Kent County Association of REALTORS®
  • Home
  • Member Login
  • Calendar
  • Education
    • KCAR Class Schedule
    • Continuing Education Resources
    • CE Shop Online
    • Continuing Education Requirements
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Membership
    • Affiliate Directory >
      • Advertising & Promotional
      • Builders & Contractors
      • Cyber & Home Security
      • Financial Services
      • Home Services
      • Insurance Agencies
      • Law Offices
  • Professional Standards
    • NAR Professional Standards Resources
    • Filing an Ethics Complaint
    • Citation Program
  • About
    • Board of Directors
    • Leadership Team
    • Membership >
      • Member Benefits
      • Statewide Forms
      • Taxbot
    • KCAR Scholarship Foundation >
      • Past Scholarship Recipients
    • Awards >
      • ROTY & Good Neighbor
    • FAQ & Resources
    • SentriLock
    • REALTOR® Safety >
      • NAR Safety Program
      • Safety Videos for REALTORS®
      • Safety Webinars for REALTORS®
    • Contact Us

6 of the Hardest Things About Being a Real Estate Agent

1/19/2017

5 Comments

 
By Daniel Di Matteo - From the outside looking in, real estate agents have it easy. They work whenever they want, make lots of money and hardly do anything. How hard can it be? The truth is real estate is anything but easy. As professionals, we face constant struggles being in this industry. For me, these are some of the hardest.
1. Pretending things are always great
Ask a real estate agent how the market is and you’re likely to hear “Great!” Ask a real estate agent how business is going and again you’ll likely hear “Great!” Unless the agent you are talking to has already made the decision to leave the business, you will not hear anything negative. Why? “Fake it till you make it.”

This old adage has been around a long time and still holds true today. Success breeds success and no one wants to work with someone who is not, or at least does not appear to be successful. The truth is there is nothing inherently good or bad about the market. The “How’s the market” question is so subjective there is no real answer. The ups and downs in our business however, are very real. Even through the hard times, we must put on a smile and pretend things are great with the hopes next time you ask “How’s the market?” You will actually be asking to hire me as your real estate agent.

2. Time away from family
Real estate can take a toll on your family. Setting boundaries between work and home can be extremely difficult. The public has literally no idea what real estate agents do for a living. Ask your friends what they think you do every day. The reality is, aside from “Selling houses” the dirty (and HARD) work involved is unknown and goes unnoticed. This was cleverly described by a humorous website dedicated to real estate agents which read:
​
  • Public’s Perception: “Must be nice working anytime you please.”
  • REALTOR®: “Yeah, I can work any of the 80 hours per week I want.”
​
When starting a career in real estate there is the belief you will be able to work whenever you want, and frankly if you don’t want to work that day you really don’t have to. You are the boss! However, if you went to your favorite restaurant on a Friday night and saw a note on the door that read: “Closed today. Didn’t feel like coming in” What do you suppose would happen to that business?

There is no clocking in, and it’s unfortunate but there is no clocking out either. Family dinners, birthday parties and even vacations are shared with frequent phone calls, texts, emails, quick showings and last minute appointments inconveniencing your family for a client who in the end may or may not pan out.

3. Managing Expectations – Our Own
If you were to follow a real estate agent for 30 days you would be inclined to diagnose them with either ADHD or Depression.

The reason is because we are sooooooooo heavily invested in the outcome of every phone call, email, inspection, appraisal, etc. After all, if it doesn’t go our way, we might not be able to provide for our families for the next 45 to who knows how many days! How can we not get so invested?

Being a real estate agent is full of ups and downs. When something positive happens such as a client’s offer getting accepted or we are hired on a new listing, everything instantly becomes so exciting and nothing can bring us down. On the flip side, getting too invested can lead us to want to “baby” each transaction so much so that when something negative happens to your baby, you are devastated.

4. Justifying your worth

You sit across from a homeowner who invited you to discuss the possibility of selling their home and to go over what you bring to the table, only to be asked to take less for your services. Don’t get me wrong, everything in real estate is negotiable but it sure doesn’t make it any more pleasant. Real Estate is the only profession I can think of where people will ask you to lower your income. Sorry sweetie, daddy can’t get you that baby doll today. Mr. Joe thinks I’m not worth it. Maybe it goes back to not knowing what real estate professionals do but it just feels like you’re being taken for granted sometimes.

5. Missing an opportunity to another agent

You know what hurts more than losing that listing or buyer to another agent? When it’s a friend or family member who called someone else to help buy or sell their home. Sometimes it’s better not to mix business and personal but what a blow that can be. At least let me refer you to someone competent.

