Why I Created Real Estate Agent Masterclass

In this blog post, I'll give you a brief rundown of my background and explain what motivated me to create Real Estate Agent Masterclass. I'll also give you a preview of what you can expect in future blog posts.

By the way, I know you're busy, so I'll keep the episodes short and full of useful information. I'll cover one topic per episode. The length of each episode will vary depending on the subject matter. If it gets to be too long, I'll break it into multiple posts.

To tell you a little bit about me, I've been in the real estate and finance industry for over 30 years. First as a lender, then as a real estate salesperson, and then finally, as the managing broker of my own independent firm. I have personally sold more homes in my market than any other individual agent by a significant margin. I've also had the opportunity to train, mentor and coach other higher producing agents.

I will readily admit that there are many agents who are better than me at marketing their own services. I've just never really enjoyed that part of the business due to my introverted nature. So, I've just built my business off of warm market referrals. That means if you are looking for ideas about how to market your services to the cold market, I am not going to be much help to you.

But as far as the nuts and bolts of listing and selling real estate, that's my specialty. I may blank on a client's name, when I run into them with the grocery store. But if they ask me if it's legal in my state for a lender to sue for the deficiency balance after a short sale, I can quote the state civil code section that deals with that topic without looking it up. (It's section 580, paragraph E, in case you were wondering.)

I've studied the ins and outs of the residential real estate industry for decades now. I'm never satisfied with "good enough." I want to know the right way to do things, and I'm constantly researching and learning. I am far from perfect, but when I do make a mistake, I go back and find out what went wrong and then take steps to prevent that from happening again.

It's kind of funny, but there are several agents and brokers from other firms in my local area who reach out to me when they have questions regarding an issue they're having in their transaction. We joke amongst ourselves that I'm their after hours, real estate broker support hotline.

That's enough about me. Now, I'd like to share with you why I created Real Estate Agent Masterclass. It's been clear to me for a long time that the public has a dim view of real estate agents, and it's getting worse. At best, much of the public thinks we all do the same thing, and also that houses "sell themselves." At worst, they think we are a grossly overpaid. And that was before the DOJ investigations and the various class action commission lawsuits of 2023.

These headlines are further eroding the public's already low opinion of real estate agents. This is just a symptom of the underlying problem, which is that a new real estate licensee is not prepared to sell real estate.

Back when I first applied for my license, I remember not believing it when people would tell me, you won't use anything you learned in the license prep course. Just get your license. And that's when the real learning starts. Then I went through the process, and I discovered they were mostly right. I can't say that I didn't learn anything, but I certainly wouldn't say that I was prepared to represent my clients at the highest level.

In most states, as long as you meet some basic education requirements, pass the test, have no major criminal background issues and pay the fees, they hand you your license. You are now legally authorized to represent a buyer, a seller, a landlord or tenant, or in some states, both sides.

In a purchase, lease or option contract. Whether it's a residential or commercial building or single or multifamily or industrial, raw land, bank owned, short sale, or other type of property or transaction.

Real estate agents would like to be considered professionals and earn the commensurate respect and income that other professionals enjoy. However, the difference in education and preparation the typical real estate agent goes through versus these other real professionals is frankly laughable. It's just not that difficult to get your real estate license, depending on the state.

It's often less than 150 hours of study for most applicants. It can possibly take less, if you already have some of the coursework done in college, and then the test itself is frankly not very challenging.

Other professions are much more difficult to get licensed. Becoming a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or pilot requires several years and thousands of hours of study. And that's after a bachelor's degree. This is either in the form of a formal university setting or a structured training program.

These other professionals all require a much more robust and difficult test. The LSAT test is very difficult, and it takes many, many hours to prep for, and that's just to get a score to apply to law school where the actual education takes place. The LSAT is really more of an aptitude/intelligence test to see if you can handle the rigors of law school. Then after graduation, some legal bar exams take two days to administer.

Then after this rigorous period of study and testing, almost no other profession lets their newest members work alone with clients yet. Nearly every other profession requires some type of internship or residency, or at least working under a more experienced mentor supervisor for a year or multiple years. Becoming a carpenter or electrician or appraiser all require lengthy apprenticeship programs before you are turned loose on your own.

In some states an apprentice cosmetologist must work a minimum of 3,200 hours of on-the-job training under the supervision of an experienced trainer.

It takes much less time and effort to get a real estate license. But that doesn't make much sense because the depth and width of knowledge a real estate agent needs to master is staggering. A good real estate agent needs to know about their local market, the neighborhoods, the schools, the weather, local events, et cetera. But beyond that, we need to understand all the various contracts and disclosure forms and be familiar with the basics of mortgage financing, appraisal title capital gains taxes, 1031 exchange rules, how property taxes are calculated, handling probate or divorcing clients, distressed sales and much, much more.

On top of that, we need to know quite a bit about the actual building itself and the land it sits on. We need to know how to decipher inspection reports, negotiate repairs, and also have general knowledge about heating and air conditioning systems, plumbing, electrical, sewer, and septic systems and more. It's very unlikely any new agent would say they have been adequately trained in all the above subjects.

