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Whether young or old, male or female, every day you put yourself at risk just doing your job. This article isn?t meant to frighten but rather to inform. Accidents happen, it is a fact of life. And just as often, things much more dangerous can happen. Here are a few tips to keep you safe, aware and reduce your risk of becoming a victim.1. Cell phone ? The very bread and butter of your real estate business. A cell phone can also be your greatest asset when it comes to an emergency. Having your cell programmed with a few emergency numbers in your speed dial could very well save your life. Which numbers should be in your speed dial? 911 of course ? you?d think that would be a no brainer, but very few people think to include it in their cell phone. Your office number so if there is a problem you can speak with a live person to get help.Your emergency contact ? police/rescue/EMT?s often look for an emergency contact in a person?s phone, but having it listed as ?Joe? or ?Sally? won?t tell them anything. Even if it means adding a duplicate entry have an contact in your phone labeled Emergency Contact then list the name, relationship, home, office and mobile phone numbers and an address.2. Keep your cell phone on your person. It won?t do any you good if you fall in the bathroom in the house you?re holding open, if the phone is tucked safely into a kitchen cabinet or in your car. Keep it close at hand, on your belt, in a pocket or on a lanyard around your neck.3. Trust your gut instincts. If you don?t feel comfortable escorting a unknown person into the basement of a vacant home. Don?t do it. Let him go by himself, simply saying feel free to tour the home, I?ll answer questions when you?re done ? then take a stroll outside ? talk to a neighbor, call your office or spouse- let someone know your discomfort and make sure someone knows where your are.4. Use the buddy system. If you are meeting someone for the first time and you?re uncomfortable or have a bad feeling either skip the meeting all together or take someone with you, a friend from the office, your spouse, etc.5. Don?t look like a victim. Be aware of your surroundings at all times. Pay attention to what is going on around you. Look people in the eye when you meet them. Carry your keys threaded through your fingers (like brass knuckles). Stand up straight, don?t hunch down, or look at the ground when around strangers. Look people in the eye, if you are looking at a person in stead of the ground, it is much more likely that you could give a full description of that person to the police.6. Use common sense. Stay out of questionable neighborhoods after dark. Keep your gas tank filled. Keep jewelry to a minimum. Don?t flash wads of cash around. If you use an MP3 player, make sure the volume is set so you can hear someone coming up behind you. Let someone know where you?re going and when you are expected back. Keep your risk taking to investment, don?t risk your safety.

These are just a few of the ways to keep yourself safe on the job and off. Every year real estate agents fall victim to foul play at the hands of someone looking at houses. Don?t become a statistic. Ask your broker about your office safety policy. Most of all be aware, be prepared, and be safe.

Finding an honest, hard working and effective real estate agent to buy or sell your house for you is very important. Using an agent that does not do their job effectively can end up costing you large amounts of money and wasted time. Many agents require their clients to sign a contract to work with them and no one else for 6 months. So, once you commit to working with a realtor, you really want to be sure that they will be able to do everything for you that you are expecting them to.

Why You Need To Read Reviews – Reading many reviews from realtors past clients will give you a good idea of what it’s like to work with your prospective realtor, without the risk.

The Review Site You Use Matters – It does make a difference which review site you do your research from. Not all review sites are the same. Many of them are easily manipulated by the real estate agents themselves. You want to find a site that either has a high amount of traffic and therefore, lots of reviews or one with reviews that are monitored by a staff to prevent against manipulation of the reviews.

The Best Review Sites Are Usually Membership Sites – With a membership review site, the site owners have the ability to better monitor the reviews. There are many ways people can manipulate their own reviews, by posting from different email addresses and other ways. With a better managed review site, the quality and honesty of the reviews should be much more accurate.

Some people choose to use a real estate agent and some people choose to go it alone. One thing I have noticed over the years is that a number of seasoned investors looking in a new city will seek out a good agent while novice investors will frequently go it alone. I have even had a number of successful real estate agents seek out my help when they are moving to our city. Why do some of these seasoned investors choose to work with an agent? Below is a list of 7 benefits of using an agent.

1. Understand potential restrictions of the property. I recently heard a story from a friend at the city development office in Austin Texas. A couple had saved up for their retirement. They wanted to retire and live out in the hill country. They went to the foreclosure auctions. At the auction they purchased a lot for 500,000. It had great views and they were going to build their dream house on it. They had researched the lot before the auction and found it was zoned SFR which means a single family residence can be built on it. After purchasing the lot they started plans to build their retirement house. At this time they discovered the lot was in the 25 year floodplain. My friend at the city development office explained that the lot could not be built on and was basically worthless.

2. Know about new developments that might affect a properties value. A good realtor will know of proposed new developments that might affect different properties in which a buyer is interested. Whether these developments are positive or negative can be valuable information when weighing different housing options.

