escrow period…..we finally closed.
For me, first transaction was easy. I got my first deal only 3 weeks into the business (i think by pure luck). The 2nd one….took 6months!!!
First time? are we talking about real estate or something else?? LOL
I do remember both and they were both special, awkward, and something I’d never forget.