So, if agents didn't learn these things when they're a licensed, their broker must train them, right? The sad fact is, formal training programs for new agents that cover all aspects of the business from A to Z are almost unheard of. The most common experience for a new agent is much less robust.

They learn just enough to pass the test and join a brokerage. They are taught the bare minimum about how to use the MLS system, and how to use the lockbox key. Lastly, they are given a cursory explanation of how to generate a contract with their client to sign. Then they get a slap on the back and are told, "We'll cover the rest later. Now, get out there and go get ‘em! Come see me if you have questions or get into a jam."

The old joke isn't far from the truth, "Here's your license, here's your phone. Good luck! You're on your own!"

Some brokers do set new agents up with an experienced agent in an official mentor capacity. However, the mentor is usually busy with their own business. Even if they do make time, it's usually not a structured, step-by-step, holistic training situation. It's really just another person for the agent to go to with questions if the broker isn't available.

The end result is that most real estate agents usually "learn by doing." The real estate industry expects a newly licensed agent to go out there and do it all right from the start of their career with effectively almost no real training. I'm all for new agents having the opportunity to succeed. But it pains me to see how the agent and their clients struggle while the agent is learning the ropes.

Imagine if we prepared new surgeons the way that we prepare new real estate agents. We teach them anatomy and basic surgical skills. Then show them around the hospital and the operating room. Then the focus of the training shifts exclusively to be about how to find patients to operate on. They're then encouraged to learn by doing.

The very busy head surgeon tells them, "Come see me if you have any questions." Yes, I realize that real estate isn't life or death, but it's also not an inconsequential transaction like buying a pack of gum. Do we really think it's okay to have agents out there who really don't know what they're doing?

Well, then what about training outside of the brokerage?

Most agents know they need more education. If they aren't getting it from their broker, they can pursue training on their own through real estate trainers and organizations outside of the brokerage. There's no shortage of real estate training and advice. It's a whole cottage industry!

However, most real estate training is not about how to actually sell real estate. The vast majority of this type of training falls into one of three main categories. Number one, how to get your license. Number two, how to get new clients.

Number three, continuing education. Which covers most of the same material as the pre-licensing courses. I just mentioned in point number one.

Don't believe me? Go run an internet search right now and type in "Real estate agent training." And you will quickly see that nearly all the results will be one of the above three.

And most of those will be on point number two, how to get new clients, what we call agent promotion. This adds no benefit to the client. It's just a race to see who gets to the client first. and gets them to sign a listing or buyer representation agreement.

There's just very little training on how to actually perform our function of selling real estate to best represent our clients. It's time to raise the bar in our industry. Agents need to dig in and improve our skills and knowledge to the point where the public respects us, because we deserve that respect. If we do this, they will come to value our contribution and recognize our worth.

This is how we can retain our rightful place at the center of the real estate transaction. Because we are contributing more value to the client than what we are charging.

I've made it my mission to do just that. To that end, I've created content on a wide range of topics for agents to master. Everything from contracts to disclosures, to inspections and negotiating repairs, title, finance, appraisal property tax, income tax, distressed property and much, much more. Currently, everything I have is 100% free, and I'm adding new content all the time. Many of these are things I use every day with my own real estate clients.

You can check it all out on my website, RealEstateAgentMasterClass.com and click on "Free Resources" for my free articles, eBooks, and other resources you can download.

Eventually, I may add some advanced paid courses. However, I'm committed to giving you a ton of free information first, so you can determine if what I have to say is valuable before I release anything for sale. You may wonder why I'm giving so much away for free? You may think there's a catch here somewhere.

Well, my mission is to improve the professionalism of real estate agents. If all you do is consume all my free content and therefore become a better agent and serve your clients better, then I'm happy because that fulfills my mission. Really, this is not some bait-and-switch trap where I promise you all this meaty info, but all you get is some triple-spaced, two-page PDF, heavy on graphics, that barely scratches the surface of the topic, and it's really just a pitch to buy an expensive course or coaching program. But don't take my word for it. Head over to RealEstateAgentMasterClass.com, and you'll see that I'm actually providing a lot of great free content.

Before I wrap up, let me share with you some of the benefits you will enjoy if you fully commit to raising your professional skills. First and foremost, you will represent and protect your clients better. You will feel more confident in your abilities and that will come across when you meet with new clients. You will earn a higher income because you will win more listings and close more transactions. You could even choose to work with higher-end clients. You will be better able to justify your value when a client asks why they should hire you, and why they should pay your fee. You will get more referrals because your clients and your sphere of influence will know that your skill level is top-notch. This will lead to you having to do less prospecting and spending less time and money on agent promotion. You will also have less liability because your skills will improve in every area of selling real estate. This means you will be less likely to get sued and have to rely upon your E&O policy.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. For more content like this, please subscribe to our blog to be notified when I release a new blog post. If you have a topic you’d like me to cover in a future episode, you can find my contact info in the Contact tab at the top of this page. I am not an attorney or a tax expert and nothing in this video should be considered legal or tax advice. Please consult the appropriate experts for specifics for your situation. Until next time, remember, don’t wish that real estate was easier… wish you were better!