Customer Reviews

Millionaire Real Estate Agent: It's Not About the Money

5 star:		(104)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I found this book on Amazon when I was just starting out in Real Estate. I read many of the how-to books because I wanted and needed to hit the ground running in my new career. This book, by far, was the most information-packed and practical guide to starting a real estate business. (By the way, another excellent book is "How to Become a Power Agent in Real Estate" by Darryl Davis).

I am an attorney and before starting my real estate career, I had my own law practice; and before that, I had my own computer consulting company-both successful ventures. I approached real estate from a businessperson's perspective and this book definitely speaks to the serious businessperson. There are so many books and articles telling new agents where to spend their time and money that by the time the agent figures out what works and what doesn't, they have spent their entire budget and an entire year, and have not made enough money to move on. That's why 70% of new agents drop out of the field by the end of their second year.

This book helps agents, new and seasoned, stay focused on the bottom line. Moreover, it answered the most important question for me--If I need to generate $80,000 in income per year (salary, not gross commissions), what activities do I need to do and how much will it cost me?

So many of the other books and articles claimed to have the winning formula by telling you that you must knock on 50 doors per week and make 50 cold calls per week to generate business. Their theory is that it must be painful if you are to be successful.

This book, however, gives you lists of ideas and says if you do "x" number of activities from this list, you can expect to receive "x" number of transactions per year. YOU get to pick which activities you perform (if you don't like knocking on doors, pick another activity--it does not have to be painful for you to be successful).

The other books tell you that you must know a lot of people--friends and family--and that you MUST call and hound them in order to get business. This book, alternatively, says that if you do not know a lot of people (if you are new to an area) or if you don't want to call your friends and family and beg for business, you don't have to. It gives you the formulas so that you can determine how much marketing you have to do with the "people I haven't met yet" group to generate the same results as you would have with your "friends and family" group.

Using this book as a business modeling guide, I closed just under $3 million in volume in my first year; and just over $7 million my second year. By my 3rd year in real estate, I had already broke through the $6 million volume cap that many seasoned agents hit as a glass ceiling and cannot move beyond. My manager with my first real estate company (Long & Foster) was hostile to my business model because she didn't understand it and because I was taking control of my own career. She wanted me to follow her formula and she wanted me completely dependent on her for my success (even though she never provided me with leads!)

Then Keller Williams came to Maryland! (Gary Keller, the author, founded Keller Williams to empower real estate agents to run their own successful businesses). I joined Keller Williams and now I am surrounded by agents and brokers who realize that the business is mine and that the broker's role is to support my success. They do not believe, like so many other companies, that the agent's role is to make the broker rich. This is obvious by the fact that they offer one of the highest commission splits in the industry, without charging a monthly "desk fee," and they share the profits with their agents! And their entire culture is based on the "Millionaire Real Estate Agent" business models.

If you are serious about approaching real estate as a business, you must read this book.

After reading this book three times through I'm struck with one overriding sense, "OK, this guy gets it". Can one book successfully sum up what's needed for a successful real estate career.....yes.

I've been a real estate broker for 11 years and I've been to and heard just about every major "real estate trainer" out there: Wickman, Buffini, Stumpf, Kennedy, Ferry, Knox, Droz, DeLuca, etc. What they all offer are specifics of how they were successful realtors in their time. Which is really helpful, but what sets this book apart is that Keller looks at the challenge of treating your real estate sales career like a business. There is real wisdom here, not just about having a "successful" real estate career, but life balance, and personal fulfillment through our real estate business.

I know a number of other agents who have read this book and one thing I've heard a few times is "I wish something like this was around when I got into the business", which are exactly my thoughts. Keller has kind of a tough love approach to spelling out exactly what is involved in true mastery as a realtor producing at a very high level. Another thing I find interesting is that this book could be about any industry, any career. The disciplines and business concepts he describes are universal.

Keller starts with the open questions of essentially "what would it take for an agent to succeed at a really high level, and let's use a million dollars as a kind of random goal." He then builds with 1) finding the motivation within to climb this mountain, 2) How to earn a million, 3) how to net a million, 4) how to receive a million in passive income (a true business owner), and finally 5) how to put it all together with the key of focus driving your business.

