hustle
Issue 101 - September 18th, 2022
Hustle is a word that means many things when defined literally, but in the spirit of this post we will use this definition:
Hustle means to work hard relentlessly in the face of discomfort to achieve your goals.
One of the unique things about the real estate brokerage industry is that literally ANYONE who is motivated and able to pass the licensing test in their respective state can become an agent.
You don’t have to have a special degree; you don’t have to go to a specific school to land a job; you don’t have to even graduate from college to get into this business.
TV shows like “Million Dollar Listing” and “Selling Sunset” have glamorized the life of the real estate agent in America, and I believe have made many people in our society assume the role of the agent is “easy and fun” and some people assume that every agent just prints MONEY. The reality is quite the opposite…
Pareto’s Principle is clearly alive and well in the real estate brokerage space where 80% of the output/sales is done by 20% of the agents. Not literally, but the majority of transactions and deals are done by the top producers who HUSTLE day in and out for years and years to make things happen.
At one point, these (now) top producing agents were just getting their license and just getting started. There is no clearly defined path to success in the real estate brokerage industry. If you asked 100 top brokers the question: “How did you get started and how did you become successful in this industry?” then you would get 100 different stories that would honestly surprise you.
The path is not clear.
The industry washes a lot of agent out in the early days of their journey because they cannot handle the uncertainty and the stress of the role, but the people who HUSTLE and stick with it over the long run usually find success.
The exciting part about this industry is that literally anyone who wants to HUSTLE has a chance to make big things happen and that is the American Dream in a sense - just the opportunity for outsized success can be found by working hard day in and out helping people find homes.
The other unique thing (which I think is so cool) about this industry is that you have a built in potential client network right in front of your eyes. Your early customer acquisition costs can literally be zero as you can just reach out to friends and family, and ask “Do you need help finding a place to live, or can I help you evaluate the value of your current home?”
Hard work, showing up everyday, and maybe a little luck can do a lot to bring you success in this industry. Agents are the future of this industry, and they are the ones working tirelessly day in and out to make things happen.
Brokerage platforms are evolving, and the needs of agents are evolving. Our team is working tirelessly at Pinnacle Realty Advisors to meet the demands of TODAY’S agent and power them up to be the best they can be. We are not trying to get in their way, and we want every agent to have an opportunity to be successful. The more they HUSTLE and the more our team HUSTLEs the better the outcome for everyone in the industry, and we are focused on making real estate better for everyone. We look forward to the future.
Newsworthy Links To Share
New York-based developer, Related Cos., plans to build a massive 456,000 sq ft office tower in West Palm Beach, the largest office building in its downtown area.
BLOOMBERG TV: AcreTrader CEO Carter Malloy On The Market For Farmland
Bloomingdale’s goes all-in on metaverse with new virtual store (TechCrunch)
Cheaper rent, more room, and a chance to ‘establish roots’: These people took $10,000 to move to Tulsa and work remotely (Fortune)
Spencer Rascoff on threats to the traditional brokerage model (RealTrends)
“Spencer Rascoff: The role of the agent and the broker and the relationship between the agent and broker has changed a lot in the 15 years or so that I’ve been in proptech. We’re on a pretty clear trajectory in favor of the agent at the expense of the brokerage. In other words, being a broker is much harder today than it was 15 years ago.
If you ask yourself why, it’s because the things that a broker used to provide to an agent have mostly been disaggregated. So what are the brokers doing to surprise the agent? Well, they have office space, lead generation, technology and software, culture, branding, etc..
But, office space — well, they just don’t really need that as much anymore. Technology? Agents are mostly buying that themselves individually. Lead generation? Agents are mostly buying that from Zillow Group, Realtor.com or Google…”
The Open Office Is Out, ‘Seated Privacy’ Is In as Cubicles Make a Comeback: Lots of people always hated the “open” office layout designed to foster collaboration. There’s nowhere to hang your stuff, nowhere to have a sensitive conversation and nowhere to focus without overhearing colleagues’ blabbering. Plus, several studies indicate that the supposed benefits of togetherness and transparency are overrated. The privacy many got used to while working from home only intensified the loathing—as did the “hot” desk system businesses adopted for hybrid employees to drop into reopened office buildings. (WSJ)
Homebuyers Might as Well Take the Plunge: Affordability isn't going to get any better as shrinking inventories ensure prices will rise even if mortgage rates eventually fall. The inventory of houses for sale is the biggest reason to think that buying now might be the best option. The surge in homes for sale that we saw in the first half of 2022 has not just ended, but reversed. New weekly listings have declined significantly since July and are down 17.5% year-over-year according to Redfin. The pace of new listings is now sharply below levels seen in the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. (Bloomberg)