I was asked recently, and from my Champion’s instructor’s perspective, what were the most frequent questions I am asked by students who are in the process of obtaining a real estate license? I decided to consider the top three questions, which are as follow:
- Question #1: Can you give me some insights and guide me toward choosing the right sponsoring broker after I obtain my real estate license?
- Question #2: “How do I best prepare for the State Exam?”
- Question #3: “What is the single-most important attribute one can possess if they want to succeed in real estate sales?”
Keep Reading to see the answers!
Question #1: Can you give me some insights and guide me toward choosing the right sponsoring broker after I obtain my real estate license?
Answer: The short answer is a definitive “No,” and that’s because we at Champions are not allowed to offer such guidance because it is against TREC rules and our Champion’s policy. However, and be that as it may, we do assist the student who takes their courses in the classroom by making available to them various brokers who come into Champions and sponsor breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snack times. We also sponsor Career Fairs twice annually at all our statewide campuses. These brokers are given the opportunity to share with the students information about their brokerage firms, and with only a couple of topics being off limits. These opportunities allow students to begin building a list of brokers they may want to interview formally either before or after they complete their real estate core courses.
We also publish a list of 38 questions which a licensee should consider asking of any broker they may interview, so as to better enable and empower them in the process. Knowing the right questions to ask is critical. A list of these questions can be accessed by following this link, here.
But if I may, and as an instructor, here’s what I can offer the student, and while it may sound like vague advice, it is necessary advice and guidance without breaking any rules. A.) Remember that you are interviewing broker, rather than them interviewing you. B.) And of all the relevant and great questions one might ask, this one may be the best question; “How are you going to help me become the very best I can be in my new real estate career?” Then sit back and listen to the broker’s probably lengthy answer. That question on its own will probably result in the broker answering a great many of the many other important issues that revolve around technology, training, mentoring, client building, lead generation, etc.
Finally, I would offer this advice; “think more with your heart than with your head.” See, what you’re looking for first and foremost is the right environment whereby you can excel and become your very best, and when your heart says to you, “this place and these people feel like the right place for me,” well, you’re probably in the right place.
Question #2: “How do I best prepare for the State Exam?”
Answer: That’s an easy one – and a good many students don’t heed this advice and attempt to take shortcuts through the process. There are no shortcuts. It all begins with reading the textbooks, our Champion’s textbooks, which are excellent textbooks written by a highly qualified team of instructors, staff, and a state-of-the-art Curriculum Development Division. Ask questions in class. Take the Prep Class at least twice before sitting for the exam. There are other tips myself, and other instructors will offer during the process, but above all realize that a focus on the material, what we call the ‘compliance side’ is foremost. The ‘practitioner’s side’ of the business will come to fruition once you are licensed. The student’s focus throughout the process is purely and simply to pass the state exam. Nothing else can happen until that happens.
I share this one encouraging fact with all of our students in every class; “We at Champions School of Real Estate, the best real estate school in the country, have been successful in this education process for going on 34 years. We know what we are doing, we know what our part of the process is, we are committed to delivering on our side of the deal, and all we ask of our Champion’s students is to do their part as I have outlined above. If they do, then the end of the first chapter in the story is a good ending, and a ’good ending’ is defined as passing the state exam the FIRST TIME.”
Question #3: “What is the single-most important attribute one can possess if they want to succeed in real estate sales?”
Answer: That’s a tough one, only because the great professionals in any field of endeavor possess many winning attributes, and accordingly, having been asked this before, I wrote a book about it, but if I had to identify just one, I would identify these two as most important;
1. Work Ethic
2.) Attitude
It’s been said that you can’t possess million dollar dreams with a minimum wage work ethic. Success in real estate sales means that you have to make a commitment to getting up, suiting up, and showing up each and every day. A solid work ethic is based on discipline, commitment, and perseverance, and that combination is almost impossible to fail.
Your attitude directs everything else on the path to success. Attitude commands your mindset, a mindset of abundance, or scarcity, and the right attitude sees challenges as opportunities, not as obstacles to avoid. Attitude translates to knowing that when we fail, we have a choice to fail forward or backward. The difference is best said by my friend John Maxwell, “We all fail at times. If you want to improve your success rate, improve your failure rate, provided your attitude toward success and failure are right. You see, it’s not, ‘you win some and lose some;’ it’s you win some and learn some.’”
Great professionals in all fields of endeavor have succeeded, and they have failed. The measure of a great real estate salesperson’s success, heck, the measure of any person’s greatness lies in accepting the fact that adversity is inevitable, and it’s in how they have chosen to tackle that adversity. All of that and more begins with the attitude you choose. Attitude is a choice, so is success or failure.
A solid work ethic, driven by a positive attitude is a tough combination to beat.
And one more thing; BEGIN, don’t be as so many are, “getting ready to get ready. Begin! There’s an old saying, “When is the best time to plant a tree? 20 years ago. When is the next best time? NOW” – Randy Smith
Like this? Check out Randy’s other recent blogs:
- A Look at Drive
- The Courage to Begin
- The Secret of Real Estate Success
- Nothing is Impossible if You Persevere
- Luck: Where Preparation Meets Opportunity
