If you’re new to the real estate business or are considering a career as a REALTOR®, I’m really happy you found this article.
You’re about to read some unedited, unfiltered advice from 16 modern Canadian real estate agents. Last week I sent an e-mail out to a hand-picked group of true real estate Ninjas, asking them to answer two questions.
1/ “How long have you been a real estate agent?”
2/ “If you could go back in time and have a conversation with yourself on the first day you started your journey in real estate, what would be one piece of career advice you would give yourself?”
We’ve collected a variety of insightful advice from a wide range of experience levels. It’s been fun and interesting for me to read the responses as they come in, but for many of you this advice is going to provide much more utility. If you are seriously considering real estate as a career path (and hope to achieve success), then trust the over 100 collective years of real estate experience flowing through the words below. Come to think of it, even if you’re a seasoned real estate veteran at least one or two of these will make for a good reminder.
Below this you’ll find each Ninja’s response to both question 1 and question 2 next to their photo. Without further ado,
Craig Doherty, REALTOR®
1/ “Some days it feels like forever… others it’s gold!”
2/ “Assume that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel and that industry experts (in specialist niches) like RealtyNinja have made the seemingly insurmountable dead easy. On the other hand don’t allow your marketing imagination to become aligned with an industry template.”
Contact Craig
www.craigdoherty.ca | (604) 396-9555 | Facebook | Twitter
Christy Laniado, REALTOR®
1/ “I have been a residential REALTOR® for under two years.”
2/ “The one piece of advice I would give if I could go back in time would be to not spend so much money. Don’t worry about having the perfect business card, you don’t know who you are yet. Don’t advertise yourself in newspapers or newsletters. It will go unnoticed. Just connect, connect, connect. Be so good they can’t ignore you. That is the best marketing you can do… oh yes and have a good website like RealtyNinja provides.”
Contact Christy
www.christylaniado.com | (604) 349-0098
Katie Burkard, REALTOR®
1/ “Ive been a REALTOR® since June 2003.”
2/ “There is a solution to every problem, and if there isn’t, fire that client. haha. Secondly, people trust you, so you need to trust yourself. Thirdly, not to stress too much, don’t take things personally, you will always get out when you put in.”
Contact Katie
www.katieburkard.com | (604) 694-1010 | Instagram | Facebook
Jordan Macnab, REALTOR®
1/ “Jordan and Russ have been players in the real estate game since the day of the crash in 2008. So, going on eight years.”
2/ “If I could go back and give myself some advice it would be to two things; A) Be patient. It’s true that it does take 4-5 years to become established, build your network, and be personally successful. “Don’t get frustrated, it will happen” B) Work on your personal life as hard as you work on your real estate game. When you are happy and healthy at home, it shines through Big Time when you are dealing with clients and the public. Confidence is a huge part of being a special agent ? “
Contact Jordan
www.themacnabs.com | (604) 551-5695 | Facebook | Twitter
Russ Macnab, REALTOR®
1/ “Russ and Jordan have been players in the real estate game since the day of the crash in 2008. So, going on eight years.”
2/ “If I could go back in time I would make a solid commitment to being a “full time” agent. It’s always tough to start and I still needed to make some money, so I tried having a regular job and be a REALTOR® on the side. I did that for a couple years and never really took my game to the next level. One day I thought to myself something needs to change. SO, I quit my job at Apple and became a full time special agent. It was the best thing I could have done and now that I think about it, I should have just committed 100% the first time around.”
Contact Russ
www.themacnabs.com | (604) 763-8196 | Facebook | Twitter
Danielle Moreau, REALTOR®
1/ “My dad Blake started Real Estate in Victoria in 1992 and I joined him in 2013. We have a combined experience of more than 28 years!”
2/ “To be patient. I would tell myself that things don’t happen overnight but that as along as I focus on prospecting, your business will grow. I would also tell myself to approach as many successful agents as possible and ask them advice on how they built their business. Mentorship is very important in this industry so take advantage of any advice you can get! Oh, and I would tell myself to have fun and remain positive! Real estate has a lot of challenges and difficult days so if you maintain a great attitude and enjoy what you do, the good overshadows the bad.”
Contact Danielle
www.movetovictoria.com | (778) 966-1316 | Facebook | Twitter
Peter Hawkins, REALTOR®
1/ “I have been in the business collectively for nine years.”