Keller has a direct common sense outlook and writing style which I found refreshing.

This book applies to the new agent as well as a realtor who is already producing at a high level.

Ill keep this short cause I see my opinion is shared by many other reviewers, but I found this book to be both inspiring and applicable, and much better than other real estate books Ive read, whether you are a seasoned realtor or a rookie. Heres why:
1. Unlike other real estate books Ive read, its not full of fly by night "creative" ideas that may or may not work. Ive read several books that want to spend all there time talking about everything from FSBO's to borderline deceptive approaches. This book gives you more of ground up approach and encourages the reader to discover his own techniques for producing listings.
2. Most real estate books Ive read are either too broad, or too specific. This book blends the two nicely, giving solid principles to form your practices on, and good ideas to sharpen your techniques, suggesting PRACTICAL ways of determining which methods work for you. Furthermore, it is NOT based SOLELY on what worked for the author, the information is based on empirical data gathered from the most successful realtors in the country. Very scientific approach.
3. This book goes beyond how to close the deal with John Customer and talks about how to build a business from the ground up, and what to do on the way there.
4. Finally, it gives dozens of histories of successful realtors which are fun and interesting to read.

I highly recommend this book to anyone in the real estate sales field. Good read, inspiring, interesting, and practical.

My sales went from $2.7 million in 2004 to $8.5 million in 2005. Now we're heading to towards $12 in 2006. Hot dog!

But it's not about the money! It's about being the best I can be. I have more time for my friends, family, and I am out of town enjoying myself about 8 days per month. Mostly weekdays... And I have the security of knowing that I am on-track for the business to run itself while I am unavailable for vacation, semi-retirement, or if something happens to me. (!!)

All it took was the change of MINDSET and mode of operating that I learned from The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: It's Not About The Money.

Gary Keller gives you the formula for success in Real Estate. MREA (Millionaire Real Estate Agent) DOES have plans to help you make more money. YOU identify what you want your Net Gross Commission Income to be, and how many weeks per year you want to work. KELLER shows you how to draw a map from that future goal, backwards, to where you are now. Then you can start your journey, step by step, to success. Simple.

Keller likens your approach to becoming a successful agent to training for your first marathon. If you had set your goals for only 10 miles, you would work long and hard and painfully to hit that mark in a few months. However, if you had set your goals more long-term to run the full 26.2 miles AND had a plan to get there, you would be breezing through that 10-mile mark with ease and grace. It would have been a foregone conclusion that you would have that 10-mile level of success.

The marathon is a great metaphor for real estate. How far can you run or walk comfortably right now? 1 mile? 3 miles? If you got up early and ran or walked and ate right and had a plan, you know that you be able to run or walk farther, faster AND you would probably be in the best shape of your life. The confidence and success you would feel would spill over to your improve your personal life.

Think of each mile as $1 million in production. $1-3 million is attainable by accident. After that, you need a plan.

Unlike the marathon, you don't have to get up and do a bunch of stuff you weren't doing before. You are going to be doing the same real estate stuff you were doing already, just a little differently. Ultimately, you get to sleep in!

By the way, my clients love the service they get from The Joe Barfield Group and they are delighted with their results... That feels good.

I have to laugh at the people who complain about this book, they are not reading the same book I am. I turn to Kellers book almost weekly. I went from no sales and no listings to 3 listings in 3 weeks since reading his book. Just his 8x8 touch technique alone was worth the price.

This book is not for everyone. If you are satisfied with your career as is then you will not go the extra effort Keller suggests. For the serious Realtor looking to go out on their own, this book is the roadmap on how to do it. My ten year plan is to develop the skills and relationships needed to go out on my own. This book will take me there with some hard and smart work.

Just the fact that Keller has such details in one book is amazing. Everyone from Michael Gerbers to Tony Robbins systems are in this book. What makes it a classic is the fact that the book can combine such a wide range of information in a clear and simple format. Thanks to Keller for writing such an inspiring book.

Much Success!

