Careers in real estate are appealing to a wider group of people now that the real estate market has earned its reputation as a powerful and reliable sector of our economy. With the real estate market’s enviable long-term appreciation and favored tax treatment, real estate as an investment has become enormously attractive. Compared with the stock market’s dismal performance, the real estate market has claimed a leadership position.

The market is not the only aspect of real estate that has experienced influential change. Its workforce has undergone a dramatic shift. Not so long ago, a career in real estate sales was the second profession of the homemaker or teacher. In recent years, with the downsizing of corporate America, real estate professionals now include upper management and technology professionals. More and more people are recognizing that the independence afforded the real estate sales professional coupled with the potential for unlimited income make a career in real estate sales quite attractive.

The real estate market’s consumer has also transformed as investors move funds between the stock market and the real estate market depending on where the gains are found. The weary stock market investor has found that he can wear both hats, gaining ground as either a real estate or stock market investor. Market jumping has become more common as real estate has gained its leadership position in our economy and as investors gain real estate expertise. This is where we agents confer a professionalism and proficiency required by an industry that has claimed market share.

These revolutionary changes mark an important crossroads in the real estate industry. No longer do economic trends and statistics remain solely within the purview of the financial planner. A more savvy real estate consumer now requires that real estate agents have this important data at their fingertips. No longer do agents write offers on the hoods of cars and bait their clients with sales pitches. Today’s agent serves an entirely different consumer and is expected to work faster, smarter, and more efficiently. Mobile technology has replaced the hood of the car, and a more professional client relationship has replaced the old sales routine. Outdated mailers and cold calls no longer create markets, having been replaced by 24/7 web technology and agent specialization. This book addresses the many changes occurring within the real estate industry, and bridges the gap between the real estate industry of yesteryear and the one that is before us now.

In this new edition of this book I have featured two new innovative products that may change the face of real estate marketing. Chapter 13 features a high-tech, automated multimedia Master Marketing Model that will generate leads without you. I have also featured a program called the Lead Projector that tells each agent exactly how many leads they require to meet their income needs. Just input your unique information and your bottom line lead requirements are set for you. Without exception, the state-of-the-art strategies I have developed and shared in this book make it possible for you to gain unparalleled momentum no matter where you are in your real estate career.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Success as a Real Estate Agent, Second Edition, is written in six parts. Each one addresses a different aspect of the real estate business.

Part 1, “First Things First,” answers your question, “Is real estate for me?” It explores why the real estate profession is luring more and more people through its doors. Although the residential real estate agent is featured throughout this book, the many other career opportunities available to the licensed agent are described with a day in the life of each. This part concludes with a primer on the educational requirements you will need to fulfill prior to obtaining your license, and, finally, taking the real estate licensing exam itself.

Part 2, “Getting Started,” coaches you on making the right choices from the moment you obtain your license. Choosing your first office is a crucial decision since this is where you will develop your style of real estate practice. And although you will be working under a broker’s supervision, you are actually about to become the CEO of your own small business. The business model from which to launch your successful real estate practice includes formulating a concrete small business plan as well as incorporating basic principles of personal and professional power. In this book, you will be coached to adopt an entrepreneurial vision through finding your passion in your work, cultivating and sustaining independent thinking, and honing self-discipline as the force that puts it all together. The final step in the small business plan is to build a Power Team that sustains your business and your clientele throughout the rest of your career.

Part 3, “Building an Unbeatable System,” provides the stability and competence to give your business a strong foundation. In the real estate world, that means consistent lead generation, managing your time, and using technology to the maximum. The many faces of market making are examined, from the old-school handshake to high-tech, web-based protocols. Computer technology is introduced as a peak platform for your business to serve you and your clients in a powerful way. Online transaction management is introduced. A multimedia Master Marketing Model gives you a powerful array of products to lead generate for you automatically.

Part 4, “Putting It All Together,” delivers a new way of practicing real estate through two success-building strategies, the referral stream system and The New Ideal. While the referral stream system generates your client base and turns your business into a referral-based operation, The New Ideal delivers an upgraded, more professional quality of client service. One system brings clients in the door while the other keeps them after they enter. This part also presents a new perspective on what makes up a winning listing presentation. If any part of this book is the most essential to the creation of your success, this is it.

Part 5, “The Parts of a Transaction,” is a primer on real estate practices and principles. It presents the residential real estate transaction from every conceivable perspective: representing the seller or the buyer and preparing and analyzing the transaction documents. Chapters 18 and 19 examine your client relationships from the beginning of a transaction to the very end. The important transaction documents are reviewed from the author’s legal-oriented perspective. This part will provide you with a valuable legal resource for the rest of your career.

Part 6, “Becoming a Top Dog,” presents the tools and strategies highly successful agents use to move their careers into high gear. These peak performers adopt cutting-edge approaches as they dominate the market through entrepreneurial planning, specialization, and web-based technology. The importance of staging your listings is discussed, beginning at the curb and flowing throughout the home. Top Dogs develop an entrepreneurial state of mind as they plan for future income streams by seeing real estate as a long-term investment instead of a short-term source of income. The Top Dog takes on the role of a profit-earning investor in lieu of a commission-earning salesperson.

With the hope of making this book easy to read and conveniently organized for finding what you need to succeed as a real estate agent, there are four different types of sidebars that provide additional information. These are explained here.

My special thanks to my agents Bob Diforio and Marilyn Allen for making the writing of this book possible; to Mike Sanders, my acquisitions editor, for having faith in my abilities; to Ginny Bess, my development editor, for wise navigation through the manuscript and for her encouragement and support; to Grant Munroe for his technical review; to Michael Blue, Ken Orgill, Paul Sheng and Anita Hatfield for their valuable input; to the great Spirit above for the creative resources you continually instill in me; to Richard Page for his love and emotional support; to Penguin-Putnam for developing The Complete Idiot’s Guides as a series of excellent reference books; to Paul and Barbara Tiegers for profiling the personality type for real estate professionals for Chapter 2; to the many Top Dogs who shared their insights and experiences, including Paul Lehman, Melissa Prandi, Maureen McGettigan, Jeff Drawdy, Paul James, Eric Fishbein, and James McKenney, Esq.; to Jim Edmondson for his wisdom; and last but not least, my special thanks to Al Bianchi, Esq., for the many ways in which he has contributed to my success in real estate.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Success as a Real Estate Agent, Second Edition, was reviewed by an expert to help me ensure that this book gives you everything you need to know about succeeding as a real estate agent. Special thanks are extended to real estate trainer, Layne Kulwin.

All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be or are suspected of being trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Alpha Books and Penguin Group (USA) Inc. cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.