NY Houses 4 Sale

Recruiting - Having a vision.

Recruiting is harder than training.  To find the right person that can fit and enhance  into our team mold is one of the hardest things I face each day.  I have a vision of how and what I want my team to be.  I don't like agents fighting.  I don't think that any ONE agent is the star.  I don't think that any agent MAKES my office what it is today, its the combination of ALL the agents. 

When my broker first opened his doors, there were only 5 agents when I joined his team.  We were all very close.  We went out at night, we ordered diner in the office a few nights a week and we learned alot together.  It was a family setting.  The broker began to expand and while some hated the thought of change, I was excited.  I wanted to see what and how it was like to open a brand new office.  I watched.  I wanted to learn.  From the opening of the second office, he offered me the job as office manager.  I had NO idea what to do.  I was now going to be the manager of my friends.  That was hard.  I did it though. 

I have since moved into his third office.  I was under his direction then and now I am entirely on my own.  I am on my own in a different area that I am not use to, I am in a town that has NO idea who or how we operate.  I find that I have more obstacles in front of me now than I did as converting from agent to manager.  This was one of the hardest things I have done, to date. 

I have started to recruit and am not thrilled with my outcome as of yet, the ones that I have hired are doing great.  I would like more agents but its a slow, slow process.  I don't want to hire just anybody, I am picky.  I find that hiring experienced agents have this "ego" and they are hard to re-train.  New agents have Delusions of Grandeur - but they are trainable and if they can listen - they can succeed. 

Life cycle of an agent..

Going in sync with my interviewing process of do's and don'ts - I wanted to go into more of the life span of a real estate agent. 

Out of  25 agents that I might interview and hire less than half stay with it.  It is a frustrating career.  I see my agents start out all gung ho  ready to make that fortune, and then they quickly fizzle.  When I started out as an agent, real estate was hot.  Real Estate just sold like hotcakes.  If you listed it, you most likely sold it - in less than a week for full asking price.  It was so easy. 

Now with the combination of everyone and I do mean everyone having a real estate license inventory being high,  prices of homes being high as well as less buyers, I have to admit - its harder these days to get a sale.  But - we are still selling.  Just more work.  More showings. 

One of the things that most agents are under the wrong impression is the amount money we make.  Alot, if not majority of agents have this weird notion that as soon as they get their license they are going to enter into an office and BOOM - have three listings handed to them and a closing next week.  I don't know where people get this idea from, but the first thing I tell my applicants is be ready NOT to make any money for at least 3-6 months.  That is providing you make your first sale in a month. 

This is how their frustration begins. After about 3 or 4 months and they have called a few for sale by owners and got NOTHING.  They got a few ups and got NOTHING.  They went on a listing appointment and got NOTHING and no money was made.  They start to question how many hours have they worked and have NOT gotten a pay check.  They start to feel that I have not given them enough time or training (blame usually starts with me or the broker).  They listen to what I say and then do the opposite.  They start to feel pressure when I ask them if they are doing any marketing for themselves.  They wonder why I have them do an open house and then get mad when they find out that they did 5 open houses and another real estate sold that home off MLS. 

They wonder if this is really for them, they start to realize that not all the buyers they took out for the past 8 weeks are qualified to buy a hamburger.  They start to feel that they are working for me and I am not helping them enough.  They then become "Learned".  What I mean by that is they feel that they can go work for someone get a regular pay check and "do real estate on the side".  That is when I hand them their license and terminate them.  They won't be coming back.  There is no such thing as a part-time real estate agent. 

But, every once and a while - there is that one or two - that just make it.  They just clicked.  I did not have to hold hands for a long period of time.  They listened and then acted.  They worked for themselves and not for me.  They made money.  They became good at selling real estate.  They now call me to just get that extra reassurance.   They are doing all of this on their own.  They fell once or twice along the way, but they are sailing  selling all on their own.   They are independent contractors!   

Interviewing 101

You know its funny, I must interview about 50-75 people a year.  It could be for an agent or for receptionist positions.  I have fired and released workers, something that I hate doing and takes me a long time to actually do, I always feel a bit sorry when I fire someone.  Sometimes I feel so bad that I have my higher up, my broker do it.  But none the less - something I dislike doing.  But since I starting doing the recruiting for my firm, I have done great on some and just bombed out on others. I am learning the tricks now and there are a few things that just will turn me off from the second a applicant enters my office.  If you have not been on an interview for a long time - you should take notes, it never ceases to amaze me HOW people dress, what people say and act during an interview.  These are some things that I look for - and what to run away from. 

To get my thumbs up:

1.) When going on an interview - Dress nice.  Pull out those Sunday best, dress to impress, look like you have worked in the past 10 years.  This means do your hair as well.  Be Conservative (I am a female and I am not impressed by cleavage).  This goes for the men too - Chest hair.. NOT a plus in my book.   Button up or wear an undershirt.  I am going to be your boss, not your friend with benefits. 

2.)  When asked to fill out an application - Fill it out.  I want to know about you, not yes and no answers.  DON'T leave questions blank.  Enter something in.  This is part of a test you know.  This is something that I talk to you about.  If you give me nothing to talk to you about YOU - then we did not have a good interview.  I want to know where you have been, what have you been doing, why you are changing careers or jobs.  These are not hard questions.    I think that when alot of questions are left empty - I have to ask you these things again and its like pulling teeth,  Offer the information, trust me it will make for a great interview.   Resumes are OK - but they are pre-fabricated if you ask me and filled with alot of fluff. 

3.)  Please and I say again - Please - Spit out that gum or candy.  I think that is just tacky to be talking to someone and they are chewing away while I am asking questions.  One more hint - if you are a young girl and wear braces - please don't wear fuchsia colored rubber bands.  That will not get you another interview and it is not cute at 20 something.  TRUST ME on this one. 

4.)  Make eye contact.  This is one high on my list.  I don't like talking to my kids, my boss, my husband, my buyers or sellers, my agents, my employees or my applicants without making eye contact.  This is showing me that you are comfortable with me, you are mature and we can connect.  When someone does not look me in the eyes they are hiding something. 

5.) When you enter  and/or leave my office and I stand up - shake my hand.  This is another test.  This is to see if you are professional as well as shows me that you are confident.   If you are an agent, you should have this down pat.  Your hand should be extended as you are walking into my office.  Girls, don't give a frilly little hand shake, actually shake my hand. 

6.)  Give me insight on you.  If you are an agent, I really want to know your motivations, your determination and how much you want to succeed at real estate.  Let me know of your accomplishments.  If you are a new agent, don't try to impress me with name throwing.  That is all talk and I want to see action.  What action have you taken in the past or what are you willing to do now?   

HEY - Myspace.com - Has Job Postings

On the Eve of Craigslist starting to charge 10$ an ad I thought that I would help all the brokers who "just wont know what to do, when Craigslist is no longer free"  So, guess what.. MySpace.com has a help wanted site now.  So all you brokers who are going to be out of a job as a real estate agent - check it out.    I see McD's is hiring.