How to Become a Million Dollar Real Estate Agent in Your First Year: What Smart Agents Need to Know Explained Simply [Paperback]

Susan Smith Alvis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2007

It s amazing how many people are starting careers in real estate today, yet how many are successful at it? There are many roadblocks to a thriving real estate career. If you are not listing and selling 15 to 30 properties per month each and every month then this book is for you. This book presents the research of the steps and tactics super-successful real estate sales agents employ today. What makes this book particularly useful is the actual case studies from agents who do this work every day. You will learn their time-tested secrets. This step-by-step guide will show you how to find the properties, how to list them, how to sell them, and ultimately, how to get your commission. Learn the hard-earned secrets of breaking into the real estate field, and become super successful in no time at all. You will learn to quickly attract new prospects, get the highest possible commissions, and get return business and referrals, while still having a life outside of work. In this new book you will learn: how NOT to make the big mistakes most new agents make, licensing and exam fees, Multiple Listing Service (MLS), local Board of Realtors, real estate boards, expenses of doing business, your vehicle and insurance coverage, sales techniques, simple methods to get hundreds of referrals, how to make buyers and sellers happy, how to quickly and easily locate the best deals for your customer, presenting offers, software programs that make running your business effortless, the luxury housing market, Dealing with FSBOs, the commercial market, secrets to using the Internet, setting up a record keeping and computer system, brokers and how to work with them, your professional image, the new frontier, the online Internet world, online tools and ideas, real estate technology tips, search engine and Web site optimization, page rank, Internet leads, web positioning, web optimization building partnerships, and general real estate Internet information, and much more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

How to Become a Million Dollar Real Estate Agent in Your First Year is a very realistic approach to a wide-open field. The author defines devotion to a profession and lists the steps that translate into spectacular money. This book can keep beginning agents from spinning their wheels and show those already in the business how to make opportunities to succeed. This is the only business where you wake up every morning unemployed and your success is a direct result of how hard you work! Here you will get the advice of one who has succeeded and avoided the mistakes and faults she observed in others. This book will give you the impetus and confidence to approach anyone, help them make investments, get the home of their choice, and enhance their worth, while doing the same for yourself. --Ann Bailen, GRI, ABR; Coldwell Banker

ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Awards - 2008 Career Finalist; ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Award - 2007 Finalist --Book Awards

About the Author

Susan Alvis has her Tennessee Real Estate License in Retirement. Susan lives in Northeast Tennessee.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Publishing Company (FL) (April 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1601380410
• ISBN-13: 978-1601380418
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #480,669 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Guide to Becoming a Real Estate Agent!, April 24, 2007

By 

Thomas North (Seoul, South Korea) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Become a Million Dollar Real Estate Agent in Your First Year: What Smart Agents Need to Know Explained Simply (Paperback)

Considering the strong real estate market in the past several years, it should be no wonder that a lot of people have looked to that sector with the hopes of making it big. Unfortunately, in spite of many success stories, the promises of the market are often elusive to people who enter the world of real estate unprepared. In How to Become a Million Dollar Real Estate Agent In Your First Year, experienced real estate agent Susan Smith Alvis shatters some of the myths of real estate, but also lays out a strong, real-world guide to people who are seriously interested in entering the business as a real estate agent.

The first myth Alvis shatters is directly related to the title of the book: the idea that becoming a "million dollar real estate agent" will bring you wealth and prosperity. In fact, she points out, selling a million dollars worth of real estate might make you $42,000 per year. That simple fact might be enough to shake some people who thought the real estate market was going to be easy. Alvis further paints a picture of a competitive, cutthroat business that has potential to be lucrative, but only after a lot of careful planning and hard work.

After showing the cold, hard reality of the business, however, Alvis also delves into the positives, of which there are many, thus creating a balanced, realistic picture of what it takes to become a real estate agent. She also, thankfully, includes a chapter on ethics, in which she mentions the sometimes poor reputation of real estate agents from an ethical standpoint, and how one can be both successful and ethical in the business.

If you get past the first part and are still interested in real estate, Alvis does a great job with the main portion of the book, which is to actually walk the reader through becoming a real estate agent - from writing the business plan, to choosing an office, to sales techniques. She presents both broad advice, and specific, detailed anecdotes and tips, all of which could be applied in a real world scenario. As a guide to someone just entering the real estate business, How to Become a Million Dollar Real Estate Agent... is an excellent walkthrough.

That being said, at just 200 pages, the book contains an amazing amount of detail, but is still probably not sufficient by itself for someone looking to become a real estate agent. What it is, primarily, is a beginner's guide to becoming a real estate agent, and it works very well in that role. It provides enough detail and enough of an overview, to help someone decide whether becoming a real estate agent is a good career choice. It is a good informational springboard, and is well worth reading if you are considering moving into the real estate business, but don't know where to start.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Newbie Book, May 22, 2007

By 

Kasey "enthusiastic reader" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Become a Million Dollar Real Estate Agent in Your First Year: What Smart Agents Need to Know Explained Simply (Paperback)

5 stars

In her new book How to Become a Million Dollar Real Estate Agent, Susan Smith Alvis gets down to the nitty-gritty of being a realtor. As she explains, you are not only selling properties, you are constantly selling yourself to new clients and potential buyers. Ms. Alvis honestly outlines what to expect as average income, and what is necessary in order to raise that income level to million dollar status. She notes that growing a thick skin is essential in the cut-throat business of real estate, because folks will never cease to amaze you.

The book is well organized, including chapters that deal with everything from ethical practices to selecting the right real estate office. Ms. Alvis notes that the successful real estate agent cannot simply sit and wait for clients to come to him, but must go out and get them (she even includes marketing strategies).

How to Become a Million Dollar Real Estate Agent is not only a terrific book for new agents, but for current agents who wonder why they aren't selling as much property as they could. It can easily be referred to as the new sales bible for realtors.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good, but not great., November 7, 2007

By 

Jet (Charlotte, NC, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Become a Million Dollar Real Estate Agent in Your First Year: What Smart Agents Need to Know Explained Simply (Paperback)

As a newly minted real estate agent, I bought this book to start learning what I really need to know about real estate, other than what is required by law, and this book does a good job at hitting on important things that a real estate agent should know.

Two things that bothered me though, are first, the author (as I believe I understood it), only worked in real estate for four years and is now retired from real estate. If the advice she gives about how to be a successful real estate agent is so good, how come she no longer practices, after only doing it for 4 years?

Also, the product description on Amazon listed many topics that were the content of this book. Some of those topics were covered by 2 or 3 sentences which was not enough depth to do them justice. Also, where was the part about the vehicle and insurance...I must have missed that. I'll read the book again and see if it is there, but I don't believe it was.

On the positive side I appreciated what the author had to say about keeping a positive attitude and being an ethical real estate agent. I do recommend this book as a good starting point for a new agent as you will be able to create a list of things you need to further investigate for your new career in real estate.