3. Find potential problems with a property. It is always a good idea to have a home inspector look at a potential house. However, a Realtor is a good first line of defense to see if a house has inherent problems. A Realtor that can know about common problems, such as foundation or electrical, that affect a particular neighborhood.4. Understand contracts specifics. Whenever you buy or sell a house you are entering into a large personal transaction. It helps to have someone on your side that deals with these types of transactions on a daily basis. A Realtor can help you understand contracts and can explain what is typical for your area. The most common pitfall into which I see unrepresented buyers fall is to become involved in an atypical contract that is not to their benefit. For instance a seller will sign an offer that has an option period that is 4 times longer than what is typical. A buyer might put in offers on multiple properties with long option periods. The buyer will wait and see if the market appreciates. If the market has appreciated the buyer buys the house at now and undervalued price. If the market has gone down the buyer walks away.

5. Misperception of a benefit of going it alone. Buyers frequently think that by not using a buyers agent they will get a better deal from the seller. In most situation the listing agent asks for 6 percent from the seller. If a buyer comes with an agent the listing agent splits the 6 percent with the buyers agent. If an unrepresented buyer comes the listing agent keeps the whole 6 percent. On the selling side, For Sale By Owners (FSBO) often think they are saving alot of money by avoiding a listing agent. Nationally, FSBO homes sell for 14 percent less than agent listed homes in the same neighborhoods. In addition alot of FSBO’s still end up having a buyers agents involved. There is also money spent on advertising. Since an agent has experience marketing homes the agent often can spend money more effectively on advertising. Agents often know which advertising sources produce the most potential buyers.

6. Save time when looking for listings. Looking for listings without an agent can take up large chunks of time. When looking with an agent you can see several homes in a few hours. When going it alone you have to call the listing agent for each house and wait at the house for the agent to arrive and open up the house. In addition agents often know houses which are not listed or may have already identified potential problems with a particular house of interest.

7. Insure Security. When a home is listed with a broker, agents coming to the house have to usually log in. This allows the listing agent to keep a record of every party coming into the house. Since their business is on the line, agents are more likely to protect the house from damage or theft. For a variety of reasons, it is generally not a good idea to have random people you do not know come into your house. Often sellers simply have a phone number, but that phone could be their house, a friend’s house, a pay phone, or even a stolen phone.

With over 2 million real estate agents according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), becoming a successful real estate agent takes more than just a license and a knowledge of current laws and regulations.The first year drop out range estimated to be from 40% to 80% demonstrates that many real estate agents are not as successful as they could be and research suggests that 90% give up after 3 years. The following 7 tips may help you avoid becoming one of these statistics.

1. First and Foremost YOU are a business. Real estate agents work for a broker, but are independent, commissioned sales people. This means that you are a small business and must run your practice as a business. Again, remember you are a small business owner.
2. Embrace a Planning Attitude. If you don’t have a plan, then you are on some else’s plan – usually the successful real estate agent’s. During the last 10 years, what I have learned as a performance improvement consultant or coach is that most people place more value in planning a trip to the grocery store or a vacation than planning their lives either professionally or personally.
3. Research Your Market Plan. Since you, as the real estate agent, are responsible for your own expenses, do your research specific to your marketing plan within your strategic plan. Time spent in constructing your marketing plan is definitely well spent. NOTE: Remember a business plan usually is data driven, while a strategic plan identifies who does what by when.
4. Establish Sales Goals. Using your strategic action plan, establish sales goals. If you are new to this industry, it may take 6 months before the first sale. HINT: Use the W.H.Y. S.M.A.R.T. criteria for goal setting.
5. Create a Financial Budget. Budgeting is critical given the up and down of this volatile market place. Your financial budget should plan for your marketing costs, any additional costs such as education and your forecasted income.
6. Make Managing Yourself a Priority. Building a business is not easy. You must learn how to manage yourself especially in the area of time management, ongoing real estate business training coaching continuing education units, and personal life balance. Real estate is said to be a 24/7 business much like any small business. However, it is important not to lose sight of your personal life including family, friends, physical health, etc.
7. Find a Mentor or a Real Estate Coach. Going it alone is not easy. Take the time to find a mentor who can help you steer through some of the known obstacles and help you during the “peaks and valleys.” If you have the resources, you may wish to hire a real estate coach or an executive coach who specializes in small business help and sales.

Being an incredible sales person and entering the real estate market does not guarantee similar sales success. However, these 7 tips may help you avoid many of the pitfalls by not being one of the four real estate agents who quit within one year or one of the nine who give up after 3 years.

Want to learn how to increase sales? Sign up to receive notification of Leanne’s forthcoming sales coaching book to help you become the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits.

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