1. Set an annual financial goal. Such as $80000, $100000 or $120000 per year. Then do everything in your power to make it happen.

2. Break the annual goal down into manageable weekly goals. $100000 sounds big! $1923 per week doable.

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I would like to wish all of our rental agents a very happy New Year! I am the new Media Manager here at OBE NYC. Gary Oberoi and I will be working together throughout 2012 and further into the future, so you can expect to see many more posts from me! I hope you are having a very pleasant Tuesday.

“Men are wise in proportion, not to their experience, but their capacity to experience.” – George Bernard Shaw

If you have a partner or spouse with whom you spend a considerable amount of time, talk to them about your ambitions in real estate. When you’re suddenly unavailable 65-80 hours a week, discussing it up front will help you

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“Taxes are paid in the sweat of every man who labors.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

As an independent contractor it’s important that you think of yourself as a business owner, not an employee. As far as Uncle Sam is concerned, that means tax responsibilities are yours alone. It also means that you should consider commission checks

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A vision board is simply a collection of pictures of everything you want to bring into your life – an apartment, a car, a certain income. But the important thing about a vision board is that it be as specific and vivid as possible. Let’s say you want to earn $120,000 in your first year. Don’t use a sign that reads “$120,000.” Instead use a picture that equates to that

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40 Rules of Sales Success! P.2

21. Use testimonials.
The strongest salesman on your team is a reference from a satisfied customer. Testimonials are proof.

22. Listen for buying signals.
The prospect will often tell you when he is ready to buy – if you are paying attention. Listening is as important as talking.

23. Anticipate objections.
Rehearse answers to standard objections.

24. Get down to the real objection.
Customers are not always truthful, they often don’t tell you the true objection at first.

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40 Rules of Sales Success!

Concentrate on the fundamentals; 99% of all sales are made that way.

1. Establish and maintain a positive attitude.
The first rule of life. Your commitment to a positive attitude will put you on an unstoppable path to success. If you doubt it, you don’t have a positive attitude. A positive attitude is not just a thought process, it’s a daily commitment. Get one.

2. Believe in yourself.
If you don’t think you can do it, who will? You control the most important tool in selling, your mind!

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Arouse Emotions, Don’t Sell Logic

No skill that you can acquire in sales will enhance your earning power more than learning how to arouse emotions in your buyers in ways that are positive to the sale. The exact words you use will depend on your offering, your personality, your buyers, and market conditions. Positive emotions trigger sales; negative emotions destroy sales. As you work at developing the skills to evoke emotions in your potential clients, always keep that concept in mind. You can destroy sales as rapidly as you can create them through the clumsy use of, or the lack of control over, the emotional setting.

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“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.” -George Bernard Shaw

Financial Stability – You DO Need Savings!

When I started in real estate I had $46,000 in debt over my head. This was a huge mistake! As a result, my first few months were fraught with anxiety and turmoil. I exhausted myself working as hard as I could, while the stress of my situation wore me down even more.

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“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
-Carl Jung

Customer demands are constantly increasing; the amount of pressure a salesperson encounters is also going up. Today, there are an overwhelming amount of things that a salesperson must battle to cater to ever increasing customer expectations, conflicting pressures, and office demands.

Salespeople are now expected to collect more information about their clients, research their needs, advertise in more sophisticated ways, use more complex computer programs, learn about iPad and Smartphone applications, get into the “Now” with social networking, and figure out how to get the attention of the millions of young-and-hip social networkers that spend billions of hours on the internet every year.

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“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” – Walt Disney

My success in August of 2008 is another prime example of how there is always opportunity to make money in real estate rentals. There’s no doubt about it, market conditions are tough. The current state of Wall Street, rising unemployment, and general precariousness of the economy have created a pessimistic atmosphere among many agents. Over and over I hear the question: it is still possible to make money in real estate? My answer, as you’ve heard throughout this book, is absolutely YES!