6. Budgeting like you’ll never get paid again

2010 was a rough year for me and my family. I grossed $20,000 and had to rely on credit cards just to survive. Unless you are in a commission only job, you cannot understand the financial pressures involved in real estate. Some months you’re a rock star and think you should have your own real estate reality show, and some months you wonder if your career is about to end and be forced to take that 9-5 job you hated so much before real estate.

Unless your real estate income (if any) isn’t needed at home because of your sugar mama or sugar daddy, budgeting as if you will never get paid again is key. For this reason my wife and I live fairly conservatively even when things are good. We like to keep our bills as low as possible and try not to over extend ourselves knowing full well nothing is promised tomorrow.

The glamorous life of a real estate agent isn’t always what it seems but it’s not all bad either. There isn’t anything else I’d rather be doing (at least right now). Being able to help clients with their most significant investment is very rewarding. But in a business where the average real estate agent sells ZERO homes a year, the struggles are real and can hit you hard. Next time you meet a Realtor, give them a hug. After all, we’re people too.

About the author: Daniel Di Matteo Realtor at CENTURY 21 Award, Daniel was Voted U-T San Diego’s Best Real Estate Agent in 2014. A Husband, Father, and most recently, accomplished Blog writer, which explains your visit today.
5 Comments
KW Virtual Assistants link
10/16/2020 12:12:31 am

Well worth a read. Got great insights and information from your blog. Thanks.

Reply
Milwaukee Surveyors Group link
11/16/2021 05:45:14 am

These are real, thank you!

Reply
Surveys for Land Developers link
1/10/2022 09:48:28 am

It had to have been difficult, especially during the pandemic. Thank you for a fascinating read.

Reply
Buyers Agent Sydney link
3/4/2022 01:51:37 am

Thank you for taking the time to share this post. Keep on posting.

