Toby Boyce

By Toby Boyce

It was a hot summer day in late July 2006 as I slipped down U.S. 23 to the Ohio Division of Real Estate testing center. I had made the jump into real estate without a safety net – quitting my job in higher education public relations and knowing that if I failed this test it would be a very-very bad sign.

Well, I passed the test. Actually, I scored a perfect 100 percent on the state portion of the test, a feat that none of the folks working that day had ever seen achieved. So I entered into the world of real estate with a swagger and confidence. “I got this.”

We got through two years when 2-out-of-3 licensed agents aren’t even using their license. And now about to hit the five-year milestone and the only thing I’m certain of is how little I really knew when I said, “I got this.”

While the last five years have been an emotional and financial roller coaster, I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. I honestly – even if naively – believe that I’ve learned more during this period than I could have in any other venture.

“I wish you’d made the jump a few years ago,” said a former agent. “It was so easy, the phone just rang and buyers were there.” That sounds like being an order taker to me, so why not work at a local fast food restaurant?

What have I learned in five years in real estate:

1.       There is no magic pill to success.

2.       I need to know a little bit about everything, but know when it is time to hand off to the expert.

3.       Social media is not prospecting.

4.       Make sure the brokerage matches your goals and, more importantly, beliefs.

5.       Knowing that you’ve done right by your clients is better than a commission check any day of the week.

6.       You have to be yourself; clients can see through the smokescreen. So just be upfront and honest. It makes things easier.

‘Til next time, I’m off to prospect because that is the closest thing I’ve found to that magic pill.

Toby Boyce, MBA, is a real estate practitioner with Keller Williams Consultants Realty in Westerville, Ohio. Visit his Web site: www.delawareohrealestate.com.