It's Raining Rookies!
The Real Estate Boom is Luring Many to the Marketplace

Some say it’s raining rookies these days in real estate. And, why not? Residential sales are still hot while most sectors of the economy remain lackluster. Last fall, Paul Boyd, assistant manager of Coldwell Banker Chicago, reported 8 to 10 calls a week from people wanting to work for the company. Andy Starck, CEO of Starck & Company, REALTORS® in Palatine took in 158 new recruits in the first nine months of 2003.

Statewide indicators show the same story. The membership of the Illinois Association of REALTORS® grew 13 percent in 2002 to 43,516 and officials project 47,800 member REALTORS® by the end of 2003.

Many of these new agents are Corporate America exiles in search of a better life, confident that their business experience can give them an edge in the marketplace. Says Starck of his business, which has over 400 agents in 13 suburban Chicago offices: “In the last two to three years we’ve seen a lot of this type of new agent; they’ve run into problems in their former jobs, they mistrust Corporate America. We offer them business for yourself, low-cost entry; our business is “sky’s the limit,” be your own boss, and that’s still appealing and part of America, too.”

These corporate types come to real estate with better than average computer skills and business training. They excel at the technical aspects of the business, the paperwork, e-mail and Web pages. But computers don’t sell real estate.

“The transition for these agents is that the skills they bring are not as important in our world as the people skills,” says Boyd, who manages training and development of newcomers in the business as well as continuing education for all 200 agents in the Lincoln Park Plaza office. “When I see reliance on the computer search and e-mail skills, I ask these agents ‘Have you been within two feet of someone today? Have you gone out with someone in a car? You’ve mastered a Web page that is gorgeous, but have you integrated that with understanding the tools of relationship selling, prospecting and being trusted by someone?”

“Not all professions can flow into real estate,” says Boyd. “I’ve never seen an engineer make it, but our top producer is a master mathematician and violinist.”

Jim Merrion, regional director of RE/MAX Northern Illinois, believes the quality level of new agents coming into the industry is high and so are their expectations. He says they don’t believe they have to wait six months or a year to succeed. “They want to make it in 30 days,” says Merrion, who oversees a network of 144 offices and 3,600 agents. “They’re interested in investing in themselves, their marketing and promotional materials, hiring a coach or a mentor.”

“They have business experience,” says Merrion. “Maybe their company merged or consolidated, right-sized or outsourced. A lot of them have been wounded. They have business savvy and deal with tough problems, have fat rolodexes, are better at networking and they’re not too proud to ask for help. They’re sponges.”

For these avid learners, recruiters interviewed provide substantial training and continuing education. Boyd says his office operates with a “university-like” training ethic that builds on the Coldwell Banker two-week Fast Start “boot camp” with regular intensive trainings throughout the week, caravan tours, plus the weekly lunch meeting where agents take turns paying the bill for catered-in food for the whole office. The boot camp is free but the new agent’s subsequent commission cuts help pay for it.

Merrion says that RE/MAX offers support for new agents at the office, regional and international level. At the regional level, an orientation program is required for all new agents and a coaching/mentoring program, plus a seminar series taught by a local board instructor is offered as additional support. Starck & Company has a two-week training program and then it’s the manager’s responsibility to offer periodic training seminars in the evenings. Mentoring is more informal yet highly encouraged.

So, what advice do these top managers and recruiters have for corporate exiles and others among the influx of rookie agents?

Andy Starck, Starck & Company REALTORS®

Family support. “To make the career switch successfully—whether it’s husband or wife, with children or not—we think it’s important that the family understands this is a different kind of job. You can’t expect to go home today and ask ‘How many homes did you sell today?’ If it’s one or two a month, they’re doing well.”

Experience a failure. “Beyond successes, the rookie won’t loose that mantel until they’ve had some failures and bounced back from that. We are an up and down business.”

No fear factor. “We’re going to look at the recruit and ask whether they’re willing to run with it, no timidity. There has to be some level of assertiveness, just getting out and doing it, taking the risk.”

Build for the long-term. “I tell them to focus on their long-term career. You’re going to be building a reputation for yourself and so we talk in terms of biblically going the extra mile. Do the unexpected. Do what you say you’re going to do. If you say you’ll get back, get back to them. In this culture today that’s still pretty refreshing. You’re building confidence, building trust.”

One at a time. “I say your goal right now is to get one satisfied customer who’s happy with what you provide.”

Paul Boyd, Coldwell Banker, Chicago

Get a guru. “We want them to adopt someone in the real estate training field and go to their seminars. Brian Buffini is a master trainer in selling real estate. I recommend Howard Brinton and David Knox on scripts, dialogues and videos; Hobbs Herder on personal marketing and advertising development programs.”

Date around. “I encourage people to ‘date around’ and find mentors and date two or three at a time. It’s like playing the field. We have 200 people doing every kind of real estate. I tell new agents to apprentice yourself to them. Help with open houses and when they go on vacation. It’s a nice marriage between the veterans and newcomers who are hungry.”

Ask for help. “If they’re passive, they’ll die on the vine. This is a self-selective business. We’ll give you the training, we will not hand-hold. It’s the Socratic method where you throw people in the water and if you’re drowning ask questions. The training is here, the door is open.”

Know it’s normal to suffer. “I warn our rookies that the first two to three months it will be intensely stressful; there are thousands of skills you do not have yet. You’re going to be feeling like you don’t know what you are doing and you hardly make any money.”

Says Jim Merrion: “The primary thing rookies need is a determination to succeed, a feeling of confidence that they can learn what they need to, be willing to invest in themselves, network and promote themselves. 

by Ann Londrigan, senior editor

Jan. 2004 Illinois REALTOR magazine