Customer Reviews

Success as a Real Estate Agent For Dummies

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The title says it all,"...For Dummies." Dirk Zeller puts it into perspective. When we receive our license, walk into the office of our choice, pay to create an image, what next?
Many agents and REALTORs have made the same mistakes as our collegues. This book teaches not to make those mistakes, and is a comprehensive guide as to what to do.
If one wants to make a career with real estate, I strongly recommend this book.

Also suggest "The Little Red Book of Selling"

From the opening cheat sheet to the last top ten list in this book on ten best web sites for real estate agents. This booked is packed with quality information and value. From the first chaper on Discovering the Skills of a Successful Agent to the last chaper Maximizing Your Time you will not be able to put this book down like I couldn't.
It was obvious through every page of this book that the author not only was an expert in selling real estate successfully himself as confirmed by his bio of selling 150 homes annually while only working on Monday - Thursday to do it. I was also clear that he has coached and trained a large number of agents to become Successful agents.
I loved the chapter on researching and understanding the marketplace. He teaches a couple of techniques to really track and understand the marketplace and how to use them to attract and secure new buyers and sellers. Before this book I had no idea of the power a few of these tracking and simple research techniques he demonstrates and neither did my broker when I asked him.
In the chapter on prospecing it lays out the how's, where's and why's of prospecting for new business and lead generation. He also shares how to list For Sale by Owner and expired listings complete with tracking systems, scripts, things to send them via marketing.
Chapter 6 Mining Your Databse for Referrals is priceless. I learned so much about how to ask for referrals. The scripts to use in the asking for business. He also shares how to take a referral to what he calls a higher level getting the person giving the referral to help you "improve" the referral by asking them questions about the person they are referring, approval of using there name, and even calling the referral on your behalf. This chapter alone was worth the money for the book.
The author, Mr Zeller takes you through open houses from selecting the right home criteria, to marketing, to set up the day of the open house to conducting and securing the names of the vistiors. The chapter on doing a quality listing presenation is outstanding. I learned the questions to ask before hand. He gives you a structure or agenda he calls it for the presentation. Along with how to separate youself from the other agents through your services. In addition I learned home pricing strategy to insure that my listing will sell. How to talk with the seller since most want more for the home than it is worth.
The book goes through staging the listing with checklists, marketing myself online and my properties, negotiating contracts and closing them, postioning yourself in the marketplace and against other agents, keeping clients for life with check lists on how to service your clients.
The chapter on maximizing your time was awesome! I know the value of my time and how best to get paid well for the time I invest in my business.
This book is really the turning point for my real estate career. I only wish that it had been available earlier in my career. It is a must read for any agent not just a new agent. It is the best money that I have spent in my career thus far!!

As a broker/owner, I bought this book for my new agents. We love it! It's a fast-read with easy-to-implement ideas. I keep it as a reference in my office! Dirk Zeller is an excellent author/coach and the 'Dummies' format puts his ideas into yet another presentation form.

This is a very comprehensive book for beginners and experienced realtors. It seems to be losely based on the teachings of Mike Ferry by an experienced agent who actually did what he writes. I highly recommend it with one reservation: much of it is very similar to the book The Champion Real Estate Agent written by the same author. If you buy one of the books you don't really need to buy both.

I found lots of practical, applicable knowledge to help me. The material is much more helpful than the bombastic ravings of The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, i.e. "It's not about the money . . ." . HOGWASH! The author of that perennial favorite, Gary Keller, may choose to pawn off that balderdash as his unique "vision," but every time he talks of success, there's a dollar figure. Zeller, however, emphasizes the importance of prospecting to your financial success as an agent and hints to his previous background in sales, which further demonstrates the importance of consistency and confidence.

The only trouble I had with Zeller's formula is the lack of a coherent system. Zeller speaks rather blithely about presenting your past successes in real estate as integral to a great sales pitch, and deals at considerable length with your presentation of statistics. This viewpoint seems like a negation of the book's concept. After all, the book's title suggests a target audience of people who have either no experience or less-than-impressive prior success.

Zeller does present some very useful advice for beginners on picking an agency, which I wish I had utilized at the onset of my R/E career. Disappointingly, he really does not adequately address an audience with legitimate motivation to turn around a lackluster early career (e.g., me). He also looks a bit down his nose at "propeller heads" (techies, like me), which probably accounts for his cavalier assumption of the reader's prior success.

Really helpful, but not superb.

If ever I've read a book that I'd wished I could press it against me and absorb every tidbit of information by osmosis, this is it! I reached a point where I was delaying sleep at night just to continue learning from this incredibly informative book. As a newbie, I find the chapter on marketing/advertising especially helpful. I'd initially checked the book out from the local library, but quickly realized I needed to buy it to have on hand as a reference source. This is a must-buy for anyone just entering the field or considering becoming a Realtor!

This book does have some usful tips. However, the author is obviously a career salesman. He appears to have grown his career from real estate sales to selling his own products ( seminars, web sites, and sales coaching). He equates financial success by selling, to being a quality agent. His focus seems to be on the typical salesperson's perspective ie. ABC (always be closing), not matching the client to the property they want, like and can aford.

Great resource tool for anyone considering or working in a career in Real Estate. This book is a good basis for someone just starting out but also serves as a good day to day reference. I keep a dog eared copy at my desk and another next to my favorite reading chair. Dirk Zeller presents the information in a logical, easy to follow format that allows you to pick and choose whether you read the whole book or jump around to just the chapters that are your current focus. Lots of anecdotes and tips make this an enjoyable read. If you are new to Real Estate, this is the first book to buy!

I'm so new to the business.
While sitting in a borders, I grabbed this book, flipped through it, and knew it was for me! He's honest, straightforward, and there's no technical jargon or BS talk to fill chapters. Every sentence opens your eyes to things your real estate classes never told you about how to actually be a realtor.
I love the chapter on time management, and also the chunks of his scripts throughout. I just order my second Dirk Zeller book...but this one was amazing!

Regarding working with colleagues, author's advice sounds an awful lot like it treads and/or crosses the line into unlawful and unethical conduct. One of several examples: He says to refer clients to loan officers, and to seek their referrals in turn. I believe that to be specifically outlined as an unlawful kickback in California.

I picked this book up at the library, and am hugely grateful I didn't pay for it. "Dirk" the author talks a lot about how great he is, tells a lot of stories that are not particularly insightful or useful, and he seems to be using this book as a platform to sell other products to hopeful real estate agents.

Finally, the techniques/scripts he prescribes for client conversations are manipulative and a little creepy.

All that said, there is some useful information in the book. And I'll admit there are plenty of real estate agents out there that reap huge financial rewards by being underhanded and pompous.