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“Talk does not cook rice.”
- Chinese Proverb

By the end of my first year I paid off $46,000 in debt. That was a tremendous relief. However, that meant I had only $20,000 left in savings. I still wasn’t living the life I wanted and I knew I had to take a chance!

Over the past year I had generated about $222,000 in gross commissions, but because I worked for a broker, he received roughly 40% of that. The split was $120,000 for me, $100,000 for the broker. That’s a lot of money to give up when you’ve done all the work! I knew my success depended on becoming a broker, opening my own office, and hiring agents to work for me!

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Prepare for Built-In Objections

Some apartments will have obvious down-sides, or elements that don’t meet up to every one of your client’s preferences. The good part about this is that you know every single one of these potential objections in advance and can prepare how best to handle them! The best preparation involves practice! Michael Phelps won eight Gold Medals in Beijing because he spent countless hours in the pool. He spent thousands of hours preparing for races that lasted mere minutes! Consistently practice confronting objections of every type and you’ll become virtually unstoppable!

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“The aim of life is self-development. TO realize one’s nature perfectly – that is what each of us is here for.”
- Oscar Wilde

I want to take a moment to address the kinds of things that can make it very difficult for someone to become a successful real estate agent. Specifically, I want you to know what you’re getting into and to really evaluate if this business is right for you.

The real estate industry offers an exciting and lucrative opportunity for agents. Most of what you need to excel can be learned and perfected, however there are certain personality traits that will help, and others that will make it difficult to succeed.

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Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you.” - Henry Ward Beecher

True success is dependent upon continual education and growth both as an agent and as a person. We only have 24 hours in a day and we only have a certain number of days on earth – are we really making the best use of our time? Personal development makes you question how you spend your time, where you put your energy and how you can improve your life.

Think about each hour in terms of your career. Some folks earn minimum wage for each hour, others earn $1,000 per hour! How much do you charge for each hour of work? How can you increase your level of prosperity?

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Leverage Your Time!

As an agent, you are generating leads, advertising, showing apartments, doing paperwork, etc…80% of this work can be delegated to an assistant. This frees your time to do only those activities that make you money.

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The following is the fifth in a series of Top Agent Profiles.

Originally from Westchester, I went to Suny, in Plattsburgh, and graduated with a degree in communications and broadcast management.

I started training to be a rental agent in the summer of 2005, at Starnest. I was in between jobs; I had been in entertainment PR, and worked at CBS evening news. I didn’t know anything about real estate at the time…I chose Starnest, because I wanted to start at a smaller company in order to get extra attention, and hands-on training in a small setting.

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The following is the fourth in a series of Top Agent Profiles.

After graduating with a Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Connecticut in May of 2004, I found myself searching for a way to fulfill my childhood dream: to live in New York City. The summer after graduation, I landed my first real job in the art world; I was an assistant to a large scale metal sculptor in Connecticut. After about 8 months, I quickly learned two important lessons: I did not want to live or work in Connecticut. Also, I no longer wanted to create art as a career. These two significant events lead me to October of 2005, when I began my real estate career with Citi Habitats at the ripe old age of 22.

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An excerpt from my book, “How To Make $120,000 Your First Year As A Rental Agent”

The words we choose create our reality.
Does that sound like an exaggeration? In the realm of human experience, words have incredible power. They can inspire, entice, endear, or enrage. Words convey ideas, instill beliefs, and form the intricate weave of relationships. Words or phrases that have been spoken or written just once, have endured throughout decades and even centuries.

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“I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific.” ~ Lily Tomlin

Toyota was ranked #5 on Fortune’s 2007 Top 20 Most Admired Companies. I’m mentioning this here because Toyota creates goals for 500 years in the future. They actually have a charter book where they detail and update these goals. It’s obvious that none of the executives at Toyota will live much beyond 100 years; however, as a company they still understand the importance of making goals that span far into the future. In doing this they create a standard in which the direction of the company and its future achievements are so clear that they leave no room for doubt of their continued success!

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