If your looking for a book to teach you how to become a Real Estate agent, prospecting, scripts that work etc., then this is not the book for you. This book gives a model to follow, a business plan on how to run your real estate career as a business. It stresses how to think, what to think and how to stay structured as your
business grows. There are no real practical ways shown on how to get business or any sample letters or practical advice that is proven, it just states that it is a numbers game, and you have to stay focussed and go for it. I was dissapointed in this book. The reviews I read about it were misleading. They stated that this is the only book you would ever need and it is the complete authority on becoming a real estate agent. It is not, as I stated it is just a business model not a teaching tool.

I began my career in real estate in July 2004 with a company called Keller Williams, which the author founded, therefore I was required to purchase and read this book. While my relationship with Keller Williams did not pan out past two months, I will say that this book was an excellent starting resource. For the most part, it inspired me to get out the door and prospect, discussed budgeting, some broad marketing ideas, and goal-setting. Specific marketing ideas were not discussed in detail, which is not the purpose of this book. The purpose is to inspire and discuss basic business fundamentals as a real estate agent. [If you are looking for specific ideas, I recommend going to a CRS event... it's amazing what agents from other markets will spill that local agents won't share.] Once completing this book, I was on fire and wrote a very detailed "action plan" stating exactly what I would do each day for the next 1 month and held myself accountable to this each and every day. This was updated month after month. Thanks to the focus this brought me, I closed $11.3 million my first year! At the point I was at in my real estate career, that was the "pearl" I received and utilized from The Millionaire Real Estate Agent. I know that when I pick up the book and read it again, now a few years later, something else will speak to me as I am at a different point in my career now.

Sean Remington is a top rated Albuquerque REALTOR(r). To learn more, please [...]

I Actually recieved this book with the online course for my state license (Californialicense.com). At first I couldn't figure out why, because it had NOTHING to do with passing the state test, but now agree that it should be REQUIRED reading for all new agents. Yes, it starts out a little dry, especially if you're new to the real estate business, but by halfway you're wondering why they don't have these step by step books for ALL businesses. It answers alot of good questions that I have yet to see even asked in other RE books. Gary Keller gives advice, motivation and real, practical examples that make your goals not only attainable, but realistic.

If you're serious about making it big in the RE business, rather than just making a living, do yourself a favor and buy this book, apply the models, and refer back to it often!!

John

Tremendous!!!,
Gary Keller, Dave Jenks and Jay PApasan have really laid this business of real estate sales out for the Real Estate agent that views their practice as a business. Agents that read this book-- get ready to get control of your business. He talks about mastery in the areas of lead generation, Profitablity, accountabliity, tracking, Recruiting help, grooming lead help and growing a Mega Agent practice within your current work environment. I've already experienced unbelievable results by using the principles taught in this book. I have made adjustments in my practice that are already producing significant results and profit after just a few short months. I'm on my second reading of this book and I am discovering things I missed the first time around. I think this book may revolutionize the real estate business form the agent's prospective. This is a must read for anyone that wants to take their business to its full potential!! Buy this book!!!
Tom

Prior to writing this book, Keller interviewed over 100 top real estate agents, then wrote about their common methods of success.

After reading and studying this excellent book, I decided to hire my first part-time assistant to help me develop a comprehensive annual marketing plan, which Keller outlines so carefully in the book. This book is about the big picture, which most real estate agents don't see. (To learn about specific marketing techniques, consult any other book.)

This book is about inspiring the reader to think at a higher level (as a millionaire producer), not just as an average agent. It certainly got me thinking at a new level. Although I don't have my license yet (will have it by Mar 06), I am putting Keller's ideas into place so I can capture my local market.

First he teaches how to "Think a Million" through Leads, Listings, and Leverage (helpers), which for most of us is a real stretch. Next he teaches how to "Earn a Million" through his 4 Fundamental Models: Economic, Lead Generation, Budget, and Organizational. (Fabulous info with great detail!)Then he teaches now to "Net a Million" through Leads, Listings, Leverage, Money, and You. Finally, he teaches how to "Receive a Million" by letting your real estate investments earn for you.
Once you are successful at a high level, the last section is about "Staying on Top."

I am so excited about implementing what he taught. Because he painted with a broad brush how I need to think and outlined what I need to do, I will supplement his very inspirational book with books and tapes that address specific issues such as direct mail, websites, advertising, calls, logos, slogans, scripts, etc.

If you want to achieve at a very high level, follow what over 100 highly successful realtors did as written in this book.