Why Being a Real Estate Agent is SO Hard
Being a real estate agent is HARD. If you are a consumer who has made it on to my website - let me reiterate for you that being a real estate agent is HARD WORK, and your agent is probably working way harder for you than you know!
Now for my agent friends: You know it’s hard. Long days, longer hours, but why is that way? Something most of our clients (and many people first getting into the business) don’t know, is that this isn’t a job, you are starting a business.
This was something that was hard for me to wrap my brain around when I first started out in real estate. Here’s how the internal dialogue went in my head:
“Well I went and interviewed with the brokerage, signed an agreement, did their training, and often go and work in their office. Feels like a regular job to me!”
“Oh wait.. no one is going to hand me a paycheck at the end of the two weeks…so, not a regular job.”
“Oh wait - yes regular job but I just get paid 1099. To the IRS I am self employed, but I mean I really work for my broker so..”
NO. No. Nope. This conversation went on in my head over the course of several months. Learn from my mistakes, once you get your real estate license (and probably before that) you are an entrepreneur and you are running your own business from day one.
Now back to why this makes it hard. You aren’t just the superstar agent staying up late to find the perfect home for your buyers and playing hardball in negotiations for your sellers, you are also the bookkeeper, manager, receptionist, admin, customer service representative, social media manager, transaction coordinator, marketing manager and salesperson. Which means you either need to outsource some of your tasks or become INCREDIBLE at time management (and probably never sleep). Very few businesses are run by one person alone!
You may say, “but Allyson, very few other agents I know outsource these tasks and they are successful!” This may be true, but I’ve seen it many times, that at some point, almost every agent hits a ceiling on what they can produce if they do not outsource their tasks. You may not be there yet - but do you want to have to hit the ceiling to realize it or just blow right through that ceiling and straight on to your goals?
Don’t make an already difficult job harder than it has to be. Start small by picking your weakest point and hiring someone who is an expert in that area to take it over for you. Then, watch your business grow (and maybe get a little bit easier 😉).
