Having autonomy and unlimited earnings.
Any agent who does not acknowledge this as one of their top motivators would be lying to you. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of hard work that goes into taking care of a client, marketing, and prep work for buying and selling a home. At the end of the day, if I do a great job for a client, and they refer me, and their friends refer me, there’s no cap to my earning potential. In addition, I am able to set my own schedule. My day is spent constantly planning, strategizing for my clients, creating content marketing, and being fully awake in the market. This means I have to be ultra efficient with my time, but I have autonomy. That said, as in any entrepreneurship role, there is no hard defined time you will have off, and especially in this career path, this means you have to always be available to your clients. There’s no SLA or 24-hour response time. When your clients need you, you need to be available. The rest of the time, however, you can plan to do whatever you want.
Building a network where we all help one another.
Building strong relationships takes time. It is not enough to just take a name, and then add it to your rolodex. I build trust with the people I work with, and if my client needs a referral for something, I want to wholeheartedly trust the person I am referring will get the job done well. From referral agents to contractors, inspectors, interior designers, painters, you name it, I need to make sure we work with the best because I want to provide the best experience for my clients. In building this network, I have created relationships that not only benefit my clients, but also help me in my own projects; and in turn, my referrals generate more business. One of the most exciting aspects of being an agent is just meeting really great people in the industry who care about helping people as much as I do.
Having an immediate impact on people
In my previous career as a product manager, I would spend months trying to positively increase a business metric or build a new feature. The projects had obvious benefits to users, but the impact felt incremental. But when I first sold a home to a lovely couple with the most adorable daughter, the impact was immediate and life changing. The joy that came over their faces as they journeyed around the home envisioning their future was a feeling I will never forget. To this day, we stay in touch, because I love that family, and they will always have a special place in my heart. The impact on me for helping these buyers find their dream home was second to none. Seeing this was going to be a place where they would create memories, feel safe, and grow as a couple, parents, and become an adult – that was when I knew this was what I was meant to do, because nothing brings me more joy than helping others.
