Are your emotions affecting your real estate success?

There’s no career quite like that of real estate. It can be challenging at times, but also very rewarding.

So how can we handle those inevitable emotional ups and downs

The elation of signing a seller or achieving a high sale price; the despair at losing to a competitor; the suspicion that you aren’t being treated fairly; the fear of doing things differently: all of these are valid emotions. The trick is to understand them, learn strategies for dealing with them, and control them.

We’ve picked up some tips on our own journey to help you ride the highs and lows.

Elation, despair, suspicion, fear: How do you handle emotions in your business?

Emotional resilience is an important attribute to understand, as it can provide you with practical tools that enable you to not ‘sweat the small stuff’ (or the big stuff either). Taking a few minutes to reflect on how you react in certain situations can be extremely effective in learning how to manage your emotions. Because while your emotions are valid, it isn’t always wise to act on them immediately.

Overcome fears that hold you back

As real estate agents we all have some kind of fear that stops us from achieving our full potential, but that’s nothing to be ashamed of. The best plan to minimise this fear is not to ignore it, but to recognise it, and then work out how to get around it.

For example, if you’re considering starting your own real estate business, you might be worried about:

• Experience: Do I have enough? What if I can’t do some of the back office stuff?
• Return on investment: How long will it take before I show a profit
• Failure: It’s that little voice of doubt in your head. What if I fail
• Personal relationships: Am I working so hard that I’m missing family time?

The first step is to recognise your concerns, and write them down. This provides you with a visual representation of what is getting in the way, and an opportunity to decide how you will overcome fears.

• Skills: Not sure you have all the skills? Find a mentor to help. And remember that you can employ people with those skills. You don’t need to do everything yourself or know everything in advance; we all learn as we go.
• Financials: Speak to a financial expert who could help you plan and put together a budget. Consider starting or buying a rent roll so you have cash flow.
• Failure or success?: “What if I fail?” Well, what if you don’t? What if you keep working for someone else and make them wealthy? What’s the worst that could happen? Plan for it.
• Work/life balance: A good tip from successful real estate agents is to always have something to look forward to, like a mini break with the family, or time out at the gym or swimming.

Learn to minimise self-doubt and suspicion

Trust is key: getting clients to trust you, trusting others in the industry, trusting yourself to do the right job. But unfortunately a lot of things can get in the way: lack of confidence, loneliness, fear (as noted above) and suspicion of those around you.

One of the best ways to build trust and confidence is to ensure that your verbal commitments match the actions you take so your clients and others know you’re reliable. You’ll find this behaviour is reciprocated by others because they respect and trust you.

Take time out from being an agent

Being a real estate agent can feel all-consuming sometimes, but it shouldn’t dominate every aspect of your life.

So schedule short breaks throughout the year, or include some exercise in your daily routine (my wife and I walk along the beach every morning); do what makes you feel good. It is amazing what time away from your computer and phone can do for your motivation, energy levels and ability to remain calm when things get stressful.

Enjoy collaboration and support within a good network

One of the most important parts of being a successful agent is having others around to support you. This is why the One Agency brand works so well, because while you can be autonomous, you’re never alone either.

We value collaboration, and encourage our various members to network with each other, swap ideas and learn – and we get so much feedback from agents and agency principals about how effective and enjoyable it is to work in this kind of environment.