Real estate schools are reporting record numbers of students studying to take their real estate license exam, but according to the New Agent Profile Poll posted on Agents Boot Camp, 79 percent have little or no sales experience.

About 90 percent of those who do claim a sales background come from the retail field and have never had to prospect for a living, according to Agent Boot Camp's founder, David Fletcher.

Of the 140 who have taken the unscientific poll, 52 (37 percent) are still in licensing school, 20 (14 percent) are waiting to take the license exam, 28 (20 percent) have their license but haven't placed it, and 40 (29 percent) are licensed with an office but considering a move.

"One of the big reasons new agents consider moving is because they didn't do their homework before joining the office," says Fletcher. "They probably joined for one of both of the two wrong reasons: they had a friend working there or the office was near their home. The real issue is how fast they can start generating income and how the broker going to help them do it."

Only 61 (45 percent) say they understand the importance of prospecting, says Fletcher.

In their first twelve months, 37 (28 percent) expect to earn $60,000 or more, 34 (26 percent) expect to earn $40,000-$60,000, 31 (23 percent) expect to earn $25,000 to $40,000 and 31 (23 percent) expect to earn $15,000-$25,000.

According to the National Association of Realtors, the average first year income is in the low $20,000 range.

"Obviously, agents are coming into the business with false hope based on wrong expectations," says Fletcher. "One of the purposes of our poll is to determine what is important and what is not important to new agents.

"For example, one of the seven choices we give agents is to select the one area they think they will have the hardest time learning," he continues. "One out of five said, 'explain financing.' The fact is they don't have to explain financing. They have to learn how to introduce the buyer to a mortgage lender."

Other areas they feel will be the hardest to learn include "prospecting" (25 percent) and "establishing a marketing plan" (17 percent). Only 2 percent feel that deciding which home to show will be the most difficult skill to learn.

They are confident with their technology, which is good to see. Of the 132 respondents, 86 (65 percent) rated their comfort level with technology as a 9 or 10 out of a possible 10. Only 4 percent rated themselves below a 5.

Of those taking the poll, 79 (58 percent) plan to go into general real estate, 20 (15 percent) plan to go in to new homes sales, 1 (1 percent) likes time shares, 6 (4 percent) plan to go into commercial real estate, 3 (2 percent) prefer property management and 27 (20 percent) don't have a preference.

To the question "I am leaning toward joining an independent office, a franchise, or it doesn't matter, 28 (21 percent) said they prefer an independent office, 44 (32 percent) said they preferred a franchise and 64 (47 percent) said "It doesn't matter."

Seventy-two percent are planning to work full time, 19 percent part-time and nine percent are not sure yet.

"Based on the conversations we have with newly licensed agents we meet every year in our Battle Plan seminars, most have no clue what they are about to get into, what it is going to cost or how long it is going to take to generate a positive cash flow," says Fletcher. "To me, it gets down to the agent's need for a passion-driven willingness to prospect and get through the difficult times both financially and emotionally. This is why realistic expectations are so critical to the agents ability to set and meet realistic goals."

Published: December 17, 2004

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