2/ “Looking back over the years I would say be patient. The decisions are difficult for people to make and relationships along with trust take time to develop. Hold yourself to the highest standard and be patient about the process… Success will come.”
Contact Peter
www.peterhawkins.ca | (604) 537-5421
Andrew Green, REALTOR®
1/ “Been in the business for four years.”
2/ “If we can only pick one piece of advice, the best thing that has worked for me is to never end any meeting or phone call without setting the next appointment. That is to say, if you meet someone at an open house, speak with a new client, an existing client, or a potential referral source, always make sure they are aware what is going to happen next and when they should expect to hear from you. It’s going to differ depending on the relationship, but never leave things up in the air. Either book when you’re looking at homes, when you’re sitting down to discuss the market, or when you’ll give them another phone call to see how things are going. I lost out on a lot of business because I expected others to get in touch with me.”
Contact Andrew
www.andrewgreenhomes.com | (604) 379-1747 | Twitter | LinkedIn
Tim Wray, REALTOR®
1/ “Five years.”
2/ “Be prepared for lots of hard work! You are going to meet many wonderful people with who you will have the opportunity to enable in a fundamental positive change in the lives. You will make new friends and clients for life.”
Contact Tim
www.timwray.ca | (604) 781-5692 | Facebook | Twitter
Will Gibson, REALTOR®
1/ “I’ve been in sales for 25 years. I’ve been in real estate for 5 years.”
2/ “If there is one thing that I would share with someone starting out is that you must prospect every day for at least two hours a day. Also have a pile a cash set aside for the first couple of years to cover expenses. lol”
Contact Will
www.willgibson.ca | (604) 505-2555 | Facebook | Twitter
Chris Lotoski, REALTOR®
1/ “11 years.”
2/ “Keep an accurate database of ALL customers and be diligent in staying in touch with them.”
Contact Chris
www.lotoski.com | (604) 805-1804
Chris Mazurak, REALTOR®
1/ “Five months.”
2/ “Be available anytime because you never know when your next client is going to call. You don’t want to miss a call from someone who could be a life
long client.”
Contact Chris
www.chrissellshomes.ca | (780) 910-6160 | Facebook | Twitter
Craig Veroni, REALTOR®
1/ “This is my fifth year in real estate.”
2/ “Commit totally to this, and don’t look back. Also focus on getting listings. Listings, listings, listings.”
.
Contact Craig
www.craigveroni.ca | (778) 996-1922 | Facebook | Twitter
Danielle Menzel, REALTOR®
1/ “I became licensed in 2004 and started out as a licensed assistant. I went out on my own as an agent in 2008.”
2/ “You’ve got this! Put your head down, work hard and focus on providing the best service you can and the rest will fall into place.”
Contact Danielle
www.realestatepemberton.com | (604) 698-5128 | Facebook | Twitter
Kate Miller, REALTOR®
1/ “Sixth year licensed, in the industry eight yrs.”
2/ “Be patient. I was told it would take five years to build up a clientele base, and I didn’t want to believe that…but looking back there is certainly some truth to that. The second point would be: The only way you will succeed in this field is to put your personal style on the way you do business and it will attract the people who want to work with you. Be true to your character and ethics, it WILL happen – but it takes a lot of rejection & many months without a pay cheque – but hard work will pay off.”
Contact Kate
www.katemiller.ca | (604) 916-3739 | Facebook | LinkedIn
Karen Biffi, REALTOR®
1/ “I have been in real estate for 14 years.”
2/ “The one piece of career advice that I would give myself is to very quickly establish systems. Without systems, a realtor’s time becomes very inefficient. Have a system for dealing with Buyers, Sellers, new leads, marketing, etc. I would also tell myself to be more responsible with my finances and to treat real estate like a business. It is easy to forget to pay taxes and gst, and to not account for months where there is no income.”
Contact Karen
www.karenbiffi.com | (604) 787-9652 | Facebook | LinkedIn
Thank you for reading this week’s Dojo article. If you are currently a real estate agent and have some wisdom to share, please answer questions 1 and 2 using the comments on this article. Be sure to include links to your website and social media networks so that we can engage. We’d totally love to hear from you!
Until next time, Ninjas [-_-]~~
