5 Ways to Stay Motivated in Real Estate

If you’ve been in the field of real estate for more than just a few weeks, then you already know what challenges we as real estate agents face every day in order to stay motivated in the field. Your cousin hires his friend’s friend to represent him; your in-laws hires their neighbor; your best friend sees you in the grocery store and asks you if you are still selling real estate. All of these scenarios and the everyday challenges of transaction management, lead generation, and negotiations are enough to bring you down or drive you nuts!

Believe it or not, while the above scenarios can cause you a lot of stress and can be a bit challenging; there are some really easy ways to stay motivated in such a difficult profession.

Here are my 5 favorite ways to stay motivated in the field of real estate:

1. Join a Brokerage of Like-Minded People
   You have to be at the right brokerage: the one where Debbie Downer does NOT hang her license. Seek a brokerage with a supportive administrative staff, a broker who has been in the trenches and is willing to get into the trenches with you, and a slew of like-minded, motivated, and professional agents. When you surround yourself with good peeps, you’re less likely start feeling glum.
2. Say “NO” to Toxic Transactions
   Easy to say when you have some objectivity, but you must say “no” to toxic people and toxic transactions. Do not take a listing that is out of the area just because it might bring you a little bit of cash; do not work with anyone that is working with or who has fired a number of other agents; do not take an overpriced listing with an unreasonable seller. If you show someone 100 homes and write three offers and your buyer continually cancels or makes excuses, don’t think you’ve got to see it to the end. All of these situations are pulling at the success of your business, and the transactions and people that matter. Sometimes it is hard to say “no”, but believe me: it’s best to pull off the Band-Aid quickly.
3. Attend Networking and Educational Events
   Local events sponsored by your association or a networking or business professionals group are a great way to meet people, connect with colleagues in the industry, generate future business, and even learn something along the way. I’m a big fan of attending Broker Open Houses (also called caravans) because I feel that the more agents you know, the better off your business will be. Your clients’ offers might be accepted more readily, and you’ll know who to call if you have a question about a specific development or type of transaction. Plus, you can never have too many friends.
4. Hire a Mentor or Coach, or a Mastermind Partner
   In all honesty, I’m not a big fan of accountability partners. We’re all adults here, and if you cannot be accountable for accomplishing your own activities on a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule, that’s on you. I do, however, love the idea of a mentor, coach, or mastermind partner. I’m talking about someone who you can meet with regularly, share your experiences, and brainstorm ideas or new ways to generate more and different types of business: someone who can enlighten you, not just confirm that you did your lead gen.
5. Take a Vacation and Give Real Estate Break
   If you eat, sleep, and breathe real estate 24/7, you’re bound to have emotional ups and downs. An annual vacation (or two), regular trips to the gym, and even short hikes or walking the dog are a great way to disconnect and decompress. Upon your return, you’ll find that you have a new perspective on certain things that might have been nagging at you before. Hot yoga classes—if you can handle them—are a great way to clear the mind. You’re so busy worrying about balancing and not sweating to death that you forget all your troubles for an hour or so.

To be honest, the all-out best way to avoid losing motivation is to constantly work to generate leads. The more prospective clients you are working with, the less importance you’ll give to the troubles you are having in other transactions. Buyer cancels? No worries… you’ve got 30 more on your list. Is a Seller being unreasonable? Cut him loose, so you can devote time to people and transactions that will make your business matter.

There’s an old adage, “Choose a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” If you truly love your career in real estate, we promise that if you do these 5 steps to stay motivated your life will be a much more successful one.

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