Real estate is a career that has unlimited potential but your reputation and how you represent yourself online is your greatest asset as your starting out. A common misconception is that a new agent only needs licensing education in order to be successful. The truth is, there are strict limitations on what can and cannot be taught in a licensing course. Here are 5 easy ways to increase your online presence in real estate, especially for the newer agent.

It’s Your Reputation

Your reputation isn’t just built by word-of-mouth anymore — potential clients are often checking you out online before they even get in touch with you. They’ll look at your social media profiles, new listing, reviews and other places. Where your name appears on the Internet to get a full sense of your social profile.

Clients are particular about their real estate agents, which makes sense—they’re about to make a costly and potentially life-changing investment. What’s...

Ethics and fair housing are two of the most important issues will face in your real estate career. The Ethical Agent Always Wins! Although ethics, as a philosophical discipline, is a vast topic, in the simplest sense, ethical behavior can be thought of as nothing more than doing the right thing, behaving with integrity, treating people fairly, evaluating a situation and choosing the moral path, even if that path is not the easiest one to follow.

How would you characterize an ethical person?

• You might answer “an ethical person would treat other people fairly and honestly. Regardless, of their background or ethnicity.”
• You might think “an ethical person would be compassionate toward others. Consider the needs of other people when making a decision”.
• You would probably agree “an ethical person would have integrity. In upholding principles and convictions in his or her actions regardless of personal consequences.”

In fact, all of these...

Making changes to your home can be a lot of fun. It’s enjoyable transforming an old room into one that’s modern and exciting. Besides being entertaining, home improvements can really help when it’s time to move. Not only can they entice buyers into making an offer, they can earn you more money. It’s the improvements that help sell your house for more money.

However, not every remodeling project helps you financially. Read on for some tips on picking the right project, including how to avoid some common home improvement scams.

Remodeling For Resale

If you are hoping to raise your home’s sale price, then there are some home improvements to avoid. As CNBC explains, most projects directed to your particular tastes will not translate into added value. That’s because not everyone shares your passions. For example, you might love having a home gym or a home recording studio, but that’s not always popular with potential buyers. To...

Being a real estate agent can be a rewarding job. It isn’t easy to start, and it certainly isn’t easy
to become the best. However, knowing the most common mistakes real estate agents
make might help you get off to a solid start in your real estate career. Knowing these mistakes
from the beginning and learning how to avoid them will take you higher in your career and much
faster. So keep reading to find out how you can start on the right foot.

Expecting immediate success

Success doesn’t come that fast and that easily. Real estate is a growing profession that requires time, patience, and dedication. And if you are just starting your career in real estate, it’s
impossible to have all the knowledge that comes with experience. However, if you have
perseverance and are hard-working, you might become successful from your first year. Therefore, take your new job seriously and commit to it.

Try to keep a strict schedule and don’t make too many compromises....

If your idea of the real estate industry comes from watching shows on HGTV than you may need to look deeper before committing to real estate as a career.  Although negotiations, social interactions and appearances are in fact part of the job, real estate is much more than this.

1. Money

85% of agents run out of money their first year.  This is because they did not do a thorough evaluation of their finances prior to starting their new business.  They did not create a sufficient “nest egg” or savings to cover life expenses while their business grows.  Running out of money for basic living needs will kill your dreams of creating a career in real estate.

Remember to also have some money set aside for expenses like MLS strategies, marketing tools and ongoing education.  

2. Unrealistic Expectations

When you get your real estate license, you are signing up to become a business owner.  Having your own business means you have more earning...

“Do I have what it takes to become a successful real estate agent?” That is an excellent question to explore before you invest time and money into your new career. Here are the key traits of every successful Real Estate professional, do you have what it takes?

You need to be a people person. 

Real estate is not about selling or buying houses, it’s all about building relationships. People do business with people they know, like and trust. Nobody cares what you know until they know that you care. 

Exercise patience. 

You must be able to be patient when working with clients and other agents. Some of your clients will take a long time to make a decision. You will need to help them through the process from the beginning to the end, regardless of how long it takes.

Maintain a positive attitude. 

There will be slow months, times when you lose a sale, a contract falls apart, you lose a buyer or a listing and/or you fall short of your goals. You will...

By Sydney Roy, Marketing Advisor @Manfredschool

Continuing Education is Required to Renew Your License

Every two years, real estate salespeople and brokers are required to complete 22.5 hours of approved continuing education including at least 3 hours covering the topics of fair housing and/or discrimination and one hour of Law of Agency (two hours if it is the licensee’s first licensing cycle).  Beginning July 1, 2021 the Department of State will require that your 22.5 hours of continuing education will also include 2.5 hours of ethical business practices and at least 1 hour of recent legal matters governing the practice of real estate brokers and salespersons in New York.  

Also notable is that the Department of State will no longer recognize the 15-year real estate broker continuing education exemption.  Beginning July 1st, 2021 all brokers who are currently exempt will be required to complete continuing education.  The new requirements are...

As a new Real Estate Salesperson, you will need to work under a “sponsoring broker.” The brokerage you choose to align yourself with will be the foundation of your new business, providing you with ongoing mentor-ship and the backing of it’s excellent community reputation. Here are 5 key characteristics of a good sponsoring broker, you should look for:

1. Commission Split 

Most importantly, commission split percentages differ from broker to broker. Although this is important, remember not to base your entire decision off commission split. There are many other factors to consider. That being said, commission splits affect earning potential, making it an important factor. Make sure to be aware of what commission you should expect from your real estate sales. Or you can check the white label agent sponsorship, where you own your brand and the business. Also, as a white-label partner, you get to keep 100% of your commission.

2. Mentor-ship and Support

As...