5 pieces of advice for real estate agents just starting out, from the woman who became top producer at her brokerage less than 4 years after entering the business

 

• Allison Chiaramonte is a real estate agent for Warburg Realty in New York City.
• She began working in residential real estate back in 2016, and in less than four years was named the number-one producer at her brokerage.
• In an interview with Business Insider she lays out five pieces of advice for real estate agents who are just getting started.

Real estate agent Allison Chiaramonte began working in residential real estate in New York City back in 2016.

By 2019, she was named Warburg Realty’s top producer of the year, with more than $75 million in total sales volume.

Chiaramonte’s path to resi real estate was far from traditional. Right out of college, she began marketing for-sale commercial buildings for CBRE. After just under two years there, she pivoted to business school, then to women’s fashion, where she worked for roughly five to seven years until she had her first son at the end of 2014.

It wasn’t until she was selling her own apartment that the thought of a career in resi real estate came to her. At the time she was debating whether or not to accept a six-month consultant project when her broker told her she had a real knack for representing resi properties.

Chiaramonte would go on to intern for the team that represented her at Brown Harris Stevens. She stayed with Stevens for about a year-and-a-half before moving to Warburg, as she learned the ropes of buying and selling in New York City and building out her own strategies.

Eight months later, Chiaramonte scored her first big listing — right after she had her second child. The listing turned into a rental and would mark the first and only deal in her first year as an agent.

So how did Chiaramonte go from one deal that first year to Warburg’s top producer of 2019? She attributed her quick success to, among other things, networking, building a client base, developing patience, having confidence, and having an eagerness to learn.

In an interview with Business Insider, she broke down five pieces of advice for beginner agents looking do to the same.

Be persistent and patient

This is key, according to Chiaramonte.

“It takes a long time to get started and I think that people think it will be a quick money-making endeavor, and it’s not,” she explained. “It’s really a full-time job and you have to make yourself available to your clients 24/7.”

“It’s like a normal job that you’d be working full-time hours, except it’s spread out over seven days.”

Find a mentor

Learning from someone is very helpful at the beginning, Chiaramonte explained.

“I learned so much just by watching deals get done,” she said. “I always tell people who are starting out, even if they’re not financially benefiting from a deal, that you get so much out of watching deals unfold because they always play out a little differently and there is always something to learn.”

If you don’t know someone right off the bat, Chiaramonte suggests finding industry professionals who model the type of work you plan on doing and offer to do some work for free.

Don’t be afraid to talk about real estate during your day-to-day life

“Everyone is interested in real estate,” Chiaramonte said.

Talking about real estate within your friend group or at clubs and organizations you are a part of is a great way to let people know that you are a go-to source to find out information about the market.

“Just start bringing it up, and don’t expect anything at first,” she explained.

Develop a thick skin

“In real estate, you’re not going to get hired every time,” she said.

Things like failing at a pitch, not getting a listing you want, or having people back out of deals is an inevitable part of the profession.

“Learning to bounce back from that in the beginning was one of the hardest things for me,” she continued.

Play to your strengths

Chiaramonte has a natural knack for designing and had several years of experience in the fashion industry. She told Business Insider that using some of your personal skills is a great way to market yourself.

For example, Chiaramonte will oftentimes work with clients looking to do a gut renovation because she is able to help them envision what their future home will look like. In addition, she said that she has been a great source for staging and re-decorating apartments for open houses.

via Strategy https://ift.tt/3hN8gAz