Two roads diverge in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
I did
something really exciting. I started a
journey to become the best real estate agent in coastal Southeast North
Carolina. I know, I know. That’s a tall order since there are some great real estate agents here in the Cape
Fear region. Here’s the thing -- I don’t need to be the
agent with the most sales (although obviously that would be super!) – but I do want
to be the agent that sellers and buyers truly love working with. Yes, I’m a newly minted licensed agent and I
have plenty to learn, but I have an amazingly helpful group of experienced,
professional real estate mentors to call on, and, of course, a lot of fired-up
enthusiasm. I plan to share with you my experiences, as I
become the agent I want to be in this exciting new career. (Cautionary note: Hopefully this will be educational for all,
but I’ll probably also include the occasional trials, tribulations and
embarrassing moments. My niece seems to
think if I include my embarrassing moment, I’ll never run out of topics to
write about!)
I interviewed quite few broker agencies trying to decide where to hang my Realtor hat. They all had good things to offer to a newly licensed agent and I met some wonderful people. In the end, however, I signed
with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage Realty in Carolina Beach, and I
couldn’t be happier with this choice. (FYI, Carolina Beach is a lovely seaside
town about 15 miles south of Wilmington NC and just south along the coastline
from Wrightsville Beach. Much more on
what makes this area so terrific later!)
Among the things I like about Coldwell Banker is they provide great
professional development for their agents and are the industry leader in real
estate marketing and new technology. Given my own international background, I also
like their national and international breadth.
Of course, they’ve also been number one in sales in SE North Carolina
for 14 years in row, which is a pretty good recommendation, too.
One of the
first things I was advised to do is embrace the fact that, as a contracted
agent with Coldwell Banker, I have a business,
not a job. As such, I need to prepare a
business plan, complete with financial goals and a fairly detailed plan of
action to achieve those goals. I’m doing that, of course, but I decided I
wanted to develop different kinds of professional/personal goals as well. Here they are so far:
a) Devote myself to serving the needs of clients before, during and after each sale;
b) Be that Realtor who gets the best referrals
because I provide fantastic service;
c) Become an expert on my community – and more
importantly, know, love and give back to my community;
d) Provide useful information – up-to-date local market
analysis and statistics, community info, how-to advice, etc.
(website/newsletter, blog);
e) Always be honest with both my clients and
myself;
f) Maintain a healthy work-life balance.