Reply
Braden Bills link
6/20/2022 11:27:08 am

I want to make sure that I get my home sold. It makes sense that trying to do it myself could be pretty difficult. I'll be sure to work with a real estate agent to ensure that I handle things properly.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    2017
    2017 Housing Market
    Accomodating
    Affordability
    Agent
    American Dream
    Annual Premiums
    Appraisal
    Appreciation
    Architect
    Attitude
    Average Rent
    Baby Boomers
    Baseline
    Benefits
    Best Deal
    Best Strategy
    Best Time To Buy
    Best Time To Sell
    Blogging
    Books
    Boomerang Buyers
    Borrowers
    Brand Awareness
    Branding
    Brokerage
    Brokers
    Build Rapport
    Business Owners
    Buyers
    Buying
    Buying Versus Renting
    Call For Action
    Capitol Hill
    Changes In The Real Estate Industry
    Characteristics
    Charity
    Checklist
    Client
    Clients
    Closing
    Code Of Ethics
    Commitment To Excellent
    Common Scams
    Communication
    Community
    Community Events
    Competency
    Competition
    Competitive Market
    Congressional Address
    Connecting With Clients
    Contacts
    Continuing Education
    Convention
    Conversations
    Convert Prospects Into Clients
    Cost Of Homeownership
    Credit Scores
    Current Events
    Customer Service
    DAR
    Deductions
    DEFAC
    Delaware
    Deliver Value To Customers
    Demographic
    Deregulation
    Design Trends
    Dover
    Down Payment
    Educate Clients
    Education
    Election Day
    Elections
    Email
    Email Signature
    Emotional Purchases
    Empowerment
    Energy Efficiency
    Events
    Face-to-face Meetings
    Fair Housing
    Federal Reserve
    FEMA
    FHA
    FHFA
    Field Guide
    Financial Future
    First Impressions
    First-time Buyers
    Firsttime Home Buyer
    First Tuesday Happy Hour
    Fixer Uppper
    Flood Insurance
    Focus
    Follow Up
    Follow-up
    Forecast
    Foreign Banks
    For-sale Prices
    Foucs
    Freddie Mac
    FSBO
    Future
    Generation X
    Generation Z
    Giveaways
    Goals
    Go-to
    Government
    Governor-Elect Carney
    Great Real Estate Agent
    HELOC
    Higher Income
    Higher Sales
    Holidays
    Homebuyers
    Home Buyers
    Homebuying
    Home Equity
    Home Equity Loan
    Home Insurance
    Homeowner
    Homeowners
    Home Owners
    Homeownership
    Homeowners Insurance Policy
    Home Prices
    Home Sales
    Homeseller
    Homesellers
    Home Sellers
    Home Selling
    Home's Value
    Honesty
    House Size
    Housing
    Housing Market
    HUD
    Hud1
    Hud-1
    HUD Secretary
    Increase Effectiveness Of Your Marketing
    Increase Your Returns
    Industry Outlook
    Inflation
    Infrastructure
    Inman
    In-person
    International Happenings
    Internet Data Exchange
    Internet Strategies
    Inventory
    Inventory Shortage
    Investments
    Investors
    Invisible Improvements
    "it" Factor
    KCAR
    Kent County
    Lead Generation
    Lease Agreement
    Legislation
    Lenders
    Licensed Agent
    License Renewal
    Listing
    Listing Presentation
    Listings
    Lucrative
    Market Activity
    Marketing
    Marketing Articles
    Marketing Resources
    Market Statistics
    Martin Luther King Day
    Member Benefit
    Mentor
    Millenials
    Mistakes
    MLS
    Money Saving Tips
    Money-saving Tips
    Month Of May
    More Leads
    Mortgage
    Mortgage Insurance
    Mortgage Interest
    Mortgage Lenders
    Mortgage Limits
    Mortgage Rates
    Move-up
    NAR
    NAR Realtor Benefits Program
    National Association Of REALTORS®
    National Association Of REALTORS®
    National Flood Insurance Program
    New Agents
    Online Presence
    Open Floor Plans
    Open House
    Opportunities
    Overpricing
    Patent-reform
    Persistent Follow-up
    Personal Branding
    Personal Security
    Pets
    Philanthropy
    Photography
    Placester
    PMI
    Potential Clients
    Prepare
    President-Elect Trump
    Presidential Election
    Prevention
    Pricing Too High
    Proactive
    Problem Solving
    Professional
    Project Ideas
    Property Search Website
    Prospective Buyers
    Prospects
    Qualified Buyers
    Qualities
    Questions
    Rapport Building
    Real Estate
    Real Estate Agent
    Real Estate Agents
    Real Estate Business
    Real Estate Career
    Real Estate Decisions
    Real Estate Market
    Real Estate Professional
    Real Estate Spending
    Real Estate Technology
    Real Estate Transactions
    Real Estate Trends
    REALTOR
    Realtor7a154d414f
    Realtor® Broker Summit
    REALTORS®
    REALTORS®
    Realtor Safety
    Recommended Listing Price
    Red Flags
    Referral
    Referrals
    Regulatory Burdens
    Remodeling
    Renovations
    Rental Property
    Rentals
    Repeat Business
    Research
    RESPA
    Respect
    Retirement
    Rising Home Sales
    Rookie
    Rpac
    Safety
    Safety First
    Sale By Owner
    Save Money
    Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
    Search Traffic
    Seller
    Sellers
    Settlement-changes
    Showing Homes
    Simple
    Snowflake Generation
    Social
    Social Events
    Social Network
    Special Buyers
    Spring
    Square Footage
    Starter Homes
    Starting Price
    Stay Educated
    Strategies
    Strong Communicaton
    Suburbs
    Summer Bbq
    Surban
    Survey
    Sustainability
    Sustainable Properties
    Tagline
    Taxes
    Tax Reform
    Technology
    Tenant-occupied
    Tenant Rights
    Testimonials
    The Voice For Real Estate
    Time Mangement
    Tips
    Tips For Agents
    Tips For Clients
    Tools
    Trainings
    Transactions
    Trend
    Trends
    Trust
    Trusted Adviser
    Vintage
    Virtual Assistants
    Voice For Real Estate
    Vote
    Website Traffic
    Win
    Winter
    Winterize
    Workplace
    Would Be Home Buyers
    Would-be Home Buyers
    Younger Generations
    Young Professionals Network
    Zillow

    Archives

    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015

©2020 Kent County Association of REALTORS®
2089 S. Dupont Highway, Suite 4, Dover, Delaware 19901
Join
Phone: (302) 678-9750 
  • Home
  • Member Login
  • Calendar
  • Education
    • KCAR Class Schedule
    • Continuing Education Resources
    • CE Shop Online
    • Continuing Education Requirements
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Membership
    • Affiliate Directory >
      • Advertising & Promotional
      • Builders & Contractors
      • Cyber & Home Security
      • Financial Services
      • Home Services
      • Insurance Agencies
      • Law Offices
  • Professional Standards
    • NAR Professional Standards Resources
    • Filing an Ethics Complaint
    • Citation Program
  • About
    • Board of Directors
    • Leadership Team
    • Membership >
      • Member Benefits
      • Statewide Forms
      • Taxbot
    • KCAR Scholarship Foundation >
      • Past Scholarship Recipients
    • Awards >
      • ROTY & Good Neighbor
    • FAQ & Resources
    • SentriLock
    • REALTOR® Safety >
      • NAR Safety Program
      • Safety Videos for REALTORS®
      • Safety Webinars for REALTORS®
    • Contact Us