The great thing about being a Real Estate Agent is the big commissions. Making good money, and sometimes very quickly, has it's pitfalls for most... especially if you’re not used to big money in your account or it's been a while since you had any…
Most high-performing Real Estate Agents working on commission-only many have experienced “The Flat” at some point in their career… and for some that have gone through it, they will tell you that the pain is real. So what is “The Flat” and how do you guard against it? I will explain…
“The Flat” is the time after you make biggish money from your Sales efforts. It seems like all the hard work has paid-off and it's naturally party-time. Selling 2x houses in a week with $20k - $30k + commission coming and 4 or 5 sales overall for the month and you are flying…I know. Woohoo 😉 Well done...but this is not the time to relax… you just found your flow.
The pitfall is…you think you have it sorted. You think you can switch that level of billing on anytime you want…and, rightly, you will be tired and deserving a break at some point…but this is dangerous thinking for a commission-only Real Estate Agent and most Principals of Agencies know the danger all too well and can tell you plenty of examples of Agents that experienced "The Flat"…
It's never a good idea to take time-off when you sell Real Estate, but if you must...Real Estate has 2 better times to have a break. 3 weeks before the end of the financial year & 3 weeks before Christmas.
These are the times you should be planning a break, and you won’t experience too much loss in momentum. You want to make sure you are available while other less experienced Agents are off, so being strategic about your time-off is curtail. Better still...get someone to cover you, but this is super-hard for any Agents that work on their own in Real Estate Sales... This is the reason some Agents who work on their own as independents come back to big Agencies... It's just easier to keep everything rolling.
A fair bit of Real Estate gets sold over Christmas and before and after new financial year. Partners are usually together for an extended time so it's the perfect time to house-hunt together. Generally, if their close to the end of financial year, buyers and sellers usually hold-off transacting property until their in the new financial year, so the weeks leading up to the new financial year can be stubborn.
Sitting at your computer during this time is no fun either. It can be a waste of time and you could be off hiking a mountain or sitting on some tropical beach somewhere with the kids, but you should always have your phone on and ready to take action.
After you make $40k - $100k + or more in a month and you do that for a few months on end…it can be super comforting to know you have a few thousand bucks stashed in the bank for the first time in like…forever… and all your bills are paid, and it didn’t even put a dent in your bank balance.
You feel great about your Job and life is awesome. That’s the time you should hammer down and go even harder… I can see all the Agency Principals nodding their heads reading this... "that's what I keep telling my top-performers...you're getting awesome results and now's the time to go harder, not take breaks."
Some Agents never fully recover from “The Flat”… They get so frustrated with the needle not budging that they start panicking and some start making mistakes or even start looking for another Job… but there is no other Job like this…and you will realise that in your first week in another one…
This also highlights to some Agents that they need to make some changes. Get into an Agency that can help you manage these pitfalls and protect your income through support and staff that can cover you. If you need to talk to a Recruiter and plan your transition into a better structure, call us.
Once you get the ball rolling…keep it rolling. Scale back a bit at the right times and give yourself time to recharge, sure…but don’t stop during peak-times. Why?
By the time you gear-up to get back into it, everything has changed. The market has changed, the buyers you knew of already bought and the sellers already sold. You're starting from scratch again. It can be twice as hard to get momentum back, especially if you come back running into a down-time period.
You have to work out what your down-time periods look like. You can usually get a more accurate handle on what those times are by speaking with other top-performing Agents and find out when they take their time-off, how they guard against their flow going dead and what things they put in place leading up to their time-off.
If you don't plan properly and you go away for any length of time, you may find the methods you were using before to get results may have shifted, and you have no idea what to do next but panic...and, you’ll start wildly throwing anything out there in the hope that something comes-off. Messy…
It’s called “The Flat” for a reason. You will be left feeling flat, desperate, frustrated and pretty much ready to throw in the towel. It can make the most experienced Agents look amateur… Experienced Real Estate Agents know about “The Flat” and Agents who are working on their own that experience "The Flat" for the first time, change Agencies knowing they will have the right support to minimise this happening again...
The saying “Make hay while the sun shines” is never truer as it relates to commission-only sales. Any of you that have experienced this first-hand know what I am talking about.
Have I done it before? Sure... I make a heap of coin, go buy a boat and spend 2 weeks fishing and not making calls because I have made more money in the last 2 months than most people make in a year. No one is immune, but if you aren’t aware of it, it can be a game stopper. Commission-only Recruitment is not much different to Commission-only Real Estate. The processes are the same...
A month or so later when I’m all energised and ready to get back to it, everything has changed and despite my best efforts, I’m begging for just one deal to go my way...and it’s not...and I’m freaking out… Deals always come when you don’t need them. They never seem to go your way when you’re desperate. Murphy's law…
There is only one way to fix it. You have to double down on your efforts and ramp things up to a momentum that is unstoppable and learn from your mistake. Up early, smash the phones, knock-doors, list, list, list... Be meticulous in your detail…you have to push through and its hard!
Take a deep breath and go back to the basics. Use all your skills until, finally, the flow starts to come back, and the offers start to go your way… (might take a month).
You can’t break quality work. It just gets results. There are no shortcuts.
This is why "Lifestyle Agents" doing Real Estate part-time will never get big numbers. You have to be all in all the time...
If I can stress anything to you all…keep you pipeline full, always answer your phone and never get lulled into a false sense of having enough. You will never get to $300k - $600k GCI + a year taking breaks every 3 months on commission-only. It just doesn’t work like that…
Beware “The Flat”
If you are looking for a new Job in Real Estate or want to join a better Agency or bigger team, call any one of the Recruiters @ Placed Australia today. We can help you find the perfect Agency and help you double or even triple your GCI by making the move....
