Learn The Truth About Real Estate Industry
1. Real Estate Professionals Get Rich Quickly
Real estate is often seen as a quick path to wealth, but as a real estate agent, success comes from prioritizing clients over personal gains. Balancing income with client interests is crucial, especially if entering the field undercapitalized.
In the UAE, property investment is popular, particularly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. While the market is booming, it’s essential to debunk the notion of instant riches. Success demands careful consideration of trends, laws, and risks. Whether an agent or investor, navigating the UAE property market requires diligence and a long-term perspective. In summary, dispelling the myth of quick wealth, prioritizing clients, and approaching property investment in UAE with careful consideration are key.
2. The Industry Is Only Brick And Mortar
People often think about real estate as only a brick-and-mortar business.
But the industry today presents enormous opportunities in services, technology and hospitality in the built
environment for incoming professionals, all of which are evolving at a rapid rate to meet the changing preferences of people today.
3. Paying Rent Is Like Throwing Money Away
Owning your home is a financial liability, it takes money out of your pocket every month.
Rent is not “throwing money away.” When you fly, renting your seat for $500 is not “throwing money away.
” Renting often makes more sense. Before buying, add up closing costs, maintenance, opportunity cost,
immobility, hardware store trip time and more. Run the numbers that sales agents don’t want you to run.
4. Getting Clients And Steady Income Is Easy
Having a steady stream of clients will be the most difficult part of job.
An agent’s real job is actually not just selling homes, but marketing themselves and answering the question,
“Why should someone choose YOU out of all other agents in town?
” Only when you have a clear answer to that question and you are able to communicate it in your marketing will having a steady income be easy.
5. New Agents Don’t Have The Know-How
Being a new agent, people say you don’t have experience and know-how. Being new doesn’t mean that.
In fact, it might mean that you give better customer service,
you are more of a go-getter, you educate yourself faster and learn faster because you are driven and have a purpose.
The truth is that when you are new, you try much harder just to prove yourself, to others and to yourself.
6. The Market Will Go Up Forever
Real estate is cyclical. And it’s also seasonal. When the market’s good, it’s really good.
When it’s bad, it’s really bad. And it’s slow in Q1 and Q3, and hot in Q2 and Q4. Always.
Things happen slowly in real estate, like turning a battleship, and it can feel awesome when it’s actually terrible, and feel terrible when it’s actually doing great.
7. Reality TV Shows It Like It Is
Reality TV shows about prolific agents, mega listings, limps and celebrities are not the norm in reality.
While these shows have raised the profile of the real estate industry, they also project a false narrative.
Agents with stars in their eyes should understand that success comes from old-fashioned hard work,
maintaining crazy hours, and dealing with some very demanding clients.
8. Being A Landlord Is A Full-Time Job
A common myth is that investing in real estate is all-consuming. This used to be true, but it isn’t anymore.
Landlord tasks that used to be time-intensive — collecting rent, handling maintenance,
finding and screening tenants — can be handled with software.
Owning and managing a property can be done in your spare time, allowing you to also hold a full- or part-time job.
9. There Is Only One Way To Get Started
Most believe that the only way to get started is to join a traditional real estate brokerage and work
for commissions as an independent contractor. There are companies out there that do things differently,
all while enabling agents to put the client first.
10. Flipping Houses Is How You Build Wealth
Makes for good TV, but renting houses is how you build wealth. Flipping holds more risk and less return,
in most cases, than holding assets for the long term. As a landlord, your tenant goes to work to pay your mortgage.
Ever heard someone say, “Sold that house 20 years ago. Wish I never had”?
You don’t hear the opposite near as much, do you?
11. A Non-Traditional Schedule Means You Work Less
New agents have a common misconception that being a real estate agent is all about looking the part,
and often mistake flexibility with being part time. While being a real estate agent is not a nine-to-five job,
you need to work extra and non-traditional hours to build your business.
To be successful, you’ve got to put in the time and the work, have unwavering drive and full accountability.
12. Investing In Real Estate Is A Passive Income
People think of investing in buy-and-hold real estate as passive income. If you want to be successful,
it’s important you prepare for deadlines and, at times, long hours. Between the cycle of rent collections and local inspections,
you need to be well organized or you risk losing a lot of money. While the term
“passive rental” might indicate you don’t report 9 a.m.-4 p.m., you will need to be prepared.
13. Location Is All That Matters
It is not always true that “if you build it, they will come” or that it is only about “location, location, location.
” These concepts hold true only when they play a role in the larger scheme of investment parameters (supply and demand,
quality, tenancy, location, etc.). Whatever your type of investment, always remember timing and market are as important as location.
14. You Can Become An Expert Overnight
There is a large misconception behind how much time it takes to learn everything you need to know in the world of real estate.
As licensed professions go, it is one of the least time intensive. However, the classes you take are only the beginning.
Whether you are a real estate agent or a property manager,
licensing requirements are a small fraction of what you will need to know to be successful.
